Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine

Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed) is a private nonprofit medical school located in Kalamazoo, in the US state of Michigan. WMed was established in 2012, and confers the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree. WMed is a collaboration between Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo's two teaching hospitals, Borgess Health and Bronson Healthcare. The school holds preliminary status accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. The inaugural class of 54 students started in August 2014.

WMed is a private nonprofit school supported by private gifts, clinical revenue, research activity, student tuition, and endowment income. In March 2011, Western Michigan University received a gift of $100 million for the medical school from the Stryker family.

Campus

WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine is housed in four locations in Kalamazoo, Michigan including a medical education facility on Portage Street in downtown Kalamazoo, and clinical sites on Oakland Drive, the Family Health Center on Paterson Street, and on the Borgess Medical Center Campus on Shaffer Street. The home of the new medical school includes the WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine Clinics, a modern 60,000 square foot clinical building on the Oakland Drive Campus, and a seven-story 350,000 square foot educational building in downtown Kalamazoo that was donated by MPI Research. Located on the new W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus, the educational building underwent a $68 million renovation and expansion project and opened in June 2014. A second phase of renovations began in 2015 to provide basic science laboratory research space and equipment.^[2]

History

The city of Kalamazoo, Michigan has a history of excellence in education, health care, research and life science exploration – all of which are assets for the development of a new medical school. Recognizing these assets, in 2007 the new president of Western Michigan University, John M. Dunn, challenged the community to consider the possibility of developing a medical school during his first academic convocation and state of the university address that October. Dunn's address sparked community interest and within six weeks a Medical School Feasibility Committee was formed. Consultants were retained to conduct detailed feasibility assessments in 2008 with funding provided by the local Kalamazoo Community Foundation. By January 2009, the feasibility studies confirmed what Dunn had observed during his short time in southwest Michigan – Kalamazoo has substantial existing assets and the necessary building blocks for developing an outstanding medical school. The assets in the community include: a nationally recognized university, nationally recognized hospitals, a 39-year history of medical education, multiple outpatient facilities, a strong base of physicians with patient volume and mix, a century-long heritage of drug discovery and medical device development, a strong base of community philanthropy, and a vibrant, committed and supportive city.

With a commitment of collaboration from Western Michigan University, Borgess Health, and Bronson Healthcare, the medical school moved from merely an idea to a planned approach for development of Western Michigan University School of Medicine (WMed). In November 2009, an anonymous donation of $1.8 million was made to support efforts to plan for the new medical school. A committee composed of the chief executive officers of Borgess Health, Bronson Healthcare, and the president of Western Michigan University began to meet regularly to guide the development process. In 2010, WMed was awarded Applicant Status by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, a search committee was developed to recruit the school's founding dean, and Jack Luderer, MD was named interim dean. A Steering and Visioning Committee, later renamed the Institutional Setting Committee, included a broader group of the senior leadership of the three organizations. Following a national search with multiple on-site interviews of the candidates, Hal B. Jenson, MD, MBA was named as the founding dean of Western Michigan University School of Medicine in January 2011 and began March 22, 2011.

In March 2011, WMed received a $100 million anonymous cash gift.^[3] This anonymous gift was the largest ever made to a Michigan college or university, among the 10 largest cash gifts ever made to an American public university, and the 15th largest cash gift in the history of American higher education. The gift proceeds remain invested in a dedicated reserve and both the investment return and principal is available for the unrestricted use of WMed.

December 8, 2011 marked another major milestone in the history of WMed. At the WMU Board of Trustees meeting, William U. Parfet, the chairman and chief executive officer of MPI Research and the great-grandson of W.E. Upjohn, donated to WMU a 330,000 square foot building located in downtown Kalamazoo that will serve as the future home of WMed.^[4] This property, which is on the original plot of land acquired by W.E. Upjohn to begin the Upjohn Co., housed at the very research facility where Motrin, Xanax, Halcion, Rogaine, and Zyvox were discovered. Locally known as Pfizer Building 267, the property is adjacent to Bronson and only three miles from Borgess, two miles from WMU, and the WMed Oakland Drive campus.

In October 12, 2012, a groundbreaking ceremony was held at the site of the new medical school building on the W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus, which opened in June 2014, two months prior to the arrival of WMed's first medical school class in August 2014. During the groundbreaking ceremony, Dean Jenson announced that WMed was granted preliminary accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, an important step, as WMed moves forward to recruit its first class of medical students.

Today, WMed, has 206 MD and DO resident physicians training in the following residency programs: Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, General Surgery, Internal Medicine, Medicine-Pediatrics, Orthopaedic Surgery, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Transitional Year programs, along with a Sports Medicine Fellowship and an EMS Fellowship. WMed has utilized electronic medical patient records since 2002 and provides a state-of-the-art Simulation Center for resident and medical student training that is one of the largest in the country.

On March 11, 2014, the University announced that the school would be named in honor of Dr. Homer Stryker, the Kalamazoo orthopaedic surgeon and medical device innovator who founded the Stryker Corporation.^[5] At the same time it was announced that the original $100 Million gift for the foundation of the school had been donated by Stryker's granddaughter, Ronda Stryker, and her husband, William Johnston.

Michigan State University Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies (MSU/KCMS)

The Michigan State University Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies (MSU/KCMS) Board of Directors approved the merger of the institution into WMed effective July 1, 2012. Under the terms of the merger, all MSU/KCMS operations, programs, personnel and facilities are wholly merged into and become part of WMed. This merger included the clinical education and patient care programs, administrative functions, 223 staff, 200 residents and 61 full-time employed faculty. In addition, there are more than 420 clinical faculty members as physicians in the community who volunteer their time and extend the educational experiences for medical students and residents into their private offices.

1946 In 1946, The Upjohn Company, The Kalamazoo Foundation and The W.E. Upjohn Trustee Corporation contributed to a grant establishing the first graduate medical education program in Kalamazoo: a residency in internal medicine at Bronson Methodist Hospital. Shortly thereafter, Borgess Medical Center began its internship and residency training programs.

In considering the impact of graduate medical education in Kalamazoo, the Upjohn board wrote "the institutions as well as the communities they serve benefit richly from the services of resident staffs, and the quality of medical care rises sharply under the responsibility posed by teaching."

The board had the foresight to recognize that the presence of graduate medical education in Kalamazoo would significantly contribute to its reputation as a medical community, rich in hospital resources in businesses such as the Pharmacia & Upjohn, Inc., and the Stryker Corporation.

1958 For many years, Borgess and Bronson independently offered numerous internship and residency programs. In 1966, the first joint residency between hospitals - the Orthopaedic Surgery Program - was created.

The selfless contributions of people like Dr. Curtis Hanson, who proposed this program and subsequently served 24 years as the Orthopaedic Residency Program chief, created a rich heritage for the medical community in Kalamazoo. Given the success of the ortho residency and a shared desire to strengthen graduate medical education in Kalamazoo, in 1973 both hospitals agreed to form a joint venture, non-profit organization devoted to medical education: the Southwestern Michigan Area Health Education Center (SMAHEC). SMAHEC's corporate structure was not conducive to responding to national changes in health care. In 1989, the organization restructured, with the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University added as a corporation partner, and reemerged under a new name: Michigan State University Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies.

The appellation aptly reflected the renewed direction of the organization. Michigan State University designated a truly academic focus of the corporation, including serving as a clinical campus of the MSU medical school and having faculty appointed by the university in all teaching roles.

In 1994, the clinics and administrative offices, which had been scattered throughout the city, came together under one roof. The University Medical and Health Sciences Center on Oakland Drive would offer state-of-the-art learning facilities and position the institution to continue medical student and physician training in a world of healthcare increasingly focused on outpatient care. The building's name symbolized the symbiotic relationship of two universities, two hospitals, and medicine and health.

2012 Kalamazoo's two health systems - Borgess Health and Bronson Healthcare - have decades of collaboration in providing undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education in Kalamazoo. Indeed, Kalamazoo has lacked only the first two years of medical school. The senior leaders from both health systems, along with the president of WMU, recognized that a medical school best positions southwest Michigan to provide the latest care to patients and remain a leader in health care for generations to come. A medical school culture fosters medical advancement as faculty are actively engaged in discovery and moving medical care forward while the best medical students catalyze the system through youthful inquisitiveness. A medical school attracts the intellectual talent that Kalamazoo and the region require to remain competitive. Stryker, Pfizer, MPI Research, Perrigo and the younger life science start-up companies best illustrate the local culture of innovation and discovery. But there is a need for continuous infusion of new talent and innovation to be competitive in the global market place. A medical school provides this foundation.

A medical school would be the catalyst to bring together the educational and research capabilities of the region and create a Health Sciences Center for southwest Michigan. A Health Sciences Center provides a mechanism for several independent entities – Western Michigan University, Borgess, Bronson and others – to collaborate in education and research while at the same time maintaining complete autonomy in other areas such as patient care delivery. Within the Kalamazoo community, business leaders and local citizens soon realized that a new medical school would contribute to the national need for physicians and also bring benefits to the Kalamazoo community and southwest Michigan. Taken together, a nationally recognized university, state-of-the-art award winning hospitals, a long history of medical education, talented physicians, a community heritage of scientific discovery and development, community philanthropy, and a thriving city provide the assets from which to successfully launch a new medical school. Within the Kalamazoo community, business leaders and local citizens soon realized that a new medical school would contribute to the national need for physicians and also bring benefits to the Kalamazoo community and southwest Michigan.

Effective July 1, 2012 the MSU/KCMS organization was merged into the medical school. The merger included the clinical education and patient care programs, administrative functions, faculty, staff and significant infrastructure.

Accreditation

Medical school

In 2012, WMU School of Medicine was granted preliminary accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME),^[6] the national accrediting body for educational programs leading to the MD degree. The LCME determined that the medical school meets the standards outlined in the LCME document, "Guidelines for New and Developing Medical Schools." This is important because the medical school was able to continue with its development efforts, to recruit students and accept applications for its first class that started in August 2014.

Graduate medical education

Residency programs at WMed are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The family medicine^[7] and internal medicine^[8] residencies are dually accredited by the ACGME and the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). The traditional internship is accredited by the AOA.^[9]

Continuing education

Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine Office of Continuing Education (CE) is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). The medical school can approve CME activities for AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM.

Patient care

WMed Clinics are accredited by The Joint Commission, an independent organization that evaluates and accredits more than 18,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation's oldest and largest standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. To earn and maintain The Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval, an organization must undergo an on-site survey by The Joint Commission at least every three years.

WMed Clinics are also certified by The Joint Commission as a Primary Care Medical Home. Primary Care Medical Home (PCMH), based on the organization's focus on care coordination, access to care, and effective interdisciplinary teamwork in partnership with the patient and their families.

References

External links

• Official website