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Incoming Residents and Fellows

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Welcome Information for Incoming Residents and Fellows

Key GME and Dean's Office Staff with whom you will interact if you match with any of our GME Programs:

We are pleased to be able to consider many of you who are interested in and apply to our outstanding GME Programs.  The sponsoring institution, UTHSC College of Medicine-Chattanooga has a strong partnership with the region's leading academic medical center,  Erlanger Health which includes Erlanger Medical Center, Children's Hospital at Erlanger, and Erlanger East Hospital.  The affiliation between the University of Tennessee and Erlanger Health has spanned over 50 years (1974 - 2024). Although several programs also spend some clinical time at other area hospitals (Memorial Hospital and HCA Parkridge Health Centers), our primary clinical training site and major affiliated partner remains Erlanger.  This collaboration enables us to provide a unique balance of clinical care to patients from all walks of life and excellence in medical education. If you have not spent much time in Chattanooga already, you will find our city and region to be a very friendly, welcoming and vibrant community that you can call “home.” 

If you are one of the 60+ applicants who match with our Chattanooga GME Programs. our institution and respective departments will have even more information for you to review and requirements that must be accomplished via online Onboarding Checklists.  For those of you whose residency or fellowship begins July 1, we recommend that make plans to move to Chattanooga around June 9 and June 16.  If you are entering one of our medicine-related fellowships and are currently finishing another training program, we understand that you may not be able to be in Chattanooga quite that early,  However, once you have matched, whether with our institution or another, it is an excellent idea to contact your Program Coordinator soon after the Match results have been released to determine your specific recommended arrival date to complete all required orientation and training.  

Click on the first green button link on the right-hand side of this page to an example of the schedule used for our institution in June 2024.  Once you have matched, we suggest that your check back on this page (frequently) as information can quickly change. 

Tennessee Aquarium - skyline at night

Best wishes for a successful interview season!

Orientation Schedules and Details:

To give those of you interviewing with our programs insight into the orientation timing once you have matched with a program, we are providing information about our GME Institutional Orientation Schedule for Residents and Fellows who entered our programs for July and Aug 2024.  

Please be sure to review our overall GME Institutional Orientation Sessions Schedule for Residents and Fellows who attended our orientation in June 2024.  Last year we asked incoming trainees who started training on Jul 1 to attend our Institutional GME Orientation beginning Mon, Jun 10, 2024. 

Depending on your specialty, numerous required sessions continued from Jun 10 through Friday, Jun 28, 2024. The first official day on duty was Mon, Jul 1 for the majority of our incoming trainees.  Aug 1 was the start date for our Colon/Rectal Surgery, Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery, and Vascular Surgery Fellows.)

Again, click on the link below to review the types of sessions required as it will help you realize how quickly June flies by.  You may also want to discuss expectations of when to move to Chattanooga from the Coordinator with whom you interview.  We certainly wish you the best as you navigate the interview process, consider the best program and fit with your goals, and hopefully keep our programs toward the top of your lists.  

June 2024 GME Institutional Orientation SessionsGME Fast FactsGME Program LengthsGME Salary/BenefitsErlanger Health  websiteChattanooga Apartment GuideHomes and Land Magazine for Chattanooga and North GeorgiaChattanooga LivingChattanooga VideoVisit Chattanooga: WinterLiving in Chattanooga - Training at ErlangerWhy Chattanooga?

Requirements:

All incoming residents and fellows must -- 

  1. Understand that the first official of clinical responsibilities will be Tuesday, July 1, 2025 for most of our incoming Residents and Fellows.  Colon/Rectal Surgery, Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery, and Vascular Surgery Fellows will begin Friday, August 1, 2025.
  2. Give permission for and pass a Criminal Background Check (online) through a third party company called the "Cora Croup."
  3. Pass a drug screen, mask fit test, 2-TB skin tests, and immunization screening (including necessary titers and immunizations) performed by the Erlanger Employee Health arm of Erlanger Express Care.  Erlanger requires that male Residents and Fellows must be clean- or close- shaven in order that the respirator will be able to seal for the OSHA-required mask fit test which would be used in negative pressure patient rooms.
  4. Document a physical exam conducted since January 2025, and have a health statement form stating that the Resident/Fellow is physically and mentally fit to begin duty in our residency program. The form must be signed by a U.S. licensed physician who is not related to the incoming Resident/Fellow.  Residents or Fellows may not conduct and sign the physical exam/health statement form for one another.  If you do not have a primary care physician and cannot get the physical exam done prior to July 1, you will be able to contact Erlanger Express Care to schedule a physical exam earlier this upcoming Spring (at your own cost: $65).
  5. You can begin scheduling appointments for your pre-employment drug screen, mask fit-tests, TB skin tests, and immunization screening, as well as physical exams if you cannot get one otherwise as early as April 28, 2025.

You have already received emails to log into our secure, web-based Residency Management Information system (New Innovations).  We appreciate that most everyone is making progress on completing the Onboarding Checklists housed in that system.

In order to be eligible to receive the GME Orientation and Electronic Communication Stipends on your July 31, 2025 paycheck (the last working day of the month), you must complete assigned online checklists #1 - 4 by June 13, 2025 (or the indicated deadline for each step).  These stipends total $950.  For Checklists #5 - 9,  you will also need to comply with the deadline for each Checklist and each individual step (before you begin training on either July 1 or August 1).  In addition, you must also attend all required certification training, Department Orientation Sessions, and GME Institutional Orientations Sessions in order to receive those Orientation Stipends as well.

Everyone is working to find creative ways to meet our requirements and ensure a smooth transition from medical school or current training programs to our GME residency and fellowship programs. 

Other Key Points to Remember:

You will be an employee of the University of Tennessee and not our affiliated hospital, Erlanger.  Please be aware that your first official day of residency/fellowship training will be Tuesday, July 1, 2025, unless you have already been given a later start date by your Program Director.  This includes Plastic Surgery Advanced Residents unless otherwise approved by the Chair and Program Director.  Fellows in Cardiovascular Disease, Emergency Medical Services, Emergency Medicine Ultrasonography, Primary Care Sports Medicine, and Gastroenterology also start on Tuesday, July 1, 2025.  Surgical Fellows, including Colon/Rectal Surgery, Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery, and Vascular Surgery, have a start date of Friday, August 1, 2025.  

Life support certification: Depending on your specialty, you will need to obtain BLS, ACLS, PALS, NRP, ALSO, and/or ATLS certification before you officially begin your residency or fellowship on July 1. If you can obtain the required certifications prior to July 1 at your medical school or current training program, you will just need to send the GME Office a copy of your certification cards denoting dates of certification (email to your Program Coordinator).  

Please let us know if there is anything else with which we can assist you.  For those of you who match with our Chattanooga GME Programs, "Welcome Home to Chattanooga, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and Erlanger!"

Dec 2, 2024