Our Partnership with Corewell Health

The MSU and Corewell Health relationship stems from two main efforts - the University President’s vision to expand the footprint of the university to better serve the state; and the West Michigan community’s ambitions to jump start their vision for a regional destination for health care. Grand Rapids community leadership believed a medical school was a foundational part of their vision and began conversations with university leadership and the College of Human Medicine in the mid-2000’s. As part of that effort, Corewell Health committed to providing additional clinical opportunities for students, providing up to $2 million/year for research partnerships, and $50 million over 20 years to pay off the debt of the construction of the Secchia Center in downtown Grand Rapids. That commitment to support was pivotal in bringing the College of Human Medicine to Grand Rapids.

Educational Initiatives

Grand Rapids Campus

As a community-based medical school, MSU’s College of Human Medicine has structures in place to manage the academic mission across eight communities throughout the state. That structure includes campuses which are led by a community assistant dean and a student programs administrator. These campuses also have several staff who do the challenging work of scheduling students, overseeing their completion of degree requirements, managing regional faculty, monitoring evaluations, and providing student support and services. These campuses are critical pieces of the College of Human Medicine’s infrastructure, and the health systems are highly valued partners. The community campus teams are responsible for the third- and fourth-year student experiences.

The college’s third- and fourth-year student campus in Grand Rapids was established in 1971 and later expanded to a campus for first- and second-year students in 2010. The community and college have undergone many changes, but the close partnership has adjusted and grown. In any given year, Corewell Health hosts more than 1,800 student placements throughout several locations. More than a quarter of College of Human students who train in Grand Rapids, eventually choose to practice within 50 miles of Grand Rapids. The leadership team includes Matt Emery, MD, community assistant dean and Holly Nysse and Corey Koperski, student programs administrators.

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Graduate Medical Education

The college is honored to affiliate with Corewell Health West’s 39 residency and fellowship training programs including emergency medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, OB/GYN, surgery, neurology and subspecialties associated with each of these specialties. More than 400 residents and fellows flourish in this dynamic environment and engage with College of Human Medicine students throughout the curriculum. These experiences have impacted our student match choices with a 5-year average of approximately 20 students per year selecting a Corewell Health West GME program.

More information about Medical Education at Corewell Health

Faculty appointments

The college and Corewell Health leadership have partnered to provide the exceptional Corewell-employed physicians, residents, fellows and researchers with the opportunity to apply for MSU faculty appointments. As of January 2026, we have more than 1,500 Corewell employees serving as MSU faculty. About 100 of these faculty are engaged in college mission-critical activities which qualify them for non-prefix status, meaning their academic ranks are not preceded by “clinical” or “adjunct” prefixes.

More information about faculty appointments

Research Initiatives

Corewell Health MSU Alliance

The Corewell Health/MSU Alliance Corporation is a 501c3 organization incorporated in 2006 as an agreement between Corewell Health and Michigan State University. The partnership supports the joint recruitment of physicians and researchers and provides collaborative research grants. Corewell Health and MSU each have committed up to $2 million each year and since 2007 the Alliance has funded more than $27 million in funding to jointly recruit researchers and provide funding for exploratory and developmental research projects, which have generated $38 million in grants to Corewell Health and MSU. The research foci for this partnership include the following:

• Women’s health and reproductive medicine
• Neuroscience, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases
• Pediatrics, including a focus on autism
• Cancer

More information about the Corewell Health MSU Alliance