Whoot! 4 New Schools On COCA Agenda

[calvinhobbes]

New article on the concerns for Montana’s two new DO schools. A pretty good read:

Whether Montana can handle a 1,000% increase in med students depends on who you ask

The growing competition for limited clinical rotation opportunities for third- and fourth-year students, and residencies for graduates may force many Montana medical students to complete their education out of state.

billingsgazette.com

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[bonewizardry101]

why are they increasing medical schools without any increase in rotation sites or residencies?

 

[Neopolymath]

why are they increasing medical schools without any increase in rotation sites or residencies?

$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[drstranger]

why are they increasing medical schools without any increase in rotation sites or residencies?

right now there are more residency spots than US MD/DOs grads. But the real reason is $$$$

 

[DarkHorizon]

Straight up unfettered crony capitalism. The government needs to step in and stop this madness. It’s bordering on being predatory in my opinion.

 

[AlteredScale]

interesting that the big ICOM post by @--Gem that said it was not a financially solid investment seems to be true if they are planning on changing ownership.
It will be interesting if RVU and Touro are both still going to open in Montana.

Also, won't this KC school be the 3rd school in KC? that seems crazy to me.

KC already has 3 medical schools (UMKC, KU, and KCU). KCU has a branch campus in Joplin which is 1-2 hours away. This new one is in Wichita which is ridiculous because KU already has a branch site there and holds control over the largest hospital systems. We really really don't need another medical school in Wichita however the predatory organization that is COCA is probably willing to approve it since the proposal group will be sure to hide it under the guise of "we need more primary care doctors" in the area without any plan to expand residency spots appropriately to meet that "need".

 

[Stagg737]

KC already has 3 medical schools (UMKC, KU, and KCU). KCU has a branch campus in Joplin which is 1-2 hours away. This new one is in Wichita which is ridiculous because KU already has a branch site there and holds control over the largest hospital systems. We really really don't need another medical school in Wichita however the predatory organization that is COCA is probably willing to approve it since the proposal group will be sure to hide it under the guise of "we need more primary care doctors" in the area without any plan to expand residency spots appropriately to meet that "need".

Is this a KCU school? I haven't seen anything about it in the alumni stuff I get (which I'll admit gets skimmed and trashed in about 10 seconds). If it's going to be smaller with a rural/KS specific track like KU's Salina program, I'd actually welcome it. There are patients who drive 4+ hours (Hays area) to be seen at KU because there's nothing closer that will meet their needs, even in my field. Trying to figure out medication problems and work with physicians and pharmacies hours away in BFE is terrible both for coordination of care and the patient's health. If it's another school with 200+ student classes, then I agree it's dumb.

 

[AlteredScale]

Is this a KCU school? I haven't seen anything about it in the alumni stuff I get (which I'll admit gets skimmed and trashed in about 10 seconds). If it's going to be smaller with a rural/KS specific track like KU's Salina program, I'd actually welcome it. There are patients who drive 4+ hours (Hays area) to be seen at KU because there's nothing closer that will meet their needs, even in my field. Trying to figure out medication problems and work with physicians and pharmacies hours away in BFE is terrible both for coordination of care and the patient's health. If it's another school with 200+ student classes, then I agree it's dumb.

Nah it's a for profit school separate from KCU but with old faculty a part of the startup. I agree, a small campus size similar to what is in Wichita would be great but again KU is telling this school to piss off because they already have a good amount of medical students there. I think the class size is 100-200 a year last I saw.

 

[FootballAndSkiing]

it's a for profit school

Its non profit

KU is telling this school to piss off because they already have a good amount of medical students there

This is happening at all new DO schools. The MD schools dont want new schools encroaching on their "territory." Washington is against the new schools in Montana, and Utah was against Noorda. The MD schools are only looking out for themselves, which is fine, but lets not pretend they are looking out for the greater good of the profession in their region.

 

[DarkHorizon]

Its non profit

This is happening at all new DO schools. The MD schools dont want new schools encroaching on their "territory." Washington is against the new schools in Montana, and Utah was against Noorda. The MD schools are only looking out for themselves, which is fine, but lets not pretend they are looking out for the greater good of the profession in their region.

They are definitely looking out for greater good of the profession in their region from supply and demand standpoint. I 100% support their efforts and denounce COCA for opening up new schools.

 

[AlteredScale]

Its non profit

This is happening at all new DO schools. The MD schools dont want new schools encroaching on their "territory." Washington is against the new schools in Montana, and Utah was against Noorda. The MD schools are only looking out for themselves, which is fine, but lets not pretend they are looking out for the greater good of the profession in their region.

The greater good of the profession in their region is HUGELY subjective. Tell me, where are they going to place these medical students in Wichita for clinical rotations? Are all of them going to be from the region? Are they sponsoring new residency slots?

It doesn't make any sense, KU-Wichita already matches a large percent of their grads to the city because the enroll students from the city. Wichita does not need another stand alone medical school. And please, WWAMI is the considered the strongest and highest ranked primary care medical institution in the US, they are strategic to their planning and want the best for region by enrolling, graduating, and training students from the area. Go look at ICOM or KCOM any other DO school and tell me what percentage are truly from the region, that is completely opposite of the "greater good of the profession in their region".

 

[FootballAndSkiing]

The only point I was making is that you shouldn't judge whether a new school is a good idea based on the local MD school's approval. No one likes more competition. There are plenty of other reasons why it is not a good idea, I just don't care about the local MD school's opinion of it. They are biased.

 

[AlteredScale]

The only point I was making is that you shouldn't judge whether a new school is a good idea based on the local MD school's approval. No one likes more competition. There are plenty of other reasons why it is not a good idea, I just don't care about the local MD school's opinion of it. They are biased.

What? This isn't just some out of the blue opinion from an MD school. If it's truly about addressing the needs of the region then there should perhaps be more collaboration and communication between the MD schools there, the hospitals, and the GME provided with the DO school.

You know why this DO school is probably getting approved? Because it's going to funnel money into the city by bringing in spending dollars from students (which is wrong since that money is in the way of federal grant money), staff, faculty and bolster the DO brand name and it's again hidden by the guise of wanting to train "the regions" next group of physicians with no actual plan to do so outside of a feel good mission statement.

This is not about competition. This is about outright pulling the wool over the eyes of people who are desperate to get into medical school.

 

[Darrow O'Lykos]

why are they increasing medical schools without any increase in rotation sites or residencies?