St. Clair Health to launch residency program

St. Clair Health has received initial accreditation for its new internal medicine residency program, opening the door to training young doctors at St. Clair Hospital in Mt. Lebanon in 2025.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education provided initial endorsement of St. Clair’s planned three-year program, which will accept eight physicians each year starting next summer before eventually enrolling up to 24 doctors each year. The program is expected to increase the number of primary care doctors practicing in the Pittsburgh region while also holding down health care costs for the system.

Only 47% of doctors who train in Pennsylvania remain in the state after residency, which compares to 55% nationally, according to Amy Bunger, vice president and chief academic officer at St. Clair.

“To create a talent pipeline, we’ve combined the best education practices with the most committed, passionate educators to bring education excellence to life in a residency program that mirrors the standards of excellence commensurate with our institution,” she said in a prepared statement.

In addition to offering graduate medical education programs, St. Clair Health will be a training site for Duquesne University College of Osteopathic Medicine medical students when they begin clinical rotations in 2026. St. Clair also partners with local colleges and universities for students in nursing and other health sciences while anticipating eventually training more than 600 health care professionals each year.