Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) is excited to introduce Idopise Umana, MD, as the associate program director of our Ambulatory/Primary Care and Internal Medicine Residency Programs. Since joining the Northeast Georgia Physicians Group (NGPG) at the Braselton Clinic in 2009, Dr. Umana has exemplified a passion for excellence in delivering compassionate care to patients and has worked to foster a team approach to serving the community.
In her role as associate program director, Dr. Umana will work with the Internal Medicine Graduate Medical Education (GME) program director to help support residents in both the Internal Medicine and Ambulatory Care departments. Dr. Umana is excited to provide encouragement and training to the next generation of physicians as they implement compassionate care in line with the core values of Northeast Georgia Health System.
After moving to the United States from Nigeria at age six, Dr. Umana and her family settled in Stone Mountain, GA, where she and her two younger brothers grew up and attended school. Dr. Umana later attended the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and decided during her first year there to become a physician— a decision guided by her interest in the sciences, the impact of being in a family of nurses, physicians and pharmacists and her general love of people.
She then entered medical school at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, GA, and ultimately settled on Internal Medicine because she enjoys the ability to support patients in every aspect of their health care, to partner with colleagues in the welfare of our patients and to develop the close patient relationships that come with being a primary care provider. After medical school, Dr. Umana completed her residency in Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, before returning to Georgia to practice. Dr. Umana chose NGPG because of its commitment to patient care, excellent facilities, access to specialists, excellent staff and supportive administration.
Dr. Umana has been involved with teaching programs and opportunities since her undergraduate career when she was a teaching assistant in the general biology lab. She was also Chief Resident at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville in 2008 where she supervised junior residents. Since then, Dr. Umana has discovered a passion for education and has continued teaching within her practice at Braselton Clinic. She is avidly interested in research into the future of medicine, specifically regarding practice improvement projects within the outpatient ambulatory clinics and ways to improve patient compliance as it relates to medication compliance, disease awareness, vaccinations and obesity management.
Dr. Umana devotes most of her spare time to running her nonprofit, Living R.E.A.L, Inc. Founded in 2016, the organization works to support educational opportunities in countries abroad (primarily Nigeria), to provide mentorship programs in alignment with local high schools and to partner with other local nonprofits to serve those communities. She also spends her time helping develop business initiatives that will educate communities on the importance of healthy living in terms of physical, financial, emotional, spiritual, professional and social wellness. When she is not working on these, Dr. Umana enjoys exercising (particularly kickboxing), mentoring, volunteering and spending time with friends and family.
Dr. Umana believes that training at a new GME program is valuable because it gives residents the opportunity to set the precedent for a strong program and to actively shape their own program by providing input geared towards NGMC’s goal of continuous improvement in its educational practices. The GME program at NGMC offers an excellent opportunity for residents to train and become well-rounded physicians and even gives them the potential to start a career in the health system after completing their training.
“I am excited to be a part of the Graduate Medical Education Program at NGMC,” Umana said. “It provides me a unique opportunity to help teach, encourage and support the next generation of physicians.”
About Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s GME program
Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s (NGMC) GME program is currently accepting applications for the Internal Medicine and General Surgery Residency Programs and will match the inaugural class in the spring of 2019. NGMC’s Graduate Medical Education program is designed to train residents to be leaders in the medical field as well as in the community. Learn more about the NGMC GME program.
About Northeast Georgia Health System
Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) is a non-profit institution on a mission of improving the health of our community in all we do. Our team cares for more than 800,000 people across the region through three hospitals and a variety of outpatient locations. Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) has three hospital campuses – NGMC Gainesville, NGMC Braselton, and NGMC Barrow – with a total of 713 beds and more than 700 medical staff members representing more than 50 specialties. Learn more at www.nghs.com.
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