Sports Medicine Training Fellowship Established

CONCORD, N.C., July 17, 2006 --NorthEast Medical Center's Cabarrus Family Medicine Residency Program has established a fellowship in Primary Care Sports Medicine. The new program received a three-year accreditation by the American Council of Graduate Medical Education and is one of only 80 such programs in the United States to offer this advanced level of training. The other programs in North Carolina are at Wake Forest University/NC Baptist Medical Center, Carolinas Medical Center, Moses Cone Health Systems, Duke University and East Carolina University.

Sports medicine physicians specialize in the non-operative management of musculoskeletal injuries. They also promote lifelong fitness and wellness, encourage prevention of illness and injury, and treat medical and musculoskeletal problems in people of all ages. After completing residency in a primary specialty, physicians obtain one to two years of additional training in an accredited fellowship program. They must then pass a national certification examination before receiving a Certificate of Added Qualification in Sports Medicine (CAQSM). These physicians are then considered sports medicine specialists.

The Cabarrus Sports Medicine Fellowship is based at the Sports Medicine and Injury Center in Concord, NC. Kevin Burroughs, MD, CAQSM is the program director and Kate Walker, MD, CAQSM serves as the associate director. The program accepts one physician each year for fellowship training and is pleased to welcome Saquib Hamid, MD as the first fellow in the program. Dr. Hamid completed medical school at Saba University School of Medicine and a family medicine residency at the University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Family Medicine Residents Graduate

CONCORD, N.C., July 13, 2006 - The Cabarrus Family Residency Program and NorthEast Medical Center graduated seven family medicine residents in commencement exercises held June 29, 2006 in the Hamrick Theatre at NorthEast Medical Center. The keynote speaker was Ann C. Jobe, MD, MSN, the executive director of the Clinical Skills Evaluation Collaboration in Philadelphia, PA. Several awards were presented to the teaching faculty. Dr. Kevin Burroughs was recognized as the Most Valuable Attending by the graduating class. The residents honored Dr. Russell Suda as Medical Staff Teacher of the Year and Dr. Ronald Pollack as Family Physician Teacher of the Year. Dr. Randall Thomas received the Ambulatory Teaching Award.

Several graduating residents were honored with awards at the ceremony. Dr. Soo Lee was recognized with the Outstanding Resident Award, and Dr. Bethany South received the Servant Leadership Award. Dr. Daniel Goodrich was presented the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Resident Teaching Award, and Dr. Roshni Patel was honored with a Distinguished Service Award.

Graduation from residency marks the end of a long and arduous educational journey. At a minimum, this education included twelve years of primary education, four years of college, four years of medical school, and three years of family medicine residency training. Upon completion of the Cabarrus Family Medicine Residency Program, these physicians are now eligible for board certification in family practice.

This graduation marks the eighth graduation for the Cabarrus Family Medicine Residency Program, led by program director Mark Robinson, MD and director of graduate medical education L. Allen Dobson, Jr., MD. Sixty physicians have completed the program since its inception in 1996. Forty-one of the graduates practice medicine in North Carolina, and twenty-seven graduates have remained in Cabarrus or adjacent counties.