Five students from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) are ready to serve their communities after participating in the highly competitive Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center (SOWEGA-AHEC) Pathways to Medicine summer internship.

Kwinci Way, Nathan Masters, Jacob Shirah, Kendall Maxwell, and Andrew Spainhauer were among the 10 students selected from the region to take part in this prestigious program.

“We have been working with SOWEGA AHEC for some time now, and our students have become sought after for this experience based on their training here and commitment to the region,” said Dr. Joseph Falcone, professor of chemistry and physics at ABAC. “Most want to serve here in the communities they grew up in once they complete medical training.”

The Sowega AHEC Pathways to Medicine summer internship, established in 1990, aims to provide valuable experiences and opportunities for aspiring medical professionals. Through clinical shadowing and participation in a research project, the students gain knowledge and skills that enhance their medical school applications. The internship not only provides students with valuable experiences but also fosters a commitment to serving the communities they grew up in.

Participation in this program also provides students with opportunities to interact with admissions boards from multiple medical schools. The students receive guidance on the application process, practice mock interviews, and gain insights into the medical profession.

"I was able to shadow 10 different primary care physicians in rural southwest Georgia for a total of 90 hours, and I worked to complete and present a research project on medication adherence in patients with hypertension and diabetes,” said Maxwell, a recent biology graduate. “I also was able to meet with some admission teams at medical schools in Georgia, do mock interviews, and do a tour of PCOM (Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine) in Moultrie.”

"The summer program with AHEC was a great experience,” said Masters, a biology major from Albany. “We learned about the application and interview processes with special tips on how to have a competitive application. But the most interesting and beneficial aspect was making connections with not only the various doctors that we shadowed but also the AHEC organization and their affiliations. This program truly engages its students and ensures their success in a medical field.”

The Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center (SOWEGA-AHEC), a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, was instrumentalthe program. SOWEGA-AHEC's mission is to create and sustain community-driven regional programs that promote healthcare access for medically underserved Georgians by improving the quality, education, supply, distribution, and retention of healthcare professionals.