Dean's Update
December 6, 2024 - Aron Sousa, MD
(L-R back row) Mark Largent, vice provost for undergraduate education and dean of undergraduate studies for MSU, Amber Heard-Booth, PhD, interim assistant dean of admissions for MSU College of Human Medicine, Jennifer Berne, PhD, OCC provost, Jolene Chapman, OCC associate provost, Arlynn Dailey, community engagement and outreach administrator-Detroit for MSU College of Human Medicine. (front row) Aron Sousa, MD, dean, MSU College of Human Medicine, and Peter Provenzano Jr., chancellor of Oakland Community College.
Dear Friends,
This week, I had the pleasure of visiting Oakland Community College (OCC) to celebrate signing an Early Assurance Program (EAP) agreement with our partners at OCC. Before the signing, I had the chance to meander through the buildings at their Auburn Hills campus (one of five (!) OCC campuses). I walked quite a distance through their buildings and even had the chance to check out some areas twice, as I found my way to the signing ceremony. Along the way, the buildings were full of students. They were studying, they were working in groups, there was an ensemble of strings players accompanied by a piano in a common area. As an educator, the place felt great to me! As I wandered, several digital maps did their best to assist me in finding my way to the ceremony and later back to my car. As I studied one of these maps, I overheard some students talking a bit down the way from me. At first, I thought they were just gossiping; the conversation had a conspiratorial cadence. But, on a second listen, they were excitedly discussing the school kids they had worked with as part of a class earlier in the day. Quoth one, “If I get to work with the kids each week, I just feel better.” Isn’t that grand‽
Oakland Community College Chancellor Peter Provenzano and Provost Jennifer Berne, PhD, were excellent hosts and partners as our teams put the EAP agreement together with Amber Heard-Booth, PhD, our interim assistant dean for admissions, and Arlynn Dailey, our Detroit-based community engagement and outreach administrator taking the lead for us.
The Early Assurance Program helps students from disadvantaged backgrounds (first gen college, eligible for Pell Grants, from underserved rural and urban communities, high schools with large free school lunch participation, etc.) and those interested in working with underserved communities get mentoring, advising and a pathway into our MD class. We have EAP agreements with most of the four-year colleges and universities in the state. Interested, qualifying students apply to EAP in winter of their junior year of college and receive a conditional admission to the College of Human Medicine dependent on their future MCAT and senior year performance. The community college EAP partnerships help prepare students for their EAP year before they transfer to a four-year college. In case you are curious, these students are awesome and do really well in medical school.
In addition to Oakland, we have community college EAP partnerships with Northwestern Michigan College, Bay Mills, Mott, and Grand Rapids Community Colleges. We hope to get Lansing Community College signed up soon. Each year about 10% of our class comes through the EAP programs we have signed with four-year colleges and the community colleges. As the state makes in-district community colleges tuition free, we expect more students bound for medical school will start their careers in community colleges. And this may be even more likely for first generation students from underserved communities we have been serving for so long. There is a wonderful confluence of mission between the opportunity provided by community colleges and the engine of opportunity at the College of Human Medicine…how many medical school deans get to say that?
The community outreach and engagement of these programs follows the well-worn path of community engagement we do so well. In our 60-year history, educational partnerships have been the basis of our community work, but we have long sought research networks and partnerships across the state as well. I’m excited to report the MSU Department of Family Medicine is launching the MSU Primary Care Research Collaborative (MSU-PCRC) as a new practice-based research initiative. The collaborative will operate in all eight of our community campuses and is registered with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
The collaborative is directed by Yasi Zamani-Hank, PhD (’22), MPH and runs on the good work of the MSU Department of Family Medicine, the MSU Family Medicine Residency Network (FMRN), the MSU Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and a boost from the dean’s office. If you are interested in becoming involved in primary care research or want to learn more, please contact msu.pcrc@msu.edu or check out the website.
The PCRC is designed to enhance research capacity in primary care settings, promote research scholarship in graduate medical education, and optimize patient care, public health, and community health outcomes. It is exactly the kind of effort we want for the 10 million Michiganders we serve. You will recognize these goals from our strategic plan, which you all have been studying diligently.
Serving the people with you,
Aron
Aron Sousa, MD, FACP
Dean, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine