Grand Valley State University will partner with MSU's College of Human Medicine next month in a project to expand the medical school into West Michigan.

MSU Provost Kim Wilcox said the absence of a medical school at GVSU did not affect MSU's plans to make the university a partner in this expansion.

Wilcox said one of the programs MSU is lacking in and therefore could benefit from by signing on with GVSU is its physical therapy program.

Adding to that, the partnership could expand into multidisciplinary teaching and nursing programs as well, said Denise Holmes, associate dean of MSU's College of Human Medicine.

Since the expansion's announcement, university officials have added additional partners to help with the transition, including Spectrum Health and Van Andel Institute.

Holmes said she expects the signing to happen around the third week of January in Grand Rapids and is hopeful for the partnership's future.

"This is the major four-year university in the area," Holmes said. "They would hold educational purposes, and an example of using them as a partner would be contacting them for teaching expertise."

Wilcox said the partnership means MSU is gaining an educational source in addition to business sources. He also said this project and other partnerships will greatly affect both MSU and the city of Grand Rapids.

"This is, at its heart, an opportunity for us to bring medical education to Grand Rapids," Wilcox said. "The key word here is education, and that's what we are trying to focus on here.

"It is going to be an ever-increasing part of our university. This gives us a chance to connect to the ever-energetic people on that side of the state and will become very beneficial in the long run."

GVSU Provost Gayle Davis said even though there's no plan to gain a medical school at GVSU, the two universities still plan to use this experience to gain knowledge from one other.

"There is always learning to be done," Davis said. "In higher education, the more we have a rich positive learning environment, the more students and staff can benefit from it."