Dear Medical College of Georgia Friends,

Dr. Eric Lewkowiez honored as 2025-26 Georgia Psychiatrist of the Year

I’ve found myself reminded often lately — really, almost daily — that the character of MCG is defined by the people who serve it. This past week offered yet another example when we learned that Dr. Eric Lewkowiez has been named the 2025–26 Georgia Psychiatrist of the Year by the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association. This is a well‑deserved honor that reflects the depth and consistency of his service to our students, our patients, and the state.

For more than two decades, he has been a steady force in medical education here. In addition to his long‑time leadership in residency and fellowship training, he serves as assistant dean for Student Affairs, guiding our medical students through the clerkship phase of their education and supporting those who need help navigating academic or professional challenges. His impact is evident in the many students he has inspired to pursue psychiatry and in his commitment to strengthening the mental health workforce in Georgia and across the country.

His clinical efforts have been dedicated to improving care for some of our most vulnerable children

Clinically, he has devoted his career to caring for some of the most vulnerable children and adolescents in our region, while also serving as a trusted resource for pediatricians and primary care providers across the state. His advocacy work has included providing specialized training to the Richmond County District Attorney’s office and the State Association of Attorneys General on working effectively with individuals with autism, helping reduce avoidable conflict within legal and law‑enforcement settings. He has also served in leadership roles on the Governor’s Behavioral Health Reform and Innovation Commission’s Child and Adolescent Subcommittee, where he has helped shape policy that expands access to behavioral health services for the children and adolescents of our state.

Dr. Lewkowiez’s commitment to education, clinical care, and mental health policy continues to strengthen MCG and the communities we serve. Thank you, and congratulations, Dr. Lewkowiez.

Dr. Kathryn Martin stepping in to serve as director of our Peach State Scholars Program

You hear me say it often, but it bears repeating today – our faculty are truly one of our greatest strengths here. Here’s another example: Dr. Kathryn Martin, our associate dean for regional campuses, is stepping up to lead the Peach State Scholars Program, an initiative that allows selected MCG students to complete medical school in three years and move directly into primary care residencies in Georgia. In return for their commitment to practice in an underserved community, these students receive a scholarship that covers the cost of their medical education – an investment in both their future and the health of our state. She’s stepping in to allow Dr. Erin Latif, who has led the program since its launch in 2021, to step back into more clinical care and time with her family.

Her experience developing relationships statewide will be invaluable as the program moves forward

Dr. Martin is certainly well prepared to guide this program forward. She has spent years on the road – traveling from one corner of Georgia to the other, and back again – cultivating strong relationships with hospitals and providers across Georgia, many of whom train our students at our regional clinical campuses. Some of those same partners and health systems also now play a central role in the residency training of some of our Peach State Scholars — at places like Atrium Health Floyd and AdventHealth Redmond in Rome and Phoebe Putney Health System in Albany. As the Peach State program enters a new phase — with our first cohort completing residency this July and preparing to begin practice in underserved areas — her experience and statewide perspective will be invaluable in helping these young physicians take their next steps.

I also want to thank Dr. Latif, who has been a steady guide and advocate for these students from the very beginning, offering not only academic leadership but also the kind of personal support that has made her, in many ways, a mother figure to the cohorts who have come through the program. Her work has laid a strong foundation for what comes next.

Early Match results reflect our students’ success; and the investments our faculty make in them

Our faculty – and I include myself in this – draw a lot of their inspiration from educating the next generation. Pouring into these students is an honor. Their academic achievements are exceptional, but just as impressive are their personal commitments to service and the communities where they will one day practice. All of that is never more evident than on Match Day, when our seniors learn where they will spend the next three to seven years training in their chosen specialties. I hope you can join us at this year’s celebration, which is set for Friday, March 20 at SRP Park.

And as many of you know, several highly competitive specialties match early, including urology and ophthalmology, and our students entering military service also receive their assignments ahead of Match Day. We recently learned those results, and per their amazing usual, our students did exceptionally well.

Nearly half of MCG graduates/trainees return to or remain in the state to practice – one of the highest rates in the country

One of the things I’m most proud of is that our students can go anywhere they want to train. And they do. Each year, they earn positions in top residency programs across the country, while many others (usually about a quarter of the class) remain right here in Georgia, in one of the many excellent programs our state provides. Nearly half of our graduates and residents ultimately return to or remain in the state to practice, which is an extraordinary return on investment for Georgia. And we’re working every day to help that number climb even higher.

Here are the early – and fantastic – Match results for some of our Class of 2026. I can’t wait to be part of the excitement next month when the rest of the class finds out where they’ll land for training.

Military Match:

• Kyle Burkhart — Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, Internal Medicine
• Erika deAndrade —Brooke Army Medical Center, General Surgery
• Jacob Knight — Brooke Army Medical Center, Orthopaedics

Ophthalmology:

• Danny Alevy — University of Alabama, Birmingham

• Arjun Bhatt — Louisiana State University, New Orleans
• Tajah Damm — Louisiana State University
• Neel Edupuganti — Georgetown University, Washington, DC
• Yejin Heo — Columbia University, New York
• Josephine Rudd Zhong Manis — University of Florida, Gainesville
• Debby Song — West Virginia University, Morgantown

Urology:

• Stacy Bedore — Mayo Clinic, Rochester
• Gustavo Capo — Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia
• Jackson McClain — MCG
• Charlyn Shu — University of Chicago
• Josh van der Eerden — Mount Sinai, Miami

Congratulations to you all! I know you will represent MCG well, wherever you go!

Make plans to join us next Friday, Feb. 20, at noon for the annual MCG State of the College Address in the Lee Auditorium.

My best to you always,

David C. Hess, MD

Dean, Medical College of Georgia

Upcoming Events

February 20 – MCG State of the College Address, noon, Natalie and Lansing B. Lee Jr. Auditorium

March 14 – MCG White Coat Dash 5K, 10 am, Summerville Campus

March 20 – MCG Match Day, SRP Park

April 17 – MCG Faculty Senate Meeting, noon, Natalie and Lansing B. Lee Jr. Auditorium

May 7 – MCG Hooding Ceremony, 2 p.m., Bell Auditorium