ATLANTA – Mercer University School of Medicine (MUSM) faculty member Keisha R. Callins, M.D., MPH, was appointed this week by Gov. Nathan Deal to the newly-created nine-member board for the Georgia Center for Early Language and Literacy at Georgia College and State University (GCSU).
Dr. Callins, assistant professor and chair of the Department of Community Medicine, was selected for the board alongside leaders representing the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, the Technical College System of Georgia, the Governor's Office of Student Achievement, the Georgia Public Library Service, GCSU, the Georgia Board of Education, providers of primary health care and education advocacy organizations across the state.
“Early language development and literacy are vitally important to ensuring successful educational opportunities for Georgia's youngest learners,” said Deal. “The Georgia Center for Early Language and Literacy in Milledgeville will work tirelessly to make sure our children and educators are equipped with the right tools and instruction to succeed.”
Prior to joining the faculty at Mercer, Dr. Callins worked as a women's health expert and public health professional at the Mirian Worthy Women's Health Center and served as assistant medical director for Albany Area Primary Health Care. She is a graduate of Leadership Georgia and sits on the Georgia Composite Medical Board. She has served on appointed committees with Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital and Albany Area Primary Health Care.
Dr. Callins earned a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Virginia, a master's degree in public health from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a medical degree from Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM). She completed her graduate medical training at the MSM OB/GYN Residency Program at Grady Memorial Hospital, where she served as chief resident.
“Dr. Callins is an outstanding physician leader, and we are delighted to have her chair the Department of Community Health at MUSM,” said Jean Sumner, M.D., dean of the School. “This appointment reflects her service and commitment to quality health care for all Georgians.”
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. Today, more than 60 percent of graduates currently practice in the state of Georgia, and of those, more than 80 percent are practicing in rural or medically underserved areas of Georgia. Mercer medical 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. The School opened a full four-year campus in Savannah in 2008 at Memorial University Medical Center. In 2012, the School began offering clinical education for third- and fourth-year medical students in Columbus. Following their second year, students participate in core clinical clerkships at the School's primary teaching hospitals: Medical Center, Navicent Health in Macon; Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah; and The Medical Center and St. Francis Hospital in Columbus. The School also offers master's degrees in family therapy, preclinical sciences and biomedical sciences.
