One of the major talent pipelines bringing a steady stream of young doctors to Rhode Island is the University of Vermont College of Medicine in Burlington. Twelve graduates – more than 10 percent of its 2012 graduating class of 110 – accepted residencies at hospitals in Providence, many choosing a primary care career path.
Providence hospitals were the most popular choice, tied with University of Vermont/Fletcher Allen Hospital, among more than 60 institutions across the nation, including Yale-New Haven Hospital, University of Pittsburgh, Einstein/Montefiore Medical Center, Stanford University, University of California San Francisco Hospital and Children’s Hospital in Boston.
By comparison, of the 72 graduating students in 2012 at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, 10 stayed at Rhode Island hospitals, according to David Orenstein, spokesman for the school.
The new residents were following the path of other recent graduates from the Vermont College of Medicine, according to Meghan Beucher, now a first-year resident in pediatrics at Hasbro Children’s Hospital and Brown University.
Over the last five years, 29 medical students have matched at programs in Rhode Island, including three in 2008, six in 2009, four each in 2010 and in 2011, and this year’s bumper crop, according to Carole L. Whitaker, assistant dean for communication and planning at the University of Vermont College of Medicine.
Beucher, who earned her undergraduate degree at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vt., did not have a geographic destination in mind when she began her search. “I looked all over, but I got a really good feeling when I met with other residents [in Providence], the night before my interview,” she said. “All had formed close friendships with each other, and I imagined myself as a part of the group, as part of a tight-knit group.”
The hospital staff and program directors have provided the new residents with information to help them with the transition to Rhode Island – including a map listing all the beaches. The chief resident also hosted a gathering at a local oyster bar, which Beucher called “bonding.”
Beucher said she was very impressed by the facilities at the hospitals. The fact that Hasbro Children’s Hospital is a standalone children’s hospital was an important factor in her decision, too. “Its focus is on pediatrics, yet it was connected with other hospitals, with the ability to consult,” she said.
Beucher’s choice of pediatrics as her focus was a tough decision, she said, because she was also drawn to obstetrics and gynecology. Ultimately, her choice came down to how she will work with the patients. “I will be seeing male and female patients of all ages in pediatrics,” she said.
A factor in her decision to choose pediatrics over ob-gyn was the way that ob-gyn practices were changing, being divided it into labor and outpatient, and Beucher wanted to be involved in all parts of a patient’s care.
The Rhode Island Foundation, with major grants from the both Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and UnitedHealthcare of New England, has developed a program of medical-school loan forgiveness, as a way of helping to retain talented residents to stay and practice in the primary-care area. The demand for primary-care physicians is expected to increase dramatically in the coming years as a result of initiatives under health care reform and the development of patient-centered medical homes in Rhode Island.
Primary care is definitely an option for Beucher. “I don’t know where I’m going to end up. I’m really into advocacy care for kids, and I’m looking at primary care for kids.”
But, for Beucher, the decision about where she will choose to practice is not the immediate challenge. “In the first year, it’s a really steep learning curve, going from med student to intern. It’s a change in responsibility levels. You need to access all that information somewhere tucked in your brain in a logical fashion.”
Beucher just finished her emergency room rotation and is starting her hematology/oncology rotation.
What will be her biggest challenge? “Losing my first patient will be difficult,” she said. “I don’t look forward to that day.”
Beucher said that she couldn’t speak specifically to the motivations of the rest of the 12 medical residents from the Vermont College of Medicine and why they came to Providence. “One thing is consistent,” she said. “We all got a really good feeling when we interviewed here. We got a sense that there was a little bit of Vermont here. We all really like and appreciate that.”
The entire group of 12 has managed to find time to get together on a regular basis, despite different and demanding work schedules, according to Beucher. “We are a tight-knit group,” she said, adding that good friends from med school from Yale and New York City had just come up to Providence for a visit with them. •
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