ATHENS (AP) — The chancellor of the University System of Georgia says a proposed medical school in Gainesville won’t compete with plans to build a Medical College of Georgia campus in Athens.
Chancellor Erroll Davis helped lobby lawmakers for state money for the Medical College expansion. The proposal is being considered by the Medical College and the university.
Brenau University President Ed Schrader has hired a consultant to study how the private college in Gainesville could expand to include a medical school. Legislators in the Gainesville area have suggested the Brenau school might compete with a medical college on the Athens campus.
But Davis says the Brenau plan is not competition. He says the state lags behind in its ability to train and put physicians to work and needs as many medical schools as it can get.
Brenau spokesman David Morrison says college officials have discussed building a medical school for a few years since the school already offers nursing, clinical psychology and occupational therapy programs and is next to Northeast Georgia Medical Center.
Ben Robinson, executive director of the Georgia Board for Physician Workforce, says the idea of two additional medical schools in northeast Georgia doesn’t worry him, but he wonders whether area hospitals will be able to accommodate students’ clinical rotation and residency program requirements.
He says three private medical schools at Mercer, Emory and Morehouse universities also are expanding.
Chancellor Erroll Davis helped lobby lawmakers for state money for the Medical College expansion. The proposal is being considered by the Medical College and the university.
Brenau University President Ed Schrader has hired a consultant to study how the private college in Gainesville could expand to include a medical school. Legislators in the Gainesville area have suggested the Brenau school might compete with a medical college on the Athens campus.
But Davis says the Brenau plan is not competition. He says the state lags behind in its ability to train and put physicians to work and needs as many medical schools as it can get.
Brenau spokesman David Morrison says college officials have discussed building a medical school for a few years since the school already offers nursing, clinical psychology and occupational therapy programs and is next to Northeast Georgia Medical Center.
Ben Robinson, executive director of the Georgia Board for Physician Workforce, says the idea of two additional medical schools in northeast Georgia doesn’t worry him, but he wonders whether area hospitals will be able to accommodate students’ clinical rotation and residency program requirements.
He says three private medical schools at Mercer, Emory and Morehouse universities also are expanding.