The School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences announced plans to team up with Kaleida and the Erie County Medical Center in an effort to streamline residency training and strengthen the Western New York medical community.
"It's a huge, huge cultural change," said Bernardino.
In previous years, residents were trained within three or four separate programs in hospitals throughout Western New York, which did not allow them to form professional relationships with one another, which Bernadino feels is just as important as medical training.
"The faculty never really developed a faculty culture," he said.
Bernardino believes that while the residents and faculty gain a sense of community, area hospitals stand to gain as well.
"(The hospitals) are getting a long term relationship with the university, which I think is important," he said.
Similar plans are in the works for Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Veterans Affairs Western New York Healthcare System and the Catholic Health System, said Bernardino.
UB currently has approximately 400 residents at Buffalo General Hospital and over 150 at ECMC.
