(PADUCAH) – Medical students from Meharry Medical College, located in Nashville, Tenn., will gain real-world clinical experience at Mercy Health – Lourdes Hospital in Paducah, Ky. starting next January.
Mercy Health and Meharry Medical College entered into a clinical affiliation agreement in August that will see third-year medical students complete two to four-week clinical rotations in family medicine, OB/GYN and neurology at Lourdes Hospital. Mercy Health anticipates having two to four students at a time completing their rotations.
Lourdes Hospital provides comprehensive inpatient and outpatient health care to patients and its leaders wanted to help medical students obtain the clinical experiences they need to progress in their knowledge of direct patient care.
“Even before the pandemic laid them bare, we knew that health iniquities existed between Black and White patients. One way to foster health equity is through increasing diversity in the ranks of our medical providers. Our partnership with Meharry Medical College, a historically Black college, helps both our organizations. The medical students will gain real-life experience caring for patients. Lourdes Hospital, its patients and caregivers will benefit from bringing in a diverse group of talented students on the brink of launching their medical careers,” said Mercy Health – Kentucky President Michael Yungmann.
“For 145 years, Meharry has remained committed to providing quality healthcare for the medically underserved and has cultivated a league of healthcare professionals who aim to improve delivery and care for the country’s most vulnerable populations,” said Dr. James E. K. Hildreth, president and chief executive officer of Meharry Medical College. “Our partnership with Mercy Health supports these efforts and will provide our students with the unique learning opportunities and real-world experience needed to tackle our nation’s health disparities.”
Meharry Medical College is one of the nation’s oldest and largest historically Black academic health science centers dedicated to educating physicians, dentists, researchers, and health policy experts. Founded in 1876 as the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College, Meharry was the first medical school in the South for African Americans. It was chartered separately in 1915. A 2010 study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine ranked Meharry as one of the nation’s top five producers of primary care physicians. Meharry is also a leading producer of African Americans with Ph.Ds. in biomedical sciences. In addition to providing quality professional health care education, exemplary patient care and compassionate community outreach, Meharry Medical College produces the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, a public health journal. Lourdes Hospital serves as a regional referral center for a wide geographic region, including more than a dozen counties in western Kentucky, southern Illinois, southeast Missouri and northwest Tennessee. Lourdes Hospital offers an extensive array of medical specialties and technologies typically found in much larger urban settings.
Mercy Health – Paducah is part of Bon Secours Mercy Health, one of the 20 largest health systems in the United States and the fifth-largest Catholic health system in the country. The ministry’s quality, compassionate care is provided by more than 60,000 associates serving communities in Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia, as well as throughout Ireland. Mercy Health Lourdes Hospital is a 359 licensed-bed facility accredited by The Joint Commission and was named as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures by The Joint Commission. Lourdes is home to the region’s largest multi-specialty physician network, Mercy Medical Associates, which consists of more than 100 providers serving in over 30 locations throughout western Kentucky. Consistent with its commitment to serve each patient with dignity, Bon Secours Mercy Health provides nearly $2 million per day in community benefit. The mission of Mercy Health – Paducah is to extend the compassionate ministry of Jesus by improving the health and well-being of our communities and bring good help to those in need, especially people who are poor, dying and underserved. For more information, visit www.mercy.com.
About Meharry Medical College
Meharry Medical College, founded in 1876, is the nation’s largest private, independent historically Black academic health sciences center dedicated solely to educating minority and other health professionals. True to its heritage, it is a United Methodist Church-related institution. The College is particularly well known for its uniquely nurturing, highly effective educational programs; emerging preeminence in health disparities research; culturally sensitive, evidence-based health services and significant contribution to the diversity of the nation’s health professions workforce. Diverse Issues in Higher Education’s ranking of institutions annually lists Meharry as a leading national educator of African Americans with M.D. and D.D.S. degrees and Ph.D. degrees in the biomedical sciences. Visit www.mmc.edu to learn more.
