2018 AF/WSU Medical Residency graduates honored at ceremony

Residents stand in line prior to being seated during the 88th Medical Group Residency graduation ceremony held inside the National Museum of the United States Air Force May 24. Graduates from a number of different programs, including surgery and pediatrics, were recognized upon the completion of their programs. (U.S. Air Force photo/Wesley Farnsworth)

Residents stand in line prior to being seated during the 88th Medical Group Residency graduation ceremony held inside the National Museum of the United States Air Force May 24. Graduates from a number of different programs, including surgery and pediatrics, were recognized upon the completion of their programs. (U.S. Air Force photo/Wesley Farnsworth)

A ceremony to honor graduates of the 2018 joint Air Force/Wright State University residency program was held May 24 at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

The event recognized 82 military graduates, 37 residents and 45 interns, in several specialty areas: Internal Medicine, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Pediatrics, Emergency Medicine, Psychiatry and General Surgery.

The ceremony’s keynote speaker was Dr. Albert Painter, Ph.D., who is the designated institutional official to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education for the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, and is also associate dean for faculty affairs.

Resident graduates will move on to their first assignment as a staff physician in their specialty or, in many cases, will continue their training in a medical or surgical subspecialty, according to Col. Bradley Lloyd, MC, director of Medical Education at the Wright-Patterson Medical Center.

Interns who finished their first year of training after medical school graduation will, for the most part, continue in the joint Air Force/WSU residency programs, added Lloyd. A few interns will leave training and serve as general medical officers or flight surgeons prior to returning to finish a residency program.

Interns are honored even though they have between two to four years left in their training programs because completing the intern year is a crucial step in the process to becoming a fully qualified physician. It is also a requirement for licensure, explained Lloyd.

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