Mercer University School of Medicine (MUSM) recently announced its latest class of Primary Care Accelerated Track (ACT) Scholars.

Mercer’s Primary Care ACT Program was one of the first two programs of its kind to be created in the United States. It is designed to address Georgia’s critical shortage of primary care physicians by allowing students interested in a career in family medicine, general internal medicine or pediatrics to complete their medical school coursework in an accelerated three-year program with less debt.

Scholarships are awarded to highly qualified medical students upon their first year of medical school and cover tuition for the second and third years. These students must be in good academic standing and have a strong commitment to practice primary care in a medically underserved rural area. Scholars are also accepted into a residency program at one of MUSM’s partner hospitals.

Upon completion of residency, Scholars are required to participate in three years of continuous, full-time, primary care medical practice in a medically underserved rural area of Georgia. The practice must also accept Medicaid patients.

“ACT students complete the same curriculum as four-year students, excel in their studies and become outstanding physicians. They represent the best and brightest and are committed to communities with the greatest need in rural, underserved Georgia,” said Jean Sumner, M.D., FACP, dean of the School of Medicine. “The School of Medicine is committed to its mission, and the accelerated track is the epitome of the mission. It allows native Georgians to complete their medical education at Mercer, enter a Georgia primary care residency and remain in our state to serve those most in need.”

This year’s class of Primary Care ACT Scholars includes:

Macon Campus

• Abigail Mastin, from Forsyth, specializing in family medicine

• Cameron Paschal, from Social Circle, specializing in family medicine

• Pratik Patel, from Bainbridge, specializing in family medicine

• Nicole Bello, from McDonough, specializing in internal medicine

• Franklin Harvey, from Jeffersonville, specializing in internal medicine

• Carter Waits, from Jackson, specializing in internal medicine

Savannah Campus

• Courtney Dubose, from Lawrenceville, specializing in family medicine

• Sara O’Neal, from Thomasville, specializing in family medicine

• Phoebe Guidry, from Perry, specializing in pediatrics

• Konner Murray, from Gray, specializing in pediatrics

Columbus Campus

• Melinda Busman, from Americus, specializing in family medicine

The Primary Care ACT Program builds upon the strengths of MUSM’s problem-based curriculum with clinical experiences and community medicine activities built into the preclinical years and reinforced through continued longitudinal clinical experiences at the ACT site, clerkships, sub-internships and elective experiences. The innovative curriculum compresses the educational objectives of the four-year M.D. program into three years and culminates in a medical degree that prepares students for early entry into a traditional primary care residency.