The development of the new Lee Health Fort Myers campus brings an exciting opportunity to rename Challenger Boulevard to align the street name with the values, history, and vision of our community. We invite the community to submit nominations for the renaming, as your involvement in this process is important to us. Submit your nomination here!

Lee Health’s residents begin training this summer

From Dr. Maja Delibasic, Program Director of the Florida State University College of Medicine Internal Medicine Residency Program at Lee Health Cape Coral & Dr. Alfred Gitu, Program Director of the Florida State University College of Medicine Family Medicine Residency Program at Lee Health.

We couldn’t be more excited for our residents to begin their training on July 1.

Twenty new resident physicians will be at Lee Health through The Florida State University College of Medicine Internal Medicine Residency Program and The Florida State University College of Medicine Family Medicine Residency Program.

Of the 20 residents, 12 are internal medicine residents and eight are family medicine residents.

This marks the inaugural class for the internal medicine residency program, which is based at Cape Coral Hospital and accepts 12 new doctors each year for a three-year residency. We are very excited to welcome this first class of internal medicine residents to Lee Health and Cape Coral Hospital.

The family medicine residency program, based at Lee Memorial Hospital, accepts eight new doctors each year and is also a three-year residency.

Since 2014, we have trained 47 top-notch family medicine residents to practice medicine with excellence, integrity and compassion. Thirty-two of these physicians have remained in Southwest Florida to provide much-needed primary care, and we hope to continue this trend with our new internal medicine residency program.

Our internal medicine residents are joining us from all around the globe, representing eight different home countries. Our family medicine residency program also continues to have strong interest from graduating medical students around the world. We are looking forward to them bringing their unique perspectives to Southwest Florida as they continue their medical training.

Medical school graduates are required to complete residency training in their specialty of choice to become independently practicing physicians. These new resident physicians were selected after a rigorous vetting and interview process of the more than 3,100 applications received from U.S. medical students and physicians from around the world. The first-year residents were announced at the annual Match Day celebration earlier this year.

We look forward to our newest class of residents beginning their training at Lee Health. We know they will provide compassionate and exceptional care to the community we serve.