Issue link: https://kusm-wichita.uberflip.com/i/1545861
Currently, more than half the third- and fourth-year students spend their first two years on KU School of Medicine's Kansas City campus before finishing here. Loo-Gross and others say the bigger enrollment should be good for students, the school and community. "We have medical students that lead a student-run free clinic," she said. "We also have a homeless outreach program and another student organization with a mission specifically focused on serving the community." Other student groups have assisted with community health fairs, mentored premed students at local universities and given presentations encouraging high school students to consider medical careers. "It gives us that many more people that can help provide services to the community," Loo-Gross said. Lynn Fisher, M.D., associate professor in the KU Wichita Department of Family & Community Medicine, noted that students in the school's Family Medicine Interest Group make anti- tobacco and vaping presentations at elementary schools and staff booths at community health fairs. "Having more students will be really helpful," he said. "I think every (student) group will benefit from the fact there will be more students on campus. I think we can amplify those opportunities, the work that our student body does." Adding 84 more students has also lead to the creation of a second academic society — the Sweet Society — to go along with the current one. The Sweet Society is named after Donna Sweet, M.D., who has been a faculty member at KU School of Medicine-Wichita for almost 45 years. The academic societies help foster a collegial learning environment through interactions between students and faculty. "I remember taking pride in my academic society when I went through medical school," Loo-Gross said. "You get a community within a community. And it's not just students; there are faculty assigned to each society as well. It enhances the learning experience." The school's current academic society, the Jager Society, is named for Thor J. Jager, Wichita's first pathologist and founder of the pathology department at Wesley Medical Center. While it's too soon to know how a second society would affect students' experience, Loo-Gross noted there is friendly competition among the societies at KU School of Medicine's larger Kansas City campus. "They have events like an annual field day and a trivia night," she said. Loo-Gross believes growing the student body will bring new energy as well. "Having more individuals here brings more voices and life experiences," she said. "Everybody brings their own background. I think that's an exciting component of increasing our numbers." The medical school's move to the Wichita Biomedical Campus may make the student body seem even bigger. KU Wichita's partners in the campus — KU School of Pharmacy, Wichita State University and WSU Tech — are bringing hundreds of their students there, and plans call for as much interprofessional medical education as possible. "I'm excited for all of us to have the opportunity to be in one building, across different areas of health professions, and to be more innovative in our approach to education," Loo- Gross said "I think it really helps drive home the importance of the team- based approach to medical care and how we can positively impact our community." 25