“It takes a great man to be a good listener.” -President Calvin Coolidge
If You Listen…
If you listen to Georgia Public Radio this weekend you just may hear a familiar voice. Starting tomorrow, Georgia Public Broadcasting’s new Medical Minute segment with our Dr. Joseph Hobbs will air at 8:18 a.m., 1:20 p.m., and 5:18 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday on the 17 GPB radio stations across our state. Dr. Hobbs will share insights about the research at our medical school with this great audience. Please join in congratulating and thanking Dr. Hobbs, Drew Dawson, Station Manager and host of our local GPB station, WACG 90.7 FM, and GPB for this awesome opportunity. Talk about great news!
You Just May Hear… The Sound of Progress…
Here’s more. No doubt you have noticed all the construction activity on the old Dental School building. The 1970s building is finding terrific new life as Professional Building 1 and next week the first occupants, Dr. Satish S.C. Rao, his colleagues, and their patients will be moving into this beautiful new home for the Digestive Health Center. This one-stop comprehensive, 43,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility is absolutely in keeping with our clinical goals of growth, throughput, and quality. We thank once again our incredible Facilities Services Division for helping make it happen.
The Commitment to Patients…
Speaking of patient friendly, there was good turnout at a recent conference on our campus on reshaping the behaviors of patient-and family-centered care with lessons for us all on how world-class employees approach their jobs. Remarkably, vibrant speakers included Keynote Bryan K. Williams, consultant and author, and our own Brennan Francois, pastoral care coordinator and motivational speaker extraordinaire, who reminded each of us that we have the ability to be difference makers and to never settle for less than our very best each day. No doubt great advice for work and life. Our thanks to Bernard Roberson and his team for the gathering and to each of you for advocating for our patients.
And to Each Other…
This was a neat, new event for our university. The Faculty Author Reception, sponsored by our libraries, brought together the folks the name implies and it was truly an eclectic and interesting group that have written about our sinuses, Cuba’s economy, Medieval law, Middle Age medicine and law, and so much more. What a terrific reminder of the wide expertise of our university, yet, how we all have so much in common. We thank Sandra Bandy, Dr. Brenda Seago, Renée Sharrock, Carol Wagoner-Angleton, and Erin Prentiss for making it happen. Let’s make this one a tradition!
The Pursuit of New Partnerships…
This was also a great event for our larger community with the opening of the Bluff Plantation. It’s a comprehensive, residential addiction facility that brings alcohol and drug rehabilitation treatment to our area. Care at Bluff Plantation incorporates best practices with academic medicine, in this case, our medical school. Ours is the first such partnership in Georgia of the concept, which was pioneered by Rivermend Health Family of Treatment Centers and the University of Florida. Dr. William S. Jacobs, our relatively new Chief of Addiction Medicine, is Medical Director of the great new Augusta facility, the newest member of the Rivermend family. We thank Rivermend, Dr. Jacobs, Dr. Vaughn McCall and many others for building a partnership that will enable optimal education of the next generation of addiction specialists as we help take great care of patients. Check out http://bit.ly/1xd0uBx.
And Long-Standing Ones…
Such a terrific showing as well by our medical school at the Medical Association of Georgia 160th House of Delegates meeting. Dr. Bill Silver, from our Class of ’63, wrapped up his term as MAG President. Dr. John Harvey, Class of ’78, did a great job leading the weekend event as Speaker of the House of Delegates. Our Dr. Bill Clark, Class of ’79, was elected Chair of MAG’s delegation to the American Medical Association. Drs. Walt Moore and Ali Rahimi, Class of ’04, participated in MAG’s seven-year old Georgia Physicians Leadership Academy. And, our Dr. José Vazquez, Infectious Disease Chief, gave a comprehensive and timely keynote/CME presentation on infectious diseases, including the Ebola virus disease.
How Great People…
We also wanted to share that our Dr. Joe Bailey, a ’55 graduate, Professor Emeritus, and long-time leader of our Section of Rheumatology who is beloved by MAG doctors across the state, received an absolutely special legacy award for his longstanding commitment to advocacy and physician leadership. We must also note here his amazing commitment to his medical school. The video about the new home for Dr. Bailey’s medical school, the beautiful new J. Harold Harrison M.D. Education Commons, also was received with great enthusiasm by Georgia’s physicians gathered this past weekend. Gov. Deal, on hand for the MAG event, reiterated the importance of the state/private partnership that made this building possible and his commitment to Georgia’s public medical school. Just terrific all the way around.
Are Doing Amazing Things…
Finally today, we want to mention just one more amazing lineup: the groups and individuals who are making possible the rooms for the future Ronald McDonald House, which should open this January as the neighbor of our Children’s Hospital of Georgia. They include Dr. Charlie Howell, Dr. Bernie Maria, a room honoring the late pediatrician Dr. Jim Bennett, Dr. Mary Lynn Sheram, Orthopaedic Surgery, General Pediatrics, Pediatric Anesthesia, ENT, Pediatric Surgery, Radiology, the Neonatal ICU, the Emergency Department, Pediatric Cardiology, and Ophthalmology. The PICU, OB/GYN, Hematology/Oncology, and the Cancer Center have a room in the works. Perhaps even more to come! Truly, every day we have so many reminders of the amazing individuals and teams who are our medical school and we are most grateful for them all.
Upcoming Events
Oct 31 – MCG Faculty Senate, noon, Lee Auditorium
Nov. 13 – MCG Faculty Senate, 5 p.m., Lee Auditorium
Nov. 14 – Body Donation Memorial Service, 1-2 p.m., Lee Auditorium
Dec. 19 – MCG Faculty Senate, noon, Lee Auditorium
Jan. 15 – MCG Faculty Senate, 5 p.m., Lee Auditorium
Feb. 6 – MCG Faculty Senate, noon, Lee Auditorium
Feb. 24 – MCG Alumni Association Planning Committee, Nominating Committee, Board Meeting and Regional Event, starting at 2:30 p.m., Idle Hour Country Club, Macon.
March 5 – MCG Alumni Association Regional Reception, 6 p.m., Northeast History Museum, Gainesville.
March 12 – MCG Faculty Senate, 5 p.m., Lee Auditorium
March 20 – Match Day, noon, location to be determined.
April 17 – Raft Debate, sponsored by the MCG Alumni Association, 6 p.m., Lee Auditorium.
April 23-26 – Alumni Weekend.
May 1 – State of the Medical College of Georgia address, noon, Lee Auditorium, lunch provided.
May 4 – MCG Graduation Dinner, 6:30 p.m., location to be determined.
May 7 – Hooding Ceremony, 2 p.m., location to be determined.
May 8 – Graduation, 2 p.m., James Brown Arena.
Have a terrific weekend.