Thursday, April 26, 2012

Marian: Building Bridges, Med school

by Michael Schrader

With accreditation expected over the summer and the prospected
opening of the Michael A. Evans Center for Health Sciences in July
of 2013, Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine has already
started building connections with the Indianapolis community and other universities.

President Dan Elsener expressed the idea for MUCOM came from a three-step plan: there is a need, there is a passion around that need,
and finding the economic engine that can drive that need into a reality.

Currently, the need is not only in the Indianapolis community, but
across the state.

“The Average person 65 years or older goes to the doctor eight times
a year,” said Elsener, who went on to address that currently there is a larger population in this age group that will need physicians.

Elsener also stated that Indiana is both ranked 42nd in the nation in
the number of physicians per hundred residents and is the only state
that has just one medical school. This is where MUCOM began building connections. Health Care corporations around the state,
such as St. Vincent, Lily Corp, and Hill-Rom, have expressed interest
in funding the construction of the new Center for Health Sciences.

From the planning stages, Elsener said that MUCOM has been in cooperation with IU Medical School Dean Craig Brater.

“We’ll even share some faculty and we’ll probably share some labs,”
said Brater.

Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine dean Paul Evans, D.O., also stressed that MUCOM is making larger connections on the academic sphere.

In the March issue of DO Magazine, a national osteopathic medicine magazine, an article was published on MUCOM, said Evans. The article notes how MUCOM is looking to fill the gap in the ratio of physicians to residents in Indiana and provide another in-state option for local pre-med students.

Evans further stated, MUCOM will be working in partnership with Michigan State University for clerkship and medical education aspects
of their training network. However, MUCOM is not only going to strengthen ties on the outside, it will also strengthen connections
between the schools at Marian.


“We are going to hire 17 full time PhD biomedical faculty scientists.
They will teach, but they will also do research,” said Evans.

“By doing research here, we are going to renovate some of the labs
in Marian Hall but we are going to add a new wing onto Marian Hall for a new science facility,” said Evans.

Also, there will be an opening of a graduate masters program for
Biomedicine associated with the medical school.With its completion, the nursing program will move into the Center for Health Sciences and
nursing students will be engaged with classes with medical students
called Inter Professional Education courses, said Evans.

President Elsener and Dean Evans mentioned that there has been interest in making international connections through students, but
so far, MUCOM directly has not made those connections.