Students attending MSU’s College of Human Medicine, or CHM, could have additional opportunities to train in communities across the state after college officials announced their plans to expand the college’s Upper Peninsula campus last week.
The college is examining the possibility of partnering with three additional hospitals across the state’s northern region, in the process training more medical students.
Currently, most students — about 10 per year — complete most of the third year of their rotational training at Marquette General Hospital, 580 W. College Ave., in Marquette, Mich. Rotational training primarily involves medical students working in practical hospital environments.
Under the college’s expansion plans, three additional partner hospitals would be added: one in each Escanaba, Mich., Iron Mountain, Mich., and Hancock, Mich. By joining with additional medical institutions, as many as eight more medical students could join the college’s Upper Peninsula program for the third and fourth years of their rotational training.
Plans to expand the college’s northern region have picked up speed in the past six months, college officials said.
“It’ll certainly make the opportunity to train more medical students much more possible with more sites,” said William Short, the newly appointed community assistant dean of the region’s operations. Students would have the opportunity to receive individualized training in smaller communities, while dealing with various medical situations.
Farhan Bhatti, an MSU medical student who’s preparing to begin the fourth year of his program through Lansing’s Sparrow Health System, said MSU’s expansive reach across the state could give future doctors valuable medical experience.
“Going through clinical rotations in a particular community opens students’ eyes to the health care needs of that community,” Bhatti said. “Even though medical students may think they have an idea about what specialty they will ultimately pick, clinical rotations expose students to all the core specialties.”
Bhatti said his own personal experience through the college has strengthened his commitment to primary care.
More than 20 percent of all medical students who go through the college’s Upper Peninsula campus return and practice in the region for at least a period of time, said Patti Copley, the community administrator for the college’s U.P. operations.
The potential for the new partnership only increases the possibility of medical students returning, Copley said.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for the students,” she said. “Hopefully, the community will be able to encourage that student to come back and practice there.”
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