MACON, Ga. – Jeremy Paradice of Moultrie was recently accepted to the Mercer University School of Medicine (MUSM) Primary Care Accelerated Track (ACT) Program, announced MUSM Dean Jean Sumner, M.D., FACP.

The Primary Care ACT Program allows students interested in a career in family medicine, general internal medicine or pediatrics to have the opportunity to complete their medical school coursework in an accelerated three-year program of study.

Scholarships are awarded to highly qualified medical students upon the completion of their first year of medical school and cover tuition for the second and third years, according to a press release from the Mercer School of Medicine. These students must be in good academic standing and have a strong desire to practice primary care in a rural area.

After graduation, ACT Scholars are guaranteed a residency with one of MUSM’s primary teaching hospital partners. Upon completion of residency, Scholars are required to participate in three years of continuous, full-time, primary care medical practice in a medically underserved or rural area of Georgia. The practice must also accept Medicaid patients.

“This is an outstanding program that enables qualified students to accelerate their education, decrease their debt and enter the workforce sooner without sacrificing quality,” Sumner said. “This program wouldn’t be possible without the strong support and leadership of Georgia’s state legislature and governor.”

Paradice said he feels grateful and humbled to join Mercer’s ACT Program because it takes the pressure off of finding a residency after graduation and relieves the financial burden of medical school.

“As a nontraditional medical student with high-school-age kids, there is a tremendous amount of pressure in making it work financially,” Paradice said. “Being chosen for the ACT Program and the scholarship is a huge relief and a great honor. Plus, I have already matched into the residency program I wanted to attend, so now I can focus on being a great doctor.

“Colquitt Countians are blessed with a great hospital, strong pharmacy presence and incredible physician network. Yet I see the need for good, homegrown internists in our community. I am looking forward to offering care and healing to populations that need someone to help in tough situations.”

Paradice is the son of Greg and Karen Paradice, husband of Leslie Paradice, and father of Austin and Logan Paradice.