Visalia hospital adds anesthesiology residency program

Kaweah Delta Medical Center in Visalia is accepting applications for a new anesthesiology residency program to begin in June. The program will be the only anesthesiology residency program in the central San Joaquin Valley.

“The Kaweah Delta faculty is excited about our new anesthesiology residency training program,” said Dr. Michael Pesce, anesthesiology program director for Kaweah Delta Graduate Medical Education. “This addition to our teaching mission will benefit our current patients, as well as future generations of Central Valley residents, who can look forward to advanced anesthesia care available locally.”

Kaweah also has residency programs in family medicine, emergency medicine, psychiatry, general surgery and transition year (a one-year residency prior to moving on to a specialty residency). Kaweah is academically affiliated with the University of California at Irvine School of Medicine

Dr. Lori Winston. designated institutional official for Kaweah Delta graduate medical education, said there are numerous benefits to the doctor training programs, including helping to address the doctor shortage in the Valley. “It is estimated that approximately 50 percent of physicians settle within 30 miles from where they train,” she said. “This is one answer to fill the absence left by retiring physicians.”

This story was originally published April 10, 2017 at 4:10 PM with the headline "Visalia hospital adds anesthesiology residency program."