FOR RELEASE JULY 29, 2019
MAG FOUNDATION TO FUND PRIMARY CARE SCHOLARSHIPS AT MCG
ATLANTA – The Medical Association Georgia (MAG) Foundation has announced that beginning in 2020 it will fund a $10,000 scholarship each year for the next five years for a fourth-year medical student at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) at Augusta University who goes into a primary care specialty in Georgia – including pediatrics, family medicine, internal medicine, OB-GYN, general surgery, and emergency medicine.
“The data clearly suggests that we face a real shortage of primary care physicians in Georgia, especially in rural areas,” explains MAG Foundation President Jack M. Chapman Jr., M.D. “The goal of this scholarship program is to highlight this point and to encourage medical students to consider a career in primary care in Georgia.”
MCG will select the recipients of the scholarship using criteria that it develops – keeping in mind that the MAG Foundation is also considering funding similar scholarships at other medical schools in the state.
“I would like to thank the Medical Association of Georgia for its vision and for helping Georgia’s public medical school address the state’s critical shortage of primary care physicians,” says MCG Dean David Hess, M.D. “Scholarships are an important way that we attract and keep the best and brightest students at MCG. We know that debt from student loans can deter students from pursuing careers in primary care, which often pay less than those in other sub-specialties. Any amount of extra financial support to encourage students to pursue careers in primary care is greatly appreciated.”
Dr. Chapman also points out that the MAG Foundation and the MAG Alliance – which is a network of physicians’ spouses who volunteer to “help improve the health of all Georgians” – have funded the ‘W.R. Dancy, M.D., Student Loan Fund’ to “help 60 medical students in the state fulfill their dreams of becoming a physician” since 1969.
The MAG Foundation’s mission is to enable physicians to support medical science and public health projects that enhance the quality of life in the state. Go to www.mag.org/magf for additional information on the MAG Foundation. Go to www.mag.org/dancy for details on the Dancy Student Loan Fund.
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