Dr. Michelle (Shelley) Nuss currently serves as the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership’s campus dean, associate dean for Graduate Medical Education (GME), and designated institutional official. She is a professor of internal medicine and psychiatry at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) and holds an adjunct clinical professor appointment in the Department of Psychology at the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Georgia. In her current role, Nuss is responsible for the oversight and leadership of the Medical Partnership, a 4-year regional medical school campus with a current enrollment of 240 students.
Nuss attended undergraduate school at Purdue University receiving a BS in Pharmacy and practiced pharmacy in Cleveland, Ohio before attending medical school at West Virginia University (WVU). She completed her residency in internal medicine and psychiatry at WVU where she also served as chief resident in internal medicine and psychiatry. Nuss has taught medical students and residents for nearly 25 years and served as program director for the internal medicine and med/psych programs at WVU as well as the vice president of medical affairs at WVU Hospital prior to being recruited to Athens, Georgia.
In her role as associate dean for GME at the Medical Partnership, Nuss has led the development of new residency programs and teaching hospitals across the state of Georgia by working with the University System of Georgia Board of Regents (USGBOR) in connection with the statewide GME expansion project.
In 2013, the USGBOR formed the GME Regents Evaluation and Assessment Team (GREAT) committee. Nuss was appointed to the GREAT committee and worked closely with the chair to develop a process to build new residency slots across the state. She advocated for state funding to support GME hospital start-up funds and led the development of the grant process for the new teaching hospitals.
Nuss’s advocacy for these new programs led to multi-year funding from FY13 – FY19 ($19.6 million over seven years). Nuss was appointed chair of the GREAT committee in 2016 and has continued to oversee the project since its inception.
At the completion of the GME project, there will be nine new teaching hospitals, 31 new residency programs, and close to 800 new resident positions across the state. Nuss has given national presentations on the project at the top medical meetings across the country and currently serves as a consultant to other states implementing similar programs.
Nuss also works closely with the Georgia Board for Healthcare Workforce and currently serves as the chair of Georgia’s statewide Medical Education Advisory Committee that advises the Board on various issues regarding Georgia’s medical education system. Nuss also serves as the Area Health Education Centers co-chair of the Statewide Primary Care Taskforce to help address the growing shortages of healthcare providers in rural areas and serves as vice president for the board of directors for the Foothills AHEC.
Nuss is the recipient of numerous leadership and teaching awards. In 2019, she received the Mark Silverman Award from the Georgia Chapter of the American College of Physicians which recognizes a physician who has demonstrated excellence in teaching but has also served as an inspiration for younger physicians to advance their knowledge in medicine. For her unwavering dedication in leading the University of Georgia and the AU/UGA Medical Partnership through the COVID-19 pandemic, she was one of 200 individuals to receive the Champion of Humanistic Care during COVID-19 award, a national award from the Gold Foundation.
