Valdosta – The Valdosta Chamber hosted a ribbon cutting for SGMC Internal Medicine at Park Avenue located at 604 E. Park Ave. SGMC Internal Medicine is part of Southern Georgia Medical Center’s growing primary care network that serves residents in Lowndes, Lanier, Berrien, and beyond.

This new addition is part of SGMC’s graduate medical education program in partnership with Mercer University School of Medicine. Medical providers practicing at this location are physicians completing their 3-year internal medicine specialty residency training at SGMC.

Dr. Joseph Hayes serves as the Medical Director for the practice and oversees patient care and clinical skills development for the resident physicians.

The residency program at SGMC Internal Medicine is a part of a larger goal to create a broader pipeline of doctors in rural communities. According to the Journal of American Medical Association, about 20 percent of Americans live in rural areas but barely one-tenth of physicians practice there. Most physicians will locate where they do their training and by offering a residency program in Valdosta, SGMC is hoping to help increase the number of physicians in rural areas.

Patients at SGMC Internal Medicine have several advantages over a typical primary care clinic visit. First, patients will be evaluated by a resident physician and overseen by a Medical Director. Patients also get more time with their doctors since resident physicians do not yet have an established patient base. Additionally, patients play a vital role in the education and training of the residents and support the future of medicine in South Georgia.

For more information, contact the Director of Marketing, Erika Bennett at (229) 433-5260, by email at karahope.hanson@sgmc.org, or online at https://www.sgmc.org/sgmc-internal-medicine-park-avenue/.