Family Medicine Residency Program Receives Dual Accreditation

Meadville, Pennsylvania - The Family Medicine Residency Program at Meadville Medical Center (MMC) announced today that they have received accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Since 2003 the residency program at MMC has been accredited by the American Osteopathic Association, which allows Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) to complete their residency at MMC prior to practicing as a licensed physician. The dual accreditation with ACGME allows both D.O. and Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) graduates to complete their residency at MMC.

"We have not been able to accept M.D. residents into our program for 15 years. The ACGME accreditation allows us to do that and in turn increase the pool of applicants who will apply for admission into our program. I couldn't be more excited," said Frank McLaughlin, D.O., Chair, Family Medicine Residency Program at MMC.

To qualify for accreditation under ACGME, both the medical center and the residency program had to meet certain criteria and individuals who go through the program will see additional requirements prior to graduation. The first class of four residents, under the dual accreditation, will begin in July 2019. Competition to fill the four vacancies is expected to increase from approximately 20 to 200 applicants.

Patients will see no significant difference as a result of the dual accreditation, hospital officials said. The first residency graduation class was in 1998 and 10 graduates are practicing locally.