Young doctors from across the United States covet residencies at JPS Health Network because they know there they will learn the skills needed to later land their dream job.
Increasingly, however, those residents are finding that they had their dream job all along. They're opting to remain at JPS permanently, signing employment contracts with JPS partner Acclaim Physician Group. Impressed by the culture at JPS and by the chance to feel that they can really make a difference in the lives of patients, more than a dozen physicians who were in the resident class of 2019 decided to stay.
Family Medicine physician Kim Wolfshohl said she realized early on during her residency that JPS had all the qualities she sought in a dream job.
“I realized that whenever I left here I would like to be involved with resident and medical student education,” Wolfshohl said. “I wanted to work in a hospital where the pathology was really broad and really varied and we see some very interesting stuff. I knew I would still like to serve an underserved population. JPS was the perfect for that. By the end of residency, I went from thinking ‘I hope I could find someplace like JPS’ to realizing I wanted to stay here.”
When a spot came open, Wolfshohl pursued it and she hasn’t regretted her decision for a second.
Fellow Family Medicine Physician Patricia Rawicki said she felt the same way. In fact, she said she spoke with several members of her residency program and was pleasantly surprised to find that many of her peers agreed.
“We enjoyed working with each other and we loved working at JPS so, as a group, we started discussing trying to find a way we could stay here together,” Rawicki said. “It’s an honor to be part of the special things that are happening here. I’m so glad things have worked out this way.”
I went from thinking 'I hope I could find someplace like JPS' to realizing I wanted to stay here.
Dr. Andrew Saverine has thrived at JPS where he created an Intensive Primary Care program in his second year of residency, furthering the JPS mission of bringing care to anyone in Tarrant County who needs it. He was excited to stay so he could carry on his work finding new ways to bring care to patients without the resources to find it any other way.
I definitely thought this could be a good long-term situation for me, pretty much from my first few weeks here,” Saverine said. “One of the definite strengths of practicing at JPS is that you have the freedom to develop professional and personally.”
Will Callans, Service Line Administrator for Geriatrics at JPS, said the decision of residents to stay doesn’t only benefit them. It also benefits patients because the residents bring new ideas and the latest techniques in medical care to the health network.
“Each of our new faculty members who are former residents has elevated the clinical care we’re providing at JPS,” Callans said. “They’ve been instrumental in ushering in new ways of thinking about clinical care, quality improvement, and medical education. Just today I received commendation from (Vice President of Quality and Patient Safety) Dr. (G. Robert) Stephenson highlighting the value Dr. Saverine is bringing to the organization. About a month ago, a patient reached out to me about Dr. (Allison) Brown (formerly Louis). I could go on and on. Needless to say, I am very glad they chose JPS/Acclaim for continued employment.”
Dr. Brown said she knew almost immediately after arriving at JPS that it was the perfect place for her. She said she had the opportunity to work at other public healthcare institutions as she completed her education and began her career, but none of them were as effective or compassionate as JPS.
“I love the patients,” Brown said. “I love their gratitude. It’s very rewarding. It makes me feel that I am making a meaningful impact on their life. A lot of them have so many struggles and hardships, so whatever I can do on my end to make life better for them by providing better healthcare, it’s one of the great things about being able to work at JPS.”
Besides landing their first job as doctors, the former residents said they hope JPS could be their only career stop. They said they considered it to be an honor to be asked to help carry forward the JPS mission of making sure anyone who needs care has a place to get it.
“Where do I see myself in 10 years?” Wolfshohl asked. “I sure hope it’s going to be right here at JPS. I love my job, my husband (another resident who stayed, Emergency Department physician Dr. Jon Wolfshohl) and I have started a family here. I couldn’t see myself anywhere else.”