COOPERSTOWN _ Third-year medical student Mitul Kanzaria, 24, is learning about treating patients through a recently started program at Bassett Healthcare.
He is among six students at the Bassett clinical campus of Albany Medical College. The program, which started Aug. 11, features a 32-week component offering a breadth of medical experiences and focusing on developing relationships with patients who live in rural settings. His Bassett experience, he said, has included assisting in delivering a baby, who he has since seen in the pediatrics department.
``I'm involved with the baby's continuing care,'' he said Thursday. ``The mother already feels a sense of trust.''
The Bassett program is an exciting opportunity to be involved in patient care from the time of diagnosis, Kanzaria said, instead of being in a traditional medical school year. That offers six-week rotations in surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and other specific areas.
Kanzaria, who majored in chemical engineering and biology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, said he is excited to be among the first students in the Bassett program and is pleased with its supportive atmosphere.
``You get such a close-up, hands-on perspective,'' Kanzaria said. ``Interacting with people is very exciting.''
Earlier Thursday morning at the Otesaga Hotel, Friends of Bassett held a breakfast for about 200 donors to hear Laura Schweitzer, Ph.D., speak about "The Newest American Association of Medical Schools Recognized Campus: Bassett Healthcare."
Bassett is partnering with Albany Medical College, instructing six students through June and 12 in each of the next two years. The partnership is temporary, prompted by over-enrollment at the college, Schweitzer said, and Albany Medical College and Columbia University are top candidates for a permanent partnership.
Schweitzer, regional dean of the Bassett program, said the program also addresses challenges Bassett faces recruiting physicians to its rural communities.
Students will gain experiences through treatment of inpatients, assignments to outpatient clinics and a four-week family medicine unit at one of Bassett's 25 regional health centers.
Students also will be paired with a physician mentor, learn about electronic medical record systems and learn other skills to develop resources in rural settings, she said.
The American Association of Medical Colleges has called for a 30 percent increase in the number of medical students during the next decade and for the creation of clinical campuses.
A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital also faces a shortage of physicians, said Maggie Barnes, spokeswoman for the Oneonta-based network. This year, Fox expanded a physician-recruiter position to full-time, and the hospital has been involved with the Rural Medical Education Program of State University of New York Upstate Medical University.
Under the program, the university's department of family medicine places some third-year medical students in rural communities full time for nine months, according to the school's website.
Bassett has a tradition of educating third-year medical students on individual rotations from Columbia University, Rochester University and Albany Medical College. It has about 18 third-year medical students in the health-care system at all times, according to its website.
Bassett employs 252 physicians, spokeswoman Karen Huxtable said, and the Albany Medical College students are from Albany, Glens Falls, San Diego and Croatia.
Last year, after Albany Medical College approached Bassett, a proposal was submitted to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.
By March this year, Bassett received approval from the LCME as a clinical campus site, and Bassett was designated as a Regional Medical School Campus by the American Association of Medical Colleges the next month.
Schweitzer said students in the program will receive medical degrees from Albany Medical College.
Dr. Henry Weil, a hospitalist at Bassett, proposed the medical school, said Dr. William F. Streck, Bassett Healthcare president and chief executive officer. Schweitzer was recruited to develop the program and joined Bassett in February 2007.
Bassett also includes five hospitals and 13 school-based health centers in eight counties.
Albany Medical College, which was founded in 1839 as one of the nation's first private medical schools, has nearly 700 students.
The innovative curriculum at Bassett also could lead to greater understanding of how best to educate physicians, Dr. Vincent Verdile, dean of Albany Medical College, said in a prepared statement.
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Denise Richardson can be reached at 432-1000 or (800) 721-1000, ext. 213, or at. drichardson@thedailystar.com.
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