RIVERSIDE, JUNE 30, 2016 –Riverside Community Hospital officially welcomed 25 residents for the Riverside Community Hospital/UC Riverside School of Medicine Internal Medicine Residency Program during their first White Coat Ceremony on Monday, June 27th. Family and friends of the new Residents joined hospital staff; physicians and administration to witness the Residents receive their white coats and wear them for the first time

Those also in attendance included city officials such as Cindy Roth, President of the Greater Riverside Chamber of Commerce, and Riverside City Councilmembers Paul Davis and Chris Mac Arthur, and even family members who traveled across the country to show their support.
“It was an honor to witness the welcoming of the new physician residents at Riverside Community Hospital’s White Coat Ceremony”, said Cindy Roth, President of the Greater Riverside Chamber of Commerce. “This class of dedicated residents will help to provide additional physicians for the region which is greatly needed”.

The ceremony included a welcome by Paul Wales, Vice President of the Graduate Medical Education Program and special remarks by Dr. Kenneth Dozier, Riverside Community Hospital’s Chief Medical Officer, who addressed the incoming residents by saying, “Riverside Community Hospital as an anchor in the region’s healthcare lives by its mission and vision statement of, “Committed to Providing Compassionate Care and Improving the Overall Health of our Community” and “Leading with Innovation and Serving with Compassion”. We have a duty to fulfill this vision. We, along with many others, recognized the need to develop more Primary Care physicians for our growing population. This need was a primary driver for the establishment of the UCR School of Medicine. With UCR School of Medicine as our academic partner we set out to place our duty and vision in action by establishing a robust Internal Medicine program. This program will begin with 25 extremely academic and socially accomplished young physicians that we will mold into the clinical and academic leaders of the future. They will forever alter the landscape of RCH from that of an accomplished clinical facility in the region into a clinical and academic center of excellence to be rivaled in the region and beyond.”

The Residents were then called to the stage by Robby Gulati, M.D., Program Director of the new Internal Medicine residency program, to receive their new white coat, which next to a stethoscope, is seen as the most recognizable symbol of the medical profession.

The White Coat Ceremony is a memorable event and experience for the residents as they transition from medical school to the next part of their journey to become practicing physicians.
The Internal Medicine program is the first residency at Riverside Community Hospital. 300 interviews were conducted with applicants from around the country. This program represents the culmination of years of hard work to develop and implement the hospital’s graduate medical education program, and is a significant milestone and addition to the hospital’s ongoing growth and development.
This inaugural class is made up of fifteen residents who will continue in the program for three years, graduating in 2019, and ten residents who will be here for just one year, continuing on to various sub-specialty training including Neurology, Dermatology, Radiology, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Ophthalmology.

“This class of residents has been selected because of their educational achievements and enthusiasm for making a difference in our community,” said Dr. Robby Gulati, M.D.. He added, “The presence of faculty and residents increases primary care capacity in the inland Empire.”
Riverside Community Hospital and the UC Riverside School of Medicine are working to develop residency training programs in an effort to reduce the serious physician shortage. The Inland Empire area has seen patient ratios as low as 120 doctors per 100,000 patients as compared to California statewide where the ratio is 194 per 100,000 patients. The physician shortage in Riverside is expected to worsen as physicians retire faster than new physicians can replace them.
About Riverside Community Hospital

Founded in 1901, Riverside Community Hospital is a 373 licensed bed, full-service acute care hospital in the heart of the Inland Empire. RCH has been recognized as a Top Performing Hospital and has invested in a new campus expansion project that includes a new 7-story patient tower, 3-story medical office building, and a recently completed new 5-level, state-of-the-art parking garage. With over 500 physicians on staff, representing over 200 specialties and over 1,900 employees, Riverside Community Hospital is an Inland Empire leader in providing advanced, comprehensive health care to the Inland region. RCH houses one of the largest Emergency Room and Trauma Center in the Inland Empire at 50. RCH is the largest STEMI (heart attack) receiving centers and is a fully accredited Chest Pain Center. Centers of Excellence include the HeartCare Institute, offering invasive and non-invasive cardiac procedures, Center of Excellence for Surgical Weight Loss, the Transplant Program, the Cancer Center and a Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Riverside Community Hospital is also committed to training the next generation of physicians through its Graduate Medical Education program.