PCOM South Georgia is continuing to expand community partnerships and strengthen rural health training for medical students and trainees. The initiatives include a leadership role in Resilient Communities of Southwest Georgia and a $35,000 grant from the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) to develop a Rural Health Track Certificate for Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine students.

PCOM South Georgia serves as a co-lead alongside the Resilient Communities of Southwest Georgia to expand training, professional development, and programming to reduce adverse childhood experiences and strengthen community resilience.

Through a collaboration with The Vashti Center for Children & Families and The Pittulloch Foundation, PCOM South Georgia and the nine-county Resilient Communities of Southwest Georgia Coalition will be deepening their reach into Colquitt County, PCOM South Georgia’s home.

For PCOM South Georgia students, the partnership provides experiential learning opportunities in behavioral health and community engagement, exposing future physicians to various populations and care settings.

“This initiative signifies what we’re here to do in South Georgia, which is to create environments for our students to serve different populations,” said Jennifer Jenkins, EdD, director of the Office of Campus and Community Partnerships at PCOM South Georgia. “Through this programming, when our students go to rotation sites or residencies, they will be more familiar and comfortable interacting with different groups.”

The initiative also supports PCOM South Georgia programming such as Athletes in Medicine—which teaches young football players how to care for their bodies, understand nutrition, and imagine a future in medicine—and Opportunities Academy, which introduces high school students to healthcare professions.

PCOM South Georgia also received a $35,000 AACOM Innovation in Graduate Medical Education Development Grant to introduce a Rural Health Track Certificate that aims to address regional workforce shortages. The program integrates didactic instruction, simulation-based learning, and community-based clinical experiences across rural health centers, agricultural settings, and partner organizations, including Resilient Communities of Southwest Georgia.

The curriculum is organized around four core pillars: rural mental health; agricultural and environmental health; health policy and advocacy; and community resilience. Through these components, students connect clinical practice with the social and environmental realities of rural health care delivery.

Jenkins emphasized the importance of early exposure in shaping long-term career pathways in rural medicine.

“For our students who want to stay in Georgia and pursue rural health in residency and as attending physicians, taking the time in the first years of medical school to foster that interest is very important,” Jenkins said, “because we are excited about students practicing rural medicine in our communities.”