Dean Bender’s and Ms. Lehman’s dual presentation focused on partnership initiatives at the Mayo Clinic and the Mayo School of Health Sciences. The presenters discussed the University of North Dakota Cohort Project, which was designed to address a workforce shortage by creating a degree advancement program in Clinical Laboratory Sciences for Mayo Clinic employees. They stressed that the keys to a successful partnership include a wide variety of programs and affiliations, active strategic planning, students as the central focus, innovation and implementation, and communication, trust and openness.
Dr. Blackman discussed the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) Area Health Education Center (AHEC) program. This program resulted from the University of Washington Medical School’s desire to expand and the surrounding states’ desire to have access to medical education. The goal was to emerge as a bi-modal medical school with a strong regional commitment. Dr. Blackman reviewed the program’s logistics, funding mechanism, and keys to success, including the program’s decentralization and its commitment to equal partnerships among the participants.
View the Dean Bender and Ms. Lehman presentation
View the Dr. Blackman slides (PDF)