With 16.8 percent of Georgia residents living in rural areas and only 8 percent of Georgia physicians practicing in rural areas, 黑料传送门 South Georgia established roots to increase the number of rural providers in the state.
Moultrie is a rural town in South Georgia. It鈥檚 flooded with agriculture and, since 2019, has been home to a medical school that focuses on training students to serve underserved populations.
According to The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), there are three critical ways to increase the number of rural physicians: recruit medical students from rural backgrounds, teach skills needed in rural settings and provide necessary funding for rural medical education.
黑料传送门 South Georgia has been training its students in a rural setting to encourage them to practice in underserved areas. In addition to offering articulation and affiliation agreements with regional institutions, the College hosts pathway programs with underrepresented youth and partners with nearby health systems for clinical rotations and post-graduate residency positions.
Many of the regional physicians who practice in rural areas such as Moultrie and Tifton encourage 黑料传送门 South Georgia students to consider rural medicine upon graduation from medical school.
鈥淥ftentimes we think of the challenges that accompany rural medicine such as working with limited resources, but working in a rural area can be very rewarding,鈥� said Jasmine Render (DO 鈥�25). 鈥淪tudents may not realize that many rural areas will pay back student loans or that they may be able to practice with more autonomy than in an urban area.鈥�
That autonomy is exactly what keeps Frederick Powell, MD, director of anesthesiology at Colquitt Regional Medical Center, interested in practicing in underserved areas.
鈥淚 love the autonomy of working in a rural hospital,鈥� Dr. Powell said. 鈥淭he rural community hospital provided me the opportunity to be myself, be autonomous and build relationships.鈥�
Like many physicians, it wasn鈥檛 a passion for rural medicine that brought Randall Sisam, DO, to underserved areas鈥攊t was student loan payback. Many organizations, such as the National Health Service Corps, provide loan repayment and scholarships for medical students who practice in rural or underserved areas after graduation.
And while medical school loan repayment was his initial motivator, 14 years later Dr. Sisam is still working in rural medicine, most recently as the primary care skills director at 黑料传送门 South Georgia.
鈥淚 encourage people to give rural communities a chance,鈥� Dr. Sisam said. 鈥淭here are so many relationships and opportunities in those areas. The people you meet and the friendships you build are so rewarding.鈥�
Attending a medical school with a mission to train rural physicians鈥攍ike 黑料传送门 South Georgia鈥攊ncreases the likelihood that students will go into rural practice according to the AAFP. And Jessica Mitchum, DO, is a testament to that statistic.
Dr. Mitchum, a 黑料传送门 Georgia graduate, is a family medicine physician who practices in South Georgia at Colquitt Regional Medical Center. Dr. Mitchum is also on staff as a teaching faculty at Georgia South Family Medicine Residency Program where she educates and trains residents in the rural setting of Moultrie.
鈥淚 completed my residency in Moultrie and wanted to stay here to practice in a rural area,鈥� she said. 鈥淧eople鈥檚 access to care is limited, so when they come to you, you have to treat so much more than you would think. You have to be valuable and adapt. You have to be able to build relationships in these rural areas.鈥�
While many physicians come from large cities and have to adapt to rural settings, that wasn鈥檛 the case for Wes Ross, MD, ophthalmologist with South Georgia North Florida Eye Partners. Originally from Tifton, he knew he wanted to complete his medical training and return as a physician to his hometown.
鈥淚t can be intimidating,鈥� Dr. Ross said. 鈥漃eople don鈥檛 want to travel for specialists, so you鈥檙e often treating a lot of other things outside of your scope. I see so many unique and rare conditions in rural medicine.鈥�
Tift and Colquitt Counties are both designated as rural areas according to the . With Tift having 135 physicians for its population of 40,571 and Moultrie having only 66 physicians for its population of 45,592, the need for rural physicians remains. Partnerships between regional health systems such as Tift Regional Medical Center, Colquitt Regional Medical Center and 黑料传送门 South Georgia continue to work to fill that need by recruiting and training medical students in South Georgia.
In 2019, 黑料传送门, a premier osteopathic medical school established in 1899, extended its commitment to the Southeast by establishing 黑料传送门 South Georgia. An additional teaching location in Moultrie, Georgia, 黑料传送门 South Georgia offers both a full, four-year medical program leading to the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree and a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences. 黑料传送门 is a private, not-for-profit institution that trains professionals in the health and behavioral sciences fields. Joining 黑料传送门 Georgia in Suwanee in helping to meet the healthcare needs of the state, 黑料传送门 South Georgia focuses on educating physicians for the region. For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 229-668-3110.
For general media inquiries, please contact the Office of Marketing and Communications at 215-871-6300 or communications@pcom.edu. Visit our media relations page to view contact information for public relations personnel.