School of Medicine Increases Class Size

The School of Medicine will expand its class size next year by 5 percent, from 180 to 190, the first increase since fall 1974.

“One of our most important responsibilities as Georgia’s health sciences university is to provide an excellent, diverse health care work force to serve our state,” said MCG President Daniel W. Rahn. “This has never been more important than today with our aging population and our increased ability to prevent and treat disease.”

In February 2005, the Association of American Medical Colleges recommended medical colleges increase enrollment by 15 percent over the next 15 years. The group predicted a serious physician shortage if trends continue.

The ratio of physicians per person in Georgia is already below the U.S. average. MCG officials hope their effort will help meet rising demands.

“We welcome this opportunity to help meet Georgia’s growing need for physicians,” said Dr. Ruth-Marie Fincher, vice dean of academic affairs for the School of Medicine. “We were able to matriculate this 5 percent without any significant modifications in the first two years of our education program. Anything beyond that would have required major changes in terms of faculty, facilities and equipment.”

Lecture halls in the Hamilton Wing of the MCG Carl T. Sanders Research and Education Building will be renovated to accommodate more first- and second-year medical students. New sites for clinical training are being identified for third- and fourth-year students.

“It takes about a year to bring on a community-based site when you factor in identifying the site and the faculty development that must take place before students arrive,” said Dr. T. Andrew Albritton, associate dean of curriculum for the School of Medicine.

Identification of these sites is already in the works for MCG’s first regional clinical campus, the Georgia Southwest Clinical Campus headquartered in Albany, Ga. As the university accumulates more practices and opportunities in the region, the campus will help absorb the extra students.

“Georgia’s public medical university is committed to steadily increasing (the number of) physicians to meet Georgia’s needs as the population of Georgia continues to increase,” said Dr. Steve J. Schwab, interim dean of the School of Medicine.

--Kim Miller

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Peacock Family Gives Library a Makeover

Dr. Lamar B. and Jane B. Peacock have improved education and aesthetics at the Medical College of Georgia.

The 1946 graduate of the MCG School of Medicine and his wife, a writer and editor, have transformed the MCG Department of Medicine library on the fifth floor of MCG Medical Center into a state-of-the art educational facility for faculty, staff and students.

The Dr. Lamar B. and Jane B. Peacock Medicine Library features a computer-to- projector hookup for PowerPoint presentations and a SMART Board system that allows residents and faculty to make notes and changes as they go, said Cameron Andrews, department administrator. The library also includes a DVD/videocassette recorder system to project educational material onto a screen, a document camera that projects  X-rays and a computer room.

“On behalf of the Department of Medicine, we are truly grateful. This is wonderful,” Dr. Steve Schwab, department chair and interim medical school dean, told Mrs. Peacock during the library’s Nov. 4 grand opening. The library had not had a major renovation since the Sydenstricker Building  of MCG Medical Center opened in 1976.

“Our son did tell us this was a badly needed renovation,” Mrs. Peacock said of son, Dr. Lamar B. Peacock, who  completed his internal medicine residency, including a year as chief resident, at MCG in 1993 and joined the faculty until 2003. “We just hope it will have a very long and very useful life.”

Her husband could not attend the opening because of his health. “He appreciated so much his education here,” Mrs. Peacock said. “He loved the practice of internal medicine, not just the intellectual challenge, but the fact that he could get close to and really care about his patients.”

“My calls from Lamar are delightful,” MCG President   Daniel W. Rahn told Mrs. Peacock. “He will call me at 9 o’clock at night at home and tell me he has been thinking about what I should do and he’s right. I really appreciate that, I appreciate his continued engagement with the institution and with our mission and purpose and the life of professional service that he set as an example for us.”

The senior Dr. Peacock is an Albany, Ga., native. He graduated first in his class from MCG and completed an MCG internal medicine residency under Dr. Virgil Sydenstricker. He then went to the University of Virginia where he became one of the first physicians in the country to complete an allergy/immunology fellowship before setting up one of the first allergy practices in Atlanta. He has served as president of the Southeastern Allergy Association, the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the Alumni Association of the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine, Inc., and the MCG Foundation, Inc. He and his wife live in Atlanta.

