November 8, 2024

Dean's Diary - Medical College of Georgia, , , , , ,

Dear Medical College of Georgia Friends,

Atlanta regional campus gets green light from LCME

This is an incredible time of growth at MCG. As we discussed last week, our research funding is increasing. We just admitted (and last week celebrated) our largest freshman class ever. Our health system, and the little more than year-old partnership with Wellstar, has helped stabilize and grow our health system.

The momentum continues. Last week we were notified that our plans to create a new regional clinical campus at Wellstar Kennestone in Marietta this coming January met the rigorous standards of our accrediting body, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. The LCME is not really in the business of “approving” new and expanded campuses, but instead they determine whether there appear to be adequate resources to support any changes. Wellstar has not only been a great partner to us here in Augusta, but across their health system. As we’ve talked about here, we’ve had students doing one or two clinical rotations at Kennestone for at least the last decade. For the past several years, a cohort of around 20 students have done all their clinical rotations there. This new regional campus is a natural outgrowth of that. We will send 24 students per year to this new campus. We have also worked with Kennestone to identify office space and are currently looking for campus leadership. More exciting days are ahead.

EPIC implementation will be a win for our physicians, students, health system and patients

I think it also goes without saying that growth is also not without its challenges. You’ll remember that part of our partnership with Wellstar included the implementation of a new, and better, electronic medical record. This past weekend, we transitioned to EPIC, which will help us provide better care for and communicate better with our patients. It will also provide more opportunities for population-based research and allow us to educate the next generation of physicians on an optimally functional EMR that is widely used across the country.

All of that said, I know that many of you have experienced some growing pains with the transition. But I do believe every day will be better than the day before and this transition will have a positive impact on how we operate our health system. Case in point, here’s a win from our Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine: Despite delays in the morning due to registration system issues, they managed a full OR schedule – almost 100 cases over all of our ORs on Day One (Monday). That was no doubt the result of great teamwork and many months of preparation, including workflow analysis to address potential challenges, extra people to troubleshoot and a communication system and team to provide support for any issues that might arise in real time. Department chair, Dr. Steffen Meiler tells me that this was a tremendous effort across the department. Everyone, from the physicians to nurses to staff, pitched in to help. He gave a specific shoutout to the department’s internal command center – Dr. Efrain Riveros Perez (vice chair of clinical operations), Dr. Akbar Herekar (director of patient safety & quality), Dr. Ashish Sakharpe (director of anesthesia informatics), and Megan Mueller, anesthesia assistant — who were all prepared to quickly address and resolve any escalated issues.

Thank you all for working so hard to overcome challenges with the transition

Another win came from the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, who had an encounter completion rate of 96% by the end of day one. By the end of the day, nearly all patient encounter notes had been completed, signed, and billed by faculty and advanced practice providers. Department chair Dr. Monte Hunter tells me that this exceptional rate reflects the team’s commitment to seamless patient care. The department also leveraged Microsoft Copilot, an advanced AI technology that integrates directly with Epic. This innovative tool captures the entire patient-physician conversation in the exam room and generates a comprehensive patient note instantly. This automation not only improves efficiency but also enables physicians to spend more focused, face-to-face time with patients, enhancing the overall experience. My thanks to you all for your commitment to combining cutting-edge technology with compassionate care. Great job.

I would be also remiss here if I didn’t acknowledge and thank Governor Brian Kemp and the Georgia Legislature, as well as the University System of Georgia, for their $105 million investment in the EPIC transition.

Research Day is next Friday in Augusta

Please know that I am always grateful for the hard work you do on behalf of this medical school and our health system. Today, I wanted to encourage you all to join us in also celebrating the hard work and accomplishments of our students, many of whom have studied and worked in your labs and clinics. We will be celebrating their accomplishments at Research Day, from 4-6 Friday, Nov. 15, in the Harrison Commons. This was originally scheduled for last month but was rescheduled due to Hurricane Helene. This year, we have 86 students presenting their posters in person and another 69 presenting virtually. Six among the group were selected to give an oral presentation on their work. Poster awards will be presented at 5 p.m. My gratitude goes out to Augusta native and Lakeside High School graduate, Dr. Brittany Ange, director of medical student scholarly projects and director of our dual degree and advanced research pathways, for organizing this bi-annual effort.

