Documentary on Athens medical students

On August 21, WUGA-TV will broadcast a new 30-minute documentary on medical students in Athens, produced and edited by graduate students from the Grady College:

The 30-minute documentary-"Changes and Transitions: Georgia's New Medical Partnership," compiled by a team of health and medical journalism students from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, is a peek behind the scenes into the lives of the medical students and their interactions with the Athens community.

The documentary will be rebroadcast Aug. 22 and 28 at 12:30 p.m.; Aug. 23, 26 and 31 at 7:30 a.m.; Aug. 29 at 2 p.m.; Aug. 24 and 31 at 5 p.m.; Aug. 28 at 7 p.m.; and Aug. 25 and Sept. 1 at 7:30 p.m. Additional September broadcast times will be added later.

This anthology of short films produced during the past year documents the students' lives as they struggle to maintain their own health in the high-pressure environment of medical education. Through their experiences, viewers learn about the students, the community they work in and the local doctors and patients with whom they work.

I mention this for several reasons (not the least of which is that our own Jessica Luton is a producer on the documentary), but the fact the university has a public television station is a real asset and one we have only begun to utilize. There is all manner of ways we can exploit even an old medium to promote, teach, learn and share many of the tremendous activities on campus. So, watch this show (and others), help support the TV station and let's think of more creative ways like this that it can be used to further the UGA mission.

Image: Medical Partnership students (from left) Kayla Koch and Travis Palmer watch as fellow student Lisa Lima uses her stethoscope to listen to the chest of newborn Bronx Barnett on March 1, 2012, courtesy of UGA photo services.