Q. What Partnership programs are you excited about implemen�ng or hoping to implement over the next 5 years?
A. With the rapidly changing landscape in the healthcare field, we need to equip our students with the tools and skills necessary to embrace technology and health informa�cs. Introducing a curriculum that addresses these important areas will be a priority over the next five years.
Q. Where would you like to see the partnership in 10 years? 20 years?
A. I’ d like to see the Medical Partnership as a leader in medical educa�on through collabora�on with Augusta University, the University of Georgia and our community physicians and partners. Together, we can improve the health of our community and increase access to care.
Q. How do you think technology, such as electronic medical records and new devices, has changed medical educa�on?
A. The healthcare field is changing rapidly, and physicians of today are facing so many challenges, including the effec�ve and efficient use of the electronic medical record. Technology in medicine is here to stay – wearable, electronic medical devices have become the norm and measure everything from a person’ s heart rate, to BP, to blood sugars, and more. Physicians are faced with managing massive amounts of incoming data and learning how to use that data to manage pa�ents’ medical problems. We have to train our students and residents differently than we have done for the past 50 years.
Q. What types of research is the Partnership engaged in?
A. Many of the faculty, both basic science and clinical scien�sts, are working on research, on topics such as heme synthesis, breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, and innova�ve methods of teaching including the use of technology in clinical prac�ce.
Q. Is the Partnership partnering with researchers from other colleges at UGA, GRU, or the private sector in any of its research endeavors?
A. At this �me our research projects are primarily focused on the research interests of Augusta University and University of Georgia. With the hiring Dr. Murrow, the Campus Associate Dean of Research, we hope to expand our research footprint.
Q. How do you think the local community will be enhanced as a result of having physician training taking place in Athens?
A. The local community has been enhanced by our presence in so many ways. Our medical students work with community partners and non‐profit agencies to support health programs and outreach to the community. They work to strengthen health programs already in place and to foster new ones. Our medical students have provided health screenings for the Salva�on Army and at the West Broad Street Farmer’ s Market for the public. They also host events to teach children and young adults about healthy diets and lifestyles. Our students coordinate benefits, like the annual Wine and Cheese event, to raise money for different non‐profit agencies each year. Through these partnerships, we hope to have a posi�ve impact on the health of our community.
Beyond the medical students’ involvement with the community, the development of a residency program with St. Mary’ s Hospital has improved access to care for many pa�ents that have never had the opportunity to see a physician. Access to healthcare has been an issue in Athens for years. With the opening of the Medical Partnership campus and residency programs, we have been able to
successfully recruit high quality specialists to the area. Lastly, we hope many of these new young physicians wish to stay and prac�ce in Georgia and help to avert the growing physician shortage, drawing physicians from inside and outside of Georgia to come to our city and work in the medical field.
The increase in students, residents, and faculty members to the community will enhance the quality of care delivered in Athens and have a strong economic impact on the area. We are crea�ng more jobs and work within the Athens community, and we are bringing in people from the medical field that will care for the Athens community – literally in the sense of medical needs and figura�vely as a home and community that has welcomed them.
Q. Have there been any challenges in recrui�ng students, residents, or faculty to a rela�vely new medical school?
A. We have been very successful in a�rac�ng top medical students to our campus and residency programs. Medical students select the Athens campus once they have been accepted through the MCG admission process in Augusta. The residency program had 1300 applica�ons in the first year of the program, and in the second year it topped 1800 applica�ons for just 10 Internal Medicine residency posi�ons.
Being only in its second year, we’ re proud to see our residency program solidifying, and we look forward to its con�nued growth in the upcoming years.
The Medical Partnership has been able to a�ract Faculty physicians from across the US from some of the top medical schools like Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Baylor, University of Texas Southwestern, Emory and Yale to name a few.
Q. Is there anything that you think local leaders( non‐university leaders) or the local community could do make the Athens area more a�rac�ve for recrui�ng student, resident, and faculty talent to the Partnership?
A. Athens has a lot to offer our prospec�ve medical students, residents and faculty. As they say in real estate – loca�on, loca�on, loca�on. Athens hosts a wonderful community interlaced with Southern hospitality, and great college town feel. There is live music almost every night of the year, great locally‐owned restaurants, and an array of community events that make it a colorful, lively place to live, learn and work!
The Athens community has been incredibly welcoming to our medical educa�on program; we thank our community physicians and partners – we could not deliver our program without their involvement. Our promise is to con�nue to strengthen our rela�onships with the community and build on the successes we have had to date.
Spring 2016
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