Meharry Medical College enters two partnerships to increase the number of Black doctors

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TSU, Meharry launch accelerated program to graduate Black doctors, dentists
https://www.tennessean.com/staff/3235595001/meghan-mangrum/
Nov. 10, 2020
Meharry Medical College and Tennessee State University are joining forces to increase the number of Black physicians and dentists working in underserved communities.

The two historically Black colleges are launching the new Dr. Levi Watkins Jr. Medical, Dental Accelerated Pathway Program to prepare qualified TSU students for early acceptance to Meharry for medical or dental school.

The program's namesake, Watkins, the heart surgeon and civil rights activist who was the first doctor to successfully implant a heart defibrillator in a patient, was a 1966 alumnus of TSU and the first African-American to graduate from the Vanderbilt School of Medicine.

TSU President Glenda Glover said the accelerated program will "create a pipeline for African-American doctors and dentists" that is needed now more than ever thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meharry is already tackling the need for physicians in underserved communities like many areas of rural Tennessee through a fast-track program in partnership with Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/ne...ogram-put-doctors-rural-tennessee/3841407002/

MTSU students accepted into that program, launched in 2017, attend three years at the undergraduate level, earn a bachelor's degree and then go straight into three years of medical school at Meharry with state funding offsetting the cost of tuition.

In return, the students agree to work for at least two years in parts of Tennessee that need doctors the most.

Meharry's new partnership with TSU will provide the same accelerated route of study for TSU students.

Meharry graduates already overwhelmingly go on to serve patients in vulnerable or overlooked communities throughout the country, according to school officials, but Glover said the disproportionate toll that the coronavirus pandemic has taken on people of color highlights the glaring need for diverse healthcare providers.

“We remain committed to training more Black doctors who will go on to serve in minority communities, and this partnership will provide more opportunities for Black students,” said Dr. James E.K. Hildreth, President and CEO at Meharry Medical College in a statement. “I am especially delighted about this partnership, as Dr. Watkins was a key mentor throughout my medical training and blazed the trail for me and countless other minority students who had been told there wasn’t a place for us within the medical community. I hope this new program will honor Dr. Watkins’ memory by continuing to prepare the way for minority students interested in medicine.”

Hildreth, Glover and other leaders integral in the partnership emphasize the main goal — increasing the number of needed African American trained health care providers who will work in communities that have the greatest burden of health care needs.

Only about 7.7% of medical students identified as African American or Black in 2016, according to the most recent report from the Association of American Medical Colleges — lagging behind other groups, despite increasing efforts by colleges and institutions to create a diverse physician workforce.

Minority communities also often remain wary of the health care system, if access exists at all.

"Historically there has been disparity in the health care and treatment of African-Americans," Glover told The Tennessean in an interview Monday. "COVID has made it even clearer that we need more people of color working in our communities. We're dying at a higher rate. We have more diseases making us more susceptible to COVID.

"Years ago when African Americans were not treated properly in the healthcare system, and the discrimination that has taken place in healthcare has led to all these problems that could have been and should have been taken care of," she said.


Meharry — the nation's largest private, historically Black academic health sciences center — already enrolls more than 800 students.

The new program will be coordinated by the Dr. Levi Watkins Jr. Institute at TSU, which already hosts a pre-med society at the school, awards scholarships to students, and hosts academic lectures through an endowment from the Watkins family.

The new program will launch in the fall of 2021 with a cohort of TSU freshmen, who will receive advising, mentoring and student support services from the institute.

An enrollment goal hasn't been determined yet, Glover said Monday. The first cohort size will be determined by funding and the strength of the applicants but the school expects to enroll about 22 students in the accelerated program next year.

 

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U of M, Methodist, Meharry and Church Health finalize affiliation agreement

December 15, 2020

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, the University of Memphis and Meharry Medical College intend to work together to create a training and research program. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, the University of Memphis, Church Health Center and Meharry Medical College in Nashville intend to create training and research for medical students of color that ultimately could increase the number of primary care physicians across the city and in underserved areas of the state.

The four have signed a letter of intent and are finalizing the affiliation agreements.

Almost immediately, third- and fourth-year Meharry students will be able to complete clinical rotations at Methodist and Church Health.

