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Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice,
Department Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology
at Meharry Medical College |
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Meharry sought approval of the program to help increase the number
of the nation's obstetricians and gynecologists who receive training
in an environment that better prepares them to care for minority women.
A recent Kaiser Family Foundation study shows that women are at greater
risk of losing medical services when economic times are tough, and
minority women and those from disadvantaged backgrounds are hardest
hit in accessing care. Meharry's program will help address this need.
"Meharry has always had a special role in educating and
training outstanding minority professionals who are most likely to
serve patients from disadvantaged backgrounds," said Dr. Maupin,
who joined Meharry as president in 1994. "The obstetrics and
gynecology residency program greatly adds to our capacity to meeting
the need for diversity in the medical workforce and educating and
training providers who then go on to serve the medically underserved."
"Meharry has probably produced more African-American obstetricians/gynecologists
than any one institution in the entire country," Dr. Montgomery
Rice added. "Approval of the residency program allows us to build
upon that legacy."
To achieve approval, the Meharry program underwent rigorous review
by the ACGME over the past six months. Requirements for accreditation
included the creation of a structured educational experience for resident
physicians, planned in continuity with their medical school and graduate
medical education. The program also must provide an opportunity for
resident physicians to achieve knowledge and skills essential to the
practice of obstetrics and gynecology. The program also must be geared
toward the development of progressive competence in the provision
of care.
To achieve this, obstetrics and gynecology resident physicians will
receive training under the direct supervision of Meharry faculty physicians
at the institution's primary teaching hospital, Nashville General
Hospital at Meharry, and at other facilities with whom Meharry has
teaching affiliations: Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro,
Tenn.; Blanchfield Army Community Hospital at Fort Campbell, Ky.;
and Centennial Medical Center Women's Hospital in Nashville.
Also established is a program dedicated to providing support to the
new obstetrics and gynecology residency program. The Dr. Henry W.
Foster Obstetrics and Gynecology Educational Initiative is an endowed
fund that allows alumni and other supporters to make tax-deductible
donations toward Meharry's residency program. Dr. Foster is the former
chair of Meharry's obstetrics and gynecology department, served as
interim president at Meharry, and later was President Bill Clinton's
nominee for Surgeon General. For details about the initiative, contact
the Division of Advancement and College Relations at 1-800-MEHARRY
or (615) 327-6724.
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