But Hendry, a third-year medical student at the Medical College of Georgia, was No. 25 on a medical rotation lottery; she didn’t get to choose where she’d go. Instead, she was sent to MCG’s clinical remote campus at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany for a general surgery rotation.
Though Hendry admits she wasn’t initially thrilled at the assignment, she now is equally candid in saying, “I truly feel that it (Albany) should be the No. 1 choice. I feel like it’s the best.”
Hendry is one of about a dozen third- and fourth-year medical students at the Augusta-based Medical College of Georgia who, whether by choice or assignment, are fulfilling clinical requirements at Phoebe.
Conversations during recent months with students, who spoke openly about the challenges of learning at the main campus, revealed that they are overwhelmingly supportive of expanding the Phoebe program, for which they also offered suggestions.
Most notably, the students seemed surprised at the positive experiences — personal and professional — they’ve found in Albany.
“It (MCG Albany) allows me hands-on training,” said Hendry, sitting in the doctor’s lounge in her starched-stiff white coat, after a mastectomy revision in which she assisted the surgeon, Dr. Craig Murray. “It’s way different than just watching.”
While her Augusta-based peers are “having to fight for their rotations,” Hendry said, “I know I’m having a better rotation.”
“(They are) totally jealous,” the 27-year-old said. “I feel kind of bad.”
A CAMPUS GROWTH
The Phoebe/MCG project began in 2003 after months of talks between the two organizations.
By 2004, students were doing rotations in pediatrics, family residency, internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, neurology and psychiatry.
In November 2005, more than two years before the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents would make expanding the state’s only public medical school a priority, MCG professor Dr. Iqbal Khan settled in Albany as dean of the Phoebe program.
Today, 10-12 third- and fourth-year students are on rotation at Phoebe or nearby private practices, and several students have returned to Albany to complete other rotations. Also, some have done rotations at Phoebe and are back for postgraduate training as members of the Southwest Georgia Family Medicine Residency program at Phoebe.
“We are almost three years ahead of any other site. We have more students, more faculty and more specialties,” Khan said. “We already have a clinical structure in place for educating students.”
MCG also has a site in Savannah. In January, after years of warnings of the doctor shortage that looms over the state (2,500 doctors short by 2020), the Board of Regents accepted a plan to expand MCG by increasing enrollment, establishing a campus in Athens and further committing to Albany and Savannah.
The plan, drafted by the firm Tripp Umbach, calls for MCG’s total enrollment to grow by 455 students, from 745 students today to 1,200 by 2020. The plan details increasing enrollment at the Augusta campus from 745 to 900; for the new Athens campus to enroll 40 students starting next year and, ultimately, 240 students; and for Albany and Savannah to each have 30 students on rotation.
The aggressive expansion calls for a total of $210 million in capital projects, including a 6,000-square-foot, $2.4 million education facility in Albany.
The Phoebe program isn’t a Liaison Committee on Medical Education-accredited satellite campus, but Dr. Doug Patten, senior vice president of medical affairs at Phoebe, said he hopes that designation will come in 2009.
“I want to see this campus become one of the best in the country,” Khan said of Albany. “We have the potential for that.”
FACE TIME AND PATHOLOGY
It was 7:38 a.m. on a Thursday, and radio cutups John Boy and Billy were raucous in the background.
Her hands crossed, Hendry, a petite brunette dwarfed by the tall Murray, stood on a stool and leaned a bit over their female patient, asleep on the operating table.
Hendry watched as Murray made the right mastectomy incision, then suctioned. She grabbed the scissors and held them up. He tied the suture, she cut off the extra thread and then handed the scissors to the nurse.
It was clear that Murray was talking Hendry through the procedure. Though the conversation was indiscernible, the tenor of Murray’s voice resonated in the white-walled room.
Hendry again reached for the scissors, made a cut and put a snippet of tissue in a vial. Murray wiped the blood, and the surgery was over.
Student and doctor walked out the room and stripped away their blue surgery suits.
