Indiana University East and Reid Hospital & Health Care Services, in collaboration with the Indiana University School of Medicine, are creating educational opportunities for medical students in Richmond, while providing a connection to the community that could result in more practicing physicians in the east central Indiana area.

Students pursuing a medical degree from the IU School of Medicine will be able to complete more of their third and fourth-year required clinical clerkships in Richmond starting this summer.

A partnership between Indiana University East, IU School of Medicine, and Reid Hospital & Health Care Services will allow students to work in new facilities with highly-respected health professionals in Richmond.  IU medical students have had the opportunity to rotate in Richmond in the past, but as of June 10, 2011, the number and variety of experiences offered at Reid Hospital will expand.

“Establishing medical education opportunities in Richmond is truly significant,” said IU East Chancellor Nasser Paydar.  “This exciting partnership will benefit the community at a number of different levels – from elevating its profile to driving economic growth.”

Craig Kinyon, president and CEO of Reid Hospital & Health Care Services, said it is extremely exciting for Reid Hospital to be a teaching hospital and to reach this milestone achievement in bringing new professional talent to the region.

“Our physicians look forward to being associated as faculty of the second largest medical school in the country. We also think this will help us attract the top physicians in both primary care and specialty areas to positions that can be challenging to fill,” Kinyon said.

A $500,000 commitment from the Vigran Family Foundation will help support the IUSM clinical clerkship program in Richmond.  Additional funding is being provided by the Quigg Family Foundation and other donors, as well as through financial and in-kind support from Reid Hospital and IU East.

“My father was always proud to be a son of Richmond and had an abiding love of this community,” said Gary Vigran. “My parents would have been immensely pleased to provide a leadership gift to help seed and establish this program because of the promise it offers for the future of Reid Hospital, Indiana University East and all of Wayne County.”

Paydar commended the Vigran family for its vision and leadership support. “As one of IU East’s founders, Stanley Vigran was a visionary,” said Paydar.  “We are profoundly grateful for his family’s generosity which will leave an indelible mark on our community.”

“This is exciting for Richmond and east central Indiana.  We hope that our support will aid in building awareness for other contributors and help this project gain even more momentum in the community,” said Bill Quigg, on behalf of the Quigg Family Foundation.

Recognizing the need for more physicians to meet the needs of the people of Indiana, the IU School of Medicine began to expand its class size in 2007.  In addition, IUSM has been expanding its relationships with select hospitals and medical facilities across the state so that students can obtain the necessary clinical experiences in locations where they might practice in the future.  Particularly attractive are medical facilities located near campuses that offer academic programs in health-related professions, such as IU East in Richmond.

Reid Hospital will initially offer five of the required clinical clerkships with plans eventually to offer more.  These clinical experiences will include obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics, family medicine, internal medicine and emergency medicine.  In the future, rotations in neurology, psychiatry, anesthesiology, surgery, radiology and medicine sub-internship will be added.

IU East is coordinating the students’ educational experience while in Richmond, serving as the liaison with the School of Medicine.

“We want every medical student’s experience in Richmond to be one they will remember for both how well they were treated and how great the medical education was,” Paydar said.  “The clinical coordinator at IU East will ensure that everything about the students’ experiences runs smoothly. We then expect these students to give serious consideration to returning to Richmond as practicing physicians.”

Each clerkship will have a clerkship site director at Reid Hospital, a practicing physician in the specialty area, who will work with the statewide clerkship director at the IU School of Medicine, to ensure that appropriate physicians are assigned to the students for their rotations in that specialty and that the learning outcomes expected are achieved.

This agreement expands on the synergy that already exists between IU East and Reid Hospital. IU East enjoys an excellent relationship with Reid Hospital, with many of the IU East clinical courses in its Bachelor of Science in Nursing program being conducted at the hospital, and many IU East students hired at the hospital upon graduation. Reid Hospital also has provided funding for labs on the campus, further solidifying that important relationship.

Maryellen Gusic, M.D., executive associate dean for educational affairs at the IU medical school, said with the move by Reid Hospital to its new facility next to the IU East campus, it is an ideal site for clinical learning experiences for IU medical students.

“I am certain that our students will thoroughly enjoy their experiences in Richmond and that the physicians at Reid who will become the faculty for the clerkships will enjoy working with the students,” Gusic said. “I sincerely think that the commitment of Reid to medical education and to ensuring an excellent learning environment will help the hospital to recruit IUSM graduates and top physicians from around the country to live and work in this community.”

When fully implemented, there could be 10-12 students doing clerkships during any one month, each learning in a different clinical clerkship.