Citrus Memorial offers county's first fellowship program - Bay News 9
Hospitals across the country are still struggling with the rising turnover in health care workers — an issue that has been growing tremendously since the start of the pandemic.
What You Need To Know
- Citrus Memorial Hospital is starting the county's first-ever fellowship in hopes to attract and retain doctors in the county
- The program is extremely competitive - hospital staff said only one to two percent of applicants will get in
- More Health headlines
- More Citrus County headlines
Citrus Memorial Hospital is starting the county's first-ever fellowship in hopes to attract and retain doctors in the county.
Cardiology is a career Dr. Suman Pasupuleti always knew he wanted to get into.
"I have a 9 and 10-year-old so I can only imagine their life without me, so that's what is rewarding," Pasupuleti said.
As he put on his protective vest before heading into the Cath lab, he explained, "It's led because there's a lot of x-rays so that's why we need to protect ourselves and the patients."
He's been doing it for 11 years now.
He added, "Even after 11 years, when I wake up in the morning, and I know I'm going to fix somebody's heart, nothing can be more rewarding than that."
The process of becoming a specialized doctor is extensive.
Pasupuleti trained for 13 years, but he'll tell you his most important years were his fellowship ones — that's where he got his hands-on training.
He said, "Most of the training that is important for somebody to be a real doctor and does a good job is the actual training, the clinical training, the bedside and that's what a fellowship prepares you for."
There wasn't a hospital in Citrus County that offered a fellowship program until now, something Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joseph Maslak said is important for the community.
"As you can imagine," he said, "Having a medicine resident here for up to six years really puts a foothold into the community and really augments our commitment to learning and education."
He said providing a Cardiovascular and Pulmonary fellowship would help attract and retain doctors, especially in a time like this.
"There's a different commitment when we have people that are part of our medical staff and that live in our community that contributes to our community outside of the hospital," Maslak said.
Like Pasupuleti, who's not a Florida native but made Florida, and Citrus County, his home.
"Internal medicine residency has brought so many young doctors with so many wonderful ideas to this county, and now we will never have a deficiency of doctors in this county," Pasupuleti said.
Instead, he'll be encouraging future doctors, which will be the heart of this new program.
The program is extremely competitive. Hospital staff said only one to two percent of applicants will get in.
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