Joint medical residency program launches in northwest Indiana – Inside INdiana Business

NorthShore Health Centers and Northwest Health Indiana this week announced a joint medical residency initiative to provide training to physicians specializing in internal medicine.

The residents will do in-patient rotations at Northwest Health hospitals in Porter and at NorthShore outpatient clinics in Portage and Hammond, the health care provider said in a news release.

“Teaching is and always has been an integral component to the NorthShore mission. Patients are at the center of everything we do,” said Andi Arnautovic, NorthShore’s chief medical officer. “It’s our way of giving back to the community. Through this partnership, these residents are learning to practice in one of the most diverse population areas. Here we have all segments of society represented in terms of cultural background, language and ethnicity.”

The first group to take part in the initiative consists of 13 first-year residents and one second-year resident. They were selected from a pool of 500 candidates.

They come from the United States as well as Canada, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Ukraine, among other places, NorthShore said. Each resident will complete 13 rotations throughout various specialty floors.

The three-year program will cap out at 39 residents as the initial class progresses and newer classes come up behind it.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our patients, as well as a very unique opportunity for the residents,” Jacquelyn Mullins, program coordinator for the department of internal medicine at Northwest Health, said in the release. “Medicine evolves over time and these residents provide fresh eyes and minds that can be applied to patient outcomes. With access to more physicians, our patients will benefit from more time spent with them reviewing their cases, reduced wait times and sooner follow-up visits.”

Northwest Health Indiana operates hospitals in LaPorte, Porter and Starke, as well as four outpatient medical centers, three surgery centers and two urgent care centers.

NorthShore Health Centers operates more than 20 clinics in Porter, Lake, La Porte and Jasper counties. The health system recently opened four new clinics in East Chicago, Michigan City, Gary and Crown Point.

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