Georgia Fights Rural Doctor Shortage By Targeting Medical Students

Georgia is looking to medical students to help combat a critical doctor shortage in rural Georgia, where six counties have no physician at all, pediatricians are missing in 63 counties, and 79 counties do not have an OB-GYN, according to a state commission report released this week.

Gerald Herbert / Associated Press file

Brittany Chandler had a busy night shift. The first-year resident in the pediatric unit at Navicent Health medical center in Macon saw seven new admissions.

“Everything from seizures to a baby that stopped breathing, it was a busy night,” she said.

The baby started breathing again after about a minute, and now doctors have to figure out what was wrong, she said.