Magnolia Matters - 2018 Fall/Winter

94% MRHC’S RESIDENTS PASS RATE INITIAL INTERNAL MEDICINE CERTIFICATION EXAM Moreover, several residents trained at MRHC have gone on to complete fellowship training in various specialties and ultimately returned to North Mississippi as the first physicians ever to deliver their respective specialty care in the region. As the graduate medical education (GME) program grew, patients finally could get the care they needed, and MRHC expanded from 165 beds to 200 beds. Growth in the hospital’s average daily census is clearly related to the introduction of GME at the institution. MRHC is the largest employer in Alcorn County, so this growth brought a great economic impact to the region. Governor Phil Bryant has made it a point to recruit and retain physicians in the state of Mississippi. The governor’s office stated that for every physician brought to the state, a $2 million per year economic gain could be expected. Unlike those in most other internal medicine residency training programs, whose graduates generally do not practice in primary care or rural, underserved areas, the graduates of MRHC have remained in this rural, underserved area to deliver care. In all, 69% of MRHC graduates (22 of 32) have contracted to practice in rural, underserved regions after completing training, and 56% of MRHC graduates (18 of 32) have decided to remain in primary care after graduation. This influx of physicians has brought $44 million a year to the region by the governor‘s estimate. When MRHC started the GME program in 2008, it had to invest significant resources to build the infrastructure necessary to train physicians. This investment has produced excellent results. MRHC’s residents have had a 94% pass rate on the initial Internal Medicine Certification Exam. This is impressive when compared to the national average pass rate of 90%. Additionally, MRHC residents progressively improved the in- service exam scores from almost their worst in the country on the first attempt in 2008 to 2018 FALL/WINTER 10