Hendry later explained that she was Murray’s first assistant during the roughly 45-minute procedure.
“Most of the time, the surgery residents are doing the first assistant,” Murray said.
“At Phoebe, students don’t have a barrier between the attending and the patient,” said Khan. “They get firsthand clinical experience with faculty and patients.”
Later that Thursday, Hendry was again in surgery, this time for a life port procedure. The operatic tune of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” filled the room.
During her surgical rotation, Hendry, whose day started just before 7 a.m. and ended just past 7 p.m., saw patients daily and was involved in nearly every aspect of surgical care.
“One of the (advantages) is that you see the entire spectrum,” Murray said of involving Hendry in his rounds.
“You see the patient in a pre-op assessment,” he said. “You are part of the surgical intervention and you get to see the surgical pathology in evolution, from pre-op to post-op.”
But Hendry’s Phoebe education went beyond medical procedures and into human relations.
“You see how important it is to have a good relationship (with patients),” said Hendry, who spoke positively of Murray’s bedside manner. “It is important to be compassionate and not just to know the medical knowledge.”
Murray said that too often the personal aspect of medical care, which can’t be learned in a classroom, is under emphasized.
“We are technicians,” he said, “but connecting personally with your patients ... is very important, and that’s what Christina (Hendry) sees.”
“In terms of experience and in understanding what I may be doing in the field,” Hendry said of one-on-one with physicians and of access to patients, “it gives you a way better advantage.”
SATISFIED STUDENTS
During a recent mid rotation meeting, students spoke frankly with Khan about their experiences. By far, the response was that the Albany program exceeded their expectations.
“I don’t have any suggestions,” Hendry said post-surgery. “I loved this rotation. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.”
Nadeem Fatteh was on a hospitalist rotation with Dr. Alan Brown. With Brown, Fatteh said, “If you are motivated, you can see as many patients as you want.”
In Augusta, said Brian Dalton, “You have a student, an intern, a resident, third- and fourth-year students. You are just kind of there; you are more of a nuisance.”
“I just wish they had more spots (in Albany),” he added.
Like Hendry, Albany wasn’t Justin Dunn’s first choice, but it was his first “away” option.
“The only reason I didn’t put it (Albany) first is because I am married,” he said.
The students mostly praised the program, but did offer some constructive criticism.
“It’s hard to get used to different doctors’ styles and switch every three days,” offered Dalton. “I would prefer two doctors for more days.”
Said Rachel Biemiller, who was on a pediatrics rotation, “I get a lot of newborn exposure, which is great. ... I would like to have more inpatient exposure. I’ve only had two (pediatric) inpatients here, other than the newborns.”
As in other industries, word-of-mouth advertising in health care is priceless.
“I’ve actually told them them (other students), ‘Stay away from MCG (the Augusta campus),’ ” said Jona Bandyopadhyay.
Some students have applied for second and third rotations at Phoebe.
“If there were other residencies here, I would think about it,” said Steven Spitz of postgraduate training. “The inpatients I saw were 10 times as complex as at MCG.”
The Albany community also has an effect on students.
“People smile in the morning,” said Justin Dunn.
“In Albany in general ... everyone is ridiculously nice,” said Biemiller.
Students also are quick to warn against too much growth.
“You don’t want to have too much competition,” advised Dunn.
An abundance of students also could pose a hardship on Phoebe doctors, all of whom volunteer for the MCG program. Training the students doesn’t simply involve bringing them around to see patients, but rather being a mentor to them during rotations.
“I was a medical student, and people took the time to teach me,” said Brown, the hospitalist, who completed a pediatrics rotation at Phoebe.
As a medical student, Murray was aided by experiences away from the competitive college setting.
“It was the best three months of my entire six years of training,” said Murray.
Like Brown, Murray said he’s giving back — and getting something in return.
“I’m exciting to be affiliated with an academic center,” said Murray, who has taken on four students on rotation. “It’s beneficial to have Christina and her colleagues because it keeps me fresh, it keeps me on my toes.”