The collaboration also means students of color in the Memphis area will be recruited to pursue pre-medical undergraduate degrees at the U of M and have preferred access to medical school and biomedical sciences graduate programs at Meharry.

“There’s a critical need throughout our country for a pipeline of Black talent within medicine and healthcare,” Dr. James E.K. Hildreth, Meharry president and CEO, said at a virtual press conference early Monday afternoon, Dec. 14. “That has never been more evident than as we deal with the pandemic confronting us right now.

“Now more than ever, Black communities around the nation, especially here in Tennessee, need greater access to preventative care and to providers that they know and trust, providers who look like them,” he said.

Besides increasing the number of physicians of color, the partnership is expected to create research collaborations between Meharry, Methodist and the U of M.

“This partnership allows MLH to expand on our commitment of providing exceptional training opportunities for the next generation of physicians, nurses and medical professionals,” said Michael Ugwueke, president and CEO of Methodist Le Bonheur.

The collaboration, he said, not only will help Methodist extend the care it provides but will begin to develop the “next generation of health care workers that will truly be in tune with the communities where they’re from,” he said.

The hope, Ugwueke said, is that they they will stay in Memphis to serve after graduation.





Because Church Health has residents at Baptist Memorial Health Care, Meharry students will have access to medical training at three Memphis clinical settings – Methodist Le Bonheur, Church Health and Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis.

“This is a truly wonderful thing for Memphis,” said Dr. Scott Morris, found and CEO of Church Health. “Memphis is a Black city. We ought to be fully engaged in training young Black students to become Black physicians, and by God, we’re going to do it.”

Morris said conversations between the partners began less than three months ago.

“To get where we are now would take five years,” he said, noting the partnership could be a pattern for the nation for recruiting and training more physicians of color.

“This truly is a historic day,” Morris said. “I personally think this is not just a Memphis story this is a national story.”

In Memphis, the number of physicians per 10,000 people is lower than the state average, and the number of specialists in some fields is even lower. In Shelby County and other counties in West Tennessee, the rate of diabetes is increasing. In some communities in Memphis, the life expectancy is more than a decade less than in other, more affluent areas.

Meharry is one of three historically Black colleges and universities in the United States with a college of medicine.

In 2017, it partnered with Middle Tennessee State University to offer incoming college students a medical degree in six years, rather than eight, hoping to attract students from around the nation. In return, they promise to serve two years in a medically underserved community.

This fall, it announced a similar accelerated program with Tennessee State University for students interested in careers in medicine and dentistry.

The partnership, Ugwueke said, comes at a critical time in health care, particularly in the Mid-South where patients face a number of health challenges.

“This particular partnership has been designed to address health inequities and disparities, particularly in Memphis, and making sure that students have top-line access to excellent medical training at the University of Memphis and Meharry. And we have been again very involved in addressing health care disparities in this community that goes back many, many, many years,” Ugwueke said.

“And this, to us, is one way that we can truly bring our resources to bear to make sure we have well-trained African American physicians in Memphis that are from Memphis for the most part, so they can connect with the people in Memphis and have trusted relationships,” he said.

Ugwueke noted that one of the medical issues here is being able to retain physicians. He sees the partnership as part of the solution.

At the U of M, the partnership creates a pathway to more medical careers and opportunities for research that could include conditions like sickle cell anemia that affect African American people more profoundly.

“We’re thrilled for our students,” said President M. David Rudd. “This will create some new opportunities for students that are interested in medical careers in our city, but it also, down the road, will create some opportunities for unique research involvement of our faculty as well.

“We think that, ultimately, this will be transformative for Memphis as a whole. I look forward to the partnership. I don’t think we could find better partners, nor could we find an issue that is more critical to the future of our city,” Rudd said.

Three of the partners have deep ties to the United Methodist Church, including Methodist Le Bonheur. Meharry is affiliated with the denomination. Morris is a United Methodist minister.

“What we are signing now is a letter of intent that we are going to work together to figure out a plan so that there will be this Meharry presence in Memphis that will be dedicated to training students of color,” Morris said.

“This is a very big initiative,” he said. “It will take years to come to fruition, but at that this point, it’s not just talk. I truly believe it is going to happen

 

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