St. Joseph's/Candler and MCG's long relationship

St. Joseph's/Candler and Medical College of Georgia; molding the future leaders in healthcare

The partnership between St. Joseph's/Candler and the Medical College of Georgia began in 2007 when both institutions came together to meet the growing need for more physicians in the southeast Georgia. More than 120 St. Joseph's/Candler physicians volunteered as faculty, opening their practices and hospital floors to MCG's third- and fourth-year medical students.

These were private practitioners with full schedules who chose to teach because they believed in the future of their profession and their region. That first class was just six to ten students rotating through clinical specialties at St. Joseph's Hospital and Candler Hospital. But from the beginning, everyone involved understood it was designed to grow into something far greater.

In 2011, St. Joseph's/Candler became the home base for MCG's Southeast Regional Campus, where third- and fourth-year students lived and trained in Savannah, building lasting relationships with their physician mentors and patients. By 2020, approximately 80 students each year were embedded in the community, and today more than 100 St. Joseph's/Candler physicians participate in medical student clinical education across the health system. 

Complete educational continuum

In 2024, MCG opened a full four-year medical school on the Armstrong Campus of Georgia Southern University, with 80 of its 160 students receiving clinical training at St. Joseph's Hospital and Candler Hospitals and outpatient centers. For the first time, a student could arrive in Savannah as a first-year and walk straight through to graduation without ever leaving the city.

The residency program launching in July 2027 is the culmination of everything this partnership has built. Beginning with Internal Medicine and expanding to include Family Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship, and General Surgery, the program will grow to accommodate 103 residents by 2031, making it the largest new residency program in the state of Georgia.

The physicians who volunteered as faculty in 2007 will now serve as attending physicians, guiding residents through the most formative years of their careers. What began as a handful of students rotating through Savannah has become a complete educational continuum, from the first year of medical school through the final day of residency, rooted in a community and a partnership.

SJ/C Residency Program