Quinnipiac University expects its planned medical school to be the largest in the state within four years, with some 500 students focused on embarking on primary care careers in Connecticut.
The Yale School of Medicine has more total students, but not all of those are pursuing medical degrees, with some choosing a master”™s degree or Ph.D. in non ”“ physician fields of study.
For the past decade there has been a steady decline in the number of primary care physicians nationwide while the demand for services has been increasing with the aging baby boomer population.
The school is aiming to become the national educational model for inter-professional health careers and improve the way health care is delivered, said John Morgan, associate vice president for public relations.
Renovations for the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine will be made on the North Haven campus (Quinnipiac”™s flagship campus is in Hamden) and cost about $70 million. The interactive classrooms will include the latest technology with a 48-bed human anatomy lab, a six-bed prosection lab and two simulated operating rooms.
The school will build on its school of nursing and school of health sciences programs. Quinnipiac”™s doctorate program for physical therapy and master”™s program for occupational therapy are among the largest in the country.
Administrators and 14 faculty members have been hired so far. The university is waiting for its accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education at the Association of American Medical Colleges. The first class is expected to begin in the fall of 2013.
For the area medical community, the new school is good news, said Dr. Michael Kinsky, president of the Connecticut State Medical Society.
Faculty and staff will be hired and as the school grows, there will be more primary care physicians trained in the area, which will then lead to physicians opening up their own practices, Kinsky said. Each physician needs four supporting staff members at a minimum. The school opens up a lot of opportunities, he said.
But at the same time, there are no guarantees. The school may be training students into the primary care field, but that doesn”™t mean they will still choose that career path in the end, Kinsky said. They are not necessarily tied into it and for many the career path is unattractive. The knowledge base expected of primary care physicians has exploded in recent years. Primary care physicians are expected to know more than specialist physicians generally, but their wages are less. For young doctors graduating with high student loan debt, the field is a hard sell.
“Virtually no one graduates without debt,” Kinsky said. “It”™s an enormous nut to crack.”
Additionally, Kinsky said graduates might decide to leave Connecticut to states where the cost of living is lower and malpractice awards are lower.
The school will be partnering with St. Vincent”™s Medical Center in Bridgeport as its primary clinical partner, meaning each of the state”™s three largest cities will have a hospital with medical school partnerships, along with Yale in New Haven and the University of Connecticut serving the Hartford area.
By adding a medical school, Quinnipiac will be one of 89 universities in America that have both accredited law and medical schools. The addition will “continue Quinnipiac”™s transformation into a major national university,” Morgan said.
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