UT College of Medicine Chattanooga announced Monday that the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and its Emergency Medicine Residency Review Committee approved the addition of the Emergency Medicine Residency program based at the Erlanger Baroness Campus.
The program will be the first emergency medicine residency program within the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, which consists of campuses in Chattanooga, Memphis and Knoxville, and will be led by program director and chief of emergency medicine at Erlanger, Dr. James Creel.
It is the second such program in the state, officials said.
“We are honored to announce the addition of the emergency medicine residency program at UTCOM Chattanooga,” Dr. David Seaberg, dean of UT College of Medicine Chattanooga, said. “The program is not only essential in providing University of Tennessee medical students with the opportunity to pursue emergency medicine training but it is also important the to have trained, board-certified emergency physicians available to staff the emergency departments across the state. This approval is another step in the growth of our academic medical center and will help improve the care of our patients in the Chattanooga area.”
The three-year program, to begin in July, will consist of six residents at each level, a total of 18 residents when the program reaches its maturity.
Program director and chief of emergency medicine at Erlanger, Dr. James Creel said, “This program is a great addition to UTCOM Chattanooga and Erlanger and it is a program that will continue to give back to the city, the state, and the region by sending out well-trained board-certified emergency medicine physicians to area emergency rooms when they’ve completed their training.”
According to Erlanger President and CEO Jim Brexler, “The continued expansion of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine at Erlanger is good news for this region. Last fiscal year, Erlanger saw more than 100,000 patients in our emergency departments, a new record. With the oversight of experienced emergency medicine physicians, the doctors entering this new program will immediately contribute to the care of patients while they prepare for their future careers.”
UTCOM Chattanooga, established in 1974 as the Clinical Education Center of Chattanooga, is affiliated with Erlanger Health System.