UMass Chan, Lahey Medical Center get final approval for a regional campus
WORCESTER — UMass Chan Medical School announced Thursday it joined forces with Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, part of Beth Israel Lahey Health, to form a regional medical campus in Burlington.
The Liaison Committee on Medical Education that accredits medical schools in the U.S. and Canada approved the move.
UMass Chan signed a partnership agreement with Lahey in December and needed the liaison committee to approve the plans.
Why the partnership?
Leaders of both institutions praised the new regional campus as a boon for medical education that will provide high-quality patient care.
“The new regional campus will build on UMass Chan and Lahey’s shared vision to educate future generations of physicians grounded in evidence-based, patient-centered, multispecialty and interprofessional practice, and to meet the diverse needs of our communities,” said UMass Chan Chancellor Michael Collins in a prepared statement.
A prepared statement by Susan Moffatt-Bruce, president of Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, said: “The UMass Chan-Lahey campus will help further our mission of delivering extraordinary care for the patients we serve by focusing on training leaders who are ready to address and advance solutions for the future challenges in health care.”
Will there be new programs?
The regional campus will include a new educational track called LEAD@Lahey. Students will start the program in August 2024 and follow the core curriculum of UMass Chan with a focus on leadership, health systems science and interprofessional education.
The goal is to prepare students to lead and create solutions to future health care challenges. Students will finish their third-year clerkship rotations and most of their fourth-year rotations under the supervision of Lahey faculty and clerkship site directors.
Are there other programs?
Others focus areas at the Burlington campus include increasing diversity in the health professions, creating a new institute for health care delivery science and quantitative science research hub to foster innovation in digital medicine and health care delivery, and addressing the shortage of primary care and specialty care doctors.
The shortage is on the radar of the Association of American Medical Colleges. It estimated a doctor shortage up to 124,000 by 2034 including in primary and specialty care.
Other efforts include making medical education more affordable and accessible, and applying evidence-based care and academic research to cut health disparities and improve health care delivery.
This is UMass Chan's second regional campus, following Baystate Health in Springfield, established in 2015. That campus is focused on health care disparities specific to urban and rural communities.
Contact Henry Schwan at henry.schwan@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @henrytelegram
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: UMass Chan & Lahey Medical create new regional campus
