To help address a possible shortage of primary care physicians in the future, UMMC today announced a partnership with Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine to transform the local hospital into a teaching hospital.
UMMC completed a credentialing process by American Osteopathic Association in August and will begin accepting medical students in residence in 2013.
“This is an exciting moment for United Memorial Medical Center,” said President and CEO Mark C. Schoell (top photo). “As a teaching hospital, United Memorial will be at the forefront of the latest medical developments and be able to provide improved quality of care; advanced treatment therapies; a shorter length of stay for major illnesses; and achieve superior outcomes and survival rates for our patients.”
Dr. Anna Lamb, herself an osteopathic doctor, said the announcement today is "awesome" news for Batavia.
"We need to grow our own," Lamb said. "We’re going to have significant primary care shortage in the next few years as some of our physicians are getting a little older. We have to grow our own. Batavia is just not on people’s radar, so we have to get people in here to see it, to like it, and as Dr. Terry said, 'if we grow our own, they’ll stay here.'"
Dr. Richard Terry also said that local kids with medical aspirations will now have a way to complete their education locally and stay in their hometown, if they choose that route.
UMMC will use a variety of incentives, such as student loan repayment, to help convince residents to stay in Batavia and become primary care physicians.
Many young doctors, Schoell said, no longer want to go into private practice and would rather work for a medical institution.
The reason, he said, are reductions in government medical reimbursements, increasing regulation and the difficulty inherent in owning and running your own business.
There will be four residents accepted for each year of the program (for an eventual total of 12). They will reside in the community and receive compensation and benefits from United Memorial while participating in the program.
Serving as program director for United Memorial is Laurie Kilbury-Taylor, D.O. Dr. Kilbury-Taylor is an emergency room physician at United Memorial with the group FDR Medical. She is a graduate of the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine and holds additional degrees including a master of science degree from the State University of New York-Roswell Park Division, and bachelor of science degrees in Biology and Engineering.
The first year of residency emphasizes the inpatient experience. For second-year residents,a significant emphasis is placed on taking more clinical responsibilities and enhancing decision-making skills. There are four months of inpatient medicine where residents are the primary physicians for their patients.
Each resident will manage his/her own inpatient service with supervision by an attending physician. The third-year resident has a significant role in teaching and supervising junior residents and assumes direct responsibility for leading the Medicine Teaching Service and Family Medicine Inpatient Teaching Service.
Individuals who have completed a baccalaureate program and wish to pursue a career as a physician in the United States must be accepted to and complete an additional four-year course of study at an accredited osteopathic medical school in order to continue in the osteopathic residency program.
