Dr. Gary Dent Named Chair of Department of Community Medicine

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Dr. Gary Dent

MACON — Mercer University School of Medicine (MUSM) Dean Dr. Jean R. Sumner recently announced the appointment of Dr. Gary Dent as chair of the Department of Community Medicine.

“Dr. Dent will represent MUSM well with his extensive knowledge of population and rural health. He is committed to the use of quality data to solve healthcare challenges. We are honored to have him accept this role and know that he will lead his department to new heights,” said Dr. Sumner.

Dr. Dent obtained his B.S. in chemistry from the University of Georgia and his M.D. from Mercer University School of Medicine. After three years of postgraduate surgical training, he returned to Georgia to complete his radiology residency at Memorial University Medical System in Savannah.

Upon completing his board certification in 2009, Dr. Dent began as a solo practitioner in Baxley. True to the mission of MUSM, he led South Georgia Radiology Associates to become a preferred group in rural hospital radiology coverage. With nearly 35 radiologists, the practice currently provides services to more than 25 communities and hospitals throughout rural Georgia.

Through his private practice, Dr. Dent has served as a physician leader in the areas of population health and healthcare reform transitions. He joined MUSM last year as assistant dean of strategy and innovation.

About Mercer University School of Medicine (Macon, Savannah and Columbus)

Mercer University’s School of Medicine was established in 1982 to educate physicians and health professionals to meet the primary care and healthcare needs of rural and medically underserved areas of Georgia. Today, more than 60 percent of graduates currently practice in the state of Georgia, and of those, more than 80 percent are practicing in rural or medically underserved areas of Georgia. Mercer medical students benefit from a problem-based medical education program that provides early patient care experiences. Such an academic environment fosters the early development of clinical problem-solving and instills in each student an awareness of the place of the basic medical sciences in medical practice. The School opened a full four-year campus in Savannah in 2008 at Memorial University Medical Center. In 2012, the School began offering clinical education for third- and fourth-year medical students in Columbus. Following their second year, students participate in core clinical clerkships at the School’s primary teaching hospitals: Medical Center, Navicent Health in Macon; Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah; and The Medical Center and St. Francis Hospital in Columbus. The School also offers master’s degrees in family therapy, preclinical sciences and biomedical sciences.