For the first time, the cohort will cross the stage at the start to earn a Master of Science in Medical Physiology from the Georgia Medical School at the University of Augusta.
Kalid Hamki, Kaitlyn Baldwin, Jourdan Banks, Alexis Jones and Zyare Orr are now gearing up for the next step in their professional journey.
Small classes were an attraction for students looking to work in a lab after graduation or even prepare for medical school.
“It was a small class, so communication with the professor was good, and it basically mirrored and prepared me for that coursework,” says Baldwin. says. “So we used cadavers to create an anatomy lab, and then we did all the clinical applications with cardiac ultrasounds and so on.”
“What attracted me most to the program was the opportunity to further my knowledge before entering medical school,” added Banks. “Through this program, I learned many aspects of medicine that I never knew before.”
Although this cohort has different professors for each module, it is an accelerated program in that students can complete all coursework in two semesters.
Students quickly realized that it was a lot of work.
“I was a little naive about the difficulty, but it definitely turned out to be difficult,” said Jones. “In the end, it’s useful because you can say, ‘I did all this.’ It was worth it.”
“In this program, all materials are related to kinetics, so they are all related to physiology,” Orr said. “When I spoke with some of the first-year medical students, the only thing they struggled with was the amount of material they had to memorize. It’s beneficial.”
Orr was approachable and receptive to helping students, despite the increased workload and teaching styles that differed from the various physiology faculty.
“The way we set up our program, the second half of the program, we do the research component. Six months seems like a long time, but it’s not our project. Upon entering it really shows how much patience they have for us. They are very supportive and understand what we are going through,” said Orr said.
Each student has a different path after graduation. Baldwin and Jones are staying at AU, preparing for his MCAT in the research lab. Banks is taking a gap year to gain more clinical experience before applying to medical school, while Ol plans to enroll in medical school soon and attend medical school.
Despite the intensity of the coursework, the one-year graduate program appealed to students.
“I chose this program because it was one of the only one-year master’s programs in Georgia associated with the medical field and also the only program associated with any public medical school in Georgia. ‘ said Baldwin.