Medical College of Wisconsin to add campuses across state

Future doctors in state will soon have more places to get their education. The Medical College of Wisconsin plans to add campuses in Green Bay and central Wisconsin.

Backers hope the new medical education campuses will curb the shortage of doctors in Wisconsin and provide health care in underserved rural areas. John Raymond is president and CEO of the Medical College of Wisconsin. He says at $23 million, the school is trying to keep development costs to a minimum, “We have always had an eye on keeping the cost manageable from the very beginning. So our concept is to repurpose space and share faculty with local community organizations.

In Green Bay, the Medical College of Wisconsin has talked with Aurora BayCare Medical Center, Bellin College and other health care providers. UW Green Bay’s chancellor Tom Harden says educating med students in the community is a positive development, ”I haven’t heard anybody to date talk negatively about the possibility of the Medical College coming to Green Bay. People are very positive about it. People are excited about it, and now that we’ve heard the announcement, people are even happier than before.“

The Medical College of Wisconsin hopes to have 15 to 25 students at each campus. The first class could be admitted in the summer of 2015. Before that can happen, though, the school needs to recruit faculty, create residency programs and receive accreditation.