BRICK – Being honored as the first class of residents at Hackensack Meridian Ocean Medical Center, the 2018 inaugural class have officially graduated and will begin their practice in Family Medicine and Psychiatry specialties.
Not only are these doctors the first to enter the Graduate Medical Education (GME) program, but they completed a three-year residency program during one of the toughest times with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Today is a significant milestone as we further our mission to provide the clinical foundation for doctors to skillfully and safely treat patients now and in the future,” Jason Kreitner, MHA, FACHE, president and chief hospital executive said. “I am honored to be joined here with our first resident graduating class and their families. No one could have predicted a pandemic during your clinical training right, did you sign up for this? Expect this? Did anyone ever think this just a year and a half go? You continued to shine with compassion during this pandemic. You really got Ocean Medical Center through one of the most challenging times this organization has ever been through. Your support to our nurses and our team – when we needed you guys, you were there for us.”
The 2018 inaugural class consisted of eight family medicine and six psychiatry residents. At the graduation ceremony held of June 18 at the Remembrance Garden, nine residents received diplomas. The other five psychiatry residents from this class have opted to obtain optional psychiatry tracks that require additional training and will graduate in the coming years.
“This first class of residents have experienced both rewarding and challenging three years of on-the-job training,” Vincent J. Vivona, D.O. J.D., FACP, FCLM, CHCQM, chief medical officer said. “Residency is the busiest and most intense time in their career; however, the past 18 months of training during the COVID-19 pandemic was testament to their dedication and strength with a purpose to sharpen their clinical skills in medical procedures, patient care, and quality control.”
Currently, Ocean Medical Center’s GME program holds 60 residency positions in family medicine, internal medicine and psychiatry.
“I am so proud to share this special day with these graduates and their families as they start the next phase of their medical career,” Kenneth N. Sable, M.D., MBA, FACEP, regional president, southern market, Hackensack Meridian Health said. “Thank you to all of our residents. As Jason said, you didn’t sign up expecting this to be a pandemic, and residency is hard enough. When we’re in the middle of a pandemic, for all of you to really come to work every single day, be there for your patients, for their families, for each other and never complain is truly remarkable and it’s really the precursor to what you all are going to be in your careers as physicians.”
At the ceremony, two graduates were presented with the Resident of the Year Award. Those who received it are Nicole Gabrielle Babushkin, M.D, of Family Medicine and Sade Diahann Frazier, D.O., of General Psychiatry.
