NGMC’s Quest for Excellence / Providing the Best for our Residents

July 25, 2018

There are many reasons to choose Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) for your residency, one of which is our continuous quest for excellence. At NGMC, our faculty physicians, hospital leadership, residents and staff are committed to setting the highest standards for patient care, professional education, teaching and training.

Northeast Georgia Health System is known for consistent growth, cutting-edge technology and breakthrough ideas. We pride ourselves on our four core values, which help guide us through our journey towards improving the health of our community. These values— respectful compassion, deep interdependence, responsible stewardship and passion for excellence—shape the daily interactions between our physicians, staff, volunteers, board members and patients. Our passion for excellence means that we bring our best every day. This passion is brought into each and every moment, regardless of the challenges with which we are met.

At NGMC, we take pride in our caring people, our core values, our vibrant community and our Quest for Excellence. These elements are what set us apart.

NGMC’s Quest for Excellence is our ongoing goal of creating exceptional patient experiences through continuous improvement—to “be better tomorrow than we are today.” This Quest is closely aligned with CLER Pathways to Excellence, which are a set of guidelines created in 2016 the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) that outlines pillars of a successful clinical learning environment.

The NGMC Quest for Excellence is designed to guide us along our journey of continuous improvement in Patient Experience, Safety, Leadership Development and Lean Methodology. These areas of focus represent NGMC’s dedication to providing the best patient care while also prioritizing safety and efficiency.

Our clinical learning environment is carefully designed to prepare residents for the medical practices of the twenty-first century. Residents in our program will have the opportunity to integrate their clinical education into a culture of excellence in quality and safety that is designed for physician leaders. Residents at NGMC will become part of a hospital system in the fastest growing region of Georgia that serves as a regional safety net hospital and provides care to low-income, uninsured and other vulnerable populations. They will work and learn alongside our faculty physicians in Internal Medicine and General Surgery as part of dynamic clinical teams comprised of nurses, advanced practice providers, pharmacists, therapists and more.

Residents will have opportunities to collaborate with local physicians and physician groups outside of NGMC and will participate in our daily tiered huddles to foster ongoing communication. These huddles are an opportunity for staff to identify and work through any issues that compromise patient safety or efficient care delivery. In the Office of Graduate Medical Education (GME), for example, we have a daily administrative huddle at 8:15 a.m. These huddles are attended by all members of the GME administrative and educational staff, including each of the residency program coordinators.

Residents will also participate in a curriculum designed to promote leadership development. Many residency programs focus mostly—or entirely—on clinical skill development. At NGMC, however, we believe that developing leadership skills is just as important as learning clinical skills. Residents in our program will become teachers as well as students. Our leadership development model is structured to promote personal authenticity, interpersonal effectiveness and continuous improvement. This curriculum prioritizes emotional intelligence and professional competence, effective communication and building trust as well as vision, innovation and change management.

For our 2019 class, NGMC is looking for residents with a passion for excellence and a commitment to the community who are interested in becoming leaders in the creation of a new culture of graduate medical education in our system.

Learn more about our GME program’s dedication to continuous improvement in a short video from NGHS’ Chief Medical Officer, Sam Johnson, MD.

About Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s GME program

Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s (NGMC) GME program is currently accepting applications for the Internal Medicine and General Surgery Residency Programs and will match the inaugural class in the spring of 2019. NGMC’s Graduate Medical Education program is designed to train residents to be leaders in the medical field as well as in the community. Learn more about the NGMC GME program.

About Northeast Georgia Health System

Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) is a non-profit institution on a mission of improving the health of our community in all we do. Our team cares for more than 800,000 people across the region through three hospitals and a variety of outpatient locations. Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) has three hospital campuses – NGMC Gainesville, NGMC Braselton, and NGMC Barrow – with a total of 713 beds and more than 700 medical staff members representing more than 50 specialties. Learn more at www.nghs.com.

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