March 7, 2007

Med school draws suitors; Colleges, hospitals compete for MSU satellite campus

The opportunity for Metro Detroit to host a satellite campus of Michigan State University\'s medical school is drawing some competition. Colleges and hospitals from three counties are interested in plans by MSU to train about 50 osteopathic medical students in southeastern Michigan. For the DMC, interest in the MSU satellite campus has strained relations with Wayne State, which trains future DMC physicians. Mike Duggan, chief executive officer of the Detroit Medical Center, said Hutzel Hospital would be an ideal site -- for both the DMC and Detroit. Hutzel is used as an office building and as a center for training with the Wayne State University School of Medicine. Dr. Robert Frank, executive vice dean at Wayne State's School of Medicine, said the satellite campus would be better off somewhere else. WSU recently expanded its program by 30 students, and there just isn\'t enough room for 100 MSU medical students, he said. \"We have to place essentially 1,200 students -- some in lectures part of the time, some in hospitals, some in doctor\'s offices,\" Frank said. \"We have a huge need for faculty and spaces in hospitals for these kids to be able to learn.\" Two photos are included showing WSU first-year medical students in classroom settings.

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