MCG Campus Pick: Augusta vs. Athens (UGA School of Medicine) vs. Savannah

[infiniteregress2020]

I recently got accepted to MCG Early Decision and I got an email approaching me about my campus preference. I need help deciding which campus would suit me best. I'm keeping an open mind about what kind of specialty I'm interested in, but I want to keep my options open if I possibly want to pursue competitive specialties like Dermatology, ENT, IR, etc. I think I lean towards academic medicine rather than community medicine. Here's the pros and cons i've gathered about the 3 campuses.

Augusta-
Pros:

• Big Academic Medicine Center
• Extensive affiliated hospital network (VA, Children's Hospital of Georgia, Wellstar, etc.)
• more research opportunities
• the Academic Medicine environment seems conducive towards pursuing competitive specialties
• more resources in general
• I was told Augusta's attendings are academic medicine-inclined and their good word is influential for LORs in the future

Cons:

• For rotations, I heard you have to relocate to different areas across Georgia (Dalton, Rome, Albany, etc.) for rotations, which are pretty far from each other. Moving between these places seems like a pain.
• I was told Augusta's attendings can be hard to reach in the totem pole of residents and fellows in a big academic setting like Augusta, for LORs and aspects of medical training.
• I'm not sure how the administration handles stuff like mental health and counseling resources at this campus.
• I'm concerned about how i'll do in a big campus like Augusta with ~200 students
• I'll be 2.5 hours away from home and family, farther than the Athens location

Athens-
Pros:

• This campus location is closest to my home (50 mins away; though I'm gonna still be living in an apartment in Athens), where I'll have family support
• small campus environment (~60 students)
• Pretty familiar with the Athens area having done undergrad in Athens
• open book quizzes and exams from what I've been told
• med students at this location seem generally happy and not so stressed relative to the Augusta campus
• med students have more direct interaction with attendings compared to Augusta, which can lead to strong LORs
• the regional sites Athens med students are assigned to are closer-knit together in the Athens area (Braselton, Lawrenceville, Gainesville, etc.) compared to Augusta med student's possible regional assignments, so less difficult for relocating for rotations.

Cons:

• More community-medicine oriented, which I don't think I'm into
• Not as abundantly resourced like Augusta campus
• Athens attendings are mostly private practice that don't have much influence in Academic Medicine
• I'm not sure how I would fare if Small Group learning (case studies, TBL, learning objectives, etc.) was the main way I have to study

Savannah-
Pros:

• This campus location is close to Tybee Island and Hilton Head Beach if I wanna go for a weekend swim
• Savannah is a nice town
• warm climate

Cons:

• This is MCG's newest campus opening next year in Fall 2024 and I worry about the inaugural class being a "guinea pig" class for the faculty and administration to experiment with different teaching styles and learning models.
• It seems up in the air how the Savannah campus is gonna structure their curriculum, preclinical years, and clinical rotation years

Let me know y'alls thoughts about this!

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[FlowRate]

I know nothing about MCG itself, this is just one perspective from a young attending based on the info you provided.

For rotations, I heard you have to relocate to different areas across Georgia (Dalton, Rome, Albany, etc.) for rotations, which are pretty far from each other. Moving between these places seems like a pain.

So which is it? Are you at the big academic mothership or are you away at remote sites that probably have a lot in common with the athens private practices?

I'm not sure how the administration handles stuff like mental health and counseling resources at this campus.

If your family is in-state and you're a traditional student then staying on your parents' insurance and seeking care outside of the campus system is probably your best bet. Also, why would the mothership campus have worse resources for this than the other two?

the regional sites Athens med students are assigned to are closer-knit together in the Athens area (Braselton, Lawrenceville, Gainesville, etc.) compared to Augusta med student's possible regional assignments, so less difficult for relocating for rotations.

(see above)

I'm not sure how I would fare if Small Group learning (case studies, TBL, learning objectives, etc.) was the main way I have to study

Unless med school/USMLE content has changed way more than I imagine it has, the majority of studying/learning you need to do to be successful will be self-paced and somewhat memorization heavy.

There are only a few areas of biology in which first principles will allow you to derive specific relevant information (this is mostly physiology). Small group learning is best at helping people who struggle with those concepts and, in an ideal state, helps with learning the clinical thought process (how doctors think about patients and their underlying pathophysiology.)

