NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Tennessee State University and Belmont University are teaming up to tackle the physician shortage head-on.
The joint seven-year accelerated medical program allows students to complete undergrad in three years and then matriculate into a graduate program for four years.
While the Dr. Levi Watkins Jr. Medical Accelerated Pathway Program already existed at TSU, the new partnership with Belmont's Thomas F. Frist Jr. College of Medicine is giving more students an opportunity to make waves in the medical field.
Students learn from clinical shadowing, research and a rigorous workload.
Many of them hope to help offset the physician shortage and increase minority representation in the medical field.
"I always wanted to be the representation I wish I had," said Kailah Hamilton, a current TSU freshman in the Watkins program.
"Some of us are dermatologists, some of us want to go into peds, some of us want to go into surgery, and having that array of people going out into the world or just America is really important, and I'm glad that I'm a part of something like that," she added.
"With the proper training and different resources...I can definitely make a difference," added Kagan Word, another student part of the program who hopes to make his way back to rural Arkansas to be a general surgeon.
Students who want to be part of the new program with Belmont will have to meet the criteria of the medical school’s admissions commitee by January of their final year at TSU.
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