Mercy Health to add neurology residency program

2/14/2018
BY LAUREN LINDSTROM
BLADE STAFF WRITER
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    Mercy Health's St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo

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    • Mercy Health announced it is starting a general neurology residency program in July based at Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center.

    Neuroendovascular surgeon Dr. Sam Zaidat will direct the the four-year program, which will take four residents per year.

    “Hundreds of thousands of patients suffer from neurological disorders each year and stroke remains the fifth leading cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the US,” Dr. Zaidat, medical director of Mercy Health neuroscience and neurovascular services, said in a statement. “We are building the next generation of physicians to combat these diseases and so help our communities live healthier lives.”

    The program is one of several new medical education programs added by Mercy Health-Toledo. In 2017 the health system announced that it was adding a pediatrics residency program, as well as a stroke fellowship in 2016.

    Among its other residency and fellowship programs are emergency medicine, family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and cardiology.

    Every year, graduating medical students find out in March where they will spend the next three to seven years in residency as part of the national “Match Day” program.

    This residency program addition will help counter an anticipated neurologist shortage in the United States, Mercy Health officials said. A 2013 study by the journal Neurology projected that by 2025, there will be nearly 3,400 fewer neurologists practicing in the United States than are needed to meet patient demand.

    “The creation of this program further shows Mercy Health’s commitment to growing medical education within Northwest Ohio,” said Dr.  Randy Schlievert, vice president of academic affairs for Mercy Health-Toledo, in a statement. “We recognize our patients are looking for medical professionals, and in particular specialists, who are available where they live and work and so Mercy Health looks to build a network that addresses those needs.”

    Contact Lauren Lindstrom at llindstrom@theblade.com, 419-724-6154, or on Twitter @lelindstrom.