Overview
MCG Serves Its Students by Teaching Them to Serve Others in the Augusta Community, Across Georgia, and Around the World
The Medical College of Georgia (MCG), founded in 1828, is the thirteenth-oldest continuously operating medical school in America, and the third-oldest in the Southeastern U.S. As the health sciences university of Georgia, MCG's enrollment is now over 2,400 students in its five schools of Medicine, Allied Health Sciences, Dentistry, Graduate Studies, and Nursing. With a total of some 5,000 faculty and staff members and student residents, MCG is among the largest employers in the Augusta community. In the 2007 fiscal year, approximately 3,800 jobs resulted from MCG-related spending, and the college's total economic impact on the Augusta community was nearly $1 billion.
MCG's articulated mission as a health sciences university is to discover, disseminate, and use knowledge to reduce the ravages of illness on society. In pursuing this mission, the entire MCG community is dedicated to serving the people of Georgia, first and foremost; then the nation; and then, of course, the world. Accomplishing these essential goals will result in preparing tomorrow's health professionals, conducting research, applying new discoveries in the field, providing patient-centered health care services, and contributing to the economic future of the Augusta community and Georgia with its integrated approach to research, clinical care, and education.
The Medical College of Georgia is committed to remaining a leading health sciences university as a public institution dedicated to the discovery and application of scientific knowledge. To that end, the Medical College of Georgia places a premium on leadership with compassion, social responsibility with diversity, and excellence in all professional endeavors.
Graduate Programs in Allied Health Sciences, Biostatistics, and Nursing Prepare Health Care Clinicians of all Kinds
Doctoral- and master's-level graduate programs in allied health sciences include the Master of Science program, which offers many diverse opportunities for expanding one's professional career in research, education, and/or practice. Other programs lead to the Master of Science in medical illustration and the college's new Master of Public Health in health informatics program. All of these programs are interdisciplinary as well as research-oriented, requiring the completion of a final thesis. The goals of all graduate programs in allied health sciences are to prepare up-to-date, specialized clinicians with advanced theory, state-of-the-art knowledge, and practical skills in both basic and clinical sciences. Future researchers learn to formulate questions, organize observations, test their ideas, and examine results from the perspective of basic and clinical sciences. Future managers of health care systems develop as leaders able to plan, develop, and implement cost-effective, patient-centric, and high-quality health care services.
Graduate programs in biostatistics prepare master's-level biostatisticians to perform as consultants with medical and health researchers. For the future health care professional who wishes to design experimental data collection forms, observe and report on studies, assist in clinical trials, and report findings, the graduate programs in biostatistics are the route to take.
The graduate programs in nursing also offer multiple graduate-level degree tracks, including a Ph.D. in nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) and a Master of Nursing. In addition, the graduate programs in nursing can also lead to the Master of Science in Nursing with a concentration in adult nursing, family nurse practitioner, or nursing anesthesia.
MCG Faculty and Students Conduct Leading-Edge Research in State-of-the-Art Research Facilities that Are Key to Education
The graduate-level faculty at the Medical College of Georgia comprise some 190 members from the Schools of Graduate Studies, Allied Health Sciences, Dentistry, Medicine, and Nursing. Graduate students speak quite highly of their MCG studies, focusing on the advantages of small class size, consistent and comprehensive faculty support, real-world "hands on" education, a supportive environment, and the ultimate development of their marketable skills in health care.
MCG interdisciplinary biomedical sciences research program undertakes laboratory and clinical research in numerous and exciting areas from cancer biology, infection, and inflammation to cardiovascular and neurological diseases. In addition to the basic science and clinical departments performing excellent research alongside top-flight teaching, MCG maintains several interdisciplinary centers and institutes with state-of-the-art research facilities and equipment. These research facilities supporting biomedical research have been dramatically expanded, modernized, and updated in recent years. The first phase of the Interdisciplinary Research Building project was finished in the mid-1990s to house the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, which promotes research excellence in basic biomedical and clinical disciplines. Phase two of the project was completed in 2004, providing room for researchers, laboratories, and special equipment
MCG supports various state-of-the-art core research facilities to provide researchers access to leading-edge technologies needed for innovative biomedical research. The more than 300,000 square feet of dedicated research space at MCG is being expanded still, with plans for a new Health Sciences Building to house the Schools of Allied Health Sciences and Nursing along with a new Cancer Research Center.
