Podcast | Practice of Medicine | December 28, 2020

Implementation of a Vertically Integrated Trainee Program (VITP): Progress and Lessons Learned

Join SMJ Editor-in-Chief Dr. Steven Baldwin as he discusses with Mr. Ryan Alexander, Ms. Simone Werter, and Dr. Donald DiPette their article, “Implementation of a vertically integrated trainee program (VITP): progress and lessons learned” that appears in the December 2020 issue of the SMJ. During this podcast the panelists will share an overview of the program and its development and growth; detail, from a training perspective, the needs that a program such as this fulfills; and detail why mentorship is a crucial component of medical training and how this collaboration can facilitate a meaningful transition into an independent physician. In addition, they will provide insight how other undergraduate colleges and universities and medical schools could benefit from establishing their own VITP or a similar program.

Ryan Alexander
Ryan Alexander grew up in Rochester, Minnesota and attended Furman University from 2012-2016 where he earned a B.S. degree in Chemistry and served as the Events Chair for AED Pre-Health Honors Society. He is currently an M4 student at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and is interviewing for internal medicine residencies.

Simone Werter
Simone Werter is from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and will be receiving a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from the University of South Carolina in May 2021. She has been the VITP Director for Alpha Epsilon Delta for the past two years.

Donald DiPette, MD
Dr. DiPette is the Health Sciences Distinguished Professor at the University of South Carolina/University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia, South Carolina.

Steven Baldwin, MD
Dr. Steven Baldwin, who became the  Editor-in-Chief of the Southern Medical Journal in January 2020, is a faculty member in the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Division at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

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