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Quinnipiac University received approval from the State Board of Education Wednesday to award a medical degree. Sixty students are expected to begin classes at Quinnipiac’s medical school next August.
The Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine will become Connecticut’s third medical school.
Dr. Bruce Koeppen is founding dean.
"The school is going to focus on training, in the trenches if you will, practicing physicians with a focus on primary care. Given the other health professions programs here at Quinnipiac we also want to emphasize inter-professional education."
Doctors will practice team care once they graduate he says, so they’ll be taught that way too.
"...medical students with nursing students with physician’s assistance students, because medicine is increasingly becoming a team sport."
The U.S. is facing a physician’s shortage. Baby boomers are entering the Medicare system. The Affordable Health Care act will also increase demand. And Dr. Koeppen says about 40% of the nation’s doctors are baby boomers, themselves.
"So you have an influx of patients who need the care and you’ve got a large segment of the physician workforce that are going to retire. And so because of that, the Association of American Medical Colleges has urged existing medical schools to increase class size and has encouraged the formation of new schools."
Quinnipiac’s program is one of 18 new medical schools in development across the country.
