Saint Thomas to Take More Residents from UT

A new partnership with Saint Thomas Health and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center will bring more medical residents to Nashville—those students who have just finished school but need a few years of hands on experience before becoming a doctor.

The new partnership means up to a 100 UT residents will be working with Saint Thomas doctors by 2017. Dr. Jordan Asher directs the partnership. He says Saint Thomas wants medical students to stay in Tennessee, once they’ve finished school. That’s especially important, he says, because several counties are facing doctor shortages. He also says more residents provide a boost to existing staff.

I was just eating lunch with a physician who is interesting in teaching. One of his comments was ‘I have to be better because I am teaching.’ It tends to elevate the medical staff, because they have to stay on their game a lot more.

Baptist Hospital, which is part of Saint Thomas Health, has taken UT residents for the last 30 years—a handful who are studying internal medicine. The new partnership will also bring residents to Saint Thomas Hospital and Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro.