COLUMBUS — As Mercer University’s first medical students in Columbus prepare to begin their clinical rotations, Columbus Mayor Teresa Pike Tomlinson has proclaimed Monday, July 16, as Mercer University Medical School Day in the city. At 6 p.m. on July 16, Mayor Tomlinson will hold a welcome event for the 14 first-ever students to begin third and fourth-year rotations in Columbus. Mayor Tomlinson will formally read her proclamation at the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce Office at 1200 6th Ave. Following the proclamation, the Medical School will hold a pinning ceremony and the event will conclude with a reception.
In February, Mercer announced that it was partnering with The Medical Center and St. Francis Hospital to establish a Columbus campus for its School of Medicine. Columbus joins Macon, where the school was established in 1982 to prepare physicians for rural and medically underserved areas of Georgia, and Savannah in hosting campuses for the Medical School, which currently enrolls 400 M.D. students.
Under terms of the partnership, the Mercer School of Medicine will eventually place up to 80 third- and fourth-year medical students at the Columbus Campus.
Media are encouraged to attend the proclamation announcement and pinning ceremony. For additional information, contact Rick Cameron, senior assistant vice president for Marketing Communications at Mercer, at (478) 301-5500 or cameron_rl@mercer.edu.
About the Mercer University School of Medicine (Macon, Savannah and Columbus):
Mercer University’s School of Medicine was established in 1982 to educate physicians and health professionals to meet the primary care and health care needs of rural and medically underserved areas of Georgia. The School only accepts Georgia residents into its medical degree program. Mercer School of Medicine students benefit from a problem-based medical education program that provides early patient care experiences. Such an academic environment fosters the early development of clinical problem-solving and instills in each student an awareness of the place of the basic medical sciences in medical practice. In August 2008, the inaugural class of students began study at Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah at Mercer’s second full, four-year doctor of medicine program. This year, the School announced a new partnership agreement to begin clinical training to third- and fourth-year Doctor of Medicine students at The Medical Center and St. Francis Hospital in Columbus. The School also offers master’s degrees in public health, family therapy, preclinical sciences and biomedical sciences and a Ph.D. in Clinical Medical Psychology.
About Mercer University
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University enrolls more than 8,300 students in 11 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing and continuing and professional studies – on campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah – and four regional academic centers across the state. The Mercer Health Sciences Center launched July 1, 2012, and includes the University’s medical, nursing and pharmacy schools and will add a fourth college – the College of Health Professions – on July 1, 2013. Mercer is affiliated with four teaching hospitals — Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah, the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, and The Medical Center and St. Francis Hospital in Columbus. The University also has educational partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta. It operates an academic press and a performing arts center in Macon and an engineering research center in Warner Robins. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia to field an NCAA Division I athletic program. www.mercer.edu
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