ISU Medical School

[Cypow]

Hi all -

I'm new to the forums, but I'm very interested in starting a discussion regarding the future of medical education at Iowa State. Specifically, I'd like to hear the community's thoughts on the possibility/feasibility of ISU eventually building a medical school. Key word here is "eventually", as I realize the many hurdles in the way of making this a reality in the near-term.

The obvious hurdles:
-Funding: highly unlikely the Regents would fund even a small fraction of this, the project would certainly rely heavily on donations
-Carver College of Medicine (MD) and Des Moines University (DO): is there even demand for more medical education?

In terms of funding, the large donations ISU has seen in the recent 5 years makes me relatively optimistic that the capital is out there to make this happen, if the idea ever gained any traction. Many universities across the country (particularly in Texas) are adding medical schools, in an effort to boost university research funds and prestige. Of course, Iowa is not Texas. That said, medical education seems like it fits very well within the university's strengths in science in technology. Frankly, it's a perfectly natural fit, and I doubt many would dispute that. Not to mention the university's newly emphasized focus on innovation. A medical school would certainly increase the university's reputation as a place of innovation.

Could anyone foresee a scenario in which ISU acquires Mary Greeley Medical Center (or, even more outlandish, Des Moines University) to create a new medical school? Or otherwise builds one from the ground up? Is the interest there? Could the funding eventually be there (let's call "eventually" within the next 25-30 years)? Is it absurd to think that a state like Iowa could have 3 medical schools in this time frame?

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on this subject. Hoping for a reasonable discussion, if possible. Feel free to cover facts, possibilities, hurdles, etc. that I may have missed.

Looking forward to the discussion and apologies for the long post.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

The Iowa Regents system has enough redundancy already and there is a world class research hospital in Iowa City. This isn't something that's in the best interest of the state even before we start talking about the insane amounts of money it would take to start a program from scratch.

 

[gocy444]

I have zero background in any of this, but find it highly unlikely a state with Iowa’s population would have two public medical schools. Just not enough money to go around.

 

[ForbinsAscynt]

I would think a law school would be more apropos. A good amount of isu grads go into law but very few into (human) medicine. Would be great to have a more affordable local option than drake.

 

[SCNCY]

As others have said, the university of Iowa already has the medical facilities and classrooms for the states needs.

ISU should focus on improving it's engineering, architecture, business, and vet programs across all degree levels (ba, ma, PhD). Basically climb in those rankings to be destination level programs from students across the nation.

 

[Cypow]

Just for reference for those interested: here is a pdf from Texas Tech regarding the costs involved in building their medical school titled "Basic Steps to Establish a New Medical School"

http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/DocID/pdf\1515.pdf

 

[Cypow]

I would think a law school would be more apropos. A good amount of isu grads go into law but very few into (human) medicine. Would be great to have a more affordable local option than drake.

Interesting. Would anyone see a law school as more likely? Or same issue with redundancy (UofI/Drake)?

 

[Sigmapolis]

If Iowa State was going to do it, it needed to do it 10-20 years ago. There has been an absolute explosion of medical schools nationwide in that timeframe --

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_schools_in_the_United_States

I doubt the Board of Regents would assent to a duplication of costs and programs like another medical school in Ames or Des Moines, too, even if Iowa State's focus on "life sciences" does make some sense for that theme. I guess humans do not apply for that. Iowa has always been the home of the professional schools for the state of Iowa save for veterinary medicine, and I imagine it is going to stay that way.

I would guess the response would be that, if you really need to graduate more doctors trained in Iowa, then Iowa would just up its number of admissions. The marginal cost of adding, say, 50 more admissions in Iowa City compared to opening up an entirely new program in Ames are going to be wildly different from each other.

It is already harder to find a residency slot now than it was even a few years ago. The reasons for that are complex and mostly related to federal policy, but I will just say that it is already making it really hard to match for non-U.S. docs and those educated at less prestigious DO programs. It is even creeping up into the less prestigious MD programs. Adding more and more supply to that, unless more residencies become available (which is another conversation), is only going to make that worse.

At some point, medical school could become like law school. Those who make it into top-tier programs that aim them towards lucrative careers will be fine, but taking the time and spending the money to go to a mediocre (or worse) program where your best bet is matching at a community health/family medicine residency (if that) is going to make that transaction look much less attractive to students and applicants going forward.

Not trying to pick on family physicians or other primary care docs, by the way, they are wonderful and do thankless jobs -- but they go through a lot of hell, too, for salaries that are not at the commanding heights that many people associate with doctors.

 

[MartyFine]

No, ISU does not need a medical school or a law school. ISU needs to focus on doing what it always has better than everyone else.

There is a need for physicians in rural areas in Iowa, but I don't think that is an attractive option for young doctors.

 

[CyDude16]

Won’t happen. Plus there are a large segment of Iowa State alums go to U of I for medical school anyways.

