New Medical Education Program For Mainers

PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER) -- There are 36 seats in the new Maine Medical Center/ Tufts University Medical education program. Twenty of them are for Mainers.

The partnership between Maine Med and Tufts, supporters say, will help ease the shortage of doctors in Maine. That problem is particularly acute in rural areas. This educational program will emphasize rural health care.

Amanda Call is from Standish. She is now a member of the class of 2013 of the Maine Medical Center-Tufts University School of Medicine Medical School Program. She hopes to someday practice in Maine.

"I would love to be able to practice close to my hometown so I can be with my family and also be providing medical care in the area because I know it's needed."

The students will spend two years doing classroom work at Tufts in Boston and another two years doing a rotation at Maine Med. They'll also do clinical work at a few rural hospitals in Maine. And, during their second year, spend two days every other week in a medical office in various small towns.

It's a chance, says Dr. Amy Kuhlik of Tufts Medical School, to get a close look at the role doctors play in rural communities.

"Physicians do a lot more than just see patients," says Kuhlik. "They go into local schools and teach kids about healthy lifestyles. They're really part of the fabric of these communities and I think they'll get to see what joy it is to practice in those types of communities."