EAMC Welcomes Inaugural Internal Medicine Residents

East Alabama Medical Center (EAMC) is pleased to announce its inaugural group of internal medicine residents. On March 19—National “Match Day”—10 students were selected and will begin orientation June 21, followed by clinical work starting July 1.

The 10 individuals who will be part of EAMC’s inaugural Internal Medicine (IM) Residency Program are Jonathan Blackmon, Lindsey Blackmon, Haley Clay, Kathleen Francis, Matthew Jenkins, Pegah Kannar, Sujana Reddy, Waldo Santiago-Colberg, Katie Spain-Mansmann, and Garrison Starrett.

The mission of the residency program is to train internal medicine residents to become compassionate and competent physicians, and to design and conduct the program in a way that will help meet the healthcare needs of our primary service area. EAMC was approved as a teaching site by the national accrediting agency (ACGME) in November 2019 and then received Internal Medicine Program approval in April 2020. Since that time, the program has worked to recruit high-quality residents and has been further developing all aspects of the teaching program, from clinical rotations (including outpatient and inpatient experiences) to didactic lectures and other teaching conferences.

Steven Presley, M.D. will serve as program director. Dr. Presley has been on the medical staff at EAMC since 2007, served as the medical director for the IMA Hospitalist group for 10 years, and has had prior experience in Graduate Medical Education. Other core faculty members include Nathan Douthit, M.D., Mike Hall, M.D., Rekha Lall, M.D. and Chris Old, M.D. Many other local physicians will be involved in this endeavor to train residents.

As part of the teaching program, the residents will provide inpatient care at EAMC and will also establish a continuity clinic (East Alabama Health Internal Medicine Clinic) where they will provide longitudinal primary care for patients in an outpatient clinic setting. After completing their three-year program, internal medicine residents will be qualified to sit for board exams and begin their careers or pursue further subspecialty training.

The specialty of internal medicine was founded in 1936.

Internal medicine physicians, or internists, are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex illness.

Many internists enter immediately into practice following residency and are commonly referred to as “general internists.” General internists in our area often serve as primary care physicians. Some general internists focus their practice on caring for patients in the hospital setting and are referred to as “hospitalists.”

Some internists take additional training to subspecialize in a more focused area of internal medicine, such as cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, rheumatology, and infectious disease. This subspecialty training (called a “fellowship”) requires additional time following the three years of IM residency.

EAMC is thrilled to start this journey of Graduate Medical Education (GME). Having these additional physicians to meet the growing needs of our ever-expanding community is a blessing to us and will be to many in the community as well.

For further information about the program, look online at https://www.eamc.org/careers-and-resources/internal-medicine-residency/.

Some information provided in this article came from the American College of Physicians website at www.acponline.org.

About East Alabama Health:

East Alabama Health encompasses East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika, EAMC-Lanier in Valley, the Spencer Cancer Center in Opelika, the Auburn Medical Pavilion (opening in June) and a host of other key medical clinic and practices that help provide a continuum of care to patients throughout an 11-county area. EAMC is a 340-bed regional referral hospital, while EAMC-Lanier provides inpatient services as well as a nursing home, an acute rehab unit and an ambulatory surgery center that opened in spring 2021. East Alabama Health employs about 3,500 employees and is the second largest employer in the region, trailing only Auburn University. The Auburn Medical Pavilion will include the East Alabama Medical Center Freestanding Emergency Department, as well as a surgery center, pharmacy, laboratory and outpatient imaging. For more information, visit www.eamc.org.