Celebrate Doctor’s Day As We Announce Our Resident Class Of 2025

Who are the physicians in the Class of 2025?

Today is National Doctors Day, a day set aside to give thanks to physicians for the life-saving and life-improving care they provide. It’s a challenging but rewarding profession. Whether they practice in the office providing wellness care or are in the hospital leading the care team for the sickest of the sick, doctors are our trusted partners for life.

So what better way to celebrate Doctors Day than to welcome the next generation of doctors? Today, we are proud to introduce the Internal Medicine Residency Program’s Class of 2025. This is our seventh class of internal medicine residents in conjunction with the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership Internal Medicine Residency Program (IMRP).

Who are physician residents?

They are physicians who have graduated from medical school and have earned their doctor of medicine (MD) degree or their doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO) degree. Residency is the final step in a physician’s education before becoming a fully licensed and independent practitioner. Internal medicine residency is a three-year, hands-on program with progressive levels of responsibility that ends in certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine.

"This is another exciting year in the history of the Internal Medicine Residency Program," said Montez Carter, St. Mary's President and CEO. "We are confident this next class will continue the tradition of compassion and excellence demonstrated by their predecessors. St. Mary's is proud to be an integral part of the IMRP and its success in bringing more medical doctors to Georgia and to the Athens region."

When do they start practicing?

The new residents will begin practicing at St. Mary's Health Care System on July 1 under the supervision of advanced resident physicians and physician faculty from the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, as well as area community-based teaching faculty. In addition to providing supervised patient care in Athens, their 3-year residency involves ongoing education and rural healthcare rotations in Greene County.

Is there anything special about this class?

“This is the third class of residents who are entering the practice of medicine during an ongoing pandemic,” said Jason Smith, M.D., St. Mary’s Chief Medical Officer. “Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, these new physicians in our Class of 2025 will have a unique perspective that will be with them for their entire career.”

“We are honored once again to have received so many truly exceptional applicants to our program,” said Dr. Lela Ward, Program Director for the IMRP. “The supportive medical community, dedicated volunteer faculty, exceptional staff, and commitment of St. Mary’s Health Care System to quality care truly make this an excellent program to learn and to train physicians in Northeast Georgia.”

Is the IMRP certified?

Yes. The AU/UGA Medical Partnership Internal Medicine Residency Program is Northeast Georgia’s first modern graduate medical education program and received full accreditation from the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education in October 2016.

Who are the physicians in the IMRP Class of 2025?

The IMRP Class of 2025 and the schools at which they completed their medical education are:

In addition, the program matched a preliminary year intern, Phillip Armstrong, MD, who will complete one year of training with the program before moving on to complete his training in Anesthesiology. He earned his medical degree from Eastern Virginia Medical School.

“I am so excited to have this group of residents join us. Their experiences, diversity, and talent will continue to strengthen the Internal Medicine program,” said AU/UGA Medical Partnership Campus Dean Michelle Nuss, MD. "I look forward to seeing what these young physicians will do in our community over the next three years."

“We are proud to have these physicians join our residency program. They truly impressed us with their maturity, compassion, scholarly achievements, and dedication to improving the community,” said Dr. Ward.

Does this mean an earlier class has finished?

Yes. As the Class of 2025 arrives, the Class of 2022 graduates. One of the physicians, Dr. Robert Seminara, will remain with the program a fourth year to serve as the 2022-23 Chief Resident. The rest will either enter private practice or continue their education into a medical specialty.

What does it mean that St. Mary’s is the program’s major participating site?

It means the physician residents provide hands-on patient care within St. Mary’s Health Care System, in addition to completing mandatory learning experiences through the AU/UGA Medical Partnership. Care is provided under the direct supervision of the Chief Residents, board-certified physician faculty, and participating community physicians. As residents complete each year of their training, their level of independence increases.

Do the residents provide care outside of St. Mary’s Hospital?

Yes. Our residents work hand-in-hand with board-certified physician faculty at Community Internal Medicine of Athens, located in the Resource Medical Center at 1500 Oglethorpe Ave, Building 200D, Athens. This full-fledged outpatient practice provides primary wellness care, sick care and chronic disease management for adults, and accepts most major forms of insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, and self-pay, with financial assistance available to those who qualify.

Third-year medical residents also complete a clinical rotation in Greensboro, Ga., where they provide inpatient care at St. Mary's Good Samaritan Hospital.

Welcome, Class of 2025, and congratulations, Class of 2022!

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