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BCM receives accreditation for Emergency Medicine Residency

HOUSTON -- (March 4, 2010) -- The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has granted accreditation for an Emergency Medicine Residency Program at Baylor College of Medicine with the initial plan for all training to occur at the Harris County Hospital District's Ben Taub General Hospital and Texas Children's Hospital.

"The program will bring a new level of emergency care for the Houston community," said Dr. Shkelzen Hoxhaj, interim chief of the section of emergency medicine at BCM and chief of emergency services at Ben Taub General Hospital. "Currently, there is only one other emergency medicine residency program in Houston, and six in the entire state of Texas, so this new program is much needed."

Top notch training

The new program received a three-year accreditation, the longest such cycle issued for initial accreditation. The newly accredited program is a three-year training program and was approved to train up to 12 residents per year.

"Residents will receive top notch training at two of the busiest emergency centers in the country," said Hoxhaj.

Exciting addition

"The addition of an emergency medicine residency program to the other residency programs at Baylor is an exciting one. We have seen a lot of interest from our students, and now those who want to stay in Houston for such a program can do so in our own program," said Dr. Stephen B. Greenberg, senior vice president and dean of medical education at BCM.

The section of emergency medicine was established within the department of medicine in the summer of 2009 with the goal of receiving approval for the residency program. The program is accepting residents for July 2010, and hopes to recruit at least six residents for this year. Dr. Bobby Kapur, BCM assistant professor, will serve as the residency program director.

"The establishment of this residency, although a long time in the development, promises to be innovative, foresighted and at the cutting edge of all new information and technology," said Dr. Kenneth L. Mattox, professor and vice chairman of the Michael E. DeBakey department of surgery at BCM and chief of staff and chief of surgery at Ben Taub General Hospital.