Lee Health recently celebrated the graduation of the Class of 2020 of The Florida State University College of Medicine Family Medicine Residency Program and Global Health Fellowship. The residency program, based at Lee Memorial Hospital, was created to address an expected national shortage of primary care physicians. This issue is compounded locally by a rapidly growing aging population.

“Congratulations to this year’s graduates. It’s very exciting to celebrate our sixth graduating class of the program,” said Alfred Gitu, M.D., program director of the residency program and global health fellowship at Lee Health. “Southwest Florida is underserved when it comes to the number of primary care physicians. We are proud to report that six of the eight graduates from the class of 2020 are staying to practice medicine locally.”

This year’s graduates include:

* Dr. Jennifer Carrion, who will join the Lee Physician Group at the Surfside location in Cape Coral

* Dr. Jaime Hall, who will join the Lee Physician Group at the Plantation location in Fort Myers

* Dr. Murilo Lima, who will join Shell Point Retirement Community in Fort Myers

* Dr. Christine Norton, who will join the Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship in Greenwood, SC

* Dr. Kristen Noud, who will join the Lee Physician Group Sanctuary location in Fort Myers

* Dr. Hannah Schrubbe, who plans to remain in Fort Myers to practice Family Medicine

* Dr. Shayna Smallwood, who will join NCH Family Medicine in Naples

* Dr. Arieal Felix, who will join Cherokee Health Systems in Knoxville, TN

* Dr. Aruna Khan, Global Health Fellow, who will join the Cleveland Clinic Martin Health System in Port St. Lucie, FL

* Dr. Hailon Wong, Global Health Fellow, who will join the Lee Physician Group Residency Faculty in Fort Myers

The Florida State University College of Medicine Family Medicine Residency Program at Lee Health provides 36 months of training, which is divided into four-week blocks. These rotations are completed at Lee Memorial Hospital, HealthPark Medical Center and Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. The program began with its inaugural class in July 2014.

In December 2016, the residency program was approved for expansion from 18 residents to 24 and received Continued Accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for the next 10 years. This year’s graduating class brings the total number of graduates to 32, with 18 physicians choosing to continue practice in Southwest Florida.