“Be who you are and say what you mean. Because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter, don’t mind.”
– Dr. Seuss
March 22, 2013
Dear Colleagues and Friends:
Our Students are a Match for Anyone… Great Results… Great Education
High marks again to all for another terrific Match Day. What a delight to see such joy and success for our students. This year the 190 MCG students participating in NRMP matched at top programs in 33 states from Boston University to the Mayo Clinic to the Cleveland Clinic to our own programs. The Atlanta newspaper shared our excitement at http://www.ajc.com/news/lifestyles/health/match-day-more-than-50-percent-of-georgia-medical-/nWwbh/ along with the reality that our state needs more primary care docs. Take a look at another great story by Jennifer Scott, photos by Phil Jones and terrifically fun video by Tim Johnson and Jared Bell at http://news.gru.edu/archives/8096. Also check out The Augusta Chronicle coverage, http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/health/2013-03-15/senior-medical-college-georgia-students-celebrate-matches-residency-programs.
Amid all the fun and glad tidings there was also worrisome national news: significant numbers of the record 40,000 match participants didn’t match. “No doubt the math is troubling”, says the AAMC and we agree. Four new medical schools graduated their first students, older schools are growing their class size and residency position increases just aren’t keeping pace. These are two reasons the University System of Georgia’s initiative to create 400 new residency training slots statewide as well as our effort to retain “our best and brightest” students remain major objectives in helping Georgia have a quality physician workforce.
Speaking of Great Places to Educate Docs… Uplifting Update on our University Hospital Partnership
The MCG and University Hospital Task Force met recently to discuss our partnership. We are extremely pleased with this renewed collaboration to help educate our residents. The six-month evaluations were positive, reflecting the terrific leadership of Drs. William Farr, Barry Jenkins, and Walter Moore. We very much appreciate the support of our colleagues and neighbors in educating the next generation of physicians.
And Future Physician-Scientists… M.D./Ph.D Program… Looking Good
The MD/PhD recently held two “recruitment revisit” days where more than 10 prospective students visited with us again. These are incredibly bright, overall terrific candidates that will only strengthen this already strong program. Exciting times and opportunities in store with these bright minds. We are so appreciative of the leadership of Drs. Jennifer Pollock and Nevin Lambert in this critical program.
First Honors Convocation… A Great Success…
Summerville Campus students were honored earlier this month for their truly impressive accomplishments during the very first Honors Convocation of our new university. It was a great opportunity for students and we are proud of your accomplishments! A big step for our new university, too.
Former Grads Gather… Alums Have Fun… Fellowship in Macon and Valdosta
The Medical College of Georgia Alumni Association hosted Regional Receptions in Macon and Valdosta in recent weeks. There was an enthusiastic crowd of about 90 at Macon’s Idle Hour Country Club and about 30 at the Valdosta Country Club. Our thanks to Dr. Bill Brooks and his committee in Macon for making this happen and to Drs. David Retterbush and Jerry Purvis for their leadership with the Valdosta event. We have lots of support in Macon and Valdosta and we appreciate what our graduates there – and everywhere – do to advance the Medical College of Georgia and the practice of medicine.
Happy Hearts … Great Fellows
Dr. Vincent Robinson shares with us that all four of our final year cardiology fellows who took their certification boards of nuclear cardiology certifying examinations (CBNC) were successful! This cements a tradition over the last several years of obtaining 100 percent pass rate in nuclear cardiology boards. Our cardiology fellows also were blemish-free in all board certification examinations taken this academic year. What a tradition! What a group! Way to go cardiology fellows and faculty.
A Unique Perspective… AAMC Unveils Online Portal for Leadership Training… Our Own Leadership Initiatives, too…
A unique online portal is available from our colleagues at the AAMC. The site allows easy access to AAMC courses and publications centered on improving leadership skills. Take a look –http://bit.ly/ZgHuQk. Also, our Department of Radiology colleagues had a recent four-day course in LEAN training that included physicians, section chiefs, chief technologists, lead technologists, billing coordinators and staff from OIE. This was a great opportunity to learn together. Great job everyone!
