Historically, black medical schools have also sought to create lasting growth and expand access to care through partnerships with care delivery organizations. health and third-party research collaborations.
In December 2020, Chicago-based Morehouse and CommonSpirit Health formed the More in Common Coalition, a 10-year, $100 million commitment to triple the number of residency placements and facilities. training association for Morehouse students in underserved areas across Catholic health system markets.
Mallett, the union’s administrative director, said the organizations are using the funding to set up medical training centers in an African-American community in Chattanooga, Tennessee; a predominantly Alaskan Native neighborhood in Seattle; and areas of California with large populations of Pacific Islanders and Latinos. The money will be used for the center’s buildings and equipment, along with faculty salaries, research programs, student housing and scholarships.
The partnership creates a direct pathway to Morehouse student residency programs and a diverse network of clinicians for CommonSpirit, which the health system says will help improve clinical outcomes and patient experience.
“The impact will be a greater opportunity for people who may not have had the opportunity to be cared for by someone who looks like them, who can share their language, understand their life experiences and real opportunities.” having that [trusting] relationship. That will really advance health equity and move towards eradicating health inequalities,” said Mallett.
Healthcare organizations seeking similar partnerships to diversify their workforces should seek to provide students with opportunities to help them advance in their careers, including providing support financial aid, building affiliate programs and sharing research tools and data, medical school leaders said.
“Students have [exposure and training] experience is more likely to land the skills employers want after they graduate, and those are the people who are more likely to get hired,” says South-Paul. “If we can get those lasting experiences out of our students, it will benefit the communities we actually serve.”
Charles H. Drew, which will launch programs in June in psychiatry, family medicine, internal medicine, surgery and pediatrics, plans to train its students in addition to New King Hospital, Hospital Community Martin Luther King Jr. and the Long Beach Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care, among other sites. Meanwhile, Meharry has entered into clinical training partnerships over the past year with Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, Church Health and the University of Memphis.
Another partnership between Meharry and Middle Tennessee State University keeps qualifying students on track to complete their undergraduate and medical school programs in just six years. They are also granted a priority residency placement in a medically underserved community in Tennessee, where students must commit to an internship of at least two years after training, paid for by the state.
Hildreth says a new research cash flow will have the biggest impact on the organization over the long term. He said Meharry’s research portfolio has grown from $70 million in funding in 2020 to $100 million in funding today.
The schools have partnered with the US military, Ivy League universities, and tech giants like Google and Microsoft, who bring in third-party funding and resources to complement their expertise. faculty and data centers of the schools. In September, the four schools together received a $46 million grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to advance genomic research in Africa.