--Toni Baker

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Ellisons Receive MCG’s Highest Honor

The Medical College of Georgia has presented its 2005 Vessel of Life Award to Drs. Robert G. and Lois T. Ellison.

MCG President Daniel W. Rahn presented the award, which honors professional achievement and contributions to society that enhance MCG’s mission of education, research and service,  at the annual President’s Dinner  Nov. 5.

“It is hard to imagine a couple that has had more impact on the Medical College of Georgia than Dr. Robert G. and Lois T. Ellison,” Dr. Rahn said.

Dr. Robert Ellison, a 1943 School of Medicine graduate, joined the faculty in 1947 (see his obituary). He went on to become chief of cardiothoracic surgery, retiring in 1987 as Charbonnier Professor Emeritus and Chief Emeritus. His many contributions included performing Georgia’s first open-heart operation using bypass in 1956, improving modified techniques for cardiothoracic surgery, modifying methods of cardiothoracic surgery training and improving treatment of esophageal and lung cancer.

Dr. Lois T. Ellison earned her medical degree from MCG in 1950, then completed a cardiopulmonary physiology fellowship.  She joined the MCG faculty, where she helped develop the university’s cardiopulmonary laboratory, serving as director until 1992.  Her other roles at MCG have included associate dean for curriculum in the School of Medicine, provost and associate vice president for planning (hospitals and clinics). She retired as Professor Emeritus and Provost Emeritus in 2000, but stayed on as MCG’s medical historian in residence.

“Despite an extraordinary  body of achievement, the Ellisons are two of the nicest, most   down-to-earth people you’ll ever meet,”  Dr. Rahn said. “With two hallmarks in mind – exemplary lifetime achievement and extraordinary dedication to the Medical College of Georgia – I can say without a moment’s hesitation that no one on earth is more deserving (of this award).”

“I’m thankful to MCG for giving us the opportunity in our lives to work with so many wonderful people,” Dr. Lois Ellison said in accepting the award. “Our lives have been touched in many ways by the many people we’ve met here.”

Dr. Howell Named VSU Distinguished Alumnus

Dr. Charles Gordon Howell Jr., a 1973 graduate of the School of Medicine and an MCG pediatric surgeon, has received the 2005 Valdosta State University Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Dr. Howell earned an undergraduate degree in premedical studies from VSU in 1970.

After earning his MCG degree, Dr. Howell completed an internal medicine internship and general surgery residency, followed by a pediatric surgery fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania.

He joined the MCG faculty in 1982 and is a professor of surgery and pediatrics. He also is co-director of the Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Program since 1985, chief of pediatric surgery, medical director of operative services, surgeon-in-chief of the Children’s Medical Center and vice chair of the Department of Surgery. Dr. Howell has trained hundreds of surgery residents and taught thousands of medical students.

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Dr. Fisher Receives National Teaching Honor

Dr. John F. Fisher, infectious disease physician and professor of medicine in the School of Medicine, is the inaugural recipient of the Infectious Disease Society of America’s Clinical Teacher Award.

The award honors physicians who teach fellows, residents and medical students about clinical infectious diseases and also recognizes clinical excellence.

Dr. Fisher’s skill in the lecture hall has spurred a generation of students into infectious disease careers, and his love of the practice of medicine is most evident in his compassion and enthusiasm at the bedside, colleagues said in nominating him for the award.

Dr. Fisher, who joined the MCG faculty in 1977, “rapidly developed an uncanny knack to simplify complex topics and connect with students and patients alike through wisdom, humor and metaphors,” wrote Dr. J. Peter Rissing, chief of the MCG Section of Infectious Diseases, in the nomination.

Dr. Fisher has received more than 30 teaching awards during his tenure at MCG, including Educator of the Year Awards from the School of Medicine Classes of 2005, 2006 and 2007 in 2005. He also received the 2005 J. Willis Hurst Teaching Award from the American College of Physicians Georgia Chapter, which recognizes the best bedside teachers in the state.

Dr. Fisher is director of the medical microbiology component of the MCG sophomore curriculum.

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