By Sarah Bruyn Jones
The Roanoke Times
ROANOKE
When class begins at 8 a.m. Monday, the relationship between
Virginia Tech and Roanoke will enter a new phase as 42 students
start medical school.
The newly minted Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine marks
a significant undertaking for Virginia Tech and Carilion Clinic,
which formed the public-private partnership as a way to boost their
individual organizations and the region's economy.
It also has significant implications for the larger community
that reach beyond the obvious goal of educating doctors. For many in
the community, VTC marks a way to better connect the Roanoke and New
River valleys.
Already, the name recognition of Virginia Tech among students
helped attract the first class. Lindsay Makara, 22, said the
connection to Tech took some of the risk out of being part of a
startup medical school.
"Because it is Virginia Tech, to me it is a little more stable,"
she said. "I have pretty good faith in them. They all came from good
backgrounds, and I think they know what they are doing. ... It seems
very well designed."
Makara, who has an undergraduate degree in biology from the
University of Virginia, moved last weekend to Roanoke and said she
is proud to be part of the school's inaugural class. She applied to
21 schools and said VTC became her top choice after she visited for
her interview.
"It just seems really new and fresh and exciting, and that they
have some different ideas about med school," she said.
VTC is part of a boom of new medical schools to open across the
country after nearly 30 years of stagnant growth. These new schools,
more than a dozen of which are in the works, are seeking to fill a
need that has been growing in American health care for decades.
When Carilion Clinic CEO Dr. Ed Murphy and Virginia Tech
President Charles Steger first broached the subject of opening a new
medical school, they were aware of the need for more doctors.
In June 2006, citing evidence of a national physician shortage,
the Association of American Medical Colleges called for enrollment
at U.S. medical schools to increase 30 percent by 2015. The
association specifically asked for new allopathic, or traditional,
medical schools, as well as increased enrollment at existing
schools.
In January 2007, Murphy and Steger announced their vision for VTC
in Roanoke.
Steger said research is key to putting VTC on the map.
"We have a chance to really plow some new ground," he said. "It's
an exciting time."
There is a move away from the traditional medical school
curriculum that focuses on two years of scientific foundations and
two years of practical experience in a clinical setting.
VTC has embraced the newer concepts, choosing to focus on
clinical experiences to better teach the biology that all doctors
must know.
All 42 students will follow the same schedule of course work.
Together, they will attend lectures, take anatomy and choose
research projects.
They will also learn various aspects of medicine by solving case
studies each week. The students will be broken up into groups, where
they will help diagnose a patient by learning about his or her
condition from various clues, such as test results and symptoms.
Each Friday, the students will meet the patient, or the patient's
family, on which the week's lesson was based. Nearly all of the
cases are based on area patients.
Students will research and teach topics that will help them to
understand the patient's condition.
"The word doctor means teacher. Not everyone knows that," said
Richard Vari, VTC's associate dean for medical education. "And you
have to be a good teacher to be a good doctor."
Vari will be among six facilitators helping the students work in
the small groups. Some of the facilitators are physicians, but some,
like Vari, are not.
Vari came to Roanoke from the University of North Dakota School
of Medicine & Health Sciences, where he was part of a team to change
the curriculum from a traditional-based lecture system to the
patient-centered model.
"I think everybody would do this if they could, if they see it,"
Vari said of the new approach to teaching.
Many of the more than 350 faculty members are doctors at Carilion
or professors at Virginia Tech. Each student will be paired with a
doctor mentor.
Even as the school's doors open Monday for the first class, the
administration is already preparing for next year.
More than 500 applications are being reviewed, and 40 potential
students have been invited to interview Aug. 28 for a spot in next
year's class.
For the first class, about 1,650 applications were received.
(C) 2010 The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, Norfolk, VA. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved