Dr. Paula Klose hopes that a new regional medical campus at MidMichigan Health in Midland will help entice Michigan medical students to return to Midland and other surrounding communities when they graduate from college.
The new regional campus is part of a new program that will launch next summer with
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, says Klose, assistant dean for the new campus and a member of
MidMichigan Physicians Group. In July 2011, third- and fourth-year MSU medical students will begin arriving at the new campus for their student rotations. MSU already has existing student rotations throughout Michigan -- including some at
Covenant Healthcare and
St. Mary's of Michigan in Saginaw.
In the shorter term, some elective options are now available for students at MidMichigan Health, Klose says.
The program will help the students, and it will help improve healthcare at the MidMichigan Health facilities in Midland, Clare, Gladwin, and Alma, she says.
In the long-term, Klose hopes that the program will help stop the brain drain that often happens when Michigan college students graduate and move out of state to find work.
"We want to attract physicians to come back to this area," she says.
Marsha Rappley, dean of Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, says MSU has had some success with retention efforts. Fifty to 60 percent of MSU college students are practicing in Michigan six years after graduation.
"Our long-term goal is to be building a workforce that understands and enjoys working in these more rural settings. But with the strong community engagement of a hospital like MidMichigan."
Writer: Jenny CromieSource: MidMichigan Health, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
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