BayCare Adds 7 More Medical Residency Programs

CLEARWATER, Fla., Feb. 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- When medical school students across the country are matched next month with post-graduate residency programs, up to 172 may end up in West Central Florida, thanks to continued growth in BayCare's graduate medical education (GME) programs, including its first ever Emergency Medicine residency program.

For the 2025-26 academic year, BayCare has received approval to launch seven new GME programs. Besides Emergency Medicine, the health care system will also be opening four more Internal Medicine programs, another transitional year program and a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry.

The expansion brings to 16 the number of GME programs at BayCare hospitals. BayCare sponsors 12 of the programs; Florida State University and University of South Florida sponsor two each. Across all programs, BayCare will have about 280 residents systemwide in 2025-26, more than twice as many as the current year. BayCare expects to grow to 650 residents by 2029.

"BayCare is committed to ensuring our communities have access to the highest-quality care," said BayCare President and CEO Stephanie Conners. "We are excited to train the next generation of physicians to serve the families of West Central Florida."

The seven new programs welcoming residents for the first time in 2025-26, with their maximum capacity after multiple years, include:

• An Emergency Medicine program at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa (30 residents).
• Four Internal Medicine programs at Mease Countryside Hospital in Safety Harbor (60 residents); Morton Plant North Bay Hospital in New Port Richey (30 residents); St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Petersburg (60 residents) and St. Joseph's Hospital-South in Riverview (30 residents).
• A Transitional Year residency program at St. Joseph's Hospital (15 residents).
• A Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at Morton Plant North Bay Hospital's Recovery Center (6 fellows).

"We are excited to welcome resident physicians who can bring the most up-to-date scientific innovations with them, having spent years in the classroom," said BayCare Chief Physician Executive Dr. Sowmya Viswanathan. "They also are required, as part of their training, to engage in scholarly activity, which will naturally contribute to BayCare's research program."

BayCare's investment in physician education comes amid continued concerns about physician shortages in the United States. By qualifying to expand its graduate medical education offerings, BayCare will attract many more young physicians to the region each year, many of whom will likely choose to stay to practice medicine in the area after finishing their formal "residency" training with BayCare. The expansion in residency training comes with the support of the state. The Florida Legislature has worked to grow the physician pipeline through current and new funding, including the Live Healthy Act. 

For more information: Graduate Medical Education Programs at BayCare

BayCare providers take part in clinical research to learn about the cause of a disease and its effects on patients, help find effective treatments to improve quality of life and health outcomes and find out if a medicine used for one condition could also help with another condition. Learn more: Clinical Research and Trials

About BayCare

BayCare is a leading not-for-profit health care system that connects individuals and families to a wide range of services at 16 hospitals and hundreds of other convenient locations throughout the Tampa Bay and central Florida regions. The system is West Central Florida's largest provider of behavioral health and pediatric services and its provider group, BayCare Medical Group, is one of the largest in the region. BayCare's diverse network of ambulatory services includes laboratories, imaging, surgical centers, BayCare Urgent Care locations, wellness centers and one of Florida's largest home care agencies, BayCare HomeCare. BayCare's mission is to improve the health of all it serves through community-owned, health care services that set the standard for high-quality, compassionate care. For more information, visit BayCare.org.

SOURCE BayCare Health System