Contact Us

For more information, please call (843) 797-7000or email Chimere Platt, Program Coordinator.

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How to Apply

ERAS: 120450003


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Welcome Letter from our Program Director

The Family Medicine Residency Program at Summerville Medical Center is part of HCA Healthcare’s Graduate Medical Education network, the largest provider of GME programs in the United States. This is a brand new program and our goal is create skilled, compassion physicians to care for families at all stages of their lives.

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Program Overview

The Family Medicine Residency Program at Summerville Medical Center is a newly ACGME accredited, rigorous three-year program designed to train the next generation of physicians and physician leaders. As part of HCA Healthcare, we are driven by a single mission: Above all else, we are committed to the care and improvement of human life.

The focus of evidence-based medicine, cost-efficient healthcare, a variety of procedures and a culture of teaching coupled with a variety of teaching methods and settings provides our residents with the comprehensive training needed before the next step in their careers.

The Family Medicine Residency Program is designed to teach and train residents to enter into the field of Family Medicine, prepare them for board certification and provide them with the knowledge they will need to care for patients in all areas of the hospital. Our mission of treating entire families from birth forward gives patients exceptional continuity of care.

We aspire to train physician leaders in an environment of resilience, compassion, innovation and diversity while promoting personal and professional growth.

Summerville Medical Center is a 124-bed, acute care hospital serving families across Charleston, South Carolina for 30 years. The hospital has a 24-hour emergency room, including a dedicated ER for children, a wide range of surgical services, and comprehensive medical services.

Located in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, Summerville Medical Center has had the privilege of caring for families across our community for 30 years. Over the past 3 decades, the hospital has grown to become a 124-bed, acute-care hospital serving families across the Lowcountry. The hospital has a 24-hour emergency room, including a dedicated ER for children, and a wide range of surgical services and comprehensive medical services. Summerville Medical Center is recognized for its emergency, women’s and children’s, cardiac, imaging, orthopedic and stroke services. Surgical services includes gynecological, orthopedic, spine, reflux, breast, robotic and weight loss procedures.

Our more than 1,000 employees, physicians and volunteers are proud to call Summerville home, where we live, play, work and serve.

Get to Know the Team

Pooja Paunikar, MD, MPH Program Director


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Curriculum & Rotation Schedule

Our expertly crafted programs are designed to provide resident physicians with all the experiences and training necessary for professional success.

See our Schedule

Salary & Benefits Information

Salary

AY 23–24 Resident/Fellow Salary Increase
AY 21-22 PG1 PG2 PG3 PG4 PG5 PG6 PG7
Annual Salary 58,677 60,445 62,254 64,438 67,330 70,366 73,882
On-Call Meals 950 950 950 950 950 950 950
Total 59,627 61,395 63,204 65,388 68,280 71,316 74,832

Benefits

The HCA Healthcare Total Rewards program offers the following benefit options for residents and their dependents:

  • Health and Welfare Benefits Plan
    • Medical
    • Dental
    • Vision
    • Wellness
    • Tuition Reimbursement
    • Health Reimbursement Account
    • Health Care and Day Care Flexible Spending Accounts
    • Life and AD&D Insurance and Dependent Life Insurance
    • Long–Term Disability
    • Employee Assistance Program
    • Voluntary Core Plus Benefits
    • Auto & Home Insurance (Note: Home insurance not available in all locations)
    • Legal Benefit
    • Long-Term Care
    • Short–Term Disability
    • Voluntary Permanent Life Insurance
    • Financial Fitness Program
  • Retirement Benefits
    • 401(k) Plan
  • Paid Time Off
    • 15 days PTO, 5 days educational leave
  • Consumer Discounts
    • Mobile access to over 125,000 discounts including phone and automobile
  • On-duty and On-call Meal Allowance
    • Access to food and beverage in the cafeteria and resident lounge
  • State License and DEA Provided
    • The hospital covers the expense for physician training license and DEA
  • ACLS/PALS/ATLS Training
  • The hospital provides annual training certificates to physicians on training

Research and Scholarship

We want our residents to graduate with the appreciation, knowledge, and skills needed to critique and generate scholarly activity for family medicine physicians in the United States.

To accomplish this goal, we have integrated time into the residents' schedules to work on scholarly activity including performance/quality improvement, PDSA cycles, and a GME sponsored projects. Additionally, we have residents routinely complete at least one publication through various formats.

Residents participate in a yearly “Research Day” where projects and case reports from all in-house residency programs are presented locally. Residents are encouraged to present at other local, regional and national conferences including the Society of Teachers in Family Medicine. Residents have protected weekly didactics which include critical appraisal of medical literature and board review topics.

GME research and scholarship resources include:

  • Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) – database with 186 hospitals' data
  • Biostatisticians and Data Analysts – who will assist you with research and analysis
  • Analytical Tools – SPSS, SAS and R
  • HCA Electronic Library – over 8,450 e-journals, over 2,190 e-textbooks, and a librarian team
  • Institutional Review Board (IRB) – for GME research oversight
  • Resident Travel Budget – support to present and publish scholarly activity
  • Annual Resident Research Day – regional conference for scholarly activity presentation
  • HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine – peer-reviewed PubMed indexed scientific periodical
  • Research Director – dedicated assistance to research projects, lectures and workshops
  • Medical Writer – assistance with manuscripts, articles, and IRB project reviews

GME space photos

Why Summerville, SC?

Known for its small—town charm and southern hospitality, Summerville, SC is a rapidly growing community 30 minutes from downtown Charleston. While the town continues to grow and thrive with new retail, breweries and restaurants added every year, Summerville maintains its historic, small—town ambiance that is perfect for families.

  • Do you love the outdoors? Summerville is located 30 minutes inland from the beaches of Charleston and has numerous rivers and hiking trails that offer activities for avid adventurers as well as families looking for a day trip. Summerville has a robust golfing, fishing, and boating community as well as the perfect flat terrain for runners with a Sweet Tea Half Marathon and Charleston Half and Full Marathon.
  • Are you a foodie? Summerville is known as the “Birthplace of Sweet Tea” and in addition to this refreshing beverage, the town offers a variety of breweries and restaurants. Summerville is only 30 minutes away from numerous James Beard Award winning restaurants located in the Charleston area.
  • Interested in history? Look no further than Charleston, which was founded in the 1670s and entices visitors with cobble-stoned streets, ghost tours, historic carriage rides, and much more. Summerville was first settled in the 1830s and is part of the historic trail for the Lowcountry.
  • Sports fan? Charleston is home to the Charleston Riverdogs, a minor league baseball team, 2 hours from the Atlanta Braves, 4 hours from the Carolina Panthers and NASCAR Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, and hosts numerous college and high school level sports teams.
  • Looking for an avid arts & culture community? Charleston is the home to numerous arts and culture centers including the N. Charleston Performing Arts Center, Children’s Museum, Gibbes Museum of Art, International African American Museum, SC Aquarium, plantation tours, dance companies, symphony orchestras, theaters, and more.

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