WVU welcomes newest class of residents, fellows

The West Virginia University School of Medicine recently welcomed a class of 196 new resident and fellow physicians to the graduate medical education program.

Currently, there are more than 500 residents and fellows training within the WVU Medicine-WVU Hospitals system. Of these, 166 will begin work on July 1. The skills learned during the first year of training vary by their chosen specialty and build on the foundation given to students during their years in medical school.

“WVU is the largest and oldest institution in the state offering specialized graduate medical training in both primary and specialty care,” said Manuel Vallejo, M.D., D.M.D., assistant dean and designated institutional official for graduate medical education. “Many top medical school graduates from all over the country, the world, and the state of West Virginia choose to train with us in our highly coveted programs. Furthermore, many choose to practice in the state of West Virginia after completion of their residencies and fellowships, which further strengthens the medical needs of our underserved state.”

The current class of medical residents is practicing in 40 specialties, with internal medicine starting the most at 26, followed by emergency medicine with 10. They represent 76 medical schools from various countries, including India, Iraq, Kuwait, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the West Indies. There are 45 WVU School of Medicine graduates and nine from the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. The oldest resident is 46 years old and the youngest is 24.

To learn more about WVU’s medical residency training programs, visit the graduate medical education website at medicine.hsc.wvu.edu/gme. For news and information on the WVU School of Medicine, follow us on twitter @WVUMedSchool, like us on Facebook or visit medicine.hsc.wvu.edu.