Speaking of Leadership… Strategic Planning Underway… Expect Great(er) Things
The MCG Strategic Planning Steering Committee is already hard at work and we thank them for their service in helping secure a fabulous future for MCG. Keep your eyes peeled for more.
Great Turnout… Focus on Professionalism and Leadership
Our thanks to Tiffany McGuire for her concise presentation highlighting the distinctions between anticipated differences of opinion that arise in the operating room and with true conflict. Now a Joint Commission standard, we have a duty to report alleged workplace discrimination, harassment and workplace violence. We also have a duty to champion exemplary professionalism, to advance quality care and to model leadership for all our trainees. The session was recorded for those who were unable to attend. Many thanks to Drs. Head and Kamath for their leadership. Dr. Kent Guion and colleagues will also be kicking off our institution-wide “Healthy Perspectives” professionalism shortly…
Smoke-free Summerville
Our Summerville campus is going smoke free – great move – and the university hosted a student kick-off and community forum March 20 to officially announce the tobacco-free policy which goes into effect Aug. 1. Way to go colleagues!
Losing one of our own… a Great Friend and Advocate for MCG
We are sad to share with you news of the death of Dr. Floyd Cannon Jarrell Jr., a 1946 graduate and accomplished Columbus, Ga., physician. Dr. Jarrell was a great advocate for his community and his medical school, a Past President of our Alumni Association who helped start the MCG Foundation and so much more. In fact, we are currently recruiting a stellar candidate to fill the Floyd C. Jarrell, Jr., M.D., Distinguished Chair in Surgical Oncology. Our thoughts and eternal thanks are with his family.
Upcoming Events…
April 4 – Presidential Lecture Series, Dr. F. Javier Cevallos, President, Kutztown University, at noon, discussing “Paradise Lost? Higher Education in the 21st Century,” in Room 1218 of the Health Sciences Building, Health Sciences Campus. See http://bit.ly/Xk24DR.
April 4 – A ribbon-cutting will be held at the newly renovated club house at Forest Hills Golf Club at 2 p.m. If you can make it, come out and support our nationally recognized golf teams.
April 15 – Tax deadline J and also the deadline for completing The Chronicle’s Great Colleges to Work For program, designed to gather benchmarking data within higher education and to recognize institutions that have built great workplaces. An invitation to take this confidential survey was distributed to a random selection of GRU employees March 18.
April 18-20 – The SGEA meeting in Savannah will be held at the Hyatt Regency. For more information please go to http://bit.ly/Zq7MkO.
April 26 – Dr. Delos Cosgrove, President and Chief Executive Office of Cleveland Clinic will give a guest lecture in honor of Drs. Robert & Lois Ellison in the Lee Auditorium, 3 to 4 p.m.
April 27 – MCG reunion dinner at the Alumni Weekend for our institution. The MCG classes of ’48,’53,’58, ’63,’73,’78,’83, ’88, ’93, ’98 and ’03 are invited to make the event this year. For more information please visit- http://bit.ly/WJzAUN.
April 29 – MCG Faculty Awards Ceremony 5:15 p.m. will be held in Lee Auditorium.
May 3 – Save the date! The annual State of the Medical College address will be held Friday, May 3rd at noon. More details coming soon.
May 9 – MCG Hooding begins at 2 p.m. in the Bell Auditorium.
May 10 – Medical College of Georgia at GRU will graduate 200 medical students at
2 p.m. at the James Brown Arena.
May 24 – Summit on Global Health, hosted by the Fulbright Academy of Science and Technology, May 24-27, Montego Bay, Jamaica. See http://bit.ly/YJasZD.
June 13 – MCG Chair Investiture Ceremony, starts at 5 p.m. in the Lee Auditorium.
Have you checked out our new MCG Facebook page at www.facebook.com/grumcg? We also have a Twitter page as well #Follow
Best wishes for a wonderful holiday weekend.