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Message from the Dean Regarding WSU/DMC Partnership

Q. How will undergraduate medical students be affected by changes at the Detroit Medical Center?
A. Rotations for third- and fourth-year students can be adjusted to accommodate all students through our many partners in the Detroit metropolitan community. A significant number of School of Medicine undergraduates already complete rotations through OHEP, a consortium of 17 community hospitals that facilitate the teaching of WSU medical students, as well as the VA Medical Center. While schedule changes may be disruptive or inconvenient for students, we are confident we can accommodate changes with little impact.

Q. How will residents be impacted by restructuring at the DMC?
A. Although residents are employed by hospitals, the School of Medicine is committed to ensuring our residents a complete education. We believe it’s our obligation and we will therefore work to find alternative residency slots to accommodate residents in alternate programs, should their positions be eliminated by the DMC.

Q: How will faculty be impacted?
A. Changes within the faculty will depend largely on actions taken at the DMC, but as with our students, we believe we can find alternative placement for our faculty to continue their three-part mission of education, research and clinical care.

Q. How will research endeavors, such as the Perinatology Research Branch (PRB), be impacted?
A. The School of Medicine, ranked 22nd in terms of research expenditures by the National Science Foundation, will continue to be a center for advanced medical research and innovation. We are committed to meeting the terms of our contract with the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to administer the PRB. We are currently in the process of renovating laboratory space for that endeavor; those activities will be unaffected by any reorganization proposed by the DMC.

Q. What is the School of Medicine doing to plan for impending restructuring at the DMC?
A. From a business standpoint, we believe it would be irresponsible not to look for other clinical partners to ensure that we are able to support our mission of education, research and quality patient care. Although we continue to support the DMC’s mission and we will work to maintain its sustained presence in the community, we are also in discussions with other health systems to ensure that the WSU School of Medicine will continue to thrive.