IUSM graduate medical education to expand statewide

December 3, 2015
As part of Indiana Universitys Bicentennial Celebration, President McRobbie is
visiting regional campuses. He most recently spoke with the community,
students, alumni, and local businesses at IU Northwest and focused on the
opportunities that exist for an expanded residency program at IU campuses
statewide.
Heres the gist. When it comes time for residency training, many IU School of
Medicine students at regional campuses must relocate to neighboring cities such
as Chicago (for IUSM-Northwest-Gary students) and Indianapolis instead of
staying at the campus at which theyve trained for so long.
Patrick Bankston, associate dean and director of IU School of MedicineNorthwest-Gary, believes that regional campuses and the communities
surrounding them have the capacity to host their own residency programs, just as
the Indianapolis campus does.
I think that each of the School of
Medicine campuses have different
resources, said Bankston. Some
are smaller than others in terms of
the number of hospitals, and each
offers a different patient population.
So I think we have to approach this
potential program creatively to see
what makes sense for each region as
we move this forward.
The healthcare community surrounding IUSM-Northwest-Gary is collaborating to
discuss opportunities associated with graduate medical education development
at this campus. An expansion of the IUSM residency program would create new
jobs for trainees and physicians in the area and nationwide. This benefits
everyone.
Regional campuses are an important part of Indiana University, and the majority
of students stay in the region in which they study after graduation. These new
graduate medical education programs will populate regional campus
communities with residents and new physicians, conquering physician shortage
issues and making a positive economic impact on these areas.
Legislators should be congratulated for showing foresight for the need for this,
said Bankston. The whole point of [residency program expansion] is the
shortage of physicians. Physicians who train in an area tend to stay there; they
develop relationships with the physicians in the community.

After the implementation of regional residency programs, residents can expect a

unique opportunity at IUSM-Northwest-Gary. This regional campus provides
unique exposure to the special problems related to underserved populationsa
challenging yet rewarding experience for residents and future physicians in the
region.
A residency program at IUSM-Northwest-Gary certainly would help prepare
future physicians, Bankston said. No matter where they end up practicing, this
would prepare them to handle just about anything theyll run into in their careers.
Bankston believes that IUSM-Northwest-Gary could potentially host 100
residents in primary care fields. With the help of the community and hospitals
surrounding the campus (as well as nationally recognized consulting firm Tripp
Umbach, which has extensive graduate medical education development
experience, including residency-program creation at IUSM-Evansville), the
program could be available within a few years.
For more information on graduate medical education expansion, visit
http://medicine.iu.edu/residents/.