Tanner Peebles, an alumnus of East Georgia State College (EGSC), has been accepted into the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine on the Moultrie Campus. Peebles plans to become a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine.
Peebles graduated from EGSC with a Bachelor of Science in Biology degree in the Spring of 2020. He was a Correll Scholar at EGSC for four years.
“We are very proud of Tanner. He is a bright and very dedicated student. Tanner will be an outstanding medical doctor,” said Dr. David Chevalier, interim Dean for the School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. “Tanner is the poster child for the goal of the Correll Scholar Program. The goal of this scholarship is to prepare exceptionally promising students to become future community leaders in our region.”
As part of the Bachelor of Sciences in Biology, Peebles performed two internships: the first at Emanuel Medical Center located in Swainsboro, Ga, and the second at Washington County Regional Medical Center in Sandersville, Ga. In addition, Peebles was a member of the STEM Mega student club, TriBeta Biology Honor Society, Phi Theta Kappa, Ambassadors Program, and was a member of the Student Government Association.
“Tanner was an excellent, highly engaged student who showed a great interest in medicine and its relationship to the classes he took,” said Dr. Paul Cerpovicz. “As a member of the EGSC Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) Club, Tanner was involved with many community outreach events to help people of all ages better enjoy science, as well as understand and appreciate how important it is to our lives. He made my classes with him fun and enjoyable, and I wish him all the luck with his medical career.”
The Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, a four-year medical school osteopathic program, was founded in 2019 to help grow the number of rural physicians in Georgia. Osteopathic medicine takes a holistic (full body) approach to treating illnesses and implementing lifestyle changes alongside prescribing medications.
In addition to prescribing medications, Osteopathic Physicians utilize Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) to help the body work together cohesively. OMM is taught as 300-400 additional hours of neuromusculoskeletal training and learning hands-on techniques to manipulate bones and muscles to help relieve pain.
A Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine is a complete physician who is licensed to prescribe medication and perform surgery in all 50 states. The whole-body approach to patients leads a majority of these doctors to practice family-oriented primary care.
Peebles plans to move to Moultrie to begin school in August. He will complete two years of course work followed by two more years of course work combined with clinical rotations. Peebles will be part of the class of 2025.
Following the completion of medical school, Peebles would like to attend a family or internal medicine residency (3-4 years). He would then like to return to a rural area to help offset the deficit in healthcare in our area.
“I am beyond excited to continue my journey towards practicing medicine at PCOM-Moultrie. Much like East Georgia, PCOM-Moultrie is a rural college dedicated to educating students to help them one day use that education to improve their community,” said Peebles. “I feel as though obtaining a D.O. degree at PCOM will help me treat patients in rural areas who would otherwise struggle to obtain access to quality healthcare. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to begin a lifetime of service and obtaining knowledge and I feel blessed to have continued support from my undergraduate college and community.”
