On July 1, Community Medical Center (CMC), an RWJBarnabas Health facility, marked the start of its transition to becoming a leading academic medical center by welcoming its inaugural class of medical residents from Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
The transition to an academic medical center represents a significant landmark for CMC, as the hospital celebrates its 60-year anniversary. The first class of medical residents will consist of 12 residents in Internal Medicine, 12 in Emergency Medicine and three in Podiatry.
Opened as a community hospital in 1961 with 50 beds, CMC now cares for more than 21,000 inpatients, over 175,000 outpatients and nearly 70,000 emergency department patients each year. Its recognition as an academic medical center will further expand access to premier health care services, cutting-edge research and enhanced access to clinical trials for the surrounding communities it serves.
Internal Medicine residents participate in the Community Medical Center’s first Long Coat Ceremony on July 7, 2021. Now a teaching hospital, CMC recently launched a graduate medical education program to help educate the next generation of physicians. – COMMUNITY MEDICAL CENTER
This accomplishment is made possible through RWJBarnabas Health’s partnership with Rutgers University and the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, which trains 1,600 medical residents each year across the system at various RWJBarnabas Health facilities.
“This is an incredible achievement for Community Medical Center and will provide extraordinary benefits to our patients, the community and our team members,” said Patrick Ahearn, chief executive officer, Community Medical Center. “This is a long-awaited and critical milestone in the hospital’s history. We couldn’t be prouder to take our place amongst our RWJBarnabas Health facilities in training the next generation of physician leaders,” he said.
“We will realize our transformation from a community hospital to a leading academic medical center over the next several years as we add more medical specialties to our portfolio of programs for residents each year,” Ahearn added.
Next summer, CMC will introduce its surgical residency program, expanding the program.
On July 7, CMC held a long coat ceremony to welcome the residency class. At the ceremony, residents received new, long coats, symbolizing that they are no longer medical students and representing a significant milestone in their medical career.
CMC also houses residency and education programs in nursing, pharmacy, social work, nutrition, rehabilitation and radiology.
