Students paired with programs

Dustin Calhoun is the kind of medical student state leaders both worry about and want.

• Photos

Jackie Ricciardi/Staff

Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine senior Jonathan Opraseuth (left) congratulates classmate Paul Lane after finding out where they will do their residencies. Mr. Opraseuth will be training at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston and Mr. Lane will be doing orthopedic surgery at MCG.

Like most of his classmates at Medical College of Georgia's School of Medicine, Mr. Calhoun is leaving the state to do his residency training in emergency medicine, which one Augusta lawmaker said should cast doubts on plans to expand medical education in the state. But Mr. Calhoun plans to return to practice in north Georgia, an outcome state leaders say they are trying to encourage.

Mr. Calhoun, 29, found out Thursday during Match Day that he will do his training at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C.

Match Day is when the more 15,000 medical school seniors in the U.S. find out simultaneously where they will spend the next several years furthering their medical training. It is called a match because the students rank their preference of residency programs and a computer at the National Resident Matching Program matches that list up against the preferred list of students from the programs.

This year, 94 percent -- the highest level in 30 years -- got the residency they chose, said Mona Signer, the executive director of the program. All of MCG's 169 seniors participating in the match got into a program, said Sylvia Smith, the associate dean for student affairs.

"Fabulous year," Dr. Smith raved. "I'm so excited."

Perhaps because of that success, the normally celebratory ceremony at MCG seemed even more raucous than in previous years, with bone-crushing bear hugs of congratulations, exuberant high-fives, and good-natured tackling from many of the jubilant students.

None did more rough-housing than Jonathan Opraseuth, 28, who will be training in radiology at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston, where he really wanted to go.

But, the Atlanta native promised, "I'll be back."

Many MCG students also chose an area outside of Georgia for professional and personal reasons. Elizabeth Mobley, 25, grew up in Savannah, Ga., but is dreaming of skiing in Utah when she is not working as a urology resident.

"Definitely, I want to come back to Georgia to practice," she said, while already sporting a Utah T-shirt. "All of my family is here."

Only 29 percent of MCG's graduates this year will stay in-state for their residencies, a percentage that has held true since at least 2002, according to school statistics. Nationally, about 45 percent of residents stay in that same state to practice, said Edward Salsberg, the director of the Center for Workforce Studies at the Association of American Medical Colleges.

"Residency tends to be a little more important" than medical school as a factor in staying, he said.

The high percentage of MCG students leaving the state concerns Georgia Sen. Ed. Tarver, D-Augusta, particularly in light of MCG's ambitious plans for medical school expansion.

"They're asking the Georgia taxpayers to make a substantial investment in the (expansion) plan that may not provide the results that have been suggested," he said.

If a student does both medical school and residency in the same state, however, the retention rate climbs to 67 percent, Mr. Salsberg said. Georgia ranks 37th in the number of residencies per capita, he said.

"Clearly it's not one of the resident-rich states and adding residency programs is a good way of keeping your own and bringing new people in," he said.

The Augusta Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers will be adding 6 residencies in rehabilitation medicine soon, and the Athens and Gainesville areas are researching it, MCG School of Medicine Dean D. Douglas Miller said. University Hospital is also looking at adding a number of residencies. Those new slots are crucial to turning more students into more Georgia doctors, said Ben Robinson, the executive director of the Georgia Board for Physician Workforce.

"Without new residencies, you can expand medical schools but you're going to limit your expansion overall of your work force until you expand your residencies to a sufficient level," he said.

About 51 percent of MCG graduates are practicing in the state, well above the 40 percent national average for retention, suggesting many of those who leave for residency come back.

For Mr. Calhoun, leaving was a matter of escaping the familiar.

"My wife and I ultimately just decided that we wanted to be somewhere other than Augusta," he said. "We just wanted to try something different, something new."

But he plans to return to the Dalton, Ga., area to practice in emergency rooms in that area and perhaps work with an ambulance services.

"I have family here. I've always been here. I like the area," Mr. Calhoun said. "So regardless of what I find, wherever I go, I'll always have that to draw me back to Georgia."

Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.