Centralight

Doctor shortage becoming a reality A 2006 study by the Association of American Medical Colleges predicted a shortage of 4,400 physicians in Michigan by the year 2020. CMED Dean Ernie Yoder says that shortage could escalate as high as 6,000. Through an extensive application process with multiple applications and rigorous interviews, the college's admission staff has endeavored to select students who have a passion for working with underserved populations – and with any luck, will stay true to their Michigan roots. It's an ambitious prospect. Brandell is the first to acknowledge that she could make more money working in well-heeled metropolitan areas in order to chip away at an estimated $244,000 in college loans she will incur in medical school (Brandell actually found CMU's program to be one of the least expensive of her choices). But as the health care landscape shifts dramatically over the coming years, officials say the doctor shortage will become even more pronounced in the nation's rural areas. And next year as double the number of medical schools opens in Michigan, Central is one of the only ones intrinsically dedicated to rural and underserved populations. "I think we're the ones who are saying it out loud as far as our mission goes. This is what separates us," says Jim Knight, '84, spokesman for CMED. He says that solving those kinds of problems is one of the principles on which CMU was created. "When it was founded, the central and northern part of the state really had a need for teachers, and that led to Central Normal School," Knight says. "And now you've got a similar situation." CMED forms alliances, creates high-tech learning spaces One of CMED's early achievements was to forge alliances with two hospitals in Saginaw, Covenent and St. Mary's, both of which deal with underserved patients each day. Students will spend most of their third and fourth years at these primary sites (or other partner sites throughout northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula), creating relationships throughout their four years with physicians. "There's a high correlation between where you do your residency and where you end up," Knight says. "These students already know the state, they learn here, develop mentors and relationships … so there's a good chance that in the end we will fulfill our mission and provide the state with doctors." In the weeks before classes begin, the halls of the new CMED are buzzing with excitement. Shiny lab spaces await students, who will be equipped with not only scalpels but tablet computers, as well. Conference rooms feature tables with seating for eight – including a monitor for someone to be teleconferenced in. But one of the most exciting spots is the building's stripped-down learning spaces that allow students to tackle complex medical problems through team-based learning – a philosophy and a curriculum that also helped shape the creation of the college. Keeping an eye on the dream Brandell is charged up for this style of learning. Bright-eyed and not yet fatigued by the onslaught of work in medical school, she holds onto her dream. She remembers her family practitioner, Dr. Linda Bolton, M.D., who made an impact on her from a young age. "I could actually talk to her – I never felt rushed," she says. "I always felt like the next time I saw her, it was like a continuation of the conversation we had the last time," she says. "And to me, that really sparked my interest in wanting to be a doctor and wanting to have those relationships. "Medicine is going to be changing so much by the time I am a practicing physician. This doctor shortage that we're talking about is absolutely real. To think that my dream of being that local doctor that people go see … I don't want it to turn into, 'I see you for two minutes and somebody else will handle the rest.' I want to work in a field where I'm developing long-term relationships with people." The future may be unclear, but for 64 medical students on campus this fall, they are feet first (that would be phalanges, metatarsus and all the rest) into one very exciting present. • alumni.cmich.edu/centralight for more 26 centralight fall '13

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