Dear Medical College of Georgia friends,
MCG accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education through 2031-32 academic year
I want to begin today with some great news we’ve been waiting for: After the June meeting of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, we learned that MCG has been granted full accreditation through the 2031–32 academic year. This outcome reflects the strength of our educational program and the commitment so many of you bring to our students every day.
This reaccreditation cycle unfolded during a period of major growth and change for MCG — our partnership with Wellstar and the new clinical campus in Atlanta, the continued evolution of the 3+ curriculum, leadership transitions, and the opening of our four‑year campus in Savannah.
As part of the process, our original site visit resulted in several citations, which is both expected and constructive. Citations are actually opportunities to strengthen the student experience and refine our systems. And that’s exactly what we did. We addressed each citation during the required virtual follow‑up visit, demonstrating that improvements were already underway, and that they would continue to be a priority for this medical school.
I want to thank everyone involved in this Herculean multi‑year effort — particularly our Academic Affairs team — for their guidance and hard work. This milestone reflects not only the quality of our educational program today but the momentum we have built together. I am grateful for your dedication and proud of what we have and will continue to accomplish together.
Dr. Michael Brands, vice dean for academic affairs, to retire Nov. 1
Certainly, a key player in that important team effort was Dr. Michael Brands, vice dean for academic affairs. Dr. Brands, who has served as vice dean since 2022, has been a steady and trusted leader during a time of real growth for MCG. He has helped guide our expansion in class size, supported the development of our statewide campuses and strengthened the educational experience across our footprint. He also worked to ensure our students have meaningful opportunities to pursue research during their time with us.
I want to share with you all today that Dr. Brands has informed me of his plans to retire, effective Nov. 1.
While he is stepping away from administration, he is not stepping away from MCG. Teaching has always been one of his greatest joys, and he will continue working with our students. Please join me in thanking him for his years of service and in wishing him well as he enters this next chapter.
Dr. Kelli Braun, who has led our admissions office for a decade, named next vice dean
With Dr. Brands’ retirement approaching, I also want to share an update about the future of Academic Affairs. Dr. Kelli Braun, who has led our admissions office for the past decade, will serve as our next vice dean for academic affairs.
Many of you know Dr. Braun well. I often call her MCG’s very own “Kirby Smart,” because much like his ability to recruit top talent to Athens, she and her team have brought some of the most exceptional students in Georgia to MCG. A native of Liberty County, an OB/GYN, and a 2004 graduate of this medical school, she has overseen the admission of the largest classes in our nearly 200‑year history — ensuring that students from urban, suburban, and rural communities across the state call MCG their medical school. In her own words, MCG has shaped every stage of her professional journey.
Dr. Braun recently completed the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine program
Her leadership reaches far beyond admissions. Over her 18 years on faculty at MCG, she has worked across undergraduate and graduate medical education, simulation, accreditation, and faculty development. I have always been struck by her remarkable ability to identify opportunities for improvement, bring people together, and build thoughtful, sustainable solutions. Her work has strengthened our academic programs and expanded pathways for students from underserved communities to pursue careers in medicine.
Dr. Braun also recently completed the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program, a national leadership program preparing women for senior roles in academic health centers. She brings extensive experience, a collaborative approach, and a clear vision for how we can and will continue advancing our mission across Georgia. I am confident she will serve our faculty, staff, and students with the same dedication she’s always been known for and I look forward to our work together.
We welcomed 228 new residents and fellows to MCG and Wellstar MCG Health this month
I don’t have to tell any of you that educating the next generation is one of MCG’s most important privileges and responsibilities. An example of how we do that and do it well is the continued growth of our graduate medical education programs. This year’s resident and fellow count is 647, including 228 new trainees that we just welcomed this month. That is the largest total class and onboarding number in our history.
