East Michigan News

On Friday, June 14, CMU Medical Education Partners hosted a graduation ceremony for 41 physicians who completed their residency and fellowship programs. Most of these learners began this phase of their training during the pandemic, facing rapid and unprecedented changes in the healthcare system. This class demonstrated significant capability and adaptability as they learned to trust themselves and their colleagues to care for patients during a global medical crisis.

The CMU College of Medicine and CMU Medical Education Partners aim to provide doctors for the region and throughout the state. Twelve percent of these graduates will continue their work in Saginaw, while 32% will remain in Michigan. Just over 30% of this class will be continuing their training in fellowship programs. Of the students entering practice, nearly 40% will be caring for patients in designated health professional shortage areas. By providing medical care for rural and underserved populations, these graduates advance the mission and positively impact overall health outcomes.

This year’s graduation ceremony also marked a significant milestone for graduate medical education (GME) in the region with the graduation of the 1,000th resident. The first residency program in Saginaw began in 1947, providing clinical obstetrics training to physicians just out of medical school. In 1950, an Internal Medicine residency program was initiated. Then, in 1968, the area’s three major hospitals collaborated to form Saginaw Cooperative Hospitals, a separate organization to oversee all GME programming in the city. At that same time, they established a general surgery residency program and one of the first family medicine residency programs in the country.

Over the last five decades, GME programming has grown and expanded to meet regional needs. As CMU Medical Education Partners, GME programming now consists of eight accredited residency programs including emergency medicine, family medicine, general surgery, internal medicine, ob/gyn, pediatrics, psychiatry and podiatry as well as a child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship. Currently, more than 170 residents are in training with increasing demand each year. The GME programs accepted 54 residents in 2023—the largest class at that time—surpassed by accepting 58 residents in 2024.