Fourteen medical residents from the initial class of the Graduate Medical Education Program at Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center completed their three-year residency program in a graduation ceremony on Friday, June 14.

In December, the Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit health care ratings organization, named Piedmont Athens a Top Teaching Hospital in the country, the only hospital in Georgia and one of 53 nationally to earn this designation.

“These 14 physicians were the first class of what is now a residency program of 55 total residents in our internal and transitional-year residency programs,” said Catherine Apaloo, M.D., program director for Piedmont Athens Regional’s internal medicine residency program. “We’re exceptionally proud of the work that these physicians have completed in helping us provide high-quality healthcare to our patients at Piedmont Athens Regional.”

According to Dr. Apaloo, the Graduate Medical Education Program was created to help address the need for more physicians in Georgia, and it has done just that. “Eight of these graduates will continue to practice in Georgia, helping close the physician gap in our state,” she said.  

In fact, seven of the eight graduates who will remain in Georgia will move into roles at Piedmont Healthcare.

The hospital’s Graduate Medical Residency Program, which started in 2016, aims to train the next generation of doctors, focusing on training healers, coaching leaders, enriching lives, and transforming healthcare. There is an internal medicine residency program and a transitional-year residency program, both of which are accredited through the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and are open to physicians through the National Resident Matching Program.

“We look forward to seeing our first graduates march together in recognition of finishing this three-year program, surrounded by family members, mentors and the many physicians in our facility who helped to guide them along the way,” said James Appiah-Pippim, M.D., program director for Piedmont Athens Regional’s transition-year residency program. “We’re excited to see these doctors flourish in their future, as we also celebrate more residents to come.”