The Medical School of Temple University/St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network is Announced
Richard A. Anderson,
President and CEO of
St. Luke’s says, “This is
significant in that this is
the first medical school
program in the Greater
Lehigh Valley combining
basic science courses
and clinical rotations.”
Bethlehem, PA (10/7/2009)– St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network and Temple University School of Medicine are taking immediate steps to address the looming physician shortage - steps that will benefit all Pennsylvanians and, importantly, people living in the Greater Lehigh Valley.
Aspiring doctors soon will have the opportunity to earn a medical degree at the newly established Medical School of Temple University/St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network based in Bethlehem. This initiative directly addresses the recommendation by The Association of American Medical Colleges to increase the number of graduate medical students and medical schools in response to the physician shortage.
Inaugural Class Begins August 2011
Thirty students will be accepted into the inaugural class beginning August 2011. Special consideration for enrollment will be given to pre-med students from Lehigh University, Moravian College and Muhlenberg College who have achieved academic excellence and are currently enrolled in the “Early Assurance” program through St. Luke's and Temple. It is anticipated that other area colleges and universities also will participate.
“I am proud to represent my colleagues serving on the Board of Trustees of St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network, a group of visionary and dedicated leaders who took historic action last week as they unanimously and enthusiastically approved the establishment of The Medical School of Temple University/St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network,” says David Lobach, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network. “I also want to commend everyone involved in the planning and execution of this momentous next chapter in the history of both our organizations.”
First Medical School Program in the Greater Lehigh Valley
The new medical school
is a natural evolution in
medical education at
St. Luke's, according to
Dr. Joel Rosenfeld,
Chief Academic Officer,
St. Luke's and Associate
Dean, Temple University
School of Medicine.
“This announcement is significant in that this is the first medical school program in the Greater Lehigh Valley combining basic science courses and clinical rotations,” says Richard A. Anderson, President and CEO of St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network. “Tomorrow's doctors will not only train here, but actually will earn their medical degrees here upon successful completion of a competitive four-year program. Local students in good academic standing will be afforded the chance to get their medical degree while training in their own community.”
Forming the Medical School of Temple University/St. Luke's Hospital and Health Network is a natural evolution in medical education at St. Luke's, according to Joel Rosenfeld, MD, MEd, FACS, Chief Academic Officer, St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network and Associate Dean, Temple University School of Medicine. In March of 2006, St. Luke's announced its designation as the first Temple Clinical Campus in Northeastern Pennsylvania - now the most popular Temple Clinical Campus. The program affords third and fourth-year Temple students the opportunity to perform all of their required clinical rotations at St. Luke's Hospital-Bethlehem Campus.
“I am proud of St. Luke's proven track record in partnering with other organizations, such as Temple,” says Mr. Anderson. “We not only have the resources and the organizational talent to complete successfully this endeavor with Temple, but our ability to form win-win, mutually respectful partnerships helps, in part, to control health care costs and ensures our community and our patients are well served both now and in the future.”
“This new opportunity we are now announcing is vastly different from a clinical campus and other area medical education programs; our medical students will be trained in both basic and clinical sciences,” says Dr. Rosenfeld. “Our medical students also will benefit from 'doctoring' courses, which teach professionalism, cultural, socioeconomic and ethical issues.”
St. Luke's is Major Educational Affiliate of Temple University School of Medicine
St. Luke's has a rich history in medical education and has been a major educational affiliate of Temple University School of Medicine for more than 30 years, according to John M. Daly, MD, Dean and Professor of Surgery, Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia. “The formation of the Medical School of Temple University/St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network has elevated our relationship considerably,” he says.
According to Dr. Rosenfeld, “Enrolled students complete their first year at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, followed by years two, three and four at St. Luke's Hospital in Bethlehem,” he says. “The courses and competencies of The Medical School of Temple University/St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network will be identical to the requirements for students training the full four years at the Temple Campus in Philadelphia. The first class to graduate will be May 2015.
Students applying to the Medical School of Temple University/St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network will be interviewed at St. Luke's by members of an admissions committee made up of St. Luke's physician faculty. St. Luke's doctors will also serve on curriculum and promotions committees. “St. Luke's will have direct involvement in student admissions selection, the development of academic practices and awarding outstanding achievement for students and faculty,” says Dr. Rosenfeld.
“I am enormously excited about what St. Luke's and Temple are doing,” says Florence Kimball, PhD, Dean of Continuing and Graduate Studies at Moravian College. “This is an incredible opportunity for our students who want to stay in the area and go to medical school, including career changers who have established roots in the area. Our hope is that these future doctors will remain here and ensure a strong supply of physicians for this vigorous, vibrant community.” According to Kimball, Moravian College is starting to expand evening premed courses for students interested in pursing a career in medicine.
