Welcome to the Willis-Knighton Office of Graduate Medical Education (GME)! Willis-Knighton Health System is currently in the process of developing graduate medical education programs in the Shreveport-Bossier City area. Willis-Knighton received Initial Accreditation as a Sponsoring Institution from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in December of 2020, an important step in the development of these programs.
Our Internal Medicine and Surgery residency programs received initial accreditation from the ACGME in September of 2021. We then completed recruitment for our inaugural cohort of residents for these programs, and welcomed them to our organization in July of 2022. Our residents train at our hospital and outpatient facilities throughout the Shreveport-Bossier City area. We also are in the development phases for other residency programs and submitted applications to the ACMGE for proposed programs in Psychiatry and Rural Family Medicine.
These programs build on a long tradition at Willis-Knighton of participating in GME and hosting resident rotations. We see tremendous value in investing in the education of future physicians. According to a study conducted by the AAMC, the United States will face a significant shortage of physicians by the year 2025, particularly in Primary Care. By developing these programs, Willis-Knighton will not only recruit and retain physicians to Northwest Louisiana but will also provide these physicians with the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in the rapidly changing healthcare environment.
Organizations with robust GME programs also see substantial advances in Quality and Process Improvement, and in the ability to design and implement innovative care models that focus on preventative care and chronic disease management.
Overall, we are excited about our plans for these GME programs and are looking forward to providing further updates as our development work progresses! Should you have any questions regarding our residency programs, please do not hesitate to reach out using the Contact Us feature.