Chris Staley, left,of Atlanta is all smiles, shown with his family. The new PCOM grad, who attended Marist High School before graduating from Emory, is now headed to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville for his residency
By Barbara Myers
SUWANEE, Ga. | One of the most important days in a medical student’s journey occurred this year on March 17. That was the day when PCOM Georgia’s fourth year medical students learned where they matched into residency programs and where they’ll spend their next three to seven years training in a specialty.
Prior to this day, students decided on their specialty of choice, interviewed, and ranked programs of interest. In turn, following interviews with students, residency program directors ranked their choices and a complex algorithm aligned the students and programs.
Tina Woodruff, senior advisor to the provost, PCOM Georgia, says that students achieved a 100 percent placement rate into postgraduate positions, as did students from PCOM South Georgia in Moultrie and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
According to residency placement lists, 34 percent of PCOM Georgia’s students will stay in Georgia to complete their residency programs. This percentage is an 85 percent increase in students staying in Georgia to complete residencies since 2016.
Students matched to such programs as anesthesiology at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, emergency medicine at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, family medicine at Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta, Floyd Medical Center in Rome, Houston Healthcare in Warner Robins and Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center in Marietta.
They also matched to programs including interventional radiology at Emory School of Medicine, pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia, psychiatry at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta and Piedmont Macon Medical Center in Macon, and surgery at Northeast Georgia Medical Center.
Forty-nine percent of PCOM Georgia students matched to primary care specialties including family medicine, internal medicine, OB/GYN and pediatrics. Seventy four percent matched into programs identified by the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce as core specialty programs, including the four primary care specialties, in addition to psychiatry, emergency medicine and general surgery.
Andrea Mann, dean and chief academic officer of PCOM Georgia’s osteopathic medicine program said, “I am pleased that a large percentage of the PCOM Georgia Osteopathic Medicine Class of 2023 have chosen to continue their training in Georgia. Additionally, almost three quarters of our fourth year students will pursue careers in Georgia’s targeted core specialty areas. I could not be more proud of all of our students.”
The graduating students will start the next step in their journey on July 1 when they report to their residency positions as full-fledged doctors following commencement on May 23.
A separate military match occurred in December in which PCOM Georgia’s five students who are entering the armed services matched into medical specialties. They include emergency medicine at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, family medicine at Darnell Army Medical Center in Fort Hood, Texas, general surgery at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia, internal medicine at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and psychiatry at Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
Michael Goodall, who grew up in Peachtree City, matched to pathology at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. An Augusta University graduate, he said, “I am excited for this opportunity to learn pathology in the building across the street from where I first found my passion for laboratory medicine – the Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University.
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