And we’ll plan to increase that number next year because, thanks to the continued incredible work by Dr. Natasha Savage, senior associate dean for graduate medical education, and her team, MCG grew from 50 accredited programs to 56 this past year. We added new programs in vascular surgery, neurocritical care, pediatric hospital medicine, interventional pulmonology, sleep medicine, and our first Savannah program — the new internal medicine residency at St. Joseph’s/Candler. Vascular surgery will welcome its first residents this year, and the remaining programs will begin doing so in 2027.
We were also able to grow existing programs in anesthesiology, dermatology, sports medicine, endocrinology, pulmonary disease and critical care medicine, neurology, OB/GYN, pathology, pediatrics, and psychiatry thanks to federal funding, state investments and support from Wellstar. According to the AAMC, on average 54% of physicians stay where they train to practice, so the endgame is clear and important: More physicians for Georgia.
President’s Summer Tour was an opportunity to visit some of our partners across Georgia
Our commitment to serve all of Georgia would not be possible without the partners who help us educate, train, and support the next generation of physicians. President Keen’s recent Summer Tour was a great reminder for me of just how strong those partnerships are.
I was able to join most of the tour last month and was glad for the opportunity to meet with so many of the partners — alumni, clinical partners, students, chambers of commerce, and other supporters — that make the phrase Georgia is our Campus ring so true.
I was along for the stop in Greensboro, where we visited with 1986 MCG alum Dr. Dave Ringer, CEO of Oconee Valley Healthcare, an FQHC that teaches both students and residents. During that visit, I also found out that Dr. Ringer and I were actually born at the same hospital — Overlook in New Jersey. It was neat to learn that.
From there, we traveled to Athens to meet with students, and then to MedLink, another FQHC and teaching partner, where we talked with Dave Ward, Jennie Wren Denmark, and Carla Belcher about a family medicine residency we are working to develop in the three FQHCs they lead. It’s worth noting here that our educational partnerships with FQHCs across the state are the result of a great deal of hard work from Drs. Ashley Saucier and Joseph Hobbs, who have spent years building and strengthening these relationships.
Stops in Marietta, Rome and Dalton offered meaningful conversations with our students too
I also traveled with the group to Marietta, where we had the opportunity to talk with a packed house of students at the MCG Atlanta Campus Suite (at Wellstar Kennestone), as well as having conversations about our partnership with Wellstar leadership, including CEO Ketul Patel. That night I was privileged to sit and talk with Dr. Paul Payne, a 1959 graduate who practiced orthopaedics in Marietta for over 50 years. He and his son, Doug, traveled to the Glover Park Brewery for our reception there and oh, the stories Dr. Payne could tell. It was a treat to meet him.
Then it was on to Rome and Dalton, where we had great tours and interactions with our clinical partners at Atrium Health Floyd and Advent Redmond, Hamilton Medical Center (Vitruvian), and high school students exploring careers in health care at a camp sponsored by Atrium Health Floyd, Blue Ridge AHEC, and Georgia Highlands College. A highlight of this visit was lunch with students at our Northwest Campus. Hearing their paths to medicine and their experiences at MCG and our regional campuses was inspiring.
Cardio-oncology team’s work proving – again – that MCG’s impact reaches across the nation and world
Our reach across Georgia is certainly a great point of pride for this medical school, but our faculty also continue to shape conversations well beyond the state. One recent example is the joint scientific statement from the American Heart Association and the American Society of Clinical Oncology that several of our faculty — including Dr. Avirup Guha, who leads our cardio‑oncology program — helped develop.
A few years ago, we established that program to better understand and care for patients whose cancer treatments can affect the heart. It has grown through close collaboration between our cardiologists, oncologists, and scientists, and this national work is a natural extension of that effort. The statement was published at the same time in Circulation and the Journal of Clinical Oncology and highlighted by the American Heart Association. It offers guidance on how cancer trials can more consistently and clearly account for heart‑related effects of new therapies — something that ultimately helps us better understand the full impact of treatment on patients.
MCG’s role here is another strong example of how our faculty continue to contribute to national conversations and help shape the future of cardio‑oncology and medicine as a whole. Truly important and impactful work. Congratulations.
My best to you all,
David C. Hess, MD
Dean, Medical College of Georgia
