FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Washington Regional Medical Center are teaming up for a new internal medicine residency program.

According to a press release, the program will bright eight new medical residents to Northwest Arkansas each year.

The program is described as a “community-based, academic-affiliated residency program rooted in training skilled internists.” The curriculum consists of clinical experiences at Washington Regional with access to every internal medicine subspecialty, a dedicated research-training curriculum, and a comprehensive didactic curriculum.

According to Sheena CarlLee, M.D., program director and assistant professor of Internal Medicine in the UAMS College of Medicine, the program will train residents in clinical reasoning, critical thinking, teaching, research and health care delivery to diverse and underserved populations in Northwest Arkansas and the surrounding regions.

“We are excited to announce this new internal medicine residency program in Northwest Arkansas,” CarlLee said. “The success of our program is essential to meeting the health care needs of Arkansans and aligns with our regional and institutional missions to educate future health care professionals and provide patient-centered primary and specialized care at an academic level not otherwise available in this region.”

The release notes this is the first residency program to be accredited as part of a joint Graduate Medical Education (GME) program that UAMS and Washington Regional announced in June 2021. The program will bring approximately 92 residency slots to Northwest Arkansas by 2030.

UAMS and Washington Regional are “actively recruiting” for the first residency class, which will start in July 2023.

For more information, visit https://nwa.uams.edu/.