William Carey, SCRMC partner on program for med students to work, train alongside docs | Free News

Mississippi is often referred to as one of the unhealthiest states in the nation. It also has the lowest supply of primary-care physicians, per capita, in the nation. South Central Regional Medical Center and William Carey University are teaming up in an effort to do something about both.

On Tuesday, officials with both organizations announced a new partnership, with the William Carey College of Osteopathic Medicine establishing a hubsite at SCRMC.

Every year, 10 William Carey medical students will complete their third year of required clinical instruction at South Central, training alongside SCRMC doctors. They will rotate each month among disciplines such as pediatrics, family medicine, obstetrics and others.

“We hope they will become a part of the fabric of this area and stay here and practice here in the future,” said Dr. Italo Subbarao, dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine at William Carey. “We are working with SCRMC to become one of our core (i.e. one of our top sites).”

Creating a hubsite is the first step in what could lead to a potential full residency program in the near future.

“The hospital is in good hands, and we are excited for what this could mean,” Subbarao said.

The shortage of physicians, particularly in rural areas of the state, has been crippling to the healthcare needs of communities across Mississippi. An aging population coupled with a lack of students going into medicine make for an alarming prognosis in the access to quality care.

“When we say we are committed to changing that, this partnership is what that change looks like,” Subbarao said.

The partnership will provide a much-needed prescription for relief, as the WCU College of Osteopathic Medicine, which opened in 2010, is in the midst of an expansion that includes 70,000 more square feet to house the Institute for Primary Care. As a hubsite, SCRMC will provide training and mentoring opportunities for the additional medical students.

“This is the most difficult time in our history to be a patient, and it is the most difficult time to be a physician,” said Dr. Deepu Thoppil, SCRMC director of Medical Education. “I am very pleased to see this come to fruition. We share a common vision between William Carey and South Central, and that is to take the very best students and make them better.”

South Central CEO Gregg Gibbes said, “We decided as part of our strategic vision to be more intentional about training the next workforce of physicians. We understand the needs of our state and the physician shortages.

“We are proud to partner with William Carey. The expansion to the medical classes at William Carey is music to our ears.”

SCRMC became the logical choice for the new hubsite, officials agreed.

William Carey leaders said that the health system was chosen because of its high quality of care.

“It’s a rural hospital with a very high quality of care,” Subbarao said. “It’s regional and close to our medical school, and for us, we share the mission of serving the underserved.”

For SCRMC, the partnership will provide a helping hand in physician recruitment. The goal is to inspire, Thoppil said.

“Not just inspire physicians to be the best, to compete at a national level and to provide cutting-edge medicine,” Thoppil said. “More than anything else, I want to inspire the students to come back home so they can be a part of our communities.”

The first cohort of Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine candidates will begin at SCRMC in July.

This is just the opening phase of the strategic growth plan for SCRMC, Gibbes said. A residency program is the next step in that plan, and the vision is to make healthcare more sustainable not just in this area, but in the entire state, he added.

“The needs of our people in Mississippi are dire,” Thoppil said. “And we will meet those needs, because the people demand it.”

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