The Road Ahead
Leadership is many things, and I don’t have all the answers. To me,
leadership is asking the right questions. That’s why we’ve secured the
services of Tripp Umbach to assist us as we explore the best growth
opportunities for the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine.
Tripp Umbach (www.trippumbach.com) is the leading firm in the country
in medical school campus expansion and new campus planning. They will
provide an objective, data-driven analysis using validated approaches of
our best options for expansion in Augusta and across the state.
The last decade for the School of Medicine has yielded strategic, phenomenal growth in educational, research,
and clinical initiatives in disease categories affecting every family in Georgia and the United States: cancer,
cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity, infection/inflammation, and neurological disease. The growth is
validated by unprecedented research funding and clinical activity as well as a re-chiseling of the face of MCG, Georgia’s health sciences university.
While we have grown remarkably in these arenas over the past decade, we have not lost sight of our primary mission. I firmly believe that the reason a school of medicine exists is not simply to do health care delivery, nor even to do research. It's really to educate and bring people at all levels to a better understanding of medicine, whether it's doctoral students or young physicians or established physicians.
At this juncture in the School of Medicine's history, we face significant challenges in our efforts to produce physicians to meet the state's need. Georgia's booming, aging population-coupled with an aging physician population and trends such as physicians working fewer hours and fewer years-add up to a mounting need for physicians. Physician shortages across the nation prompted the Association of American Medical Colleges to call for a 30 percent increase in medical school enrollment by 2015. MCG is responding to that call.
As we move forward with this initiative, I would like to reiterate our institutional commitment to broad community engagement and regular and transparent communication about our progress. This quarterly report is the first in a chain of regular updates that cover our progress as we work with Tripp Umbach, our partners across the state, and with other stakeholders to ensure an adequate physician workforce for Georgia today and into the future.
Medical College of Georgia
1120 15th St
Augusta, GA 30912
706-721-2231
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