Georgia's Leading Force in Health Education
President Cites MCG's Growing Role in Statewide Landscape
Editor's note: For the full text of President Rahn's 2006 State of the University Address, visit www.mcg.edu/news/2006NewsRel/SOU090706.html
Amid extensive social, demographic and economic changes in the state and nation, the Medical College of Georgia is forging an ever-broader role in its mission of improving health and reducing the burden of illness in society.
“We continue to shape a new MCG—a stronger institution, a more viable institution, an institution better suited to meet the changing needs of a changing state,” said President Daniel W. Rahn during his 2006 State of the University Address delivered Sept. 7 in the Auditoria Center.
President
Rahn’s recent dual appointment as senior vice chancellor for health and medical
programs for the University System of Georgia reinforces the university’s role
as a change agent, he said. “What a validating move for MCG this is—clear
acknowledgement of the importance of health professions education to the
University System.”
He will use this role to address issues including a health professions workforce shortage and access to health care. But as MCG assumes a larger statewide role, the university will never lose sight of its top priority. “We have put education squarely in the middle of all that we do because, first and foremost, we are a university,” President Rahn said. “The majority of our new initiatives this past year were focused on our students.”
Those initiatives included new doctoral programs in nursing practice, physical therapy and neuroscience; a new graduate program in biostatistics; more simulation training for students; the opening of the Georgia Southwest Clinical Campus in Albany, Ga., as the School of Medicine’s first regional clinical campus; increased enrollment, particularly in the Schools of Dentistry and Medicine; occupation of the new Health Sciences Building; and implementation of the student information system, PULSE.
President Rahn also noted achievements in research, including a 44.3 percent increase in diabetes research funding; the opening of the Cancer Research Center; and clinical excellence as evidenced by MCG Health Inc.’s inclusion in the University Health System Consortium’s top quartile for quality.
All these accomplishments have unfolded despite an often-tenuous national landscape, President Rahn said. “From where I sit, our greatest challenges emanate from issues associated with continuing instability in the nation’s health care system. That’s why we must continue to work collaboratively with our colleagues in the health system to preserve our margin-sharing agreement while not sacrificing the quality of care provided to the patients who come to us when in need.”
Indeed, an overall commitment to business intelligence is one of President Rahn’s highest priorities. “The need for business intelligence—easily accessible high-level management information that is both current and relevant—has never been more important in the life of this university.”
Sound business principles hold the key to directing and optimizing MCG’s resources, he said, noting that recently appointed Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. has a business background as former president and chief executive officer of Alliant Energy Corp.
Future goals for MCG include enhancing efforts related to research capacity, class size, the health professions workforce and collaboration with the clinical system.
“We will continue to look for opportunities to maximize our operational effectiveness so we can direct a larger percentage of our resource base to mission-central activities,” President Rahn said.
“The course is set. Our job is to maintain our focus.”
Vice Chancellorship Enables Health Education CoordinationMedical College of Georgia President Daniel W. Rahn takes his role as leader of the state’s only public health sciences university very seriously. So seriously that he has accepted an additional University System of Georgia role as senior vice chancellor for health and medical programs, coordinating health sciences education at the state’s 35 public colleges and universities. “Some have expressed concern that this is going to compete with my role and responsibilities as president,” said Dr. Rahn, “but I see it as the responsibility of the Medical College of Georgia, so I think it is perfectly in line with my existing responsibilities.” Georgia’s Task Force on Health Professions Education, created in 2005 and chaired by Dr. Rahn to assess and address the state’s health professions education needs, recently submitted recommendations to the University System of Georgia Board of Regents that led to the broadened role. Dr. Rahn was a natural choice to fill the role, said Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. “He already has a working knowledge of the overall problems in the state, of the shortages and where the gaps lie,” he said. “He is highly regarded, an excellent leader, highly collegial, very bright and full of good ideas.” The task force findings were predictable but daunting nonetheless, said Dr. Rahn, noting “shortages of health professionals across every role that are fairly deep and predicted to worsen.” For instance, an estimated 800,000 additional nurses will be needed nationally by the year 2020. (See Reflections column on inside back cover for more information.) “Our focus is moving from acute to chronic illness as baby boomers age,” he said. “We’re just not producing the workforce to meet that demand.” All players—government, academia, corporate America and ordinary citizens—must come to the table to forge solutions, he said. “That sounds simple, but because there’s no organization or entity that owns responsibility for the health workforce, it kind of falls in between everything.” But some strategies, he said, are obvious and long overdue, including re-entry pathways for health care professionals who take a career break to raise families or pursue other goals and incentives for health professionals to work in academia, ensuring a continuous infusion of highly skilled workers. Other strategies will emerge as task force findings are further analyzed. University System experts in finance, economics, academia, institutional research and other areas have been selected to do just that. “The leadership in each program knows its institution’s limitations,” said Dr. Rahn. “We need to share that information and figure out how to move forward.” Metrics will be established to help assess and maximize resources. For instance, evaluations of individual programs will assess attrition and graduation rates and performance on certifying and licensure examinations. Faculty evaluations will factor in all areas of responsibility, including instruction, research and clinical care. Next will come comparisons from one institution to the next in areas including cost per graduate and cost per credit hour. “In order to get meaningful information, we need a uniform methodology,” Dr. Rahn said. “We need these accountability measures because if a program performs poorly and is expensive, how do we justify putting more resources into it?” He anticipates vibrant collaboration among university system officials. “I’m impressed that when the issues are put on the table, our leaders are anxious to work together for the public good.” He expects MCG leadership to contribute significantly to the cause as well. “I’m very dependent on the knowledge, experience and expertise of MCG’s program leaders. I expect them to occupy leadership roles in each of the health professional areas. Addressing this issue requires staying focused and partnering with every willing party in order to address this very important public need.” ### For the Final Report of the Task Force on Health Professions Education visit: http://www.usg.edu/pubs. |