Two CHI Employees Begin Medical Residencies in South Florida

Two Community Health of South Florida employees will begin physician residency training in June at the Doris Ison Health Center after matching with the Brodes H. Hartley, Jr. Teaching Health Center in March.

Dr. Gregory Fignole, a nurse practitioner at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Clinica Campesina Health Center, and Dr. Ia Bezhanidze, a medical assistant at the Key West Health Center, will train in family medicine and psychiatry as part of a 10-resident class.

Fignole joined CHI in 2015. His mother died of cervical cancer at 37 when he was 17. "What pushed me to become a doctor was seeing her pass early," Fignole said. "This is something that could have been prevented. I want to help people in their lives and educate them."

Bezhanidze grew up in rural Georgia with limited healthcare access and joined CHI in 2024. She trained under Dr. Sandy Santiago, associate medical director for CHI centers in the Florida Keys. "Since my childhood, I wanted to be a physician," Bezhanidze said. "I grew up in a rural area where people do not have the opportunity to go to the doctor."

Fignole said his work as a nurse practitioner taught him that family medicine extends beyond treating immediate symptoms. "Family medicine is not just to treat the patient and send them home," he said. "It's a bridge between a provider, advisor, and helping the patient get better."

Three employees under Santiago's supervision now plan to pursue medical residencies, Bezhanidze noted.