The Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Detroit Wayne County Health Authority will create an innovative, community-based model for training osteopathic residents and providing care to underserved communities with $21 million in new federal funding.
The three-year Health Resources and Services Administration grant will establish a teaching health center in Wayne County to involve postgraduate rotations through Federally Qualified Health Centers, free clinics, community mental health services and other provider sites. It also will fund 85 new primary care positions in internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, geriatrics and obstetrics and gynecology.
“This collaboration at this level is a win-win situation for MSU, the Health Authority and the health care safety net,” said College of Osteopathic Medicine Dean William D. Strampel. “Our collective goal as a consortium is to create an environment that produces primary care physicians that train and remain in medically underserved areas of greater Detroit.”
The grant stems from the Teaching Health Center initiative, a five-year federal program designed to increase the number of primary care medical and dental residents training in community-based settings. Residency funding comes through the Affordable Care Act.
"The direct involvement of the medical school will improve the quality of medical care provided to the underserved," said College of Osteopathic Medicine alumnus John Sealey, who will coordinate the residency program. "This patient population provides a wealth of clinical pathology essential for the training of primary care physicians. Osteopathic physicians who receive their postdoctoral education in this educational setting will be more likely to remain in the community which will help address the shortage of health care providers in Detroit and Wayne County.”
The college, which has a full training site at the Detroit Medical Center, also maintains the Future Docs program for outreach and recruitment in Southeast Michigan to encourage young people to enter health careers, particularly osteopathic medicine. The program promotes health science careers among students who would otherwise not be exposed to opportunities in the field. It also provides medical residents with an opportunity to teach and mentor young students.