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Morehouse School of Medicine Plans Class Size Expansion Through $100,000 Gift from Rich Foundation
Morehouse School of Medicine Plans Class Size Expansion Through $100,000 Gift from Rich Foundation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Gayle Converse / 404-756-6701 / gconverse@msm.edu
Morehouse School of Medicine Plans Class Size Expansion Through $100,000 Gift from Rich Foundation
Atlanta - Enabled by the generosity of The Rich Foundation, Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) will soon take its first step in expanding its class size to come to the aid of Georgia's critical doctor shortage. The Rich Foundation contribution of $100,000 will be used for an immediate need - to expand and renovate the Gross Dissection Laboratory and the Multidisciplinary Teaching Laboratories at MSM to accommodate the increase in medical student class size.
"As one of our strategic initiatives, we have made a commitment to the state of Georgia to expand our medical school class size to address the state's physician workforce shortage," said MSM President John E. Maupin Jr., D.D.S. "This donation from The Rich Foundation provides us with the lead gift for this project, which will enable us to accommodate more medical students and as we increase our entering class size from 52 to 70 by 2013. Students admitted under this expansion plan would be exclusively Georgia residents."
Metro Atlanta and the state of Georgia face a critical shortage of physicians to serve the health-care needs of citizens, especially minority primary care physicians and general surgeons. Since its founding in 1975, MSM has been committed to improving the health care of Georgians by educating and training physicians committed to the primary health-care needs of underserved urban and rural communities.
The majority of MSM-trained physicians choose to stay and practice in the state. MSM recently made a commitment to the state of Georgia to expand medical school class size to address the state's physician workforce shortage. MSM is the only medical school in Georgia with a special focus on training minority doctors. More than 60 percent of its alumni are primary care physicians, many in metro Atlanta and in the state of Georgia.
Although its annual applicant pool exceeds 3,000 inquiries, the institution has maintained an entering medical school class size of 52 for the past several years. The primary reason for capping medical student class size has been limited classroom and laboratory space.
"The Rich Foundation has been a longtime friend of Morehouse School of Medicine, and with this grant continues a tradition of extraordinary philanthropic support," said Associate Vice President for the MSM Office of Institutional Advancement, Mary Kay Murphy, Ph.D.
The Georgia Board of Physician Workforce reports that the state ranks 37th in the nation in physicians per 100,000 population, with disparity of physicians being even greater in parts of Georgia as supply is poorly disbursed related to geography, ethnicity, and medical specialty. Also, the state is 34th in the nation in the number of medical residents and medical students per 100,000 population.
While the need for physicians continues to increase, the rate at which new doctors-especially primary care and general surgeons-are added to the state's and Metro Atlanta's workforce continues to decline. An increased number of new medical professionals will be required just to maintain current workforce capacity.*
This MSM class OF 2008 was the largest M.D. class in the institution's history. Among the M.D. and other graduates:
- 77 percent received the Doctor of Medicine degree.
- 64 percent of M.D. students chose primary care medicine specialties, helping to meet the need for primary care physicians in Georgia and the nation.
- 17 percent of graduates earned the Master of Public Health degree.
- A Ph.D. student was selected as one of 500 U.S. students to present and discuss her research before Nobel Prize winners from around the world.
About Morehouse School of Medicine
Morehouse School of Medicine, located in Atlanta, Georgia, is dedicated to improving
the health and well-being of individuals and communities; increasing the diversity
of the health professional and scientific workforce; and addressing primary health-care
needs through programs in education, research, and service, with emphasis on people
of color and the underserved urban and rural populations in Georgia and the nation.
*Source: Final Report of the Georgia Senate Study Committee on the Shortage of Doctors and Nurses in Georgia (prepared by the Senate Research Office, 2007)
Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), located in Atlanta, Georgia, was founded in 1975 as the Medical Education Program at Morehouse College. In 1981 Morehouse School of Medicine became an independently chartered institution and the first minority medical school established at a Historically Black College and University in the 20th century. MSM is among the nation's leading educators of primary care physicians. Our faculty and alumni are noted in their fields for excellence in teaching, research and public policy, and are known in the community for exceptional, culturally appropriate patient care. For more information about Morehouse School of Medicine, visit us online at www.msm.edu.
