By James T. Hammond
Published April 18, 2011
An operating agreement for an expanded medical campus in Greenville was approved Friday by the governing boards of the University of South Carolina and Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center.
The proposed medical education program would be a part of the USC School of Medicine, but would bring hundreds of medical students to the Greenville Memorial Hospital campus, in a program to be paid for by GHS.
The accord is not the final hurdle for the proposed medical school in Greenville. The program still must win approval of the state Commission on Higher Education and the national board that certifies and accredits medical education programs in the United States. But Friday’s agreement does put the two institutions on the same sheet of music as they prepare to implement the program.
A planning self-study must go to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, or LCME, for approval. LCME is the national accrediting body for medical schools.
The agreement calls for a joint board that USC Provost Michael Amiridis described as an advisory committee.
The agreement also spells out guidelines for curriculum development, with “significant focus” on: electronic communication; team-based care; evidence-based and standardized practice; prevention and wellness; chronic disease management; coordination of the continuum of care; population-based health; and overall awareness of the current health care environment.
GHS officials planning the medical education program have said they want a different kind of medical school that emphasizes team-based treatment that is holistic in its approach to the patient, rather than traditional methods that too often treat specific diseases and illnesses in isolation.
The USC-GHS agreement also sets out a goal of “education of students about cost-conscious care.”
The agreement also spells out the terms for the founding dean to be appointed by the USC Provost, in consultation with the chief executive officer of GHS.
The 35-page agreement also deals with such issues as responsibility for private fund-raising, marketing and co-branding the new medical program.
The agreement also states that neither USC nor GHS will seek taxpayer funds from the General Assembly to pay for the Greenville medical campus operations.
Nationwide, medical schools are being urged to increase medical school enrollments to help prevent a predicted 124,000-doctor shortfall in 2025. Officials have said expanding USC’s medical campus could significantly increase the number of doctors practicing in South Carolina. The expansion could help increase the number of physicians graduating from the USC School of Medicine by at least 30%.
Approximately one-third of USC’s third- and four-year medical students already train at GHS. The proposal calls for USC to add first- and second-year medical school training at GHS, meaning that medical students could complete all four years of study at GHS. Some USC pharmacy, nursing and allied health students also train at GHS.
The two institutions have had a cooperative program since 1991, comprising about 40 medical students. The new agreement will push the numbers of medical students in Greenville sharply higher, eventually to about 400.
Yes