ETSU Sparks the Emergence of a Health-Care Hub
Published Feb 23, 2009
James H. Quillen College of Medicine
When it comes to expecting and providing quality health care, “no” just isn’t in the vocabulary of Northeast Tennessee Valley residents.
In the 1970s, a shortage of rural physicians prompted a push for a public medical school at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City. Despite a bruising political battle, proponents prevailed, and in August 1978 the first class entered what is now named the James H. Quillen College of Medicine.
Fast-forward about three decades, when a shortage of pharmacists was the impetus for ETSU’s Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, which admitted its first students in January 2007. The pharmacy school is unique in the country – the only privately funded college within a state institution.
“The community raised more than $5 million in donations and pledges in 58 days,” Pharmacy Dean Larry Calhoun says. “To date, we’ve had well over a 1,000 people and corporations donate money to the college. They realize the impact that the College of Medicine has had on this region, and they see a similar impact long-term that the College of Pharmacy will have.”
Studies indicate that the college, which has 220 students and 30 faculty members, eventually will bring $30 million annually to the local economy.
Calhoun says the region’s hospitals and pharmacies are training grounds for students. “They all realize that the pharmacist shortage is not only acute, but it’s going to be a long time before we actually meet the needs of the United States, especially in rural communities.”
The same is true for other health professions, and ETSU spokesman Joseph E. Smith says the College of Medicine has been “a revolutionary force,” swelling the numbers of physicians in the region.
About 240 medical students are enrolled at any one time, and they fan out across Southern Appalachia to learn with health-care professionals on the job while improving contemporary medical care.
Community “preceptors” are physicians who aren’t faculty members yet accept students into their practices. Also, because ETSU doesn’t have a medical center of its own, area hospitals fill that void.
“The hospitals, particularly, have been vital to our success. They have welcomed us with open arms,” Smith says.
Medicine and pharmacy fall under ETSU’s Division of Health Sciences, as do the colleges of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences, Public Health and Nursing.
Forging Community Ties
Also training nurses in the region is King College in Bristol, Tenn., which offers a bachelor of science in nursing, a bachelor’s degree tailored to registered nurses and three options for a master’s degree – nurse educator, clinical nurse specialist or administrator.
In the administration specialty, students may elect to attend one extra semester in summer and receive a dual degree in nursing and business administration. The clinical nurse specialist is “the only program in the region that is an advanced-practice nursing degree that actually keeps nurses at the bedside,” says Carolyn Robinson, dean.
King College nursing students attend classes at several sites in the region. “One of our missions is to go where they are and to provide opportunities to enrich their academic achievement while maintaining their ties within their community,” Associate Dean Jane Castle says.
An example is King College instruction at the new Regional Center for Health Professions in downtown Kingsport, Tenn., where several institutions have joined forces to offer health-related studies at a central location.
Story by Sharon H. Fitzgerald
Photo by Ian Curcio
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