The Office of Graduate Medical Education at the Wayne State School of Medicine held its New Resident Orientation on June 29, welcoming a cohort of 45 physicians who are beginning their residencies.

The incoming cohort includes 44 residents and 1 fellow, with 40% female and 60% male physicians. Fifty-three percent of them attended international medical schools, such as the Armed Forces Medical College in India, Istanbul University Medical College in Turkey and the Baqai Medical University in Pakistan, and 47% attended medical schools in the United States, including Michigan State, University of Michigan, University of Toledo and Ohio State University.

Approximately one-fifth are graduates of the WSU School of Medicine.

Five residents matched into the MIDOCS programs, three in Family Medicine - Urban Track and two in Preventive Medicine. MIDOCs is a state-funded initiative designed to recruit physicians interested in practicing primary care medicine in underserved areas of Michigan in exchange for alleviation of their educational debt.

A highlight of the orientation included a presentation on health disparities by Lori Bryant, M.D., medical director of HonorHealth in Paradise Valley, Ariz. Dr. Bryant, a graduate of the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and a board-certified pediatrician., described some of her encounters as a woman of color in the medical system, both as a patient and a provider.

Central to the mission of the School of Medicine and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, reducing health disparities is one of the most pressing issues in medicine today. The state of Michigan will require health care providers to receive training in implicit bias as a condition of licensure in 2022. For the past year, GME programs have been revising residency curricula to incorporate health disparities education.