Landmark announces expansion to physician residency program
Woonsocket hospital expanding internal medicine training program
WOONSOCKET – Landmark Medical Center could have as many as 56 residents by 2026, up from having none just three years ago, the hospital announced on national “Thank A Resident Day” on Friday.
Landmark is preparing to graduate its first full class of 26 threeyear internal medicine residents this June after launching its program in 2021. In September, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education granted Landmark full accreditation, opening the door for expansion in the coming years.
“It elevates the hospital because now the hospital is a teaching-learning hospital,” said Landmark CEO Michael Souza.
There are three types of expansion the hospital can take now that it’s received full accreditation, Souza explained, and Landmark has chosen to pursue all three of them. The first is to expand its existing internal medicine residency program from its current 26 slots to 41 by 2026.
Landmark leadership chose to start its first residency program in internal medicine to help address a physician shortage in Woonsocket, Souza said. Even in the first couple years it’s been operating, the resident-run primary care outpatient clinic down the street from the main hospital, which sees about 2,500 patients, has helped local patients get faster and more consistent outpatient care and reduced the waitlist burden on Thundermist Health Center, he said.
Glenn Fort, the internal medicine program director, said he and his team review over 2,000 applications for 12 slots per year. Candidates from all over the world apply through the National Residency Matching program, and many are attracted to New York Medical College’s sponsorship. The college provides education support and resources, and sets certain standards for the program as well.
Candidates are also drawn by the hospital’s proximity to Boston and Providence, said Chief Resident Sagar Patel, and the chance to work
in an “underserved community.”
“We’re not just learning, but trying to make a difference,” Patel said.
Working in an underserved community is also particularly important for international residents, said Chief Resident Mahershi Raval. Medical residents from overseas can waive a requirement to return to their home country at the end of their visa if they are working as doctors in medically underserved areas.
“A lot of people, when they come here, they tell us they don’t want to go back to where they’re from,” Fort said.
The second type of expansion available to Landmark through its full accreditation is starting another type of residency program. Souza said he is preparing to begin the application process for a 12-resident, threeyear family practice residency in partnership with Thundermist. If all goes as planned with the application process, Landmark can expect to welcome its first class of four family practice residents in July of 2026.
The third type of expansion is to offer fellowships. For aspiring doctors, fellowships are an opportunity to receive more specialized training in a specific area of medicine. Fort said about 40% of residents go on to complete a fellowship.
Landmark is preparing to start a three-year cardiology fellowship in 2026, taking one new fellow each year, Souza said.
Expanding the graduate medical education offerings “changes the whole dynamic of the hospital” by encouraging staff to “focus on making it a worthwhile education” for the residents, Fort said. It’s also aligned with a growing national trend he’s been seeing at national conferences, he said. Hospitals around the country are facing physician shortages after doctors and nurses left the profession in droves during or shortly after the pandemic, so many are working on starting residency programs that may help make up the difference.
Though affiliating with New York Medical College helps, starting a new program from scratch can be challenging since it takes time to build up recognition and connections in the industry.
“As a new program, when you’re not that established, the main challenge is the trajectory after graduation,” Raval said.
But Patel and Raval said the staff at Landmark has been extremely supportive from the beginning, offering guidance and sponsoring opportunities outside of the hospital. They were both able to conduct research and land fellowships.
Landmark’s program also emphasizes resident well-being, and solicits and implements feedback from residents, Fort said. Jenna Iannuccilli, associate program director for the internal medicine residency, said one of the first changes they made was to residents’ scheduling model, bringing it up to date with how most other programs and hospitals operate and building in more time for research or specialty rotations.
“Why are we training residents to work in the old model?” She said.
The program maintains a monthly team-building wellness outing, Fort said, plus an annual retreat where residents can both unwind and learn about some concepts not typically taught in their classes, such as financing a private practice. The hospital also transformed an entire wing into the “graduate medical education suite,” which includes six on-call rooms, a work station, a small kitchen and a lounge room, which will come in handy as the program grows.
“In 2021, not too long ago, we had zero [residents],” Souza said. “Now, in a matter of four years from now, we could have 41 internal medicine, 12 family practice and three cardiology fellows.”