Welcome

Welcome from Dr. John Perry, Program Director

Hello, and welcome to Raleigh! We’re so glad that you’re interested in the WakeMed Internal Medicine Residency Program.

It’s been exciting and gratifying to be a member of the team that launched WakeMed’s first residency program in 2021 in southeast Raleigh, just a few miles east of the NC Capitol. We feel incredibly fortunate to have matched an amazing group of residents, some of whom are now planning their entry into practice.

Part of what attracted me to WakeMed more than 25 years ago was the organization’s commitment to training residents and students in a uniquely advanced community hospital system that is interwoven with other health care and educational organizations in the surrounding region. I had trained with the NC Area Health Education Center (AHEC) system of community-based clinical sites while in medical school at UNC, the community-based hospitals affiliated with the primary care residency program in internal medicine at the University of Rochester, and the Central Virginia Community Health Center site in Buckingham County as a general medicine fellow at UVA. Community engagement has always inspired and interested me as a physician, and I see the residency program as a logical extension. My assumptions about the enthusiasm and commitment of WakeMed and its faculty proved accurate: we have faculty stepping forward to teach and provide rotations in every internal medicine subspecialty.

WakeMed has over 50 years of resident and student training as part of its history, and WakeMed Raleigh Campus is the primary teaching hospital in the state’s most populous county. The Level 1 Trauma Center, the Rehabilitation Hospital, the Children’s Hospital, the Heart Center, the critical care capabilities, the Medical Simulation Center, and Wake AHEC are all part of the WakeMed package. WakeMed has enduring partnerships: training residents with UNC, training medical students with UNC and Campbell University, collaborating on educational endeavors with Duke University Health System, and supporting medical education through NC AHEC. Daily, there are over 15 Raleigh Campus-based hospitalist rounders, and WakeMed is growing its number of ambulatory practices and hospitals across Wake County.

Our organization's mission is to improve the health and well-being of those we serve. In support of this mission, WakeMed collaborates with Wake County Human Services, Alliance Medical Ministry, Urban Ministries, Advance Community Health, and others to facilitate access to care in Wake County. In addition, we’re very excited about the role of our residents in the Internal Medicine – Raleigh practice located on the main Raleigh Campus of WakeMed. This internal medicine practice allows our residents to follow their patients as inpatients and outpatients, experience the patient care services provided by WakeMed’s community outreach partners, and have easy access to morning report and educational conferences. It is our aspiration that the residency interface will strengthen relationships and expand collaborations to better serve the communities in Raleigh, the county, and the region.

It is easy to see that there are ample outstanding clinical experiences within our system and community, layered on a foundation of teaching infrastructure and support. Mix in an engaged, inquisitive, and fun faculty, plus one of the most high-tech and rapidly growing areas of the country, and you’ve got a great foundation for a dynamic internal medicine residency program and an exciting place to be a resident.

We are very fortunate to be based in a growing and vibrant part of the state. Raleigh is rich in educational institutions that improve the quality of life in Wake County, including Wake AHEC, St. Augustine’s University, North Carolina State University, Shaw University, Meredith College, Wake Technical Community College, Wake County Public Schools, and more. We believe the WakeMed Internal Medicine Residency Program is now an important part of this impressive line-up. In addition, there is much to enjoy on the extra-curricular side as outlined on our website and in any rankings of high-quality places to live. I hope you enjoy learning about the WakeMed Internal Medicine Residency Program. I think you’ll discover many good reasons to join us.