Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | January 9. 2017 | Worcester Business Journal 9 FOR DEVELOPERS, FOR DEVELOPERS, FOR DEVELOPERS, RESEARCHERS AND RESEARCHERS AND RESEARCHERS AND INNOVATORS, WE ARE INNOVATORS, WE ARE INNOVATORS, WE ARE THE THE THE WAY TO GROW. WAY TO GROW. WAY TO GROW. A vacant property transformed. A biopharma startup launched. A yogurt maker able to expand. These are just some of the ways MassDevelopment drives economic growth across Massachusetts. When you need financing and real estate expertise, we offer solutions you won't find anywhere else. For more information, call 800.445.8030 or visit MassDevelopment.com. UMass Medical School Sources: UMMS, U.S. News, Blue Ridge. $288 million in active research grants Ranked 33rd nationally for National Institute of Health funding Ranked in top 10 percent of U.S. medical schools in primary care training 62 percent of graduates work in Massachusetts 162 seats available for this fall's incoming class, including: • Up to 37 out-of-state students • Up to 25 PURCH students ume. The PURCH program, and the overall medical education UMass Medical School now offers, are taught with that in mind, Collins said. Medical schools across the country are in various stages of implementing the accountable care model into their curriculums, said Scott Shipman, direc- tor of primary care initiatives and workforce analysis at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). If medical schools want to prepare their students for careers as doctors in the 21st century, it's important that they emphasize team-based care, Shipman said. A good healthcare team not only means everyone is working to their full potential, but it also means thinking outside the box and adding appropriate specialists, like pharmacists and social workers. Medical students also need to be trained in environments where special- ists and primary care doctors commu- nicate effectively with each other, and in places where social determinants of health – such as housing and economic status – are taken into account by pro- viders. These ideas are implemented to vary- ing degrees in medical schools through- out the United States, Shipman said. "There's a widespread and growing recognition that changes in the way health care is being financed and the consequent changes in how health care is being delivered needs to translate into how the next generation of provid- ers have trained," he said. UMass Medical is teaching its stu- dents to work in team-based environ- ments, Collins said. Western Mass impact Andy Artenstein, regional executive dean of UMass Medical School-Baystate and chief academic officer at Baystate Health, said partnering with the Worcester-based medical school made perfect sense for the Springfield-based health- care network, which until last year had Tufts University School of Medicine as its pri- mary academic affiliation. "There are quite a few sim- ilarities in terms of patients and the challenges the [two] communi- ties face," he said. Students will undergo the same cur- riculum as Worcester-based UMass Medical School students. They will take classes in Worcester and undergo clinical training in Springfield. In their last two years, they will work in the hospital and in outpatient settings, where they will see patients regularly, said Artenstein. PURCH is based around the idea of training people for careers as primary care physicians, because of a national doctor shortage that disproportionately affects more isolated areas like Western Massachusetts. The AAMC predicts a shortage of between 14,900 and 35,600 primary care physicians by 2025. However, students will be encouraged to branch out into whatever area of medicine they're interested in, even if it's not primary care, said Artenstein. "Some of them may go on to be sur- geons, and that's all good. The commonwealth needs those people too," he said. Physician need is especially great in Western Massachusetts, where it isn't as easy to recruit physicians as it might be in say, Boston, said Kevin O'Callaghan, pres- ident of the Hampden District Medical Society, one of 20 district societies that makes up the Massachusetts Medical Society. "If people aren't from here and they don't train here, they don't know what's here," he said. "They don't know the kind of career they can have here. The larger urban centers have more resourc- es to put towards that sort of marketing of their career tracks, but often they don't have to. "Having a dedicated training pro- gram in our community allows us to show people how effective they can be as physicians in our community, and what a great need there is for dedicated, active advocates," he said. O'Callaghan, who is also employed by Baystate Health, said physicians outside of the Baystate umbrella also want to be part of the education of the PURCH students. Many doctors in Western Massachusetts either work alone or with two or three other practicing physicians, which is an entirely different experience than being employed by a larger network, he said. "Many aspects of being in a small practice more akin to being a small business owner than a physician," he said. "We hope the partnership will incorporate the perspective of those providers." Andy Artenstein, regional executive dean, UMass Medical School - Baystate UMass Medical School Chancellor Michael Collins speaks with students. This fall, UMass Medical will welcome its first class of the new PURCH program, which emphasizes urban and rural primary care. P H O T O / E D D C O T E W

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