Message from our DIO
Pursue your passion, not just your career
It is always heartening and uplifting to see a new generation of doctors begin their residencies and fellowships at The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education. The journey to become a doctor is a long and arduous process filled with plenty of excitement and anticipation, but also lots of hard work.
I feel rejuvenated every year during the recruitment process as we interview numerous new physician candidates to fill the limited amount of positions we have available in our eight Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited graduate programs. It gives me great joy to engage with young doctors who are ready to take the next step in their careers and for me to learn about their goals, dreams and roles in this noble profession of medicine.
It is an emotional moment for me when I get to share with aspiring physicians the path I chose to become a doctor. I am a proud and passionate graduate of The Wright Center – a decision that eventually led to my rewarding career as the Designated Institutional Official of this groundbreaking organization.
Our mission at The Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education is to improve the health and welfare of our communities through inclusive and responsive health services and the sustainable renewal of an inspired and competent workforce that is privileged to serve.
Our history goes back nearly a half century. Since 1976, The Wright Center has been educating physicians and interprofessional students while providing nondiscriminatory, high-quality, affordable primary health services locally – starting with our predecessor organization, the Scranton-Temple Residency program. Our humble beginnings included six internal medicine residents training annually. Today, we have more than 670 employees, including around 250 resident and fellow physicians.
As one of the nation’s largest Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)-funded Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Safety-Net Consortium, The Wright Center integrates patient care delivery, workforce development, and innovation to be the leading model of primary health care in America.
We passionately deliver our mission here in Northeast Pennsylvania at our community health centers and regional clinical partners that primarily serve patients in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming counties, and also in communities across the country through our national partnerships in Washington, Arizona, Ohio, and Washington, D.C., and learning networks with Federally Qualified Health Centers.
In 2019, HRSA designated The Wright Center for Community Health as a Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike, providing additional resources that allow our community health centers to further assist medically underserved rural and urban communities and vulnerable populations, including people who are underinsured and uninsured. Our community health centers, and local and national relationships enable our physician learners to gain hands-on experiences with diverse patient populations, including those affected by the negative effects of socioeconomic determinants of health, such as food insecurity, homelessness, and poverty.
Those community health centers further reduce barriers to care by following the Patient-Centered Medical Home model, which provide integrated access to medical, dental, behavioral health, addiction and recovery, and infectious disease services at a single location. In the 2023-2024 fiscal year, The Wright Center recorded nearly 140,000 patient visits, including more than 33,000 unique patients, over 7,000 dental patients, and more than 4,000 people seeking mental and behavioral health services.
In addition, Pennsylvania designated The Wright Center for Community Health as an Opioid Use Disorder Center of Excellence in 2016 – one of about 50 centers in the commonwealth. Its related Healthy Maternal Opiate Medical Support program, more commonly known as Healthy MOMS, involves dozens of committed partner organizations working together to empower women who are faced with the dual challenge of raising a baby and coping with a substance use disorder. We also offer Lifestyle Medicine, Obesity Medicine, an Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care Program, and a Ryan White HIV Clinic, the latter of which serves about 500 patients across seven counties. Our 34-foot mobile medical unit, better known as Driving Better Health, improves access to care by establishing community clinics that enable clinical staff to see patients where they live and work.
We complement our services with one of the most diverse learning communities in the region. Our resident and fellow physicians are geographically, demographically, and culturally varied, as evidenced by the impressive net results of such inclusive and thorough recruitment efforts throughout the years. Our enhanced dedication to fostering an inclusive learning environment is reflected in our resident-led wellness committee, our House Staff Council’s wellness chief position, and the role of Associate Vice President of Health and Wellness. The latter role offers purposeful projects to promote healing and prevent physician burnout, among other things, by bringing together the arts and health and wellness. It also incorporates a monthly Holistic Approach to Employee Wellness blog series and initiatives that strive to create an environment that values diversity, promotes an inclusive culture, and establishes a sense of belonging for everyone.
By mission and design, we are committed to graduate medical education, patient care, and impacting positive change on the communities we serve across the country. The Wright Center is the program for you if you are looking for more than a residency program – one in which you can impart your knowledge and skills for the betterment of our honorable profession and those we aim to serve.
Thank you,
