The second largest university in the nation, Orlando-based University of Central Florida, and one of the largest hospital networks, Nashville-based Hospital Corporation of America, are joining forces to add a considerable number of medical residency slots in Florida.
Over the next five years, UCF's College of Medicine and HCA plan to establish new programs to create more than 550 slots to train residents and fellows and graduate up to 150 physicians annually. This will make great strides in addressing the shortage of residency slots nationwide.
According to UCF, more than 600 medical school seniors were left without residency positions after the match last year. Florida especially has had trouble keeping up. It is ranked 42 out of the 50 states for the number of residents per 100,000 people statewide.
As a first step, the entities will operate and update HCA's four existing residencies. UCF reported the new pledge will not alter its existing internal medicine residency program with HCA, hosted by the Orlando (Fla.) VA and Kissimmee, Fla.-based Osceola Regional Medical Centers.
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