VALDOSTA — Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine South Georgia has partnered with Valdosta State University to provide students the opportunity to complete medical school a year early through a new articulation agreement.

Articulation agreements provide opportunities for qualified students to begin their professional education at an accelerated rate, university officials said in a statement. Qualified students can attend VSU through their junior year, then transfer to the doctor of osteopathic medicine program at PCOM South Georgia and take medical school courses a year early. 

For each academic program and successful completion of four years of medical education at PCOM South Georgia, students receive their undergraduate degree from VSU as well as their DO degree, university officials said.

The agreement also provides the opportunity for three students with a four-year degree in basic sciences to receive special consideration for the DO program after graduating from VSU.

H. William Craver III, DO ’87, FACOS, dean and chief academic officer of PCOM South Georgia, said, “We are proud to have accepted and educated VSU graduates since opening our doors in 2019. This agreement creates the opportunity to increase the number of those students at PCOM South Georgia in the near future. It is through institutional agreements such as this that our common goal can be reached — to keep South Georgia students in the region to fill the need for rural healthcare professionals.”

Pierre-Richard Cornely, Ph.D., dean of the College of Science and Mathematics at VSU, echoed Craver’s excitement. 

“Preparing and training physicians to address growing needs in rural areas is a shared goal between our two universities,” he said. “We are happy to develop this partnership for the good of our community, for our region and to benefit our students’ success in their professional achievements, becoming physicians and caring for people in our community. We look forward to this program beginning in fall 2022.”