Verde Valley Medical Center is launching an Internal Medicine Residency program in association with Midwestern University, the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine located in Glendale. VVMC currently is accepting applications from Midwestern students and will begin interviewing the applicants in January. Four medical school graduates will be selected to begin the three-year residency program, scheduled to begin in July, 2010.

Program director Kevin Wilson, D.O., heads the interview committee which also includes Drs. Hu Blake, Frank Matthews, Thomas Neumann and John Schor. “It’s a prestigious step,” said Dr. Schor. “We’re teaching tomorrow’s doctors.”

Residency Coordinator Sheri Kubrock recently accompanied Dr. Wilson to a recruitment event at Midwestern. Hospitals from California to New York also were in attendance, each touting the benefits of their own hospitals. “We had many students approach us,” said Sheri. “They had heard positive things about Verde Valley Medical Center and were very interested in our program.” One of the unique elements of VVMC’s residency program is the position of the new physicians. As “first assists” the residents will be the first assistants to the VVMC physicians directing the care of the patient.

When Verde Valley Medical Center was originally founded in 1939, its purpose was to serve as an outpatient clinic. Over the past 70 years, the former “Marcus J. Lawrence Memorial Clinic” has evolved into a 99-bed acute care facility with extensive outpatient services and four additional satellite facilities. VVMC also has historically served as a teaching hospital for certified nurse assistants, nursing students and nurses seeking specialized training in surgery, intensive care and obstetrics.

The success of those programs led the VVMC Board of Directors to direct VVMC Administration develop a plan for becoming a teaching hospital for physicians. In July 2008, select medical students from Midwestern University in Glendale, the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, began 30 day rotations at VVMC. When the residency program launches in July 2010, VVMC will continue the 30 day rotation program, and also add a one-year rotation program for Midwestern students.