Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed) is a private medical school in Kalamazoo, Michigan. WMed was established in 2012 and confers the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree, as well as Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences degree and the Master of Science in Medical Engineering degree. WMed is a collaboration between Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo's two teaching hospitals, Ascension Borgess (formerly Borgess Health) and Bronson Healthcare. The inaugural class of 54 students started in August 2014.
Although affiliated with the public Western Michigan University, WMed is administratively a private nonprofit school under a separate corporate charter, supported by private gifts, clinical revenue, student tuition, and endowment income. In March 2011, Western Michigan University received a gift of $100 million for the medical school from the Stryker family. In 2018, WMed was granted full accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), graduated its first class of 48 students, and all graduates were matched to residency programs across the nation.
Campus
WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine is housed in eight locations in Kalamazoo, Michigan including a medical education facility on Portage Street in downtown Kalamazoo, and clinical sites on Oakland Drive, the Family Health Center on Paterson Street, and on the Borgess Medical Center Campus on Shaffer Street. The home of the new medical school includes WMed Health, a modern 60,000 square foot clinical building on the Oakland Drive Campus, and a seven-story 350,000 square foot educational building in downtown Kalamazoo that was donated by MPI Research. Located on the new W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus, the educational building underwent a $68 million renovation and expansion project and opened in June 2014. The second phase of renovations completed in 2016 provides basic science laboratory research space and equipment. In 2019, the renovation of an unfinished portion of the seventh floor of the W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus allowed for Department of Pathology faculty, staff, laboratories, and resources to be housed together, a move meant to improve efficiency and address space constraints in the department's role in providing forensic pathology services for several Michigan counties. The renovation also provided room for the growth of anatomy education, resident and fellow training, and research.
History
The city of Kalamazoo, Michigan has a history in education, health care, research and life science exploration – all of which are assets for the development of a new medical school. Recognizing these assets, in 2007 the new president of Western Michigan University, John M. Dunn, challenged the community to consider the possibility of developing a medical school during his first academic convocation and state of the university address that October. Dunn's address sparked community interest and within six weeks a Medical School Feasibility Committee was formed. Consultants were retained to conduct detailed feasibility assessments in 2008 with funding provided by the local Kalamazoo Community Foundation. By January 2009, the feasibility studies confirmed what Dunn had observed during his short time in southwest Michigan – Kalamazoo has substantial existing assets and the necessary building blocks for developing an outstanding medical school.
With a commitment of collaboration from Western Michigan University, Ascension Borgess, and Bronson Healthcare, the medical school moved from merely an idea to a planned approach for the development of Western Michigan University School of Medicine (WMed). In November 2009, an anonymous donation of $1.8 million was made to support efforts to plan for the new medical school. A committee composed of the chief executive officers of Borgess Health, Bronson Healthcare, and the president of Western Michigan University began to meet regularly to guide the development process. In 2010, WMed was awarded Applicant Status by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, a search committee was developed to recruit the school's founding dean, and Jack Luderer, MD was named interim dean. A Steering and Visioning Committee, later renamed the Institutional Setting Committee, included a broader group of the senior leadership of the three organizations. Following a national search with multiple on-site interviews of the candidates, Hal B. Jenson, MD, MBA was named as the founding dean of Western Michigan University School of Medicine in January 2011 and began March 22, 2011.