Residency Programs

I am thrilled to welcome you to the home page for Graduate Medical Education for Ocean University Medical Center.  Medical education, both on the undergraduate and graduate level, is one of our highest priorities, and we strive to exceed the expectations of our students and trainees through innovation and a robust environment supporting inquiry. We are affiliated with Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, our newly opened medical school that welcomed its first class in July 2018. At Ocean, we also have a major affiliation with the Rowan School of Osteopathic Medicine, where we serve as a regional campus for third-year students. You will interact with trainees from other disciplines, providing the opportunity for interdisciplinary education.

Ocean graduated its first residency class in June 2021. At present, we have over 80 trainees in ACGME-accredited programs in Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, Family Medicine, Transitional Year, as well as new residency in Clinical Pharmacy.  

Hackensack Meridian Health has as one its core missions to be a High Reliability Organization (HRO), defined as providing consistent excellence in quality and safety for every patient, every time. HRO is a journey, not a destination. As such, our residents are key to achieving success. All residents receive training in Performance Improvement and Quality Improvement; all will spend time on teams working on an existing QI/PI project, or developing one of their own.

Our faculty – a mix of employed full-time clinicians as well as volunteer medical and dental staff members – is recognized for their clinical skills and individualized attention to learners. Side by side with our faculty and through hands-on clinical experiences, simulation exercises, didactic sessions, workshops and online modules, our residents become skilled in caring for patients with a broad spectrum of disorders in inpatient and outpatient settings.

While training at our programs we expect residents to provide evidenced-based care decisions. To support them in achieving this goal, Hackensack Meridian Health has several tools to assist in this effort:

• An Institute for Evidence-Based Care, which regularly updates care management guidelines and makes them available when residents’ log in to the computer system. We also invest in UpToDate, the leading point of care database. UptoDate is free of charge to residents, and is available on all devices.
• EPIC EMR throughout the Hackensack Meridian Health network with availability of the social determinants of health module, so that residents can better understand issues their patients face prior to admission and upon discharge.

In support of research, we have over 30 dedicated research staff and five full-time biostatisticians available for residents’ research projects. Our residents are expected to engage in a mentored research project during their training and projects. Posters and oral presentations are a major part of our annual Research Day program every June.

Across the network, our programs meet or exceed state and national averages for Board pass rates, and have a remarkable track record for success in fellowship matches. We also have an increasing number of employment opportunities in primary care and specialty areas given the growth of our health system.

Finally, we have a strong culture and shared beliefs: Creative, Courageous, Compassionate, Collaborative. We embrace the importance of wellness of our residents, and have hospital-based and network initiatives and programs in place to achieve work-life balance to maximize your learning and ability to deliver excellent patient care. We also have a commitment to address diversity, equity inclusion in our training programs. I encourage you to view the video below with messages from our CEO Robert C. Garrett as well as our academics teams across the network, providing insight into how our individual training programs are addressing this important topic.

This is an exciting time to be starting residency training. I hope that you will consider joining us.

Sincerely,

David S. Kountz, M.D., MBA, FACP
Vice President, Academic Affairs and DIO | Jersey Shore University Medical Center
Co-Chief Academic Officer, Hackensack Meridian Health
Professor and Sr. Associate Dean, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine

Our Community

Ocean County

Ocean County is located along the Jersey Shore. Since 1990, it has been one of New Jersey’s fastest-growing counties. Located 50 miles east of Philadelphia, 70 miles south of New York City and 25 miles north of Atlantic City, it is a prime destination for residents of these cities during the summer.

Ocean County is home to many tourist attractions, especially the beachfront communities of Seaside Heights, Long Beach Island and Point Pleasant Beach. It is also a gateway to New Jersey’s Pine Barrens, one of the largest protected pieces of land on the East Coast.

New York Metropolitan/Tri-State Area

Ocean University Medical Center is a 90-minute drive from Manhattan. The New York metropolitan area includes the most populous city in the United States – New York City – as well as the remaining four NYC boroughs, Northern New Jersey, Central New Jersey, the Hudson Valley and Western Connecticut.

As a center of many industries, including finance, international trade, media and entertainment, tourism, biotechnology and manufacturing, it is one of the most important economic regions in the world.

As of the 2010 Census, the metropolitan area had a population of 22,085,649. The population density was 1,865 per square mile. The racial markup was that 61.6% were White, 16.9% were African American, 9.1% were Asian, Pacific Islanders were less than 1%, 0.5% were American Indian and Alaskan Native; 8.8% listed themselves as “some other race” while 3.2% were of two or more races.

Hispanics were 21.7% of any race. The median age was 37.9. The average income for non-family households was $90,335, and the average income for families was $104,715. 13.3% of the population was below the poverty line.