Category Archives: Medical School

In a move that should help address the state's doctor shortage, Quinnipiac University soon will have a medical school. And it will have significant ramifications in this area.

The new medical school, which will have St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport as its primary clinical partner, received unanimous approval from the state Board of Education on Wednesday. Coupled with the announcement that the school also received preliminary accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, Quinnipiac can start recruiting future doctors immediately.

Quinnipiac's Frank H. Netter M.D. School of Medicine is expected to enroll a charter class of 60 students in August 2013 and grow to 275 students by 2017. Dr. Bruce Koeppen, founding dean of the new medical school, told the state board that the doctors Quinnipiac will create won't bury themselves in research labs, but rather be primary care physicians.

"Not only will it help address the current physician shortage, but it will provide long-term benefits to the state," said Elizabeth Beaudin, director of nursing and workforce initiatives for the Connecticut Hospital Association. "Because of health reform, more people will be receiving coverage. As such, we need more primary care physicians who will be involved in prevention and health promotion, as well as chronic disease management. This will ultimately result in healthier communities and fewer avoidable hospital visits."

Although clinical rotations are two years away, Koeppen said students would start getting clinical experiences at St. Vincent's in year one. "I expect eventually our medical students will set up free screening clinics for people in Bridgeport who don't have access to medical care or who can't afford it," said Koeppen.

Dr. Stuart G. Marcus, president of St. Vincent's Medical Center, said the alliance would change the culture of St. Vincent's and raise the bar for everybody. "Faculty members at St. Vincent's are looking forward to educating students in the clinical sciences and teaching them the principles of safe, reliable patient care of the highest quality," Marcus said.

In their third year of training, medical students will spend the majority of their time rotating through various departments at the hospital, including surgery, medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry and family medicine. In year four, students will rotate through the intensive care and the emergency departments. The students will also have a presence in St. Vincent's outpatient sites, as well as two secondary training sites: MidState Medical Center in Meriden and Middlesex Hospital in Middletown.

The school will be located on Quinnipiac's North Haven campus. Koeppen anticipates the initial class will be selected from a pool of 2,000 to 3,000 applicants. The university is nearing completion of a new medical school classroom building and has hired 19 of 20 new faculty members. So far, Quinnipiac has spent $100 million on the effort.

This is the first time St. Vincent's has taken a lead clinical role with a medical school. Koeppen said he visited 16 hospitals in the state and invited them to become clinical partners. Five applied. All submitted position papers to outline what their partnership would look like.

That Bridgeport had a medically underserved population and didn't have a medical school affiliation attached to one of its hospitals played into the decision to select St. Vincent's, Koeppen said.

Originally posted here:
Quinnipiac/St. Vincent's medical school wins approval

NEW BRITAIN

Inside a room that was part kitchen, part classroom, Mason Weldon, 16, was working with his teacher, Cindy Smith, on a batch of chocolate chip cookies. On the other side of the room, a classmate, Carlon Dudley, 19, filed student time cards.

Weldon and Dudley are taking part in the life skills curriculum offered by the Connecticut Children's Medical Center School. The school is for students 5 to 21 years old with severe emotional, cognitive and behavioral problems and require intensive help.

Run by the Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford, the school has had something of a transient existence and has wandered through the central Connecticut region since it was established in the 1940s. School officials hope that its new home, a former clothing warehouse on John Downey Avenue, will be a permanent one.

"It's much better," said Mason, taking time out from cooking duties. He's been a student at the school for the last seven years. "We've got more space. We've got a gym now."

Mason's comments reflected what a lot of people were saying at Tuesday's ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new facility, which has been in session since last month..

Its last location in Wethersfield was always considered a temporary one.

"It was too small, too old," said Barbara Brown, senior director of the school. Brown has been with the CCMC School for about 30 years. In that time, the school has been at four locations.

It's mission and scope has changed significantly since it was founded as an in-house school to continue the education of children staying in the hospital for long periods. Newington Children's Hospital moved to Hartford in 1996 and changed its name to Connecticut Children's Medical Center.

Around the 1970s and early 1980s, the school shifted its focus to educating children with mental disabilities and behavioral problems. Now, 20 to 25 percent of the children at the school are on the autism spectrum. It's not so much a student's diagnosis that qualifies for entry to the school, but whether his or her condition causes them behavioral problems. They're referred to the CCMC School by their local school district, which pays for the student's tuition.

