Ten students specializing in internal medicine and three specializing in general surgery will continue their medical training at Willis-Knighton Health System beginning July 1. The medical students received the news Friday during Match Day, an annual rite of passage for the medical students as they learn where they have been accepted for training for the next three to seven years.

Filling all residency positions means Willis-Knighton was the preferred choice for these medical students, and that Willis-Knighton’s Office of Graduate Medical Education (GME) considered them well-suited to their chosen programs which received approval last September.

Before doctors can be board certified and treat patients on their own, they must complete a residency program in their chosen specialty. Organizations that train residents take on tremendous responsibility to guide the growth of these doctors and provide knowledge, skills, and abilities to be successful in their future practice.

“We are so excited to welcome these future residents to the Willis-Knighton family,” said Donnie Aultman, MD, endocrine surgeon and GME designated institutional official. “Our GME department has been established with professionals who have a strong track record in academic medicine.”

Internal medicine residents will train for three years under the supervision of experienced physicians to improve their skills in the full spectrum of internal medicine, including outpatient medicine, inpatient medicine, critical care, and rotations in all the major subspecialities of internal medicine. They will practice primarily at Willis-Knighton Medical Center but will rotate at other Willis-Knighton locations.

Surgical residents will train for five years and complete general surgery rotations primarily at Willis-Knighton Medical Center and WK Bossier Health Center but will also rotate at other Willis-Knighton hospitals. Their training will include general surgery and surgical subspecialities, including an enhanced focus on robotic and minimally invasive surgery.

“We all look forward to training these future physicians and are happy for what this brings to the health system and for the patients we serve,” Dr. Aultman said. “We will continue to develop other residency programs to help fill the physician shortages here in Louisiana and the region.”