Introduction

As of July 1, 2006, the University of Georgia Premedical Studies Office moved to Memorial Hall under the supervision of the Vice President for Instruction and now serves all University of Georgia students who seek to become physicians, dentists, optometrists, and podiatrists.

The Premedical Studies Office was a unit of the Franklin College of Arts & Sciences in the Dean's Office until 1 March 2006.  From 1974 until his retirement in 1997, the office was headed by Norman Sansing, Ph.D., who also served as faculty in the Department of Biochemistry and became an Associate Dean.  Dr. Sansing's refined successful system of providing information to students regarding the UGA curriculum, medical schools, and exposure to medical practitioners, as well as providing faculty evaluations to medical schools across the U.S. for UGA applicants, is well recognized by faculty and administration of many medical, dental, optometry and podiatry schools.  Dr. Sansing was also acknowledged by “premed” advisors at other colleges and universities, as they elected him to terms as President of the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions and of Alpha Epsilon Delta, the National Premedical Honor Society.  He has interacted frequently with officials of the American Association of Medical Colleges.  In 1968, he taught biochemistry to his future successor as “premed” advisor.

In 1997, R. Alan Langford, M.D., F.A.A.D., became Coordinator of the Premedical Studies Program for the Franklin College.  He is a graduate of the University of Georgia, the Medical College of Georgia, trained in an internship in internal medicine at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, served as a military flight surgeon in primary patient care in the U.S. Army and completed a residency in dermatology.  He served on the faculties of two medical schools, and as a Consultant in Dermatology at the Carl Vincent V.A. Medical Center in Dublin, Georgia, where he had a solo practice in surgical and medical dermatology for 17 years and served a term as the Chief of the Medical Hospital Staff locally.  Dr. Langford now teaches UGA courses in microbiology and pharmacy.  He has a post-graduate Diploma in Infectious Diseases from the University of London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. As did Dr. Sansing previously, Dr. Langford serves as Faculty Advisor for the Georgia Alpha Chapter of Alpha Epsilon Delta Premedical Honor Society, which meets frequently on campus and welcomes any student to participate in its meetings.  He now is Director of the UGA Premedical Studies Program in the UGA Office of the Vice President for Instruction.

Dr. Langford hopes to continue the successful tradition and program generated by Dr. Sansing and his associate, Mrs. Debbie Goswick, who has served as "premed" secretary since 1993, and is very familiar with the administrative and professional interactions between Dr. Langford, Dr. Sansing, UGA students, faculty, and professional school admissions committees.  The personnel in this office compile and mail faculty evaluations of students with a ‘premed advisor cover letter’ for medical, dental, optometry, and podiatry schools. 

Dr. Langford and Mrs. Goswick plan to continue the close coordination between the "Premed Office" with UGA staff and faculty advisors who clear students for UGA course registration.  In 2006, Carol Roberts, M.S., Senior Academic Advisor in the UGA Franklin College of Arts & Sciences transferred to the UGA Premed Office to counsel and evaluate students applying to dental and optometry schools.  This greatly facilitated the ‘enlargement’ of the office to ‘campus-wide’ functions.
It is ordinarily during the mid-portion of the sophomore year that "premed" students began their first formal appointment for discussions and interviews with Dr. Langford.  Entering UGA students with an interest in the medical professions noted in the UGA Premedical Studies Office should attend a UGA Premedical Studies “Group Orientation/Enrollment Session” held intermittently during fall and spring semesters (one session is held during the summer semester).  Also material online at http://premed.uga.edu should be studied.  In addition information is available from the Biology Advising Office (Room 411, Biosciences Building, http://www.biosci.uga.edu).  UGA premedical students should enroll themselves on the UGA premedical student Listserv to which much timely information is frequently distributed.

(Please send all questions and comments to resa@uga.edu, Memorial Hall, Athens, GA 30602)