On May 16, PCOM South Georgia will graduate its second class of students with the doctor of osteopathic medicine degree since opening in Moultrie in the fall of 2019. The medical school will also graduate its third class of students with the master of science in biomedical sciences.

The commencement ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, May 16, at the University of Georgia Conference Center in Tifton.

This year’s commencement speaker is H. William Craver III, DO ’87, FACOS, who served PCOM for three decades, including administrative positions at each of the College’s three campuses. He was instrumental in establishing the Moultrie campus. When he retired in April 2023, Dr. Craver was dean and chief academic officer at PCOM South Georgia.

Dr. Craver began his health care career as a physical therapist in sports medicine at Hershey Medical in 1979 before enrolling at PCOM in 1983. After postgraduate training, Dr. Craver began a career as a surgeon. From 1992 to 1997 he also served as academic coordinator of PCOM’s surgery residency program.

In 2006, Dr. Craver relocated to PCOM Georgia, where he served as dean and chief academic officer from 2010 to 2020. During this time, he played a role in establishing the College’s teaching location in Moultrie, which opened in 2019.

Not long after PCOM South Georgia welcomed its inaugural class of osteopathic medical students, Dr. Craver moved to Moultrie in 2020 to become dean and chief academic officer of the College’s newest campus. Over the next three years, he helped guide the first cohort of student doctors through to graduation in the spring of 2023.

Dr. Craver’s impact on osteopathic medical education has been recognized at the national level. The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) named him a Guardian of the Profession. At the AOA, he served on the Council on Osteopathic Postdoctoral Training and was named to the AOA’s Mentor Hall of Fame. He also served as chair of the Board of Deans for the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine.

At the state level, the Georgia Osteopathic Medicine Association named Dr. Craver Physician of the Year in 2017, and he served on the Georgia Board of Physicians’ Workforce Medical Education Advisory Committee. The Georgia State Senate honored him with a resolution that commended him for “his efficient, effective, unselfish, and dedicated service to the state of Georgia.”

PCOM South Georgia’s 2024 Commencement Ceremony will also be livestreamed on the College’s YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/@PCOMeducation) beginning at 1 p.m. EST. The ceremony will be streamed on YouTube at @PCOMeducation. Viewers are encouraged to subscribe to the PCOM YouTube channel in advance. 

Each guest must have an electronic or printed ticket with a QR code to enter the ceremony. Tickets will be scanned as guests enter. Students receive six tickets each and have been instructed on how to obtain additional tickets if they are available. Children age 3 and older are required to have a ticket. Doors will open at noon for anyone who needs special assistance getting to their seat. Doors open at 12:10 p.m. for all other guests.

For more information, visit the PCOM Student Affairs Events website (https://studentaffairsevents.pcom.edu/pcom-commencement/south-georgia-commencement-details/).