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For decades, medical education has begun with a four-year medical degree. But as communities across the country face growing physician shortages, Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) at ��ɫ��Ƶ is rethinking that model. A new pilot program — one of the first in the nation — will allow select students, committed to emergency medicine, to earn their MD in just three years, while preparing to serve patients in Hampton Roads.

Through the integration of EVMS into ��ɫ��Ƶ, one of the main commitments was to address shortages of healthcare workers in the region, said Alfred Abuhamad, MD, executive vice president for health sciences at ��ɫ��Ƶ.

“We are pursuing a range of initiatives to address the shortage,” Dr. Abuhamad said. “On the medical school side, we're looking carefully at how we can shorten medical school from four years to three years.”

For now, the accelerated MD program is only accessible to students planning for a career in emergency medicine. If it proves successful, it could expand to other EVMS specialties and be an important way to help address physician shortages — providing patients with more quality providers.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for students with a strong interest in emergency medicine early in their medical school career,” said Barry Knapp, MD, chair and professor of emergency medicine and chief architect of the pilot program. “Moving forward, it will allow students to save a full year of medical school tuition, to enter residency early and to enter the workforce early.”

In its inaugural year, two first-year medical students will be chosen to enter the program.

Those students will not only save a year of tuition, they will also have an established residency training position in the EVMS at ��ɫ��Ƶ Emergency Medicine program — an extremely competitive program that draws almost a thousand applicants annually for one of 10 training openings.

Although the program shortens the timeline, students will still complete the full academic and clinical training required of all medical students, Dr. Knapp said.

“The first and second years of medical school are the same, with the addition of a longitudinal Research Scholars course,” he said. “Students in the accelerated program will still complete the full range of required clerkships across multiple specialties during their third year, along with an acting internship in emergency medicine.”

Emergency medicine faculty will mentor students in the accelerated track throughout their training, helping them deepen their interest in the specialty, while preparing them for residency.

Because physicians often choose to practice in the communities where they train, program leaders believe the accelerated MD program could strengthen the region’s healthcare workforce for years to come.

“One of my main goals is to keep the best and brightest students here at home in Hampton Roads,” Dr. Knapp said. “I will take an EVMS at ��ɫ��Ƶ student every time because I know where they’re coming from, I know the quality of our students, and I know their skill set.”

The EVMS Emergency Medicine residency and the accelerated MD program are supported by Sentara Health and Emergency Physicians of Tidewater.

Learn more about Eastern Virginia Medical School at ��ɫ��Ƶ.