To Be...A Spartan MD

Many things have understandably changed in the last few months, as medical schools continue to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical school students have been among those adapting nobly to the current circumstances. Yet as the Class of 2020 concludes their medical school training despite these unusual disruptions, one thing that hasn't changed is that College of Human Medicine graduates continue to move on to some of the most competitive residency placements across the country.  It's time for another great group of #SpartanMD physicians to enter the workforce and, in fact, some already have. This past March, Michigan State University announced a swift move to make graduating health care students available in the COVID-19 response. Whereas students typically begin their residency positions in July, a group of CHM graduates were among the 350 health care workers to enter the workforce before the end of April. The announcement came shortly after yet another strong Match Day...

The College of Human Medicine had to make some decisions. After all, the Shared Discovery Curriculum requires clinical experience as a foundation to the hands-on training that CHM students receive. Yet in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the college made the necessary call to remove students from their clinical posts. “I am disappointed that our students are not currently in clinical settings, and I think it is deeply important for students to re-enter clinical rotations soon,” said Dr. Aron Sousa, CHM Interim Dean in the April 3rd Dean’s Update . “The whole point of our curriculum is that students will be useful, because being useful is a powerful educational experience and the key to their future performance.” The college decided to quickly transition from inpatient clerkships to delivering remote courses before preparing Late Clinical Experience students for a safe return to patient care. A small group of CHM administrators were charged with addressing those tasks. What they pr...

These continue to be very unusual times. As such, we recognize that the COVID-19 crisis is life-disrupting for everyone and that colleges and universities are navigating this crisis in varying ways. Note: This post was updated on 5/13/20 Winter/Spring 2020 Grades Many of our current and future applicants are facing uncertainty about how 2020 winter and spring courses will be graded, including coursework that is traditionally considered prerequisite or recommended for many medical school admissions processes. The challenge for medical school admissions committees is that accurate and specific information is always preferred. When committees are faced with ambiguity, their bias may factor a “Pass” grade on par with a “C/D” or “2.0/1.0” rather than a higher grade. So, if you have an option to proceed with a letter grade for prerequisite coursework, many schools (including the College of Human Medicine) would prefer this option. For those of you in which a Pass/Fail or Satisfactory...

They call themselves MI COVIDsitters. They are medical, nursing and other health care students not yet ready for the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, but wanting to help somehow. “I’d been reading the stories about how the hospitals are overwhelmed like a war zone,” Jordan Griep, third-year MSU College of Human Medicine student, said. "If we can’t be there helping them, at the very least, it would be nice to set something up to help the people who are working there.” That’s when he heard of a group of medical students at the University of Minnesota, calling themselves MN COVIDsitters, offering health care workers a range of free services, including childcare, petsitting and household errands. A group of Ross University medical students had already set up a similar program in the Detroit area and created a MI COVIDsitters web page . Griep and Claire Krohn, another College of Human Medicine student, offered to head a West Michigan chapter. Griep posted informatio...

Justin Robinson, a third-year medical student from Inkster, Michigan, has been named the first Miles Family Scholar. The Katherine B. and Floyd W. Miles Endowed Scholarship fund was recently established by Katherine Miles, to support African American medical students and in honor of her late husband, Tuskegee Airman Floyd W. Miles. A long-time Grand Rapids, Michigan resident, Kathryn Miles had a significant career in housing and urban policy. The scholarship will be awarded annually to students who meet its criteria. Robinson admits he is extremely honored and humbled to be the first of many to receive the award. “I really appreciate what the Miles family has done, and plan to keep moving the ball forward to continue the Miles legacy,” Robinson said. See Robinson's heartfelt video message to the Miles family here . 

As Michigan works swiftly to expand its health care workforce to combat the exponentially rising number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in the state, Michigan State University is making available hundreds of health care students who successfully completed their program requirements to Michigan health care systems earlier than usual. As a result of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s continued efforts to increase the speed at which health care professionals can get into the workforce to assist with COVID-19, these health care systems will soon have access to 87 baccalaureate-prepared nurses, 61 medical doctors and 213 osteopathic physicians. MSU is working with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) in expediting the licensure of health care professionals entering the workforce. “MSU has one of the largest training programs of health professionals in the nation," said MSU Executive Vice President for Health Sciences Dr. Norman J. Beauchamp, Jr. “We recognized ea...

MSU College of Human Medicine student Neej Patel is working with MedSupplyDrive to collect and donate unused PPE to local hospitals, ERs, and clinics in Michigan. We spoke with Neej to learn more about MedSupplyDrive, his efforts in Michigan, and how others can get involved to donate items or volunteer. Can you tell us a bit about MedSupplyDrive? MedSupplyDrive is a non-profit, student-run group created by students at the Georgetown University School of Medicine and carried forward all around the nation. In Michigan, our mission is to mobilize students and volunteers across the state to collect and donate medical supplies to local hospitals in need. We are responding to an urgent appeal for medical supplies from healthcare workers on the frontlines. They emphasize that this is not just a localized issue, but one that is affecting our entire country. Just as our community needs to protect itself, so do our healthcare heroes. Across the country, many hospitals are running danger...