Internal Medicine
The aim of our program is to produce compassionate well-trained internal medicine clinicians in a residency program that models ethical and professional behavior through mentorship and collaboration within the healthcare environment, and provide opportunities for our residents to become leaders.

Internal Medicine Residency Moving to Wellstar Cobb

Due to the closure of Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center, our Internal Medicine Residency Training Program will be moving November 1, 2022, to our new home at Wellstar Cobb Hospital (WCH).  WCH is a 387-bed hospital in the Wellstar Health System located about 20 miles from downtown Atlanta that offers advanced comprehensive care to the people of South Cobb County. Wellstar Cobb’s cutting-edge technology and access to a comprehensive set of specialties and subspecialties will allow for a robust medical education experience for our residents. A Healthgrades 2020 Distinguished Hospital Award Recipient, WCH provides approximately 100k total inpatient days, 280k outpatient visits, and 110k emergency room visits annually.  The internal medicine residency program leaders and faculty are committed to ensuring limited change to the program through this transition. Each of our Wellstar-employed core Internal Medicine GME faculty as well as the PD and APD will be transitioning to WCH for continued oversight and uninterrupted support of the program. Additionally, program administrative staff will retain their supporting roles. 

As a major tertiary hospital, WCH is ideally positioned to serve as our new primary training location and deliver an exceptional clinical training environment. The facilities at WCH are contemporary and spacious and will provide an outstanding environment with improved amenities for the internal medicine residents, faculty, and staff. Residents will gain experience providing care for a diverse patient population from a wide variety of socio-economic backgrounds. WCH and its many surrounding clinics will indeed provide amplified opportunities for our residents in terms of their ambulatory educational experience.

We are excited about this move and are anticipating a robust and fruitful recruitment season.  Given this transition, we do anticipate that our interview season will be somewhat delayed,  beginning in December and extending into February 2023. We look forward to meeting you! 

Compassionate, academic, comprehensive, collaborative
As a community program with a strong academic focus, we have a consistent record of excellence in scholarly activity and have maintained a solid track record of graduating residents able to effectively compete for sub-specialty fellowship opportunities and employment opportunities as hospitalists. Our relationship with multiple medical schools further enhances our program’s teaching mission with students well integrated into our learning environment while on junior clerkship rotations and electives.
Mindful Mentoring
The program is recognized for the close mentoring relationships that develop among residents and their attending physicians (who average nearly 15 years with the program). This is a result of the deep commitment of our physician-educators to rounding and teaching.
Impressive Metrics
Our residents’ academic performance as measured by standardized exams is impressive. ACP In-training exam (ITE) performance has consistently placed our residents at the >95th percentile nationwide. Additionally, the most recent 3-year rolling ABIM Board pass rates stand at 93%. For those seeking fellowship positions upon graduation, nearly 85% of our residents who apply subsequently secure such subspecialty training.
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Curriculum

Throughout their three years of training, residents maintain a continuity clinic at the Sheffield Health Care Center one-half day per week where they care for a panel of patients with a wide variety of medical problems. The small faculty-to-resident ratio within the clinic optimizes resident learning opportunities in outpatient medicine. Residents are able to follow their own patients from the ambulatory to the inpatient setting and thus gain invaluable experience in longitudinal care. Preventive medicine is stressed, and residents provide routine gynecologic care to their female patients.

Residents are strongly encouraged to participate in scholarly activities that lead to publication and/or presentations at regional and national scientific meetings. In recent years residents have been active participants in meetings of the American College of Physicians (ACP), The Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) and the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), receiving awards for podium and poster presentations. Resident participation in such activities has strong institutional support from WellStar Cobb Medical Center.

We are committed to providing an environment in which our residents are supported in their quest for fellowship positions should they pursue this career direction. We are extremely proud of our graduates’ fellowship placements, which include many subspecialties and top-tier academic institutions. Those entering fellowship consistently report back to us that they have felt exceptionally well prepared for the challenges inherent in these post-graduate positions.

Clerkship (Medical Student Rotators)

Wellstar offers qualified third and fourth year medical students the opportunity to pursue a core or elective clerkship in Internal Medicine. The focus is on hands-on training in an exciting urban healthcare environment with diverse and often complex patient conditions.

Wellstar Cobb Medical Center is affiliated with the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, Mercer University School of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and Ross University School of Medicine.

Clerkship participants work out of the main Wellstar Cobb Medical Campus. Students provide their own housing during the clerkship, often staying with friends or relatives in the Atlanta area or in nearby housing.

Participants give the program high marks and benefit greatly from the opportunity to apply classroom knowledge to “real world” healthcare.

Wellstar Cobb Medical Center welcomes a limited number of medical students. For more information please contact Ashley Thomas by email or by phone at (404) 265-4158.

Leadership & House Staff

Additional Information

Our interview schedule begins in early November and continues through January. Please note that interviews are by invitation and will be scheduled on Fridays only during the time period listed. We welcome your interest in Wellstar’s Internal Medicine Residency Program!

For additional program details including exam requirements and salaries, visit our FREIDA listing.
Miriam Parker, MD
Program Director
Internal Medicine
Dr. Parker has dedicated her medical career to graduate medical education. A native of Philadelphia, she completed her medical education at Temple University with subsequent residency training in Internal Medicine at Emory University where she then served as an Assistant Clinical Professor before joining Atlanta Medical Center. Passionate about graduate medical education, Dr. Parker has been a member of the Atlanta Medical Center faculty since 1997, holding the Program Directorship position for over 20 years. In 2013, she assumed the role of Designated Institutional Official and is a graduate of AMC’s GME Leadership Development Certificate PRogram.

A fellow of the American College of Physicians and member of Alpha Omega Alpha, Dr. Parker is actively involved in resident education in both the inpatient and ambulatory care arenas and serves as Assistant Clinical Professor at Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. In addition, Dr. Parker has been a Patient Experience Champion and a committed advocate for Patient Safety for which she was honored in 2016 with WellStar’s Quality and Safety Leaders Award.
Thomas Lall, MD
Associate Program Director
Internal Medicine
A native of Michigan, Dr. Lall completed his medical education and residency training in Detroit and Ann Arbor, respectively. Since the completion of residency and as chief resident year, he has dedicated himself to the education of residents and medical students. He previously held professorships at the University of Michigan School of Medicine, Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Medical College of Ohio.

At WellStar Atlanta Medical Center, Dr. Lall has served as the Internal Medicine Clerkship Co-Director as well as the Vice Chair of the Internal Medicine department. His interests include physician and resident well-being, addiction/analgesic medicine and procedural medicine. As associate program director, Dr. Lall attends to resident education in both the ambulatory and inpatient settings. His hospital commits include membership on the Analgesic Reduction and Peer Review Committees at WellStar Atlanta Medical Center. Dr. Lall retains faculty appointments at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University and at the Ross University School of Medicine.