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Children's Medical Center School Has New — And It Hopes, Permanent — Home

Medical charter school opens doors to first students

While jobs are in short supply in many industries, that's not the case in the medical field.

A new charter school in Lehigh County is now trying to address that need. The Medical Academy Charter School in Catasauqua is the first of its kind in the Lehigh Valley. It's goal is to better steer kids into the field of health care.

Between the algebra and history of the Jamestown settlement is an art class teaching students how drawing can turn to healing for the sick.

"This is an example of a Zen tangle art therapy method that psychotherapists may use to draw out emotions in patients," said teacher Carol Traynor.

The new school is using the promise of a career in health care to draw students in.

"This is where the jobs are going to be now and in the near future. It's ever growing," said Joanna Hughes, CEO and principal of the school, which opened in September to 9th and 10th graders.

The school, which will expand to 11th and 12th graders, infuses health care sciences into the general curriculum, Hughes said.

"We will provide the children with opportunities so that they can be an x-ray tech or a phlebotomist or someone who works in the office doing billing," Hughes said.

Taylor Fullin, who wants to be anesthesiologist, transferred from Northampton Area High School.

Original post:
Medical Academy Charter School in Catasauqua opens doors to first students

HAMDEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- Quinnipiac University's new medical school has received it's accreditation, and will be ready for the next crop of students looking to become doctors.

The University will be recruiting its first class for the fall of 2013 after earning two important endorsements from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and the State Board of Education.

Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine is named in honor of the noted surgeon and prolific medical illustrator.

"Adding a medical school to Quinnipiac's existing schools of law, health sciences, nursing, communications, education, business and engineering and College of Arts and Sciences will continue Quinnipiac's transformation into a major national university," Quinnipiac President John. L Lahey said in a statement. "When the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine enrolls its first medical students in the Fall of 2013, Quinnipiac will join fewer than 100 universities in America that have both law and medical schools."

The medical school will become the third in Connecticut, making St. Vincent's Medical Center of Bridgeport their primary clinical partner. This collaboration will give the residents in the state's largest city more access to health care. The medical school is also affiliated with MidState Medical Center in Meriden and Middlesex Hospital in Middletown.

"Applicants to our school can be assured that they will receive a high quality medical education that will prepare them for the contemporary practice of medicine," said Dr. Bruce Koeppen, the founding dean of the medical school.

The first class at the medical school will have 60 students and is expected to grow to 125 students per class by 2017.

Original post:
QU's new medical school approved

Tuesday, October 2, 2012 11:06 PM EDT

By Scott Whipple Staff Writer

When we came across 300 John Downey Drive [a former warehouse] we knew we had found the right home, she said.

Brown and other dignitaries helped celebrate Connecticut Childrens Medical Center School Tuesday on John Downey Drive during a special ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Walking through the doors of the new CCMC School, students, staff, parents and visitors have been awed by our expansive and modern state-ofthe-art facility, said Patricia Gerrity, CCMC School principal. Gerrity noted the newest technology in the classrooms, gymnasium and numerous resources for academic enhancement, emotional and behavioral growth.

Annalisa Russell-Smith | Staff Third grader Brianna Williams, left, speaking at the ribbon cutting for her new school, Connecticut Children's Medical Center School on John Downey Drive in New Britain Tuesday morning. At right is the school's principal, Patricia Gerrity.

That there were no stairs to tire you out, she said.

It was the cafeteria that impressed 10th-grader Hilson Mejias.

It was like awesome, he said. And the [school] colors are like a rainbow leading to a pot of gold.

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Special ed students love the new Connecticut Children's Medical Center School

After a long wait, UC Riverside has been cleared to open a four-year, independent medical school in August 2013, university officials said Tuesday.

Officials said they were told that they had received "preliminary accreditation" from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, a national accreditation body for medical schools in the U.S. and Canada.

The School of Medicine will begin recruiting for its inaugural fall 2013 class, according to a news release.

"This medical school is critically needed to address our region's physician shortage and stimulate the economy," university Chancellor Timothy P. White said in a written statement.

This was UCR's second try at getting the OK to open.

The School of Medicine sought accreditation in summer 2011, only to be denied because of the state's refusal to commit a regular stream of funding.

At that point, founding medical school Dean G. Richard Olds turned his attention to raising money from local donors.

After securing enough commitments, UCR submitted another application in April.

Read the original post:
REGION: UCR gets OK to open medical school