Kansas City medical school partners with health care network to train more doctors

Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences is partnering with HCA Midwest Health to create additional clinical training for about 100 medical students.

The training will be made available to third-year medical students, and the collaboration between the two training entities will be led by Bruce Williams, a KCU alumnus and a family physician with HCA Midwest.

Loren Meyer, president of Midwest physicians at HCA, said Williams has skills that are a “perfect fit for this program aimed at enhancing the students’ medical education,” using some of the best doctors and medical space the city has.

Those students would get four weeks of clinical duties that might encompass inpatient and outpatient care in a variety of medical specialties.

Officials at KCU, which is the second-leading producer of physicians for Missouri and Kansas, are excited about the partnership because it expands student access to medical facilities in the area.

HCA has 150 facilities, consisting of hospitals, outpatient centers, clinics, urgent care centers, physician practices and surgery centers in the area.

“This partnership will assure valuable experiences for our students who will train in some of the finest hospitals and learn from some of the most knowledgeable physicians in the region, KCU President Marc B. Hahn said in a statement Wednesday.

KCU is also opening a second medical school in Joplin as a way to address the growing need for doctors in rural communities.

This story was originally published January 25, 2017 at 4:26 PM with the headline "Kansas City medical school partners with health care network to train more doctors."