Clinical training sites

From today’s local students to tomorrow’s local providers

Intrinsically linked with the More in Common Alliance strategy of recruiting first- and second-year medical students to Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, the model of providing clinical rotations in their third and fourth years at a regional campus is a proven strategy to grow health care capacity in those regions. There is strong evidence that medical student experiences in rural communities increase their interest in practicing in those communities.

Whether these students seek to complete their undergraduate medical education close to home and family, or whether they have other motivations, the regional campus model offers students varied clinical experiences caring for diverse patient populations in under-resourced, under-served communities, as well as exposure to providers that excel in caring for these populations. It helps to expand their cultural humility.

Nicole Brown

Manager, Community Benefits and Diversity
CHI Memorial Hospital, Chattanooga, Tennessee

“There was no template. I repeat, no template. I haven't seen anything like this in my lifetime.”

From strategy to reality

The approach taken by the More in Common Alliance to select and establish these regional training sites was intentional, thoughtful, and unusual. While successful examples of partnerships between schools and hospitals laid a foundation for the model, this is the first time a medical school with such deep commitment to diversity has joined forces with a health system of such national breadth. From their aligned mission for social justice and health equity, the process of identifying hospital sites took root.

The CommonSpirit Health facilities approached all responded positively to the opportunity to participate. There is system-wide understanding that a diverse workforce produces a healthier community, and willingness to play a role in helping to advance the quantity and quality of future physician colleagues. From that foundation, sites are being selected based on the need and engagement of the broader community.

Kentucky, for example, was identified as it presented health care disparities in rural settings that mirror those of underserved communities nationwide — not just in urban or minority communities. In Seattle, despite or because of the affluence provided to the Pacific Northwest by the tech industry, there is a marked disparity between those who have access to care and those who do not.

And in each potential site, the More in Common Alliance made community engagement a priority. We needed to understand and address the underlying question, “what happens ten years from now?” After initial investment and public attention has waned, what is the return for the facility, and for the community? We needed to provide a benefit so integral to that hospital and that community, that they couldn't imagine us not being there anymore.

A detailed plan for success

To guide and replicate the work of choosing and establishing these regional training sites, the More in Common Alliance created a detailed Undergraduate Medical Education Playbook.

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Regional training site progress

Less than two years since this undergraduate medical education strategy was created and announced in 2020, the More in Common Alliance now has three of the five proposed CommonSpirit Health sites up and running.