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St. Bernards Starts Osteopathic Residency Program

1 min read

St. Bernards Healthcare in Jonesboro recently started its internal medicine residency program with an osteopathic focus.

On July 1, the five physicians in the inaugural class began their three-year residency program, according to a St. Bernards news release.

Spokeswoman Rebecca Rasberry said the program has been in development for more than a year. When it reaches its third year, St. Bernards will have spent $3 million on the program, she said.

The hospital system developed the residency because of the “need in this region for more physicians with advanced training in the field of internal medicine,” the news release said.

Dr. Veryl Hodges, an internist who is serving as the program’s director, said in the news release that he hopes the residents will decide to stay in northeast Arkansas after completing their residency.

St. Bernards will add a class of internal medicine residents each year, with up to eight slots available per class, the release said. The additional residency spots will help ease the flood of new medical school graduates expected in 2021 because of the two new osteopathic medical schools preparing to open in Arkansas.

The New York Institute of Technology is leasing space on the campus of Arkansas State University in Jonesboro and will start teaching its first class of osteopathic students this fall. The Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Smith is planning to start teaching students in the fall of 2017.

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