History of the College
The College of Human Medicine (CHM) is in its fortieth year of training physicians to practice medicine in Michigan's underserved areas. Today, the college is recognized nationally for its excellence in and commitment to patient-centered medicine. Community-based, the college conducts its clinical training throughout the state in six communities - Lansing, Flint, Saginaw, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and the Upper Peninsula - fulfilling its mission of serving the people of this state.
From 1959-1961, several reports demonstrated the need for a third medical school in Michigan specifically focused on serving the state's population through direct involvement in community health care. In 1961, the Michigan State Board of Trustees decided to begin a two-year medical program that it would strengthen and be strengthened by complementary areas of the University. The preparatory work was carried by the Institue of Medicine and Biology in the Provost's Office, under the direction of Bill Knisley, who played a key role in the formation of CHM and the building of MSU's Life Sciences Building. Several grants aided the development of the program and in 1964 the Board of Trustees named Andrew D. Hunt, M.D., dean of CHM.
In June 1965, the Liaison Committee for Medical Education, the American Medical Association's accreditation arm, granted a letter of "reasonable assurance" to CHM, permitting MSU to admit its first medical students - 26 in the Fall of 1966 and 23 in the Fall of 1967. After two years of preclinical training, these students transferred to other medical schools to complete their medical degree requirements. In 1967, CHM received approval to develop a four-year, degree-granting program. The first M.D.s graduated in 1972.
In 1973, the college introduced another learning format into its curriculum, Track II. Track II offered interested students an alternative learning method in their first and second years. Unlike Track I, which followed the traditional, discipline-based lecture format for acquiring pre-clinical skills, Track II concentrated on problem-solving, small-group learning and independent study. Both Track I and Track II followed a clinical skills sequence.
Since CHM was created within a state-funded institution to serve Michigan's people, it was considered important and appropriate for students to obtain their clinical training in the state's communities. A formal philosophy of placing clinical training within community hospitals emerged. To implement this philosophy, CHM formed a consortium of teaching hospitals in several Michigan communities, each with an assistant dean and a staff of faculty coordinators for major medical specialties. In conjunction with its founding mission to serve all the people of Michigan, a special program to address the health care needs of rural citizens began in the Upper Peninsula in 1974. Students entering CHM who planned to serve a rural community upon completion of their medical training could apply to complete their clinical years in the Upper Peninsula .
Clinical campus corporations in Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Saginaw and the Upper Peninsula now cooperate with Michigan State University in the training of medical students during their undergraduate clinical years. More than 2,000 physicians in these Michigan communities hold clinical faculty appointments and volunteer their expertise to train CHM undergraduate medical students. MSU-CHM also operates several residency programs in these community hospitals. These programs have proven to be one of the most successful implementations of CHM's commitment to serving the people. The Upper Peninsula Program, in particular, has led to an increase in physicians practicing in underserved areas.
Since its creation, the college's curriculum has continued to evolve, and the college has become nationally and internationally known as a leader in university-based, community-integrated medical education. In addition to excelling in clinical education, the college excels in research and development. College faculty members are well represented among the university's top research grant recipients. Furthermore, an M.D./Ph.D. program invites promising scholars to combine basic science research with clinical physician training.
In the Fall of 1992, the college implemented a new curriculum that integrates elements of Tracks I and II. This new curriculum not only teaches students the rudiments of medicine that they can apply to their future careers, but also prepares them to be lifelong learners, a necessary quality for physicians who want to be leaders in the 21st century. The new curriculum is divided into three Blocks; Blocks I and II are completed in East Lansing and Block III at one of CHM's six communities. Block I focuses on nomenclature and basic concepts in the biological sciences while Block II utilizes Block I knowledge in a year of problem-based learning. Block III brings the education and skills from Blocks I and II into practical focus in the communities.
CHM is fully accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. With nearly 3,000 graduates, CHM alumni now practice in nearly every county in Michigan, in nearly every state in the nation and in several foreign countries. As it continues to train physicians of the highest quality, CHM looks forward to the medical opportunities of the next millennium.
