Image via Saint Agnes Medical Center Facebook page

Saint Agnes Medical Center has gained accreditation for a new residency program and can begin accepting doctors.

The medical center was notified Saturday that its newly-established Family Medicine Residency Program has received the green light from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), a private, non-profit organization that evaluates and accredits graduate medical education (GME) programs throughout the country.

This is the second time Saint Agnes has received approval from the ACGME to act as an independent teaching hospital, the first being in September 2017 for its internal medicine program.

“We are excited to create a dynamic and quality Family Medicine Residency Program that graduates stellar family physicians who hare inspired to stay and practice in the Central Valley,” said Dr. Sumera Hayat, director for the Family Practice Program.

Residency is the final phase of a long educational process required for a physician to practice medicine and is the most influential in determining where they eventually practice. In addition to its three-year Family Medicine Residency Program, Saint Agnes is also making plans for programs in emergency medicine and transitional year residency.

Interviews with medical school graduates will begin in mid-November, with its first class of eight residents scheduled to begin in July 2019. Saint Agnes is now listed with the National Resident Matching Program.

“Our vision is to offer an exceptional training environment that prepares residents to practice medicine with quality and compassion while adhering to the highest clinical standards,” said Dr. W. Eugene Egerton, chief medical officer.