After opening its doors in 2021, a new medical residency program is now in full swing.

The Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine’s rural residency program, in collaboration with the Marshall Community Health Consortium and Logan Regional Medical Center, welcomed its first three residents in the summer of 2023. 

The residency suite, located at Logan Regional Medical Center, was officially applauded by the community with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday, Oct. 10.

The new program will allow residents to reach rural communities for their general surgical needs. It was made possible by the school’s surgical faculty and funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration, according to Dr. Paulette S. Wehner, the vice dean of Graduate Medical Education at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine.

“I am extremely proud of our outstanding general surgery faculty who have embraced the opportunity to provide high quality surgery training in a rural medical center,” she said in a Marshall University statement. “The program would not have been possible without HRSA support and the hard work of countless individuals.”

Following an accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in 2022, the program is the United States’ first separately accredited rural residency training track program. 

This program is expected to leave an impact on rural West Virginia communities, according to Dr. David Gozal, the vice president of health affairs and dean of the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine.

“To truly be a rural health care leader, we must identify scalable solutions with a lasting impact,” Gozal said in a Marshall University statement. “Rural residency programs are one such solution where we’re already seeing immediate results. We look forward realizing the full impact this training program will have in southern West Virginia and beyond in the coming years.”