(KNSI) – Two local lawmakers from opposite sides of the political aisle are advocating for a medical school in central Minnesota.
Democrat Senator Aric Putnam and Republican Senator Jeff Howe are asking the state for $1.5 million to fund a residency program at the CentraCare Regional Campus in St. Cloud. Earlier this week, Senator Putnam told the Minnesota Senate Higher Education Committee that the funds are needed to make the program a success. “In essence, Mr. Chair and members. We put the resources in to start the school. We put some other resources into building the school. Now we’ve got to find a way to get students to practice in the school.”
He explained to the committee the program is critical to the future of our state. “Rural health care is in crisis. We don’t have enough physicians to see our patients, and this challenge is only projected to get worse. You have all heard stories about how the rural health care crisis is impacting people’s health outcomes and the economy and the way of life of everyone in greater Minnesota.”
He says developing a physician requires several stages of education, including a four-year undergraduate degree, a four-year medical doctorate and residency training to prepare for independent practice. The new program will focus on the specialties with the greatest need as the pillars of access to care and rural health, including family medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, internal medicine and general surgery.
The facility started accepting applications in May 2024 and will welcome its first 24 students in the fall. The medical school should have about 96 students enrolled by 2028 and begin graduating about 20 doctors a year. The hope is by training them and having them live in rural Minnesota; more doctors will take jobs in less populated portions of the state.
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