Family Medicine Residency Program Earns ACGME Accreditation

In 2018, Bayhealth began the process to launch graduate medical education (GME) programs for physicians who have recently graduated from medical school, also called residencies. While there have been many months of developing and planning the program, one of the biggest hurdles is becoming accredited. Bayhealth is pleased to announce the Family Medicine Residency Program earned accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) on Feb. 3, 2020.

“We are so excited to share that the Bayhealth Family Medicine Residency Program has earned its accreditation. The family medicine residency will not only bring formal academics to our healthcare system, but will also bring much-needed primary care to our community,” said Bayhealth Family Medicine Residency Program Director Brintha Vasagar, MD, MPH, FAAFP.

“We are committed to recruiting only the highest-caliber medical students to join our first class of residents and establish a culture of excellence.”

With the Family Medicine Residency Program accredited, Bayhealth now has a confirmed start date of July 2021 for the first class of family medicine residents. The residents will report directly to Dr. Vasagar but will work with a large faculty of attending physicians at Bayhealth.

One of the key benefits of the Family Medicine Residency Program is that it will provide more licensed physicians to care for the community. The program will add eight new resident physicians each year, each of whom will practice for three years. Residents, under the supervision and guidance of attending physicians, will learn to provide excellent care for all ages. When the program reaches full capacity, the 24 residents, in addition to the faculty, will add more than 30,000 patient care visits for the community each year. Moreover, the goal is for many of the residents to ultimately choose to continue to provide care in our community.

As Bayhealth continues to develop the residency program, Dr. Vasagar will begin recruiting fourth-year medical students. Match Day — where residents are paired with a GME program at hospitals across the country — will take place in March 2021. That’s when Bayhealth will announce who has been selected to join the inaugural class of Bayhealth’s Family Medicine Residency Program starting in July 2021.

Visit BayhealthGME.org to learn more about this exciting new program.

Meet Bayhealth's Family Medicine Residency Program Director

Brintha Vasagar, MD

Dr. Vasagar is Bayhealth’s Family Medicine Residency Program Director. She is also a primary care doctor who treats patients from infancy to geriatrics. After earning her medical degree from American University of Antigua College of Medicine, Dr. Vasagar went on to receive a master’s in public health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is focused on what the true needs of medicine are today and is deeply committed to providing an innovative program that will meet those needs in our community and allow residents to hone their skills as exceptional physicians.

Meet Bayhealth's Internal Medicine Residency Program Director

Joseph Deutsch, MD

Dr. Deutsch joined Bayhealth as its Internal Medicine Residency Program Director in March 2020. He attended Jefferson Medical College and is board-certified in Internal Medicine. Having grown up in Delaware, Dr. Deutsch is looking forward to educating the next generation of Delaware’s physicians to care for the community. Dr. Deutsch’s goals for the program are to improve healthcare in this area and to recruit new physicians who will embrace the community and respect their patients while providing the highest-quality level of care.