Southwest Florida community members will now have additional access to care in Cape Coral.
A new Lee Health internal medicine residency clinic has opened as part of the recently announced Florida State University College of Medicine Internal Medicine Residency Program at Cape Coral Hospital/Lee Health.
The program received initial accreditation in September and approval to begin recruiting its first class of residents, who are expected to begin training on July 1. The residency program, which takes three years to complete, is approved to accept 12 residents a year for a total of 36 at full capacity.
“Through this new residency program and clinic, Lee Health is developing well-educated, highly trained physicians, creating greater accessibility to needed care in the community,” said Dr. Maja Delibasic, program director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Lee Health/Cape Coral and associate professor of Clinical Sciences at Florida State University College of Medicine.
“Our hope is that the majority of the residents we train stay here in Southwest Florida once they complete their residency.”
While the residency program will be based at Cape Coral Hospital, it will offer opportunities for residents to also train and see patients at the new Cape Coral Internal Medicine Residency Clinic with oversight from several faculty physicians who will begin practicing at the clinic once it opens.
The new clinic – formerly a bank – underwent extensive renovations before opening to the public. It has ten exam rooms, a room for small outpatient procedures, and a designated room for vaccine administration and blood work. Plans are being made for the clinic to have a psychologist and social worker in the future.
The residency program is currently in the recruitment process, receiving nearly 1,700 applications to date, including more than 1,000 in the first 24 hours. Match Day will take place on March 18.
FSU College of Medicine is also the academic sponsor of a family medicine residency program at Lee Memorial Hospital, a Global Health Fellowship program, and a postdoctoral psychology fellowship training program. This will be the fourth academic teaching program Lee Health offers in partnership with the Florida State University College of Medicine.
