School of Medicine Begins Preparations for New Four-Year
Program in Savannah

In June of 2007, Mercer and Memorial Health announced plans for the University to expand its existing two-year clinical program at Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah into a full four-year doctor of medicine program of the Mercer School of Medicine. The initiative has created a whirlwind of activity at the school as it prepares to admit the first class of students into the Savannah program in fall 2008.

The Mercer School of Medicine at Memorial Health in Savannah will begin by admitting 30 students per year and will grow to 60 students as facilities become available. With the initial class of medical students expected in just 12 months, the medical school plans to have the faculty on board in January. A new academic building for the medical school will be constructed on the Memorial Health University Medical Center campus in Savannah over the next several years through major fundraising initiatives.

With the development of the expanded program in Savannah and the new academic year, Dean Martin Dalton has reorganized the dean’s office and the administrative structure of the school.

• Robert Hash, M.D., will assume full-time responsibility for developing the Savannah campus as the senior associate dean of the Savannah campus.
• William Bina, M.D., M.P.H., has been appointed as the executive associate dean. His areas of responsibility will include Mercer Health Systems and daily operations of the school. He will retain his appointment and responsibilities as chair of Community Medicine.
• Robert Donner, M.D., has assumed the position of associate dean of academic affairs of the Macon campus, with responsibility for the academic programs. Dr. Donner will retain his appointment and responsibilities as the chair of the Pathology Department.
• Wayne Glasgow, Ph.D., assumed the position of chair of the new Department of Biomedical Sciences in Savannah. He will retain his position as interim chair of the Division of Basic Medical Sciences in Macon, while the school initiates a nation-wide search for a new chair.
• Tina Thompson, Ph.D., has assumed the role of associate dean of Academic Affairs of the Savannah campus.  Dr. Thompson will also retain her responsibilities as BMP director this academic year. 

Mercer’s medical involvement in Savannah began in 1996 when the University established a clinical relationship with Memorial Health, which provided instruction for third- and fourth-year medical students at the Mercer School of Medicine. The expanded four-year program in Savannah will confer the M.D. degree and will employ the same curriculum and teaching methods as the Macon campus. 

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