For 50 years, resident physicians have had the opportunity to live, train and learn in eastern North Carolina through Graduate Medical Education (GME) at ECU Health Medical Center and the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. As the program celebrates its semicentennial, leaders from across ECU Health and the Brody School of Medicine gathered to celebrate the program’s impact and the people who make it work.
During an Aug. 21 luncheon at the East Carolina Heart Institute, resident physicians past and present had a chance to reflect on the history of GME at ECU Health Medical Center.
What began with a single Family Medicine Residency program in 1976 has blossomed into 38 resident physician and fellowship programs that give providers hands on experience as they treat patients in rural eastern North Carolina.
“Today we celebrate a legacy of 50 years which has produced many of the physicians who currently practice medicine in our region,” said Dr. Mary Catherine Turner, associate dean for Graduate Medical Education at the Brody School of Medicine and ECU Health Medical Center. “GME is a beautiful example of ECU Health intentionally living out its mission to improve the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina. We are in an active phase of growth and anticipate another 50 years of caring for patients across our rural communities.”
GME quickly grew in the 1970s, adding residency programs in fields like pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology and psychiatry. Through the 1980s and 1990s new programs including ones in geriatrics, cardiology and immunology were introduced. Most recently, ECU Health Medical Center has added residency programs in neurology and ophthalmology, with recruiting underway to launch the newest fellowship program in addiction medicine. All the while, residency tracks in rural medicine have given physicians opportunities to care for patients in underserved areas, with new rural residency tracks continuing to launch through summer of 2027.
In 2025, 39 GME graduates entered the physician workforce in eastern North Carolina. Dr. Turner said maintaining that number for the next five years would see 195 physicians practicing across the region.
“The mission of ECU Health and the mission of GME have not changed. Since day one, we have focused on recognizing and addressing disparities in rural health care,” said Dr. Jonathon Firnhaber, interim chair of the Department of Family Medicine at ECU Health. Dr. Firnhaber served as a residency program director for 14 years. “That commitment was made in 1976, carries through today and will continue forward. It is exciting for me, from a training perspective, to know there is a hospital in this geographically diverse region, which generally lacks other medical care, with virtually every aspect of care available. It’s an incredible training opportunity.”
Dr. Michael Waldrum, CEO of ECU Health and Dean of the Brody School Medicine, said the celebration marked what academic health care can accomplish when mission meets action.
“Today reminds me of why I love health care,” Dr. Waldrum said. “When we embarked on our mission to improve the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina, we injected the value of education into our organization. It’s important to celebrate and understand the importance of how we educate the future of health care, how we educate ourselves and how we build a better future for our communities and each other. The work toward that goal is represented in this room, and I thank you for building that personal future that impacts our communities and, frankly, the nation.”