Medical students join program designed to keep doctors in Rockford area after graduation

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our mobile app

ROCKFORD — The University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford on Monday welcomed two students into a program that’s designed to keep medical students in the city after graduation in hopes that they’ll practice in the area long-term.

Fourth-year medical students Laura Berger of Lenzburg and Cheyenne Carr of El Paso are joining the college’s Integrated Family Medicine Residency Program.

The program allows medical students to get increased clinical training in family medicine and obstetrics, putting them ahead of the curve when they start their official residency program, said Dr. Rhonda Verzal, director of the family medicine residency program.

Students selected also receive a financial stipend to defray educational costs and provide incentive to stay in Rockford for their residency training. They’re then ranked to match at the college’s Family Medicine Residency Program and will train at the UI Health Mile Square Health Center-L.P. Johnson Rockford, a federally qualified health center.

“Once they’re integrated they’ve invested in this community, they understand the needs of the community, and we hope that they will stay here to serve,” Verzal said. “We have seen our physicians continue to demonstrate an advanced clinical trajectory, become leaders within our residency program and our program’s community engagement.”

Nationally, more than 60% of residency program graduates stay in the region where they completed their training. Verzal said they expect the doctors who go through the training to positively impact the community in the years to come.

Since it launched in 2023, five students have entered the college’s residency through the integrated program.

“I think it’s an amazing opportunity to stay right here and to work and serve the people of Rockford and northern Illinois,” said Carr, who has a bachelor’s degree in molecular and cellular biology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “I’ve just felt so much support and know that going into residency I’ll get that same support and continue to be blessed beyond measure.”

Berger said she grew up on a dairy farm in southern Illinois and was inspired to get into family medicine in part by her father’s doctor. She said he was diagnosed with a heart murmur that the doctor caught.

“My dad is your very kind of typical stubborn farmer, didn’t believe anything was wrong,”  said Berger, who has a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. “His family medicine doctor really went above and beyond to make sure that he got the care that he needed and eventually consented to the heart surgery that saved his life.”

Both students are expected to be officially matched with their residencies in March and graduate in May.

“I’m very excited to stay in Rockford and work with all these amazing people,” Berger said.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas