"Emory sits blocks from the CDC, one of the world's most important public health institutions. We train physicians who understand that medicine happens at both the bedside and the policy table — simultaneously."
"Atlanta's Grady Hospital is one of the largest and busiest public hospitals in the Southeast. It serves a predominantly Black patient population in a state that has not expanded Medicaid. This clinical reality shapes every Emory student's training."
"Grady Memorial Hospital, Emory's primary teaching hospital, is financially strained because Georgia has not expanded Medicaid, leaving a high proportion of its patients uninsured. The state legislature is considering a work-requirement Medicaid proposal rather than full expansion. As a future physician, what is your position?"
Practice this scenario with AI →the "Pathways to Coverage" work requirement waiver is a distinctive and controversial policy, not full expansion.
Atlanta is not a peripheral example but a national epicenter.
"In 14 years of examining I have never failed a candidate for giving the 'wrong' answer. I have failed candidates for how they treated the person in the room with them."
Know the difference between full Medicaid expansion (what most states did under the ACA) and Georgia's "Pathways to Coverage" waiver, which has work requirements and covers far fewer people.
Know why Grady Hospital is financially strained: it serves a high proportion of uninsured patients in a non-expansion state, and Medicaid reimbursement rates are insufficient to cover its costs.
Practice a reasoned position on Medicaid work requirements — know the evidence on whether they increase coverage or reduce it, and what ethical principles are at stake.
Know that the CDC is Emory's neighbor — literally a short walk from campus. This proximity shapes the public health culture at Emory in profound ways.
Know about the CDC Foundation and CDC's role in global health surveillance, outbreak response, and health equity initiatives.
Read about Emory's role in treating Ebola patients in 2014 — the ethical, practical, and public communication challenges of that decision are directly relevant to MMI scenarios.
Atlanta has a higher HIV diagnosis rate than many sub-Saharan African cities. The epidemic is driven by structural barriers to PrEP, poverty, incarceration, and racial healthcare disparities.
Know the difference between PrEP availability and PrEP uptake — making it technically available is not the same as making it accessible to the people who need it most.
Practice discussing the HIV epidemic in the South without reinforcing stigma — frame it as a structural and systems failure, not a behavioral one.
My station was literally about Georgia's Medicaid work requirement. I had to know what the policy actually says, the evidence on what it does to coverage rates, and my own position as a future physician. If you haven't read about the Pathways to Coverage waiver, read it now.
Emory has a very public health-focused culture — the CDC is right there. My stations felt as much like public health policy as clinical ethics. The pandemic preparedness station asked me to reason through vaccine distribution equity in a resource-limited scenario.
Know Grady Hospital. Not just that it exists — but that it's one of the few safety-net hospitals for 1.5 million metro Atlanta residents and that its survival depends on policy decisions made by legislators who don't use it.