As part of The University of Arizona/UPH Graduate Medical Education Consortium, University Physicians Hospital is co-sponsoring seven new residency programs.

The new residency programs are based at UPH Hospital and will include rotations throughout Arizona. They have a unique emphasis on rural and underserved populations.

CURRENT STATUS
Internal medicine and psychiatry programs began in July 2008. The radiology program has received full accreditation and is scheduled to start in July 2009. Neurology is now approved.

The remaining programs in emergency medicine, family medicine, ophthalmology and transitional medicine are awaiting accreditation. 

RELATION TO CURRENT UA RESIDENCY PROGRAM BASED AT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
UPH is working in close collaboration with the UA College of Medicine Graduate Medical Education (GME) office and UMC to develop the new residency programs. The UPH Hospital program is first and foremost a UA GME program with UPH as the co-sponsoring entity and base site. The UPH programs do not replace or compete with the current UA residency programs based at UMC. 

Several UA College of Medicine departments will have two residency programs: one based at UMC and another based at UPH Hospital.

START UP: WHAT IT TAKES
Accreditation: Each residency program is required to receive accreditation via the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Accreditation is accomplished through a peer review process and is based on established standards and guidelines.

Space and Physical Resources: UPH Hospital has completed a study to determine appropriate space for work areas for the residents and their faculty: education areas, meeting areas, personal areas such as on-call sleeping rooms and library facilities.

Rotations: In order to meet the needs of each department’s program, some residents will rotate to various locations throughout Arizona including the VA and Indian Health Services sites. Relationships with outlying area clinics and hospitals continue to be developed and rotations continue to be designed.

FUNDING
Residency programs are typically funded through special Medicare monies per resident, and add-on payments for services that residents provide to Medicare patients. UPH is also actively seeking financial support from special federal, state, county and other local sources.

PARTICIPATING UA COLLEGE OF MEDICINE DEPARTMENTS
The table below is a summary of the programs along with the total resident count by year effective July 2008.