According to Dr. Peter Buckley, Medical College of Georgia Dean, Georgia’s only public medical school just got its own clean bill of health. After an intensive review by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University has received a full eight-year accreditation from the accrediting body for the nation’s medical schools. 

LCME is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the World Federation for Medical Education as the accrediting body for doctor of medicine granting schools in the United States and Canada. The Medical College of Georgia’s latest accreditation follows a two-year self-study and a site visit by a six-member LCME evaluation team at the end of January. The next full-site visit is scheduled for the 2023-24 academic year.

So what does the big announcement really mean for the school and its students across the state? 

“You can’t have a physician-degree granting school without accreditation,” Buckley explained. “… When they came here eight years ago, they looked simply at Augusta … but this time they came and reviewed all our campuses … with the idea of looking at a much more statewide model and therefore it was a much more complicated and intensive review.… which means they endorse our strategy for the entire state which is very important.” In addition to the main campus in Augusta, MCG has a second four-year campus in Athens, in partnership with the University of Georgia. MCG also has two-year clinical campuses for third- and fourth-year students based in Rome, Savannah/Brunswick and Albany in partnership with physicians and hospitals in those regions of the state. 

“… That means that our current medical students that selected to go here already know there’s an endorsement that they are training at a top-notch medical school.”

Buckley said options to study at campuses across the state have led to an 18 percent increase in the number of people wanting to come to the Medical College of Georgia in the past few years. “… But now with full accreditation, we expect to see those numbers to go up even more…”

He also said that the accreditation attracts highly skilled medical educators and doctors to the campus. “It’s hard to attract educators to a school that has a black eye. There are a number of institutions that are struggling or on probation … So, this year we were surveyed under more stringent criteria.” One of those criteria included the school’s ability to attract a diverse student population. “Our classrooms have become more diverse … with a 200 percent increase in underrepresented minorities in the last three years.”

Buckley said that one in five doctors practicing in Georgia received their medical degree and/or completed their residency training at the Medical College of Georgia and its teaching hospitals. “The economic impact of the number of doctors in our state has a huge multiplier effect on the community, especially in rural communities.”

Buckley also added that the school helps to generate about a million dollars in community services, with locations throughout the state. “We are a very large medical school with the ninth largest class in America. … In Augusta, for example, we are a major purchaser … and help draw money to the community.” And he said that the reputation of the college helps to draw large donations from generous donors thus saving the state money on their investment to growth.

“For example, in Augusta, when our alumni meet every year for alumni weekend, they come here and spend their money in Augusta which also helps improve the economic health of Augusta.”

And working with the community in Augusta is another important part of the success of MCG, according to Buckley. “Before we did this accreditation survey, we asked ourselves, what’s the plan for the medical school? And one of the things we did was involve community leaders in the creation of that plan. We went out and asked their prospective on the medical school and university. They all said how proud they were in Augusta to have a medical school of our stature in a city the size of Augusta.”

Buckley added that it is the goal of the college to continue to grow and become more connected with the community by continuing to be regular attendees in local Rotary Clubs and other business-related groups. 

He also said that now with the accreditation process behind them for a while, they can really focus their attention to the changes and growth they hope to see in the next three-and-a-half years. While accreditation is good for the next eight years, the LCME calls for continuous self-monitoring of the services MCG offers. “That standard goes toward things like providing financial aid, student support, counseling services and career advising. We will continue expanding those services and running a medical school well. … We can also look at how we are helping educate the next generation of health care teams – which is how we practice health care-- by expanding innovations in inter-professional student training … as well as education and research and discovery… 

 “… Our medical school, while it is the 13th oldest in the country—we are 188 years old now-- is a very contemporary medical school ... and we just got a ringing endorsement that it is a state-of-the-art training facility for medical students,” Buckley said. “Everyone here has done a great job … and I’m very proud to lead the state’s public medical college.”