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Brody Eaton, DO, spoke to the GME Department at Baptist North Mississippi about a critical subject in the medical field, particularly for resident physicians – financial literacy. 

During the presentation on November 7, Dr. Eaton coached the group in learning how to evaluate their own financial realities, most efficiently pay off student loans, as well as suggested steps they can take now and in the near future to set themselves up for long-term financial success.  

With physician burnout considered as a widespread issue, Dr. Eaton shined a light on the financial aspects that influence clinicians’ overall wellbeing. 

“Physician burnout is such a huge problem these days,” Eaton said. “What we’ve found is that if your financial house is in order, and you have the ability to step away from work, that does more for burnout than anything else. Burned out physicians result in worse patient care and worse outcomes for the patient, so burnout is not good for anybody. If we can learn how to better keep our financial affairs in order, you’re going to have more flexibility to practice medicine because you want to and not because you have to.”  

Dr. Eaton is a family medicine physician with ARCare, the largest federally qualified health center in Arkansas that also operates clinics in Mississippi and Kentucky. He was born and raised in northeast Arkansas, completed his undergraduate degree at Arkansas State University before joining the first class of medical students at William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine. After earning his medical degree, he moved back to his home state for residency training in Jonesboro, Arkansas, which he completed in 2017. He has worked for ARCare ever since and is focused on the preventative aspect of community care. 

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) plans to conduct a site review to determine the next progression in accreditation of the Internal Medicine program at Baptist North Mississippi on Tuesday, March 7, 2023.

New residency and fellowship programs must first undergo a site review to receive initial accreditation by the ACGME after applying to establish the program. The BMH-NM program received initial accreditation in January 2021 after undergoing a site review in the fall of 2020. This paved the way to recruit the first class of resident physicians who joined the program in June 2021.

Once a program has received initial accreditation, the ACGME schedules a follow-up review within two years to ensure compliance with requirements established by the council. After a successful inspection, a new program is awarded continued accreditation. 

"Achieving ACGME Continued Accreditation status is a foundational step in the success of our residency program because it serves as the external validation of our standard of excellence," said Program Director Seger S. Morris, DO. "Our program is innovative, mission-driven, and grounded with the growth and wellbeing of our stakeholders at heart. We look forward to this opportunity to discuss our early success, and to demonstrate our substantial compliance with ACGME Program Requirements."

The accreditation field staff representative will meet virtually with the program director and associate program directors, leadership, core and key faculty members, as well as resident physicians. The ACGME staff member will collect and aggregate data based on documents and information previously provided by the program ahead of time, as well as from the conversations and interviews held the day of the site visit. 

At the conclusion of the review day, the site visitor will submit a report to the ACGME Review Committee who will confer the accreditation status upon the program. This group meets several times each year, with September 2023 as the next meeting date when the BMH-NM program would be anticipated to be placed on the RC agenda. With this timeline, a decision would be tentatively expected that same month. 

Garrett Hadley, DO, has been appointed for an additional year to serve as Chief Resident in the 2023-2024 academic year. Dr. Hadley was first appointed to the position for his PGY2 year, and will remain in the leadership role in his PGY3 year.  

Dr. Hadley assists with administrative operations of the program, as well as coordinates residents’ clinical and didactic schedules and serves as a leader in the training of resident physicians and medical students, among other duties. For both years, he was selected for the position by Program Director Seger S. Morris, DO, faculty and resident physicians, and program administration after a nomination and voting process at the beginning of the calendar year.

"Dr. Hadley is respected as a leader by faculty, students, and residents alike, as he strives for excellence across the academic, clinical, and leadership settings of residency," Dr. Morris said. "He has been instrumental in the early success and growth of our residency program, and I look forward to working with him for the 2024 Academic Year as he leads our inaugural class to their graduation."

To enhance his skills in this role, Dr. Hadley will attend the annual Chief Residents Meeting hosted by the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine in April. Previously, he completed the leadership skills training program for Chief Residents hosted by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

As the program prepares for an accreditation site review, new academic year, space expansion, and bringing in the third class of resident physicians, Dr. Hadley has proven to be instrumental. 

As a member of the inaugural class, Dr. Hadley entered the program in the summer of 2021 and moved to Oxford, Miss., from Ft. Smith, Ark., where he earned his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree at the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine. A native of Shawnee, Okla., he received a B.S. in Chemistry at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark. 

Nazneen Ahmed, MD, presented a Grand Rounds session focused on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and colon cancer screening on February 3, 2023. Dr. Ahmed serves as a gastroenterologist at the VA Medical Center, as well as an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, both in Memphis, Tenn. She completed both her Internal Medicine residency and Gastroenterology and Hepatology fellowship training at John Stroger Hospital in Chicago, Ill. 

She led the trainees and attending physicians through understanding the epidemiology and pathology of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and NASH, identifying populations at high risk for these conditions, and reviewing management and latest therapies for the condition. In a second session, Dr. Ahmed provided up-to-date guidance on ways to optimize the colorectal cancer screening process. 

Dr. Ahmed performs inpatient GI consultation rounds at the VA Medical Center, teaching residents and fellows during clinical rounds and discussions, as well as providing presentations. 

Members of the internal medicine residency program at Baptist North Mississippi attended the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s (ACGME) Annual Educational Conference in Nashville, Tenn., February 23-25, 2023.  

Program Director Seger S. Morris, DO; core faculty member Estefania Lara Garcia, MD; and program coordinator Emery Newsom made the trip and participated in educational sessions that covered everything from accreditation, strategies to achieve best practices, professional development, and more.  

The conference theme – Meaning in Medicine: Making a Difference – references the challenges and achievements of the graduate medical education community throughout the years. Thousands of individuals, including those from Baptist Memorial Medical Education, enjoyed three days of learning and activities that they will be able to return and apply to their respective programs.