Dean of DMU's emailed response to students:
From: Noftsger, Alison
To: PC Users; DO04; DO03; DO02; DO01
Cc:
Subject: Metropolitan Hospital
Sent: 7/11/2001 2:35 PM
Importance: Normal
Email Memorandum
To: DO Classes of 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, Administration, Faculty & Staff
From: H.S. Teitelbaum, DO, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Dean, College of Osteopathic Medicine & Surgery
Date: July 11, 2001
Re: Metropolitan Hospital
On July 2, 2001, the College was informed that all interns, residents, and clinical clerks at Metropolitan Medical Center would be terminated as of 5:00 p.m. on July 6, 2001. The reasons cited were financial. This precipitous move on the part of Metropolitan Hospital prompted an immediate response by the Dean's staff at the medical school.
First, an action plan was devised and priorities were established. Because our major responsibilities are to our undergraduate students, discussions were held between the College and the teaching physicians at Metropolitan. It was gratifying indeed to get the cooperation of these individuals who have volunteered to continue to teach our current students. This includes both clinical and didactic teaching. All students currently doing rotations at Metropolitan are accommodated at this time.
Our second priority is to assist in the relocation of the interns and residents. Our office of post-graduate education, the Still Consortium of Osteopathic Post-Graduate Education (SCOPE), working closely with the AOA, has been trying to secure places for everyone. Many of the interns and residents are not Des Moines University graduates, however, we feel an obligation to work for them as well. We are continuing to work on this and are pleased to report that local hospitals as well as hospitals across the country are helping us in this regard. It is likely however that many of the current interns and residents will have to move out of state to continue their education. To date all family practice and internal medicine residents have been placed. All surgical residents will be accommodated locally. Interns are finding positions both locally and nationally.
Our next priority was to try to find funding for the interns and residents who have necessarily had to be relocated. The Iowa Osteopathic Medical Association has an educational foundation and has authorized funding for these individuals.
Our next priority is to continue efforts to establish new rotations elsewhere in the city and state for our clerks. We have an agreement in place and approximately 6 students have been assigned to Mercy Hospital and are expected to start in the fall. We are also engaged in conversations with other local hospitals. Bearing in mind that all hospitals have to be affiliated with the College and approved by standards set by the American Osteopathic Association, an immediate agreement is not possible. However, we are working very hard with local and hospitals throughout the state and are hopeful that agreements can be in place by September. Because of our eighty-year association with the Des Moines General (Metropolitan Hospital), we have looked historically at a nearly an exclusive relationship with that facility as our main teaching hospital in the city. Although we have core students at Broadlawns and the Veteran's hospital, and elective rotations at Blank, Mercy, and other institutions, our main thrust has been with DMG (Metropolitan). Our main goal is still educating Osteopathic medical students in high quality teaching hospitals. Internships and Residencies are important but really have their primary administrative responsibilities with SCOPE and the hospitals that have entered into contracts with the intern or resident. The decision by Metropolitan Medical Center has also placed in jeopardy existing residency positions in the city, positions that have been filled by Osteopathic medical school graduates. We have been working with the Metropolitan, the AOA and the Federal Government to construct a scenario that will preserve these postgraduate training opportunities in the Des Moines area.
The administration of the College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery has taken the initiative in making sure the actions of Metropolitan will have only minimal impact on the education of our medical students. We feel sorry indeed for the many loyal employees of Metropolitan hospital who have been with that institution for decades. We see this situation as an opportunity to affiliate with more hospitals and to increase training sites in the city and the state. We are also continuing to recruit training sites outside the State of Iowa to allow greater choice for our students. The emphasis is and will always be on quality teaching sites. In summary, we feel we have successfully provided for the education of our third and fourth year students, assisted in the relocation of our graduates who are Interns and residents to the extent that we can. The combined efforts of the College, dedicated community based Osteopathic physicians, the Iowa Osteopathic Medical Association, and the Still Consortium of Osteopathic Post-Graduate Education in a tremendous show of unity and dedication, has minimized the effect of this hospital decision.
HST/ajcn
.....................................
Alison J.C. Noftsger
Dean's Office/DMU - COMS
(515) 271-1513/(515) 271-1521 (fax)
Anyways, I'm glad to see that the school will be ok! It's one of my top choices!
