Newswise — Brick, NJ – June 26, 2019 – Twenty-two medical doctors from Hackensack Meridian Health Ocean Medical Center and four from Hackensack Meridian Health Jersey Shore University Medical Center received their white medical coats at 2019 Resident White Coat Ceremony on June 25. This prestigious tradition formally marked the start of their new role as clinicians.
The inaugural class of eight internal medicine residents, along with the second classes of eight family medicine residents, and six psychiatry residents who matched at Ocean Medical Center’s residency program were honored during the ceremony. An additional four psychiatry residents who matched at Jersey Shore University Medical Center’s residency program also received their white coats in front of their families and friends.
“The residency programs enhance our mission to deliver high-quality, patient-centered care to our communities,” said Jason A. Kreitner, FACHE, chief hospital executive of Ocean Medical Center. “With the addition of the inaugural internal medicine residency program, and the second year class of incoming family medicine and psychiatry residents, we will have a profound impact on the health and lives of our patients and families as they embrace our culture of compassion and collaboration.”
The Resident White Coat Ceremony marks a significant milestone for each student, as they officially become doctors, continuing their journey to advance their clinical knowledge and professional growth. The coat not only symbolizes the profession, but the trust patients place in physicians, and the responsibility to act professionally while serving patients and the public.
Co-Chief Academic Officer of Hackensack Meridian Health, David S. Kountz, M.D., MBA, FACP, welcomed the residents, faculty, family and friends to the White Coat Ceremony. Chief Medical Officer Vincent Vivona, D.O., J.D., FACP, CHCQM, and Medical Staff President Thomas Lake, M.D., were joined by Residency Program Directors Kelly Ussery-Kronhaus, M.D., FAAFP, program director for family medicine residency and medical director of Graduate Medical Education; Pramil Cheriyath, M.D., MS, FACP, program director of internal medicine; Ramon Solhkhah, M.D., FHELA, program director for psychiatry residency; and Stacy Doumas, M.D., program director for psychiatry residency at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, presented the residents and cloaked them in their new long coats.
“Ocean Medical Center’s residency programs have attracted the best and brightest physicians from New Jersey and across the country to come to Ocean and Monmouth counties, maximizing health care in all the communities we serve,” explained Dr. Vivona, “These programs will improve clinical care and ultimately encourage future health care leaders to build practices in the Jersey Shore area addressing the critical need for physicians across our state.”
All residents will rotate throughout Ocean Medical Center as well as clinics and other ambulatory sites. The unique training program offers a balance between the personal and professional needs of residents. Faculty and residents will be working together to create an individual training experience in order to help them attain their personal career goals.
Ocean Medical Center is a community teaching hospital that has been involved with medical education for several years. It is affiliated with Rowan University’s School of Osteopathic Medicine from which medical students complete their third-year core curriculum through a variety of clinical clerkships at the medical center.
Additionally, Ocean Medical Center received a $1 million commitment from the Jay and Linda Grunin Foundation, announced March 2018, to support the medical center’s Graduate Medical Education program.
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