Message from the Dean
For nearly 60 years, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine has been a training ground for physicians and scholars on the leading edges of medicine, health, and community service.
Over the years, we have expanded from our birthplace in East Lansing to our headquarters now in Grand Rapids. We have eight community campuses across the state of Michigan including Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Midland, Southeast Michigan, Traverse City, and the Upper Peninsula. Our active partnerships with hospitals, private practices, and other health care providers help to make the national movement toward "community-based" models of medical education possible. At the same time, we have invested in our research and scholarly capacity to become a leader in innovation, discovery, humanities, and advocacy in the areas of medicine and public health.
Building on these accomplishments, we have gathered perspectives from a broad array of constituents - students and alumni, faculty, academic staff, and support staff, as well as hospital, university, and community partners - to coalesce around key goal areas and cross cutting themes that are of shared interest across the college and university ecosystem.
To this end, it is my great pleasure to share with the Spartan community this proposed College of Human Medicine Strategic Plan for 2030 for faculty consideration. What follows is a high-level blueprint that will help the college focus its activities and investment over the next seven years. The plan draws the aspirations of our academic, research and clinical missions together in a single plan, acknowledging the interdependencies and the strengths we have working as one.
Through a series of generative conversations with a Strategic Planning Committee comprised of a diverse group of academic staff, support staff, faculty, students, and community, four key goal areas emerged: (1) student success, (2) staff and faculty success, (3) healthy communities, and (4) research and scholarship. These goal areas both intersect and overlap with the university’s own plans and set us on a path to continued growth and success over the next seven years. Core to the plan is establishing a Health Equity Grand Challenge, as well as policies and practices that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across the college. For the college, this means doubling down on existing efforts to address health disparities across our mission areas and making further investments in diversity, equity, and inclusion.
From educating tomorrow's physicians and engaging in ground-breaking research, to strengthening community partnerships and working toward a better tomorrow, our college is an extremely positive force for good in our state, the nation, and the world. I am confident about our future. I am certain of our dedication to our patients, our students, the public and each other—and for that I am enormously grateful.
We hope you will join us in this exciting moment for the college.
Aron Sousa, MD, FACP
Dean
Plan Mission and Diversity, Equity
and Inclusion Goals →