Health

16 HEALTH • Fall 2017 How UMass Medical School's admissions changes could help the physician pool \\ By Emily Micucci T he decision to admit out-of-state students for the first time in the fall of 2016 was an historic move for the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS). It was also a practical one. UMass Medical School Chancellor Michael Collins said when he and Dr. Terence Flotte, dean and provost of UMMS, joined the medical school in 2007, they realized it was important to get behind a national initiative of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) to increase class sizes by about 30 percent. The movement began in the early 2000s, but UMMS hadn't participated, Collins said. Projections of workforce needs all indicate the demand for physicians is growing. By 2025, the projected shortage for primary care doctors could be as high as 31,100, and the shortage of special- ists could be even higher, with a high-end short- age projection of 63,700, according to data from AAMC. "No matter how you looked at it, the country was going to need more doctors," Collins said in an interview last month. Growing in Worcester, Springfield, Cape Cod As a result, Collins and Flotte decided early in their tenure to increase the UMMS class size from CASTING A WIDER NET 100 to 125. That coincided with the construction and opening the Albert Sherman Center on the medical school campus in 2013. The project increased UMMS' capacity for medical research and education in the $400 million, state-of-the-art facility, making way for a further increase in class size to 150 and allowing for out-of-state applicants. At some point, though, medical schools run out of the necessary clinical opportunities to train students, Collins said. But UMMS didn't put to a stop to expansion after the Sherman Center opened. By creating a satellite campus in Springfield with Baystate Health, and through a clinical affiliation with Cape Cod Healthcare, UMMS was able to increase its census to 162 stu- dents, reaching that total for the first time this fall, with the opening of the Springfield campus. For now, that's where the class size will rest, according to Collins. By admitting a bigger class, including those from other states, UMMS has increased diversity and revenue, especially since out-of-state students pay higher tuition. Perhaps more importantly, it's boosted the pipeline of future doctors, some of whom will hopefully practice in Massachusetts. Expanding class size has not decreased the quality of admitted students, Collins said. Because medical schools are so limited in the United States, metrics like undergraduate grade point average and MCAT scores are unchanged. "We could admit the class multiple times with- out changing the qualifications," Collins said- The University of Massachusetts Medical School welcomed its largest class ever this fall. The Class of 2021 has 162 students, including in-and out-of-state members. P H O T O S / C O U R T E S Y U M A S S . M E D I C A L S C H O O L

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