Increase Number of Doctors who Remain in Pennsylvania
Significantly, 50 percent of students who train at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia stay in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to train and later to practice, according to Temple's Dean Daly.
“We expect The Medical School of Temple University/St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network to do just as well or better in keeping qualified well-trained physicians in the Greater Lehigh Valley,” he says. “This has become more of a necessity as the population not only grows, but grows older. There is a clear need for more physicians in growing areas like the Lehigh Valley.”
Temple contributes more doctors to the Lehigh Valley than any other institution, according to Mr. Anderson. “Additionally, St. Luke's also has a solid retention rate for keeping graduating residents and fellows in Pennsylvania; 43 percent of St. Luke's graduating residents and fellows practiced medicine in the commonwealth in 2008.”
“This new medical school will not only increase the number of doctors who remain in the state to practice, but will also ensure that the quality of care they give their patients will be first-rate because of the outstanding clinical training they will receive within St. Luke's extensive system of patient care facilities and practice areas,” says Edmond F. Notebaert, Temple University Senior Executive Vice President of Health Sciences and President and Chief Executive Officer of Temple University Health System.
Declining numbers of physicians and an aging population truly demonstrate the need to train doctors locally with the ultimate goal of keeping them here, according to Dr. Rosenfeld. “Pennsylvania continues to be the second oldest state in the nation based on the percentage of elderly residents,” he says, “and our physician workforce is aging as well. It is estimated, by the year 2020, we will have a national shortage of at least 90,000 doctors. In our own backyard, we are already experiencing physician shortages in a number of specialties, including family medicine, general surgery, gastroenterology and otorhinolaryngology.”
Dr. Rosenfeld has been involved in the formation of The Medical School of Temple University/St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network from the start, planting the seeds with administrators and colleagues. “It really has been our fundamental duty as a leading local health care organization to explore the development of a medical school and train exceptional doctors, with the prospect of having them remain in the region to provide outstanding health care,” he says.
St. Luke's Hospital - Bethlehem Campus will be Primary Training Facility
Dr. Rosenfeld has had unwavering support from hospital executives, board members and colleagues. Architectural plans are under way for the medical school facility which will be initially located in the Estes Building at St. Luke's Hospital-Bethlehem Campus.
“Starting a medical school can come with a daunting price tag that can run in the tens of millions of dollars,” says Dr. Rosenfeld. “Since St. Luke's Hospital-Bethlehem Campus is serving as the primary training facility and Temple is our partner, we can provide the highest quality medical education in our existing facilities at a reasonable cost. This is essential given today's economic climate that focuses on cost-containment in health care while continually raising the bar in terms of quality.”
St. Luke's estimates the cost of this project to be approximately $5.5 million. The Medical School of Temple University/St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network will eventually relocate to a new facility at St. Luke's Riverside Campus in Bethlehem Township.
Year one of the program primarily will consist of classroom study, with basic science courses in anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and immunology. “This first year will be at our partner institution, Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, to avoid the expense of recruiting and hiring anatomists and physiologists and constructing an anatomy lab,” says Dr. Rosenfeld.
Year two will focus on more clinically-related basic science courses, such as pathology, pathophysiology, microbiology and pharmacology. Years three and four will focus on the clinical components. Professionalism, multiculturalism, socioeconomic and social and ethical issues will be taught throughout the four years as part of the doctoring coursework.
As an extension of the previous Clinical Campus agreement, an additional 16 third- and fourth-year students from Temple's Medical School campus in Philadelphia continue to rotate on the clinical services at St. Luke's, according to Dr. Rosenfeld.
St. Luke's and Temple are currently in the process of securing accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the nationally recognized accrediting authority for medical school education programs leading to a medical degree in the U.S. and Canada. The LCME is sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association.
About St. Luke's
St. Luke's has a long history of involvement in medical education, especially graduate medical education (GME). St. Luke's is one of only 400 members of the Council of Teaching Hospitals of the Association of American Medical Colleges. St. Luke's twice has been named one of the best 25 teaching hospitals in the U.S. by Solucient 100 Top Hospitals.
St. Luke's has 154 physicians enrolled in internship, residency and fellowship programs in such disciplines as emergency medicine, family medicine, general surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopaedic surgery, podiatry, sports medicine, trauma/surgical critical care, urogynecology, dentistry and a transitional year internship. St. Luke's has just been approved for a hospice and palliative care fellowship.
St. Luke's long and rich history in medical education includes the St. Luke's School of Nursing, which celebrates its 125th anniversary this year, and the St. Luke's-Moravian College degree program in nursing.
More about St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network
