Trident Medical Center plans to become a teaching hospital

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As of today, Trident Medical Center now has its own teaching program.

The hospital is launching its residency program with two graduate medical education programs: Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine, Trident said in a news release. Both are three-year programs that are open to 10 residents annually.

More than 2,200 physicians have applied to the two programs, according to Trident GME Administrative Director Agness Gregg.

Hospital CEO Christina Oh said adding residency programs is essential to the hospital’s growth and to meeting the health care needs of Lowcountry residents as more and more people look to move closer to accessible health care.

“Training the next generation of physicians, especially in much-need specialties like emergency medicine and internal medicine, to care for our region’s families, will have a positive and generational impact on the health of our communities,” Oh said in a statement.

Next year, Trident Health plans to launch additional GME programs, the hospital said.

Internal medicine physicians are some of the highest specialists in demand in the country. Last year, more than 315,000 Lowcountry residents received care through Trident Health, while 130,000 patients received emergency care in a Trident Health Emergency Room, according to the hospital.

ERs include Trident Medical Center, Summerville Medical Center, Brighton Park Emergency, Centre Point Emergency and Moncks Corner Medical Center.

Gregg, a Lowcountry resident who has worked with GME programs at the Medical University of S.C. and University of Chicago, described Trident’s inaugural classes as an “outstanding group.”

“They will set the bar high for the classes that will follow them,” she said. “They are also representative of the Lowcountry, which is important knowing we have an increasingly diverse population in our rapidly growing region.”

Medical directors for the programs include Dr. Nicholas Connors and Dr. Nancy Crossley.

Connors earned his medical degree from Weill Cornell College – Cornell University. He performed his residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital and a fellowship at New York University School of Medicine. Crossley earned her medical degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine. She completed her residency at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich.