New tech-centered medical college aims to combat physician shortage

The Medical College of Wisconsin has a new technology-loaded campus that will help students complete their medical degree in record time.
Housed in the recently renovated, 150,000 square-foot Science Center at St. Norbert College, the newly-finished medical campus — which was unveiled to the public on Oct. 23 — spans 5,500 square feet and features large, wall-to-wall, high-definition televisions, high-end cameras,and state-of-the-art, multi-directional teleconferencing technologies in every classroom space.
The facility is part of a combined effort program with Wisconsin medical schools and health establishments to combat the ongoing physician shortage in the state. The classroom will provide space for more students and will allow them to finish their degree in just three years. On top of building the medical center, the colleges are working with community professionals, developing them into academic teachers, and building a new educational model.
The Medical College of Wisconsin has two main campuses in Milwaukee and in Green Bay. The new center at St. Norbert College will serve as a remote site that will allow for 20-25 additional students, according to Matthew Hunsaker, dean for the Green Bay campus.
The program currently has around 1,900 applicants for the three-year program beginning July 2015. The school model, Hunsaker says, uses time more efficiently by eliminating summer breaks and saving each student a year’s worth of tuition—roughly $50,000.
“We want to provide as many students as possible with a high-quality, low-cost medical education,” says Hunsaker. “The curriculum delivery is a little different, but the standards and educational materials are identical.”
The satellite campus, Hunsaker says, will capture lectures in real time. The recordings will be available to students after class. They will also have access to lecture notes, handouts and other classroom materials, on any computer, tablet or smartphone using fingerprint identification technology.
Instead of building an entirely new campus, college officials wanted to come up with an immediate, cost-efficient solution for the physician shortage. Hunsaker says that’s partly why they decided to partner with local colleges and health care providers to provide the clinical spaces and staff for the facility. The Medical College of Wisconsin is currently working with St. Norbert College, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and Bellin College, as well as Prevea Health and Bellin Health.
The new campus cost around $11 million, including the cost of staff and curriculum development, according to Maureen Mack, director of media relations. The curriculum, Hunsaker says, will allow students to complete their general education classes quickly, and begin practical, bedside training sooner.
“This helps students to mature and develop the clinical skills that they need and get them in to the workforce as soon as possible,” says Hunsaker.
The use of technology, specifically the video conferencing, will also allow the school to bring in the best lecturers for a particular subject, rather than limiting themselves to the ones locally available. Each class will have a consistent professor, Hunsaker says, but the program will focus on bringing in and connecting students with professionals who can best teach them the skills they need.
“We are moving further away from the traditional lecture,” says Hunsaker. “We’ll now have the ability to present a higher quality of medical training with the use of meaningful technology.”
Julia Furtado, a prospective medical student and graduate from the University of New England, said her experience working in a doctor’s office has completely transitioned from paper charting to electronic medical records. She says she thinks giving students early exposure to high-tech learning environments will make them more successful after graduation.
“Being efficient on the computer makes us work faster and makes us more affective in patient care,” says Furtado. “We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without our electronic system and I think that implementing technology into the classroom is a smart move in medical school.”
The effort, however, goes beyond exposing students to technology. The tools, Hunsaker said, are intended to help overcome a shortage of physicians in Wisconsin. Currently, 400 new physicians graduate annually from Wisconsin’s two medical schools, he says, which will leave a shortfall of more than 2,000 physicians by 2030.
According to a recent physician supply and demand report by the Association of American Medical Colleges, the United States will face a shortage of more than 130,600 physicians by 2025.
Health care partners in the state and beyond see great potential in the campus and program. Therese Pandl, president and CEO of Hospital Sister Health System in eastern Wisconsin, says she believes high number and quality of students will improve the caliber of care for residents throughout the state.
However, not all students think an expedited degree is the best way to address America’s physician shortage. Kyle Jackson, a senior pre-med student at the University of Connecticut, said the focus should be on acceptance rates.
“I think it would be better if medical schools simply increased their enrollments,” said Jackson. “It might seem kind of idealistic, but accommodations need to be made to meet the demand.”
Once administrators at the Medical School of Wisconsin have perfected their new curriculum and learning model, Hunsaker says the focus will shift towards the number of resources and capacity. For now, he says the idea is to work to connect students with community partners.
“Our goal is to provide high-quality education with the intention that they will return to their local communities and serve them,” says Hunsaker. “We want to improve health professions across the state.”