A Statewide Initiative

Medical Education Expansion Proposal Unveiled

Editor’s note: For the full expansion report, visit www.usg.edu/mcg-uga.

The Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine could expand statewide by 2020 to 1,200 students, approximately 60 percent more than the current number of 745, according to a proposal presented in January to the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.

The board has accepted the proposal for incorporation into its planning process, and Gov. Sonny Perdue’s proposed 2008 budget includes $7.2 million for expansion to supplement $2.8 million appropriated last year for expansion-planning.

The expansion, which would address a critical need for more physicians in Georgia, would require significant growth in Augusta, which will continue to anchor a single state-operated medical school. The proposal also would involve MCG developing and operating a new four-year campus in Athens in partnership with the University of Georgia and expanding clinical campuses in Albany and Savannah.

“Georgia has slipped to 40th from 37th among all states in the number of physicians per resident,” said USG Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr. “The health and safety of Georgians are at risk. We need more doctors.”

Georgia has a unique ability to address a serious need of educating more physicians, said Paul Umbach, president of Pittsburgh-based Tripp Umbach, which issued the report. MCG retained Tripp Umbach last September on behalf of the Board of Regents to complete a statewide medical education expansion study.

“My firm has analyzed medical education needs across the U.S. and I can truly say that the stars and timing are lined up for this to be a truly collaborative, cost-effective effort that will lead to a healthier Georgia,” Mr. Umbach said.

The proposal calls for:

• Significant medical education expansion in Augusta: MCG’s School of Medicine would expand from its current class of 190 first-year students to 240 first-year students by 2017. The proposal recommends constructing a medical education facility to accommodate the additional students.

• Development of an Athens campus: MCG would develop a new campus in Athens in partnership with UGA, with the two institutions partnering to leverage mutual strengths in biomedical research and individual university strengths in public health.

• Continued partnerships of regional campuses in Savannah and Albany: About one in four MCG medical student rotations is now conducted outside of Augusta. The proposal recommends that 60 third- and fourth-year students be educated at residential campuses in Albany and Savannah over the next seven years.

“A critical element of the proposed strategy is that we are looking at a statewide solution to an issue important to all of us,’’ said Dr. Daniel W. Rahn, MCG president and senior vice chancellor for health and medical programs for the University System of Georgia.

Together we can accomplish much more than we can separately.”

The Athens campus likely would ultimately be housed on the 58-acre Navy Supply Corps School property, which the Athens Local Redevelopment Authority recently recommended using for that purpose. The federal government is slated to vacate the property in 2011.

“On behalf of the University of Georgia community, we are excited about developing this partnership program with the Medical College of Georgia,” said UGA President Michael F. Adams. “I believe the acquisition of the Navy School property will allow us to provide long-term improvement in the health of Georgians and to offer a true service to the state.”

If implemented fully, Tripp Umbach calculates that the expansion will more than double the economic impact of MCG’s School of Medicine, generating more than $3.2 billion annually and supporting more than 10,000 additional jobs statewide. For every dollar invested in medical education by the state of Georgia in 2020, $2.54 will be returned in state tax revenue, according to the economic analysis section of the consultant report.

“To us, it is clear that there is no better investment that the state of Georgia can make than the recommended medical education expansion program,” Mr. Umbach said.

Expansion Proposal at a Glance

What is the goal of the proposal?

The goal is to ensure the health and well-being of Georgians by producing an appropriate physician workforce to meet current and future health care needs. Full implementation of this proposal would expand MCG School of Medicine enrollment from 745 to 1,200 by 2020.

What is the core of the proposal?

The proposal—the most viable and affordable option available—would enable MCG to significantly expand medical education in Augusta while developing and operating a regional four-year program in Athens in partnership with the University of Georgia and expanding the school’s Albany- and Savannah-based campuses as residential clinical campuses for third- and fourth-year students. Benefits would include stronger community health programs, expanded medical education and residency training programs with community hospitals; expanded biomedical research capabilities statewide; a doubled statewide total economic impact of $3.2 billion; and 10,000 new medically related jobs statewide by 2020.

How many new medical students would be educated under the proposal, and where would they be educated?

MCG would expand its freshman enrollment in Augusta from 190 to 240 by 2015 and increase its overall freshman enrollment to 300 by 2020. This would represent a total enrollment by 2020 of 1,200, with 960 students in Augusta (60 of whom would spend their third and fourth years in Albany or Savannah) and 240 in Athens.

Why not just expand in Augusta?

No U.S. medical school has a class size of 240 students per year in one location with a single primary teaching hospital in its academic health system. The recent School of Medicine increase from 180 to 190 freshmen, and the previously announced increase to 200 in fall 2009, will fully utilize existing resources.

What would happen in Athens?

MCG and the University of Georgia would partner to establish an Athens campus for 40 first-year MCG medical students by 2010. The campus would provide medical student education to 60 students per year throughout all four years of medical school by 2020.

What is the status of the Navy Supply Corps School?

Last fall, the Athens Local Redevelopment Authority recommended housing a health sciences campus to include medical education on the 58-acre Navy Supply Corps School property. The facility should be transferred from the federal government to the University System of Georgia by 2011.

Is the MCG School of Medicine campus in Athens dependent on the Navy site?

The Navy Supply Corps School property would provide clinical teaching facilities close to two major hospitals, along with classroom facilities meeting preclinical teaching needs. But alternatives remain. Tripp Umbach recommends that an initial facility be developed on or adjacent to the University of Georgia to house medical students by 2010. That facility would be used as a biomedical research facility for MCG/UGA faculty when the educational program moved to the Navy school site after 2012.

What are the roles of the Albany and Savannah campuses?

The MCG School of Medicine established the Southwest Georgia Clinical Campus in fall 2005 with Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany as the base. A similar two-year clinical campus in southeast Georgia, based at St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System in Savannah, is under development. Additional clinical relationships would need to be developed with hospitals and physician practices statewide to provide high-quality training for 1,200 medical students by 2020. Additional campuses for third- and fourth-year students could be developed after 2020. Tripp Umbach recommends developing clinical relationships in Rome, Columbus, Brunswick and Valdosta.

Source: Tripp Umbach