Casey Shortt

University President Michael Rao said he was skeptical about having a medical school in Mount Pleasant when the concept came up four years ago.

The projected shortage of doctors in northern Michigan has since replaced his skepticism with passion.

“This is something that my human gut, based on a lot of information I’ve gathered over the last two years in particular, continues to point to,” he said in an interview with Central Michigan Life. “This is something that is a matter of survival for our region.”

Rao said Central Michigan University’s Medical School project has continued to progress since its approval at the Sept. 18 Board of Trustees meeting.

He said the next move will be an official announcement to the Liaison Committee for Medical Education, its accreditor, of the university’s intentions to move forward on the plan.

“That comes with a $25,000 fee that the institution pays to the LCME … and then the clock starts ticking,” he said.

Following the payment, Rao said CMU will submit a database of information to LCME outlining the educational experiences a medical student will have at CMU and how the university will achieve its intended outcomes for each student.

Currently, university representatives are working together to develop a curriculum for the school, one which will then determine funding that is needed for its programs, he said.

“Curriculum drives everything, including what the facility might look like, which is obviously not near done,” he said. “Curriculum will also develop what your expenses are because of how you teach and the kinds of things you do with students and what size groupings you have them in … will determine those expenses.”

Rao said CMU has entered into agreements to discuss the possibility of a partnership for the school with both St. Mary’s Hospital and Convenant Medical Center in Saginaw. The two hospitals together have formed an education alliance, he said.

Funding for the school will come in part from its partners, but also from donors, Rao said.

Although an official fundraising campaign has not yet begun, he said, university officials conducted a feasibility survey to gain a feel for public perception of the school and how willing people are to donate to the effort.

“We’re not far along enough in the process conceptually to move and inspire people,” Rao said. “What you have to do is develop a concept that moves people along, and the medical school concept is not one we feel we are in a position yet to do any asking.”

He said although some construction costs will be one-time, other operating costs will come due on a regular basis.

CMU can use capital funds for certain developments, but the university must form a strong base it can trust for long-term financial support, Rao said.

“You don’t want to put the university in a position five years out where although you may have done some things that made people really excited and happy for the moment, you’ve done it with one-time money that just vanishes,” he said. “You want to do it with money that is going to be a steady stream for an ongoing period of time.”

Rao said he is confident in the medical school to address a physician shortage the state will grapple with for years to come.

“I could easily say, ‘Let me not stir any controversy, let me do nothing new, let me just try to keep everybody happy by doing nothing new,’” he said. “It would be the wrong thing to do because I know in my conscience that (the shortage) is something the university must take very seriously.”

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E-mail the author: Heidi Fenton