Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the residency program’s availability. The program is actually available to medical students across the state and country.

The story also incorrectly stated when the school received its accreditation. The school actually received approval for the residency program in 2014.

Also misprinted in the story was the range of residency partnerships. It now correctly states that the partnership was also founded to establish and create more residencies in Palm Beach County.

The story was corrected to add emphasis to what hospitals are the main base for each residency program, which was not made clear in the original version.

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tudents in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine and in universities across the state and country will soon have the opportunity to take part in two new residency programs through the university.

The college of medicine received accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in April and May 2016 for residencies in general surgery and emergency medicine.

According to its website, the private nonprofit organization sets standards for U.S. graduate medical education (residency and fellowship programs that are used to train doctors in the field) for the two new programs.

The accredited programs are not the first time the school has been approved, as the college of medicine previously received initial accreditation from the ACGME in 2014 for their first residency program.

“If you want to be a physician you have to go to college, then med school. When you finish, you go to internship and residencies,” said Richard D. Shih, M.D., the director of emergency medicine residency program at Florida Atlantic.

The Association of American Medical Colleges released a report last April stating that the United States will face a shortage of physicians over the next decade.

Florida Atlantic’s new residency programs have been designed with the goal to train physicians and keep them to work in the South Florida area, according to Dr. Lee A. Learman, M.D., designated institutional officer and senior associate dean for graduate medicine at FAU.

“A lot of doctors go to medical school down here, train, and then leave,” he said. “We’re creating the residency program in the medical school, because the residency program is a more important factor to who will stay in Florida.”

The college of medicine is in agreement with five local hospitals to build and implement residency opportunities in Palm Beach county, including the two new residency partnerships with FAU.

The general surgery program, consisting of a five-year program, will be located at Boca Raton Regional Hospital and will also see residents placed at Bethesda Hospital East in Boynton Beach, Delray Medical Center on Linton Boulevard in Delray, St. Mary’s medical center in West Palm Beach and West Boca Medical Center in Boca Raton.

The emergency medicine residency will consist of a three-year program and be hosted at Bethesda and will also send some of its residents to Delray Medical Center.

Joe Pye is a staff writer for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @Jpeg3189.