 

[Gunnerclone]

Interesting. Would anyone see a law school as more likely? Or same issue with redundancy (UofI/Drake)?

Redundant but in a less expensive way. If ISU had a law school I would have gone straight in after graduation. As it worked out I fiddled around, looked at Iowa, looked at Minnesota, knew I didn’t want to go to Drake, and ended up finding a job that I liked while I was fiddling around and never went after it.

 

[Gonzo]

Interesting. Would anyone see a law school as more likely? Or same issue with redundancy (UofI/Drake)?

It would be a hell of a lot less expensive than a medical school.

 

[Cypow]

At Colorado State University we are adding a medical school leveraging our top Vet Med Program (UC Boulder=U of I, CSU=ISU in Colorado). ISU could very easily add a med program in this same manner. A lot of the labs/classrooms are the same as vet med.

Thanks for bringing this up. I was curious about how much potential overlap there could be between a Vet Med program and a new Med program.

It seems to me that however you look at, ISU wouldn't necessarily have to start from scratch. In all likelihood the only way this could ever get off the ground is if the university were to leverage existing programs and facilities.

 

[CTTB78]

.......
ISU should focus on improving it's engineering, architecture, business, and vet programs across all degree levels (ba, ma, PhD). Basically climb in those rankings to be destination level programs from students across the nation.

If the Regents have money to spend, pile it all into the Engineering and Ag colleges. That's our strength.
Why IC has an engineering program is beyond me.

 

[TacoCorp]

No.

As @SCNCY said, ISU needs to continue focus on doing what we do best. ISU has premier programs in in-demand quantitative programs: engineering, cs, statistics, etc.

We kick EIU's ass in all these areas. ISU grads with such degrees get great jobs and aren't saddled with a ton of debt from med or law school. They can have the dbags from the Chicago suburbs.

 

[TacoCorp]

If the Regents have money to spend, pile it all into the Engineering and Ag colleges. That's our strength.
Why IC has an engineering program is beyond me.

They barely do...they have ONE engineering building...lmao

 

[LivntheCyLife]

At Colorado State University we are adding a medical school leveraging our top Vet Med Program (UC Boulder=U of I, CSU=ISU in Colorado). ISU could very easily add a med program in this same manner. Many of the labs/classrooms are the same as vet med.

My understanding is this is an additional branch campus of the CU medical school. I think this is the much more likely scenario. Texas, Tech, and A&M are all different regent systems so not really comparable to the setup in Iowa. I think with distance learning options, we very well might see a resurgence in branch campuses for medical schools.

Who knows how politics plays into it, but I could see it possibly in the future for students to get a U of I MD while being primarily based in Ames/Des Moines with an increase in biomedical tech/engineering research for ISU. Or even the flip with consolidating engineering programs with an ISU engineering degree possible while being primarily in Iowa City working with the hospital.

 

[SCNCY]

No.

As @SCNCY said, ISU needs to continue focus on doing what we do best. ISU has premier programs in in-demand quantitative programs: engineering, cs, statistics, etc.

We kick EIU's ass in all these areas. ISU grads with such degrees get great jobs and aren't saddled with a ton of debt from med or law school. They can have the dbags from the Chicago suburbs.

Hey! I'm one of those western Chicago suburbs students, but at least I was smart enough to drive the extra 2 hours further west to Ames.

Also, if ISU wanted to grow something, expanding the computer science and software engineering programs would probably be best bang for the investment buck.

 

[TacoCorp]

Hey! I'm one of those western Chicago suburbs students, but at least I was smart enough to drive the extra 2 hours further west to Ames.

Also, if ISU wanted to grow something, expanding the computer science and software engineering programs would probably be best bang for the investment buck.

Sorry! A couple of my roommates were actually northern Chicago suburb guys!

Agreed about expanding CS and SWE. Biomedical engineering might be another great investment as well.

 

[Sigmapolis]

They barely do...they have ONE engineering building...lmao

I remember an incident when I was in marching band as an undergraduate. Remember that the marching band is (1.) heavily male, (2.) very socially awkward in general, (3.) heavy on engineering majors, and (4.) made up of ISU superfans.

A fellow band member, a nice young woman, had worn a University of Iowa College of Engineering sweatshirt to practice one day. I found it later she received it on a visit to Iowa City before committing to the good guys, and she wore it that day without really thinking about the implications of it. That was when her troubles began.

Towards the end of practice, somebody pointed it out, in an accusatory "burn the witch" sort of tone, "Why are you wearing an Iowa engineering sweater!?!" I watched her heart sink. Thankfully, somebody resolved the situation. "Oh, I get it, it's a joke! Very funny!" We all proceeded to laugh about it, and she ended up embarrassed though relatively pleasantly instead of totally ostracized as a closet Hawkeye over the incident.

I am still glad somebody made it funny instead of us collectively booing her.