Bon Secours launches internal residency program and new clinic

Bon Secours launches an internal medicine residency program to shore up the talent pipeline for the future.

This is Bon Secours' response to rapid growth in Greenville, increasing demand from the public. Thus, the new program was launched at its downtown campus.

The new program enhances staffing needs while also elevating the level of health care available to area patients, according to Marc Ciesco, residence program director.

A step forward

Photo provided by Bon. The internal medicine residency program marks a new chapter in the long and storied history of St. Francis Downtown and sets it firmly on the path to becoming a teaching hospital, according to Katherine Lumpkin-Leech

graduate medical education associate program director.

The inaugural class of 12 residents began the three-year program on July 1 and contains physicians with different levels of experience, Ciesco said. Some are fresh out of medical school, while others have prior clinical backgrounds.

The names of the residents were not divulged at this time.

He said the program will teach the residents extensively in all areas of internal medicine except pediatrics and obstetrics, while giving them invaluable experience working with patients in a variety of settings.

Ciesco said part of that training is in developing lasting relationships with patients, whether those patients are being treated while hospitalized or coming in for a wellness check during a routine clinic visit.

That’s why the opening of a new Bon Secours St. Francis internal medicine residency practice adjacent to St. Francis Downtown is an integral part of the program, Lumpkin-Leech said.

Patients have a key role in this model of care

This is where patients will have an important role to play in training a new generation of internal medicine specialists, she said.

Because they will be coming into a teaching environment, patients can expect longer visits where they will get much more one-on-one interactions with the attending physician and the residents they are training, Lumpkin-Leech said.

She said by giving residents experience in treating patients both in inpatient and outpatient settings, those physicians can give patients a truly holistic level of care.

“I like to call it wrapping our arms all the way around the patient that we’re really able to care for them in any phase of care,” she said.

A balanced approach

Even though St. Francis Downtown is just starting its role as a teaching hospital, the broader Bon Secours Mercy Health system has residency programs across the country from which Greenville’s program can draw inspiration and guidance.

But Ciesco and Lumpkin-Leech said the goal is to tailor the program to the unique needs of the community while also taking advantage of Greenville’s tremendous appeal in attracting people to move here to help meet the need for more doctors.

That’s why a core value built into the internal medicine residency is ensuring the well-being of its residents.

Ciesco said the training involved in residency programs can be grueling and time-consuming, with many demands on residents’ physical, mental, and emotional resources.

“We know that it takes a lot to take care of people,” Ciesco said. “So, to us, making it so we have an environment where we foster well-being — quality of life for residency training — that is important because that is something that we valued when we were residents.”

As the program matures, St. Francis Downtown is expected to add four more residency programs in the next five to seven years, Lumpkin-Leech said, with the next likely to be in family medicine.

As its role expands as a teaching institution, the caliber of health care the hospital provides could expand into research, she said.

A changing medical landscape

Ciesco said the chance to train new generations of physicians is exciting because the frontiers of medical knowledge are constantly expanding.

“There’s nothing static about anything that has to do with medical education,” he said. “There is always something to learn from an academic standpoint and how we deliver care to the people that we represent.”

Patients needed

Interested in helping train a new generation of internal medicine specialists? Bon Secours St. Francis Internal Medicine Residency Practice is accepting new patients.

Address: 317 St. Francis Drive, Suite 210, Greenville

Phone: 864-767-6279

Online: bonsecours.com