COOPERSTOWN - Bassett Healthcare and Albany Medical College have announced a partnership that will establish a regional clinical campus for third year medical students at Bassett’s Cooperstown campus. Six students will begin next month and stay through July 2009.

By expanding its medical education program, Bassett is also helping to address the physician shortage, which is particularly acute in rural regions. The American Association of Medical Colleges has called for a 30 percent increase in the number of medical students over the next decade and for the creation of new clinical campuses like the one Bassett is establishing in Cooperstown. It will be the second clinical campus in New York state and one of 45 nationwide.

“This is an exciting time for Bassett and a new chapter in the academic mission established here more than 80 years ago when the hospital was founded,” said President and CEO Dr. William F. Streck. “We now have the opportunity to shape a new population of physicians by exposing medical students to the unique aspects of practicing within a real world, effective health delivery system in a rural area.” Streck explained that, “Because of its position as the largest and most comprehensive provider for thousands of patients living in a 5,000 square mile region, it’s not unusual for Bassett physicians to care for patients over their entire lifetime. What a great opportunity for medical students to experience the care of these individuals in the context of their families and communities.”

The third year track at Bassett’s clinical campus will include inpatient experiences to learn the emergent and hospital-based side of medicine, assignments to various outpatient clinics, and a four week family medicine block at one of Bassett’s 25 regional health centers. In addition, there is a physician mentorship component to the program. The students will be paired up with a physician who will serve as their mentor throughout the student’s experience, at work and in life.

Laura Schweitzer, Ph.D., and regional dean of the new medical school program, noted, “We designed the curriculum to help address the shortage of rural physicians. Because of the unique way that the curriculum is structured, students will follow patients throughout their treatment. Schweitzer said students will also benefit from training in the use of Bassett’s electronic medical record (EMR). “The curriculum will encourage the development of leaders in rural health by allowing them to understand the systems behind delivering care across a wide spectrum of providers. The end result will be a group of students who’ve had a real taste of rural medicine, but within the context of a modern health care delivery system. We hope the experience will encourage them to practice in a rural area after they graduate.”

The creation of the regional clinical campus at Bassett will allow Albany Medical College to increase enrollment by providing another location for clinical training. In addition to the six third year medical students coming this year, 12 students will be accepted into Bassett’s program each of the two following years, through July 2011.

“This is a great example of how collaboration can benefit our students by exposing them to an environment that is quite different from the urban environment of Albany. By having them immersed for an entire year in a rural health care setting such as Bassett’s in Cooperstown, our students will learn firsthand how to care for individuals throughout their entire continuum of care—at clinics as well as in the hospital, across all medical specialties,” said Vincent Verdile, M.D., dean of Albany Medical College. Another exciting aspect of this project is the fact that this innovative curriculum lends itself to research in medical education that will hopefully improve our understanding of how best to educate tomorrow’s physicians.”

Albany Medical College, which was founded in 1839 as one of the nation’s first private medical schools, has nearly 700 students. The College trains medical students and provides continuing medical education programs for area physicians. In addition to medical degrees, the College also offers master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral programs in the basic and clinical sciences, which includes educating nurse anesthetists and physician assistants.

Bassett Healthcare and affiliates is a system of physicians, providers, five hospitals, 25 community health centers and 13 school-based health centers in eight counties, covering 5,000 square miles. The Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital (doing business as Bassett Healthcare), the foundation for this network, is a 180-bed, acute care inpatient teaching facility in Cooperstown . The Bassett Clinic is located on the same campus as the hospital and provides outpatient primary and specialty care.