(CHARLOTTE, NC) – Beginning in February, Mid-Atlantic Emergency Medical Associates (MEMA), welcomed the first round of Application Phase (Year 3) UNC School of Medicine Novant Health Charlotte Campus medical students. MEMA, partnering with Novant Health in Charlotte, is helping to increase access to Emergency Medicine for medical students and building on the renowned UNC curriculum here in the Charlotte campus.
“This is a long-term commitment for MEMA.” shares Andy Prechtel, MD Assistant Medical Director, Department of Emergency Medicine Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center and MEMA’s Chief Education Officer. “Our team members and doctors have invested in this program, becoming faculty, and are working with these students to visit surrounding hospitals and show them different styles of campuses so they can personally experience the diversity of our patient population here in Charlotte and how we serve them.”
The program currently allows 9 medical students a year (3 per trimester) to work block rotations in the ED with attending physicians, who work with them also to establish goals and oversee the student’s progress.
The students participated in physician-led clinics and began shifts, seeing patient cases and working with attending physicians in the Emergency Department throughout their shifts.
Mark Higdon, MD, Associate Dean of UNC School of Medicine Novant Health Charlotte Campus reveals, “Health equity is the central theme for this curriculum,” he says, “The investment we make into this next generation of healthcare leadership is crucial and it’s easy to forget how impressionable these students are. Now is the time to create a healthcare community and the roadmap towards equitable care for patients.”
Expansion of the program is in the works, with a possibility of taking up to 30 medical students per year in the future. This will take some time shares Celeste Colcord, MBA, Director of Curricular and Student Affairs for UNC School of Medicine Novant Health Charlotte Campus. “Our partnership with MEMA has been great and is extremely critical to ensure we continue to provide a rich experience for these students.”
“We are excited to share our passion with the next generation of physicians and working to provide dedicated faculty delivering excellent exposure to Emergency Medicine as well as continuing to strengthen our partnerships to serve our community.” Says Timothy Lietz, MD, FACEP, MEMA CEO.
Mid-Atlantic Emergency Medical Associates (MEMA) was founded in 1976. MEMA is a physician-owned medical practice of more than 120 emergency and acute medical care clinicians that serves the greater Charlotte and Piedmont areas of North Carolina, and the team that staffs Novant’s Charlotte-area hospital emergency departments. Learn more about MEMA by visiting our website at www.mema.net