AAMC Reporter: October 2007

Despite Hurdles, New Medical Schools on the Rise

Constructions crews put a roof on the education building at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center's Paul L. Foster School of Medicine in El Paso, Texas.

The nation's medical school community is undergoing a growth spurt.

With more than a dozen new projects in the works, planners cite the Herculean task and rich benefits of creating a new medical school from the ground up.

"Establishing a new medical school is really, really hard work," said David J. Steele, Ph.D., who helped start the Florida State University College of Medicine and is currently helping to guide Texas Tech University Health Science Center's Paul L. Foster School of Medicine in El Paso, Texas, in its development.

"It is not for the faint of heart. Everything ends up taking longer and being more complicated than you anticipated, even when you expect that to be the case going in. When there are so many details and people to take into account, there are going to be surprises. But in the end, it can be extremely stimulating and rewarding work," Steele said.

According to figures from the AAMC Center for Workforce Studies, approximately eight new, separately accredited medical schools are in some stage of formal discussion or development, including the new Foster school in El Paso; University of California, Riverside; Florida International University; University of Central Florida; Oakland University; Touro University in New Jersey; the Medical College of North-eastern Pennsylvania; and Virginia Tech. Approximately seven additional projects are in earlier stages of consideration.

Center Director Edward S. Salsberg speculated that between 10 and 15 new medical schools could potentially be in place by 2015. Some of these schools are taking root in regions where a pipeline of new doctors can help address local physician shortages.

"These developments are encouraging because they can help increase medical school enrollment," Salsberg said.

"It is particularly encouraging given the fact that some of the new schools are located in regions where there is a high need for physicians."

For example, the proposed University of California, Riverside School of Medicine would bring more doctors to fast-growing San Bernadino County, while remaining far enough away from already-established medical schools so that patient and potential student populations do not significantly overlap, project officials said.

"There is a significant shortage of physicians here, especially among specialists," said Robert D.Grey, Riverside's acting chancellor. "The demographics of the area are characterized by a large Hispanic population and lots of diversity. So this idea started with a local need, and the realization that physicians tended to locate where they train."

No matter what the reasons are for starting a new medical school—the need for more physicians, a new research complex, or other aims—everyone agrees that having a clearly defined mission is essential to overcoming obstacles. And with a new school costing up to $50 million and the Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME), which officially sanctions medical schools, requiring that each school meet 126 separate criteria, there is no shortage of challenges. Only three of the new medical school projects—Florida International University, Central Florida, and Texas El Paso—have developed sufficiently to undergo more formal on-site LCME reviews.

"I don't think it's possible to boil down potential for success to a single factor," said former Interim LCME Secretary Robert H. Eaglen, Ph.D. "In consultations with schools, we have generally emphasized the importance of having a clearly defined vision and mission for the school, along with access to the resources necessary to achieve them."

Every medical school shares a few common objectives, but how each institution approaches and reaches these objectives varies widely, Eaglen said. The major sources of financial support for new schools are state legislatures, parent universities, and health care systems.

Once the framework is in place, having the right mix of human resources is the next key step.

"You really do need to have a good team of people," Steele said. "You need people who can disagree with each other and still get the work done at the end of the day. You need a combination of the visionary and the realist. You want to have innovators, but you also want to have people who keep their feet on the ground, and keep the process honest."

LCME Secretary D. Daniel Hunt, M.D., said that schools should communicate with the committee long before entering formal accreditation procedures.

"When you pick up the phone to call the LCME, you're gripping the phone a little tighter,"Hunt said. "But this isn't just the sheriff 's office. There are knowledgeable people here who can be great resources."

Steele called it "vitally important" to carefully review LCME standards and annotations before getting started, adding that he had the LCME "on speed dial."Medical school colleagues, particularly those at developing institutions, might also make good sounding boards, Eaglen said. At Riverside, planners convened an outside panel of former medical school deans and professionals such as demographics experts.

All in all, after several years and tens of millions of dollars, Hunt said that creating a medical school offers an opportunity like few others.

"You have to figure out what your dreams are," Hunt said. "Are you going to engage an urban or a rural community as your stakeholders? What type of research will you focus on? It all depends on your location, and your goals. But this is one of the best things you can do to offer educational creativity."

Provided, of course, that the commitment is behind it, Salsberg said.

"It's a long way from an idea or a press release to a new medical school."

—By Scott Harris

Contact Us    © 1995-2008 AAMC    Terms and Conditions    Privacy Statement