VCOM 2020 Annual Report

THE FUTURE OF PRIMARY CARE

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT AND PROVOST The Future of Primary Care in the Southeast DIXIE TOOKE-RAWLINS, DO, FACOFP

T his academic year has resulted in extraordinary successes as well as enormous challenges. The College completed the construction of a new campus in Louisiana with its first class of students starting in the fall of 2020. We are graduating more primary care physicians across the three existing campuses, and the College is becoming one of the most critical resources for

and ultimately their degrees without delaying their education. We are fortunate that our faculty and staff have always provided curricular resources online. To address this crisis, they developed an excellent plan and implemented the required curriculum to complete the 2019-2020 academic year and begin the 2020-2021 academic year. The College plans to return the third and fourth- year medical students to clinical training with scheduling

providing primary care physicians in the southeastern United States. We made great strides in medical research across our campuses and with our collaborative partners, which benefits people in this country and around the world. The current challenge facing us is the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic that has reached

and guidelines that include considerations for the safety and education of our students and the patients they care for. Medical education will be forever changed, but hopefully, for the better. Our national accrediting organizations are setting new guidelines, and the many faculty from our four

We have and will continue to make a significant difference in the future of primary care.

around the entire globe, which has changed medical education at VCOM and across the country. The College rapidly responded to guidelines made by the CDC, Department of Education, as well as state and local authorities, to safely protect our students and employees. The College closed its campus buildings, removed students from clinical rotations and implemented student online learning and testing. Additionally, students were brought home from international locations. VCOM already had the technology and programs implemented to supply our students with the online curriculum and educational resources they needed to complete their classwork, exams, board tests

campuses will collaborate to develop and deliver medical education in this new era that will follow.

This crisis has reinforced the need for more physicians and the availability of quality healthcare, whether one lives in a large city or the rural and often medically underserved areas of the country. The brave and dedicated Class of 2020 will be our first graduates to begin residencies in the midst of a global pandemic. As healthcare professionals and educators, VCOM focuses on contributing to the health of the people in this nation. We have and will continue to make a significant difference in the future of primary care. ■

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