NEOUCOM looks to have presence in Akron metro

By Cheryl Powell

Beacon Journal

AKRON

The region’s medical school based in Rootstown Township wants to have a physical presence in Akron.

Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy has started talks about locating a research center somewhere in the city, President Jay A. Gershen said during his appearance Tuesday at the Akron Press Club luncheon on the University of Akron campus.

The facility would enable NEOUCOM students and researchers to work with partners at Akron’s three hospital systems to support clinical trials with area patients, Gershen said.

“We’re very committed to having a physical presence in Akron,” he said. “ ... The important thing is it needs to be a place that’s accessible to patients and the hospital partners.”

NEOUCOM already is a large part of Akron’s medical community.

More than half of the medical students’ clerkship rotations take place in Akron-based hospitals. And of the 50 percent of physician alumni who stayed in Ohio to practice medicine, 26 percent are in Summit County.

Although talks are preliminary, one possibility is locating within the new headquarters planned for the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron, Gershen said. The institute brings together NEOUCOM, the University of Akron, Akron Children’s Hospital, Akron General Health System and Summa to promote medical-related research, education, product development and job creation.

During his talk, Gershen continued to promote an “education-for-service” initiative he introduced shortly after taking over as NEOUCOM’s sixth president last year. In exchange for getting all their tuition covered, the new doctors would pledge to work in primary-care jobs in underserved urban or rural areas in Northeast Ohio for five years.

Most medical students finish their education with at least $150,000 in debt, which results in many seeking careers in more lucrative specialty fields, Gershen said.

The goal is to have some scholarships available starting in the 2012-13 school year, with at least 10 percent of NEOUCOM’s 115 students each year ultimately getting a free ride through the program, he said.

Gershen is talking with area hospitals, businesses, foundations and other potential donors about sponsoring a student’s education, at a cost of about $50,000 a year.

So far, he said, the university has secured $400,000 in pledges from Cleveland-area donors and close to $1 million in the Youngs-town area. Work is starting now to find potential donors to support students from the Akron area.

From its inception, NEOUCOM has been an example of collaboration.

The university was founded in 1973 by Kent State University, the University of Akron and Youngstown State University.

Since then, NEOUCOM has opened a pharmacy college and a graduate studies college and added Cleveland State University as a partner.