Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A new osteopathic medical school has opened in Moultrie, Ga. It is affiliated with Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and is the third campus established.

The first was established in 1899 in Philadelphia. The second is in Suwanee, Ga. and now Moultrie has become the third, when a ribbon cutting was held on August 6. A photo of that occasion was shown with 59 first year medical students in attendance.

A program about the school was presented to the Bainbridge Rotary Club this week by Bryan Ginn, administrative director of the Suwanee campus.

He described osteopathic medicine as a treatment of the whole patient. The curriculum is similar to that of other physician training, with the addition of the use of hands for manipulation.
Ginn said students learn how to prevent illnesses, while focusing on health sciences.

The focus of the school is described as shaping the future of health. He explained the reason Moultrie was chosen was because it is in the middle of the Southwest Georgia area, where there is a strong need for physicians.

Through partnerships with other institutions and services, such as regional emergency medical services and local technical colleges, PCOM is able to offer the latest in medical technical training through an innovative medical curriculum, with flexibility in academic programs and offering early clinical experiences.

Much of the teaching is through simulation. The school has a mobile medical simulation lab that looks like an ambulance. The students are able to work in the lab with a variety of mannequins able to perform as many as 6000 simulations.

The new building housing the school is 75,000 square foot and modern in every way.
By offering residency opportunities in the region it is the goal of the school to keep the physicians here in the area where there is such a demand.

Ginn stated that some of the counties in Southwest Georgia have no medical physicians, and have what resembles third world outcomes in health. Seventy-six counties have no OB/GYN physicians.

“As we grow we hope to bring more medical programs to Southwest Georgia,” explained Ginn.