St. Joseph’s/Candler and the Medical College of Georgia have officially received accreditation for the health system’s first Internal Medicine residency program.

It is the first step of an unprecedented ramp up for a program that aims to relieve the doctor shortage in the Savannah region and throughout Georgia.

With this news, St. Joseph's/Candler moves full-steam ahead to form the inaugural class of residents focused on Internal Medicine. The first class will start July 1, 2027. When at full capacity, the residency program will accommodate 103 residents across Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease fellowship and General Surgery.

The program received accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Prospective residents can learn more at sjcresidency.org.

Program highlights

St. Joseph's/Candler recently received expanded Georgia state Graduate Medical Education funding to form the health system’s first physician residency program. The additional funding will allow the program to reach 103 residents by 2031. While the inaugural class for Internal Medicine is forming now, Family Medicine, General Surgery and Cardiology Fellowships will be added in coming years.

The Internal Medicine and Family Medicine tracks are specifically aimed at addressing the vital need for primary care physicians, particularly in rural and Southeast Georgia.

The Internal Medicine residents will start their training at Candler Hospital and a community health center at The Georgia Infirmary, which has a rich legacy of providing healthcare and education to the region’s most vulnerable populations. By year three, internal medicine residents will also practice at St. Joseph's Hospital.

St. Joseph's/Candler will also completely renovate the Executive Court complex next to the Candler Hospital Campus to accommodate additional training facilities, clinical space and on-call beds for residents.

Retaining physicians in Georgia

St. Joseph's/Candler President & CEO Paul P. Hinchey said, “With limited residency opportunities, coastal Georgia medical school graduates have had to seek opportunities outside the communities in which they study. This new residency program seeks both to stem the number of physicians leaving the region as well as increase local interest in pursuing medical degrees. This will give local residents more access to medical care where we live or work.”

Hinchey and David Hess, MD, Dean of the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) affirmed that physician education programs like the decades-long partnership St. Joseph's/Candler has had with Augusta University's MCG Savannah campus, at Georgia Southern University’s Armstrong Campus, will improve physician graduate retention significantly when paired with the new residency program.

"This approval marks an important milestone for GME expansion and physician training in Georgia,” said Dr. Hess. “We appreciate the vision of St. Joseph's/Candler President and CEO Paul P. Hinchey, the leadership of Dr. Natasha Savage, our Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education, and Dr. Elizabeth Gray, Campus Dean at MCG Savannah, who helped drive this effort forward. This program creates a vital training pipeline for MCG Savannah and a key destination for our 3+ Peach State Scholars. Training physicians in Georgia is one of the most effective ways to keep them here. This partnership strengthens our ability to improve the physician workforce and the health of communities across our state.”

Due to the MCG partnership and the overall demand for such programs, St. Joseph's/Candler expects a competitive application process. Dr. Gray shared that four MCG students have already committed to attend the residency.

St. Joseph’s/Candler and MCG have moved quickly to stand the residency program up. Leadership is already in place and curriculum for the Internal Medicine program has been developed.

• John Cinicola, MD, Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program
• Nina Paletta Schwartz, MD, FACP, Associate Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program