MMC plans 4-year medical program

Maine students with an interest in earning a degree in medicine will soon have a second in-state program to choose from. Vincent Conti, president and chief executive officer of Maine Medical Center in Portland, confirmed this week that MMC is in discussions with three existing medical schools – Dartmouth, Tufts and the University of Vermont – and will soon select one to collaborate with in establishing a four-year medical program based in Portland.

“This is not a new medical school,” Conti stressed in a telephone interview Tuesday. “It’s an expanded relationship with an existing medical school.”

Second- and third-year students from the three allopathic schools, along with students from the osteopathic medicine program at the University of New England in Biddeford, already come to MMC to complete their clinical training, Conti said.

What’s being proposed is a specialized option that would allow students to spend all four years of their medical training in Portland, developing expertise in delivering health care in rural settings and practicing what’s known as “outcomes-based medicine” – health care interventions that have been proven effective in peer-reviewed studies.

Conti said a major impetus for establishing the four-year program is to boost the number of physicians who settle and practice in Maine, which like many rural states is experiencing a shortage of doctors.

The Association of American Medical Colleges has called on allopathic medical schools to increase the number of graduates nationwide by 30 percent over the next five years, and schools are looking for ways to increase capacity, he said.

Conti said a primary determinant of where doctors choose to practice is where they complete their medical education, as well as where they go after graduation for their residencies. Educating students in Maine increases the likelihood they’ll stay here to practice, he said.

A second motivation is to encourage qualified students from Maine to enter allopathic, or “M.D.,” training, giving them a Maine-based alternative to UNE’s osteopathic, or “D.O.,” program.

In 2006, according to Conti, only 84 undergraduate students from Maine applied to allopathic medical schools, and only 39 were accepted.

Osteopathic training is similar to allopathic training but comes from a different medical tradition with a stronger focus on the mind-body-spirit connection.

Both programs prepare primary care doctors as well as specialists, although D.O.s have traditionally been more strongly associated with general practice, pain alleviation through physical manipulation, and preventive care.

The medical school that partners with MMC will reserve about 20 spaces just for Maine students, Conti said, and those students will enjoy a reduced “in-state” tuition. Graduates will receive a joint degree from the medical school and Maine Medical Center.

Gordon Smith, executive vice president of the Maine Medical Association, said Thursday that the MMA “looks very positively” on the prospect of bringing more medical education to Maine.

There are more than 200 physician positions currently unfilled in Maine, he said. Most are in primary care settings, but there’s also an acute shortage of psychiatrists, urologists, neurosurgeons and other specialists.

Smith said UNE’s program has graduated many high-quality doctors, many of whom are practicing in Maine.

“But it’s just not enough,” he said.

“And this is not just about the supply of doctors,” Smith continued. “It’s about giving more Maine kids a better shot at a cost-effective medical education.”

Conti said MMC will make a decision about its medical school partner sometime this fall. It could be as long as three years before a curriculum is established and the new program is ready to accept students.