The University of Georgia recently closed its application period for its inaugural class of students at the university’s new School of Medicine, set to open this fall in Athens.
The primary application deadline was March 6. In just two weeks, the School of Medicine received roughly 2,040 applications, said Bryan Steele, associate dean of admissions.
“For a new medical school that is opening up, really, off cycle … I would say this is very unique,” said Steele, who previously worked in admissions at the University of Kansas School of Medicine.
Only 60 medical students will be admitted in the first year, with plans to double the class size in the future.
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Steele said a big factor in their admissions decision is whether applicants have a Georgia tie — not just being born in the state, but also having spent time here.
“Like someone’s out of state but they’ve been in Georgia the last four or five years attending a college or university. Maybe they graduated from a Georgia high school, but they moved somewhere else,” he said. “You’ve been in Georgia, you know about Georgia, that’s really what we’re looking for in our class.”
That’s key because where doctors are from often determine where they end up practicing, and filling the state’s health care gaps is part of the promise made to lawmakers when they invested millions into the school’s creation. Almost 40% of applications already received by the UGA School of Medicine are from in-state students, Steele said, with many coming from undergraduate students enrolled at UGA.
According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, there are 48 geographic areas in Georgia — including counties, census tracks and towns — that are considered Health Professional Shortage Areas, places where the shortage of physicians relative to population size is dire enough to warrant a federal designation.
Far more counties in the state have no doctors at all.
The school so far has partnerships with 11 health care providers in the region that will help train students during their clinical rotations. UGA’s School of Medicine is the second public medical school to open in the state, behind the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.
By December, the incoming medical students will have classes at a new medical education and research building on the university’s Health Sciences campus. Resources will include a cadaver room and simulation center.
This article comes to Now Habersham in partnership with GPB News
