Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) has received initial accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for its Psychiatry residency program. This is NGMC’s fifth Graduate Medical Education (GME) program to receive initial accreditation, following the announcement earlier this month about the Emergency Medicine residency program.

The extensive accreditation process was led by John E. Delzell, Jr., MD, MSPH, FAAFP vice president of Medical Education for Northeast Georgia Health System and Designated Institutional Official for NGMC; Kalpana Prasad, MD, Psychiatry residency program director; Donna Brown, director of GME; and Brittney Hobbs, Psychiatry residency program coordinator.

“There are not enough words to describe how excited I am to be in a position to start interviewing for our first class of residents. This is a monumental time for our community to address the ever-growing needs for more excellent psychiatrists,” says Dr. Prasad. “This residency program is the start of something transformational for mental healthcare in our region.”

 NGMC anticipates interviewing approximately 200 Psychiatry residency candidates from October 2021 through January 2022. Six residents will match with NGMC through the National Residency Matching Program in March 2022, and they will begin their first day of residency on July 1, 2022.

 “As our region continues to grow, having psychiatric resources available is as important as ever,” said Dr. Delzell. “Dr. Prasad and her team have designed a curriculum that will position our future psychiatrists to effectively care for our community as our needs continue to evolve.”

The Psychiatry residency program at NGMC received ACGME accreditation by successfully completing surveys that include evaluations of program personnel, faculty, institutional safety and quality metrics, curriculum, the learning and working environment and more.

NGMC plans to continue expanding its GME program by seeking accreditation for one more specialty: OB/GYN. By 2024, all six specialties could host more than 200 total resident physicians – which would make the program one of the largest in the state of Georgia.

For more information about NGMC’s Psychiatry residency program, visit www.NGMCgme.org/programs/psychiatry-residency