D.W. McMillan Memorial Hospital and the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine (ACOM) are pleased to announce three ACOM students began their core clerkship (rotation) training with physician preceptors in medical facilities throughout Covington, Escambia and Monroe counties.

This is the second class of its kind to make its way into hospital halls as medical students Yoon Ji, Travis Bowen and Brittany Richardson begin their clerkships training alongside area physicians.

On Friday, the three were honored with a reception at DWM.

“We are truly excited to send our Class of 2018 out into their clerkships for the communities they are going to and for these areas to see the preparation and professionalism our students will demonstrate,” said Craig J. Lenz, DO, Dean of ACOM. “This represents a tremendous milestone for our institution, our students and our network of clinical faculty.”

ACOM students spend the first two years of medical school on the college’s campus in Dothan gaining a foundation of medical knowledge and skills before moving to a core clerkship site for third and fourth year. During the third year, students will train in six core disciplines – internal medicine, family medicine, OBGYN, general surgery, pediatrics and behavioral medicine – followed by an emergency medicine clerkship during the fourth year. In addition, students will participate in multiple elective and selective training opportunities, further preparing them for the residency process.

Ji, a Lawrenceville, Ga., native, and Richardson, a Muscle Shoals native, will begin their rotations at Andalusia Regional Hospital, while Bowen, a Mobile native, will begin at DWM.

“I’m very excited to have this opportunity,” Bowen said. “I’m more surgically inclined, but we’ll have to see after training in the core disciplines. I might find something I like better.”

Chris Griffin, D.W. McMillan Memorial Hospital CEO/Administrator, said the hospital looks forward to meeting our 2018 clerkship students and everyone is very thankful to be part of an outstanding medical program.

“The primary purpose is to support the further medical training of the students; however, it also offers us the opportunity to begin the recruiting process of future physicians to our local community,” he said.

ACOM has a network of nearly 900 credentialed physician preceptors throughout the state of Alabama and region. In addition to the Brewton area, ACOM has 17 other core sites for student medical training throughout Alabama and the Florida panhandle in the following locations: Anniston, Birmingham, Centreville, Decatur, Dothan, Florence, Gadsden, Guntersville, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery, Panama

City, Pensacola, Sheffield, Sylacauga, Tallahassee and Troy.

“I could not be happier about the partnership between our local physicians and Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine,” said Dr. Jimmy Adkisson, Core Site Director for the Brewton area. “With the ever increasing need for primary care in Alabama it is great to know that Brewton and surrounding areas will play a part in training future physicians that hopefully one day will want to come ‘back to their training’ and begin their professional careers.”

Since its inception, ACOM has been working to set the stage for successful clerkship activities. This includes gathering feedback from physician preceptors about best practices, installing video conferencing units at each core site, providing onsite training for physician preceptors and training coordinators to effectively manage student experiences.