This is MCG's newest campus opening next year in Fall 2024 and I worry about the inaugural class being a "guinea pig" class for the faculty and administration to experiment with different teaching styles and learning models.

Same double edged sword as all new campuses. Usually there's a lot of attention and resources focused on your experience which is a good thing but also more potential for speedbumps.

 

[i-doctor]

I would choose Savannah in a heartbeat if it were year 2. The city is a blast. Now it’s a toss-up, since your year’s class there will be the Guinea pigs. I myself would still go for it there. I honestly don’t think that when you apply around for residency that any programs—especially out of state—will differentiate between campuses. They’ll just see “MCG”.

 

[infiniteregress2020]

I would choose Savannah in a heartbeat if it were year 2. The city is a blast. Now it’s a toss-up, since your year’s class there will be the Guinea pigs. I myself would still go for it there. I honestly don’t think that when you apply around for residency that any programs—especially out of state—will differentiate between campuses. They’ll just see “MCG”.

Yeah, Savannah is a nice city, but my concern with Savannah is that it doesn’t have the affiliated hospital network and research opportunities like Augusta does, which could help me with boosting my CV for competitive residencies down the line.

 

[i-doctor]

Yeah, Savannah is a nice city, but my concern with Savannah is that it doesn’t have the affiliated hospital network and research opportunities like Augusta does, which could help me with boosting my CV for competitive residencies down the line.

Yes, definitely a factor if you need to do research for competitive fields.

 

[infiniteregress2020]

There's a new development with MCG-Athens as Georgia Governor Brian Kemp announced MCG-Athens is gonna transition to becoming UGA's new medical school. With this change to the Athens campus, what're y'alls thoughts on how that'll factor towards which campus would be best fit for me?

New medical school for University of Georgia approved by state Board of Regents - WABE

The board that governs Georgia’s public colleges Tuesday authorized the University of Georgia to establish a medical school at its Athens campus. The state Board of Regents gave unanimous approval […]

www.wabe.org

UGA to launch new School of Medicine - UGA Today

The University System of Georgia Board of Regents authorized the University of Georgia to establish a new independent School of Medicine in Athens.

news.uga.edu

 

[Mayocarditis]

There's a new development with MCG-Athens as Georgia Governor Brian Kemp announced MCG-Athens is gonna transition to becoming UGA's new medical school. With this change to the Athens campus, what're y'alls thoughts on how that'll factor towards which campus would be best fit for me?

New medical school for University of Georgia approved by state Board of Regents - WABE

The board that governs Georgia’s public colleges Tuesday authorized the University of Georgia to establish a medical school at its Athens campus. The state Board of Regents gave unanimous approval […]

www.wabe.org

UGA to launch new School of Medicine - UGA Today

The University System of Georgia Board of Regents authorized the University of Georgia to establish a new independent School of Medicine in Athens.

news.uga.edu

For reference, I'm accepted at MCG. As a UGA Grad, I can touch on the Athens Campus from anecdotal experience from my professors. I have a feeling that UGA will surpass MCG as the state's top public medical school, but that won't be happening for several decades in my opinion.

If you're still interested in academic medicine, I'd prefer to go to Augusta as the clinical affiliates at UGA will side more with community partners. I know UGA will be expanding it's clinical affiliates, but the most "academic" place will be Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, which is a solid hour from Athens. Piedmont and St. Mary's are very much community or "communiversity" institutions and lack home residencies except for IM and maybe FM?

But if you ever find the match lists for the Athens Campus, they tend to be similar or even better in some aspects with some very notable matches in the past few years. However, a good chunk of those professors that students worked with were affiliated with out-of-state institutions or MCG/Emory. It will be a lot more difficult to find specialty-specific research at UGA on top of competing with thousands of undergraduate/graduate students as well.

Now I think UGA will be starting in Fall of 2026/2027, which means that your preclinical is still based at MCG, but your clerkships will be run by UGA. But who knows when UGA will start as things rarely start on schedule. The clerkships at MCG appear to be a headache for me so that turned me off about going there, so having a "home" hospital at Piedmont/St. Mary's might be more protected.

TL;DR:
If you're interested in academic medicine and hyper-competitive specialties, go to MCG.
If the small class size, college town allure, and proximity to family is your top priority, go to the Athens Campus.