Building a Medical School
- July 2008
- Français
Dr. Karl Stobbe, Regional Assistant Dean, Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University
After years of planning, the final touches are being made to open the Niagara Region Campus of McMaster University's Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine in September. This exciting expansion of regional campuses follows up on the successful opening last year of the Waterloo Region Campus, and the same model of providing clinical and classroom teaching space and expertise to 15 first-year medical students will be used within Niagara Health System hospitals.
Students will begin their studies at St. Catharines General Site in December, and a dedicated wing of office and classroom space is being readied, explains Dr. Karl Stobbe, Regional Assistant Dean and head of the Niagara campus. The idea of a Niagara medical campus got off to a fledgling start in late 2005, when medical students began taking their clinical placements in a variety of community hospitals throughout Niagara / Brant / Haldimand / Kitchener / Waterloo / Wellington / Cambridge and Guelph. Dr. Stobbe left his full-time family practice in Beamsville to take on the roll of co-ordinating clinical placements, and to start to build up the infrastructure needed for full-time medical students in Niagara.
Niagara Physician Engagement
A vital component in a medical school is of course the calibre of teaching, and in Niagara's case, there is keen interest from the medical community to play an active role in teaching tomorrow's physicians. "We determined that we would need about 50 physicians to participate part-time, to make our program robust and comprehensive for medical students," Dr. Stobbe says. "Right now, we have an incredible 200 Niagara physicians who have stepped forward to offer their expertise. There are very generous physicians in this community."
When the first year of the Niagara campus is in full swing in 2009, about 100 physicians will be called upon at various times to teach in general and specialty areas, take students on rounds, and act as student advisors. "Once we are up and running with several years of students, we will be utilizing all 200 physicians who have come forward." Every site and medical/surgical specialty is represented.
An important point to make is that not all teachers will be physicians, Dr. Stobbe says. "In addition to physicians, we have a Registered Nurse and a Psychologist on board so far, teaching core professional competencies such as medical ethics. I really see all of the hospital staff as being hugely valuable to molding our students into tomorrow's doctors. Students nowadays need and want to learn to practice in a collaborative way, and as providers we don't need to be locked into old patterns of behaviour. Often RNs have more clinical knowledge than medical students, and I'm encouraging all our health-care professionals to contribute to the education of our students, whether they are Respiratory Technologists, RNs or Dietitians. I believe all staff have a role in creating good doctors."
A teaching environment, particularly in hospital health care, is of benefit not only to patients, but to hospital staff, medical colleagues, students, and ultimately the community. When hospitals become teaching campuses for medical students throughout their three-plus years of study, the calibre of health care increases. "By introducing a full medical school into our hospital environment, we're really raising the bar," Dr. Stobbe says.
Years of Study to Become an MD
The process of post-secondary education for doctors is lengthy. Applicants with a three or four year undergraduate degree may apply to medical school. Most medical schools have a four year program, but McMaster's is three years as the students are at school during the summers.
"By the end of three years, these students are adept at taking medical histories, carrying out head-to-toe assessments, suturing, and can take a pretty educated guess at diagnosis and treatment," Dr. Stobbe explains. After their medical licence examinations, they're not done learning yet – not by a long shot. Next comes two or more years of residency, after which students have more examinations in their specialty. The residency period varies, two years for family medicine and up to six for a sub-specialty such as vascular surgery.
A record 6,000 applications went into McMaster University early in 2008 for 178 openings at McMaster's Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine. Initially, 15 of those students will be located at St. Catharines General Site for their first year, moving into all health-care sites in Niagara Region for the rest of their training. Each year 15 new students will start in Niagara, and residency programs are planned as well. "Within seven years or so, we'll have about 90 students and residents in Niagara."
John Kelton, dean and vice-president of the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster, says the welcome from the Niagara community, and in particular the healthcare community, has been warm.
"I'm sure the positive enthusiasm for the medical school's arrival in Niagara will impact the students' enthusiasm for training and practicing in the region. The benefits for the medical school and the community will be like a waterfall."
"Opening a medical school is a significant step toward dealing with the physician shortages here in Niagara and we are so delighted to be on the threshold of actually having students here," said Niagara Health System CEO Debbie Sevenpifer. "Between our inpatient and outpatient services, we have almost 500,000 patient visits to our seven sites annually, and having full-time medical students here will be a tremendous enhancement to the provision of health care."