OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. (WLOX) — At the Gulf Hills Hotel and Resort Friday evening, 17 residents graduated from Memorial Health System’s Graduate Medical Education (GME) program.
Six residents focused on internal medicine and the other 11 focused on family medicine. Throughout the two classes’ time in the program, they experienced traditional inpatient and outpatient rotations.
Family medicine graduate Dr. Sana Jaffery said she has learned many skills to take with her to her new residency in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
“The sheer amount of knowledge that I’ve gained in the past three years is just — I can make books out of it,” Jaffery said. “It’s an understatement, to be honest.”

Family medicine graduate Dr. Sana Jaffery said she has learned many skills to take with her to her new residency in Lake Charles, Louisiana.(wlox)
Another graduate, Dr. Taylor Brewer, plans to stay on the Coast to continue to practice internal medicine. She said there is always a need for more doctors.
“The nation has a shortage of physicians. So, really, the more that we can retain within our system and keep down here on the coast, the better,” Brewer said.

Another graduate, Dr. Taylor Brewer, plans to stay on the Coast to continue to practice internal medicine.(wlox)
The GME program started in 2022.
The Mississippi Department of Health has addressed a shortage of physicians in the state for several years now. Dr. Wayne Latack, a designated institutional officer for GME, said this program hopes to help, one graduation at a time.
“Memorial created these residencies to form a pipeline to infuse our local communities with more board-certified family medicine and internal medicine physicians to take care of our great people of southern Mississippi,” Latack said.

Dr. Wayne Latack (left), a designated institutional officer for GME, said this program hopes to help, one graduation at a time.(wlox)
Latack said he hopes all these physicians graduating will take the skills they’ve learned over the past 36 months with them into their careers.
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