Front row, from the left are Kevin Bhagratie, family medicine resident; Sharon Liggett, UGA Archway Partnership; and UGA pre-med students, Bella Stewart, Brooke Belsito, Ashlyn Kingsley, Cassidy Head and Catie Kiefer. Back row, from the left, are Sara Hand, UGA Archway Partnership, and Eli Whitaker, former graduate assistant with the Archway Partnership.

MOULTRIE – Look Ahead Georgia, a rural workforce development initiative of the University of Georgia Archway Partnership, hosted a Pre-Med Rural Georgia Hospital Tour across the state. The goal was to share the benefits of practicing in a smaller community with future doctors.

Five undergraduate pre-med students from UGA learned about opportunities in rural medicine through the tour. So, the first stop, in Moultrie, included a Q&A session with Colquitt County Medical Center residents, physicians and administrators. The students also had a downtown tour and meal at a local restaurant where they heard from local business owners and community leaders about the advantages of living and working in a rural area. The students also visited Cairo, Dublin, and Sandersville.

Third-year student Cassidy Head, a pre-med biological sciences major, designed and planned the tour as part of her work through the Elizabeth V. Wight Southwest Georgia Internship, funded through the support of Lib and Neal Quirk. The internship embeds a rural UGA student in Archway Partnership to address a regionally-specific opportunity or challenge.

The Archway Partnership is one of eight UGA Public Service and Outreach units dedicated to serving the state. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Archway’s innovative approach to community engagement has won national awards and generated a return on investment of more than $7.6 million for Georgia communities last year. To learn more about the Archway Partnership, visit archwaypartnership.uga.edu.