MUSC Health Lancaster welcomed its first-ever class of internal medicine residents, marking a historic step toward addressing the region’s physician shortage.
LANCASTER, S.C. — MUSC Health Lancaster Medical Center welcomed its first class of eight internal medicine resident physicians this month, marking a historic milestone in addressing the region’s physician shortage and expanding health care access across Lancaster County.
The three-year residency program represents the largest single state appropriation ever awarded to a Lancaster entity, reflecting unprecedented collaboration between state government and private donors to tackle South Carolina’s critical need for primary care physicians.
“This will be a pipeline for the workforce of primary care in the region,” Dr. Edward McCutcheon, chief medical officer for MUSC Health’s Catawba Division, said. “When they come out, they’ll be able to take care of everything and anything that you can think of regarding adult medicine.”
The program addresses a statewide challenge where medical students often leave South Carolina for residency training elsewhere and rarely return to practice in the state, according to McCutcheon.
“Throughout the state of South Carolina, we have plenty of medical students completing medical school training. However, we don’t have enough residency programs throughout the state,” McCutcheon said. “So, those that leave the state most likely won’t come back.”
Dr. Aravind Raghavan, the program director, said the goal is the retention of quality physicians in the community long-term.
“We’re going to try to eliminate the physician shortage as much as we can,” Raghavan said. “We’ve got wonderful residents coming from all over the world and our goal is retain these exemplary residents for this community.”
The resident physicians will provide comprehensive patient care under the supervision of experienced doctors, functioning with full clinical responsibilities while receiving advanced training.
“They’re going to do the exact same thing that a well-trained physician is going to do, but under the watch of a physician,” Raghavan explained.
For residents like Sruthi Sooryanarayanan, who came from India to join the inaugural class, the opportunity represents both professional advancement and community engagement.
“It feels surreal to be standing here and doing this,” Sooryanarayanan said. “Not just being a part of the legendary MUSC name, but I also get to learn about how to shape a community as a physician, which I think is really important.”
The program received funding through a public-private partnership including state appropriations championed by the South Carolina General Assembly and private support from organizations including The Duke Endowment, OceanaGold Haile Gold Mine, Comporium and Domtar.
Rep. Brandon Newton, a Republican who represents House District 45, emphasized the significance of the state investment in a statement.
“This is the largest single state appropriation ever awarded at one time to a Lancaster entity, which speaks volumes about the importance of this initiative,” Newton said. “As a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, I was proud that this funding was included in this year’s state budget.”
J. Scott Broome, chief executive officer of MUSC Health Lancaster Medical Center, called the residency program foundational to the hospital’s broader expansion plans.
“We’re working on many exciting initiatives, from launching new services to developing a future hospital campus in Indian Land. But this is one of the most important efforts we’ve undertaken because it forms the foundation for everything else,” Broome said in a statement. “When you have strong primary care, everything works better, from specialty services to advanced care.”
The hospital is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education to offer postgraduate medical education and recently earned an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group — a top distinction.
They’re already planning to launch a Family Medicine residency program, which would double the number of physicians in training and further strengthen primary and preventive care access in the region, according to MUSC Health.
Contact Kayland Hagwood at khagwood@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.