Community Engaged Research Conference, Nov. 20, will feature MCG Savannah students’ work

The following week, on Nov. 20, students from our Savannah campus, along with our colleagues from Georgia Southern, will present at the Community Engaged Research Conference. More than 30 of our students from down that way will give oral or poster presentations on a wide range of topics that affect the health of the people living in Coastal Georgia. My thanks to Campus Dean Dr. Elizabeth Gray and Campus Assistant Dean Dr. Folami Powell, for organizing this great showing.

I know of no better way to mentor and support the next generation than to show up and show interest in their work. I hope you’ll join as you can.

AAMC Learn Serve Lead conference is in Atlanta this weekend

I know that a lot of you will be joining us in Atlanta at this year’s AAMC Learn Serve Lead conference. You’ll remember that after last year’s conference in Seattle was over, I made a request for those who could to show up in mass since this year’s annual conference will be in our own backyard. You certainly delivered. MCG will be well represented by more than 50 of you who are registered to attend. But more than that, in flipping through the meeting agenda and the list of poster presentations, I’m incredibly proud to see so many of you presenting! I counted nearly a dozen poster presentations on topics ranging from how we assess our teaching methods to how we integrate other health care team members, like paramedics, into our curriculum; from how we present simulation cases, to how we teach our faculty to support students’ career decision making.

Faculty, staff and students are part of important presentations and discussions

Many people from our MCG family are also part of panel discussions:

On Saturday, Nov. 9:

  • Wellstar CEO Candice Saunders is taking part in the CEO Roundtable: Forging Different Paths to Leadership.
  • Third-year student Joshua Fernicola is part of a discussion about telehealth across the continuum of medical education, practice and policy.  
  • Dr. Kelli Braun, our senior associate dean for admissions, is talking about “Rethinking Holistic Admissions Strategies and Premed Competencies in the New Regulatory Landscape.

On Sunday Nov. 10:

  • Dr. Shelley Nuss, campus dean at our Partnership Campus in Athens, is talking about “Living Above the Cap: Medicare GME Financing, Advocacy and Strategies for Academic Health Systems,” certainly a timely topic for the nation, but particularly Georgia, as the need for physicians is only growing.
  • Dr. Matt Lyon, director of our Center for Telehealth, is talking about “Enhancing Rural Health Care Access Through Innovative Academic and Community Partnerships.”

On Monday Nov. 11:

And then on Tuesday, Nov. 12:

  • Dr. Lia Bruner, an associate professor of family and community medicine at the Medical Partnership is participating in a discussion about how to integrate assessment, teaching and content.
  • Dr. Gerald Crites, campus associate dean for faculty affairs and development at the Medical Partnership is part of the discussion about hot topics in his faculty development.

I know this year’s conference will be full of thought-provoking presentations. Thank you all for your great efforts to ensure that what we do here at MCG is an important part of them! 

Reception planned for Saturday night, hosted by our Alumni Association

It will definitely be a great few days in Atlanta. One more important note – if you can, please plan to drag yourselves away from college football and come to our MCG Atlanta Regional Reception. Many of our Atlanta area alums will join us at STATS Brewpub from 6 to 8 p.m. There are plenty of TVs there, I’m told. UGA plays Mississippi at 3:30 p.m., so we can watch the final quarter there. Please let our colleagues in MCG Alumni Engagement (mcgalumni@augusta.edu) know if you plan to attend. Hope to see you!

My best to you always,

Dean Hess Signature

David C. Hess, MD

Dean, Medical College of Georgia

Upcoming Events

November 15 – Annual Body Donor Memorial Service, 1pm, Natalie and Lansing B. Lee Jr. Auditorium

November 15 – MCG Research Day, 4-6pm, J. Harold Harrison, MD Education Commons, GB1120-D

November 20 – Community Engaged Research Conference, MCG Savannah

November 22 – MCG Faculty Senate Meeting, noon, Natalie and Lansing B. Lee Jr. Auditorium