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10 ARCHBOLD
MEDICAL CENTER
areas in South Georgia are terribly underserved in
terms of the kinds of doctors they need. So it just
made sense for us to think about Thomasville.
Archbold has been a wonderful partner.”
The feeling is mutual, says Rudy Hehn, MD, the
Archbold physician who’s largely credited with
the program’s success—and who acknowledges
that this partnership has largely “flown under the
radar” until now.
“The doctors like the students,” says Dr. Hehn,
who’s lived in Thomasville for 30 years. “And they
feel like medical education strengthens their
own commitment to keeping current.”
“It’s valued by our medical staff,” adds Mel
Hartsfield, MD, Archbold’s chief medical officer.
“Many of them are FSU grads and like being part
of their university.”
The students, meanwhile, feel as if Archbold
becomes their personal hospital. Alumna Randa
Perkins, MD, who now works at Tallahassee
Memorial, says, “If you’re a student and know
you’re committed to primary care and want to
experience everything, come to Thomasville.”
The partnership
As director of community clinical relations,
Mollie Hill has helped establish FSU’s six re-
gional campuses and two clinical training sites
across Florida—Thomasville is an offshoot of the
Tallahassee campus. Sometimes that process has
involved heavy lifting. Not in Thomasville.
“Early on, the Thomasville medical commu-
nity and Archbold hospital really wanted to
be involved,” Hill recalls. But the FSU team was
hip-deep in the logistical challenges of creating
a unique, multicampus medical school that uses
community physicians as its faculty. “Initially we
literally didn’t have time to add Thomasville, but
they never lost their enthusiasm.”
Finally, in 2004, FSU and Archbold were able to
sign an affiliation agreement.
“But it never would have worked without the
private donations, the contributions by the hos-
pital and finding the right person to coordinate
it,” Hill says.
The investment
In 2005, the Williams Family Foundation of
Georgia created the Thomasville Endowment
for the Advancement of Medical Education and
A Seminole
connection
“Thomasville has
done a magical
job of welcoming
and making
a significant
investment in
our students for
eight years now.”
—John P. Fogarty
DEAN, FSU COLLEGE
OF MEDICINE
WHILE DOZENS
of Florida State University
(FSU) medical students have quietly developed
their clinical skills just across the Georgia border
for nearly a decade, FSU College of Medicine
Dean John P. Fogarty, MD, says it’s time to loudly
proclaim Thomasville as one of the best-kept
secrets of the medical school’s success.
A few FSU alumni have settled in South
Georgia to practice, returning the favor to a com-
munity that needs them. Some of those alumni,
in turn, have joined the FSU clerkship faculty
to teach our students in clinical settings in and
around Thomasville.
“Thomasville has done a magical job of wel-
coming and making a significant investment in
our students for eight years now,” Dr. Fogarty
says. “And it’s a perfect fit with our mission. Many