When people think about teaching hospitals, several places come to mind-Massachusetts General, Emory University or even the fictional Seattle Grace from NBC’s “Grey’s Anatomy”. South Georgia hospitals don’t typically come to mind, and one hospital in particular really should be on that list.

“Teaching is happening every day here at Tift Regional Medical Center,” said Dr. William Guest, chief medical officer of ICU at TRMC. “We have hundreds of students that come through our doors each year, which benefits the students themselves, our physicians and staff as well as our patients.”

Without even including nursing, more than 100,000 hours clinical education were donated last quarter by physicians in Southwest Georgia as arranged by the Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center. SOWEGA AHEC is a non-for-profit partner of Tift Regional Medical Center and the Medical College of Georgia.

“When most people think about teaching, they think of the students being the ones who benefit,” Dr. Guest. “But the instructors and patients benefit as well. The physicians and staff members who are teaching must keep their skills and knowledge up to date. This makes them better practitioners for their patients.”

Numbers are showing there is an ever-growing shortage of new physicians who are available to practice medicine. And while state medical schools are increasing their enrollment numbers during the next few years, working to attract more current medical students to South Georgia will be crucial to meeting our shortage.

When students can train in South Georgia, there is a better chance they will want to eventually set up practice here, said Dr. Guest. It creates a relationship with other staff members as well as with the community in general.

“It’s also important for medical students to see that rural medicine doesn’t mean primitive medicine,” he said. “We have the best in technology here in Tifton, and our future physicians need to know that.”

The two primary medical schools TRMC partners with are the Medical College of Georgia and Mercer University. Both schools focus on primary care training in the areas of family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, general surgery obstetrics and gynecology.

Dr. Guest also serves as the Assistant Dean of Curriculum for the Southwest Georgia Campus of MCG. MCG is beginning a new program that will allow third year medical students to spend their entire year training in South Georgia instead of splitting their time between different locations. TRMC is hoping to also institute a residency program in Tifton in the future.

Patty Mattingly, a third-year medical student at MCG, is currently working with OB/GYNs Dr. Darrell Jordan and Dr. Lee Edmondson, where she is getting many more chances to learn than she would have at a larger, teaching facility.

“As a third year medical student, the opportunity to work first-hand with doctors and see a large volume of patients is invaluable,” said Mattingly. “I am grateful to be in Tifton where I am able to do just that. Away from a teaching hospital, I am exposed to many clinical scenarios that would otherwise go to residents, and not medical students.”

Numerous physicians on the TRMC medical staff donate their time teaching students, including Dr. Gary Baxter, Dr. Gerald Williams, Dr. David Ferner, Dr. Granville Simmons, Dr. David Johnson, Dr. Loraine Sumner, Dr. Charles Griffin, Dr. Brad Lindsey, Dr. Darrell Jordan, Dr. Joel Johnson, Dr. David McEachin, Dr. William Kaiser, Dr. William Davis, Dr. Jim Scott, Dr. Drew Howard, Dr. Kayla Howard, Dr. David Johnson, Dr. Bridgett Asbury, Dr. Nathan Mordel, Dr. Sandra Brickman, Dr. Lee Edmondson, Dr. Joe Turner, Dr. Brent Savelli Dr. Randall Lanier, Dr. Steve Rigdon, Dr. Cameron Nixon, Dr. Margaret Richardson-Nixon, Dr Gibbons, Dr. Tony Addington, Dr. John Eanes and Dr. Mac Sims.

Pharmacology is another area in which healthcare institutions are facing shortages. Future pharmacists from the pharmacy schools of the University of Georgia and Mercer University complete training at TRMC, working with Pharmacists Paul Carrier and Fred Moore.

Building those relationships at the training level helps to encourage those students to return to TRMC when they finish school, said Dr. Guest.

Tift Regional also serves as an educational institution for other health care fields, including nursing and many allied health programs. Almost 650 nursing and allied health students will have trained at TRMC by the end of 2009, said Sandy Donovan, RN, MSN, clinical educator at TRMC.

“Tift Regional Medical Center is a major supporter of the registered nursing program at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College,” said Wanda Golden, RN, MSN, CCRN, Dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. “The hospital provides technology and supplies that allows nursing students to become familiar with computerized medical documentation and safe medication administration in a controlled campus lab prior to entering the hospital clinical setting.”

This type of learning greatly improves the skills the nursing students acquire.

“This realistic practice allows the nursing students to learn appropriate techniques that maximize their clinical activities and patient interactions,” said Golden. “The TRMC staff works with the faculty and students to ensure that in-hospital learning experiences support the learning outcomes of the program. The collaborative efforts between TRMC and ABAC in planning and implementing both pre- and in-hospital educational activities contributes to the success that the nursing program continues to experience.”

“TRMC also provides educational opportunities for the faculty with in-services and on – line programs. The hospital is a major educational component in ABAC’s nursing program.”

In addition to training, Tift Regional found another way to invest in education for local programs. In a unique collaboration, TRMC worked to aid ABAC in achieving its goal of building a new nursing program facility.

TRMC began contributing direct and in-kind donations to the college through the ABAC Foundation in late 2006, as well as a providing a physician who will serve as medical director of the student clinic.

The direct and in-kind donations, totaling $100,000 per year, helped ABAC finance construction of its new, 41,424-square-foot Health Sciences building.

In all, there are eight different schools in Georgia that send their nursing students to train at Tift Regional, said Donovan.

While medical, pharmacy and nursing students make up a large percentage of those training at TRMC, other fields are also well represented. During 2009, students from around the Southeast came to study pharmacy technology, cardiovascular technology, respiratory therapy, physical therapy, radiology technology, surgical technology, exercise physiology, emergency medicine technology, health and information management, tumor registry, speech and communication disorders, health promotion and behavior, medical office assisting, mass communication and social work.

TRMC Clinical Recruiter Judy Morey, RN, often even takes the training on the road and right to the students. She regularly visits with high school and nursing students about what to expect in job interviews and in the workplace. She also provides job shadow opportunities to assist with career decisions and required observation for college program admission.

“We are lucky to have the excellent healthcare team that we do here at TRMC,” said Dr. Guest. “And our focus on education should continue to ensure that the level of healthcare available in this region stays high.”