Haverhill native Patrick O’Neil is one of 12 medical students completing their residencies through the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, making the cut from a pool of 746 international applicants.
Patrick O’Neil (Courtesy photograph)
O’Neil’s time back in the Merrimack Valley follows coursework at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Others in his residency program hail from as close as Fall River and as far as Pakistan and Vietnam.
As a result of increased state funding, the program was able to accept one additional doctor, for an incoming residency class of 12.
“We are able to train 20 percent more family physicians here in Lawrence thanks to new state funding focused on increasing the primary care workforce in Massachusetts, particularly in community health centers,” Residency Director Dr. Wendy Barr said. “Our success in recruiting such great new doctors shows that medical students desire this training. I am so proud that we are able to train more full spectrum family physicians for Lawrence and other underserved communities.”
Headquartered in Lawrence, the clinic’s mobile care van travels often to Haverhill to administer aid to locals at GAR Park.