General News
In a recent analysis of shifting demographics and workforce trends, the Association of American Medical Colleges predicted a nationwide shortage of between 37,000 and 124,000 physicians by 2034. To address this potential crisis, Cape Fear Valley Health has joined forces with Drexel University College of Medicine, one of the largest medical schools in the nation. Medical students from Drexel, which is based in Philadelphia, can now complete their third- and fourth-year clinical rotations at Cape Fear Valley. They will also have the opportunity to study alongside their osteopathic medical student colleagues from Campbell University.
“It gives Cape Fear Valley access to a medical school with a long history,” said Hershey Bell, M.D., MSMedEd, FAAFP. Bell is Cape Fear Valley’s Vice President for Medical Education Program Development and Associate Regional Dean - Drexel University College of Medicine, Cape Fear Valley Regional Campus. “Drexel is known for its expertise, innovation, research and clinical success.”
The goal is not just to offer a change of scenery to the students, or to broaden the scope of medical education in the Fayetteville area. It’s also to encourage these budding physicians to make North Carolina their home.
Statistically, Dr. Bell said, if a student goes to medical school in a particular area, there’s a 30 percent chance they will come back and practice medicine there. If they complete their residency in that area, there is a 50 percent chance.
“If they do both,” he said, “there is a 70 percent chance they will make that place their home.”
To boost those odds, the students are encouraged to spend their free time getting to know North Carolina and all it has to offer.
“They get to know the community,” Dr. Bell said, “and they have appreciated how accepting and welcoming it is.”
Getting to know the surrounding communities doesn’t just pique their interest in staying; it also changes the kinds of cases they see. Drexel student Sara Vaughan said one of her fellow students, an aspiring surgeon, had recently observed a patient who was recovering from a tractor accident.
“That’s not something you see in Philadelphia,” she said.
Vaughan, who is originally from Oklahoma, said that in her first few weeks at Cape Fear Valley, she began to feel pulled toward pediatrics as a possible specialty.
“I really like having the opportunity to care for the whole family,” she said. “It’s not just the child you’re treating. You have to build trust with the parents too.”
Vaughan said she has appreciated learning more about the social and economic factors that affect patients and the care they receive.
“COVID-19 really exposed a lot of existing challenges around healthcare access,” she said. “We need to understand those as well as any of the clinical skills we are learning.”
Frank Estrella, a Drexel student from Florida, said that level of understanding is important to him too.
“Drexel’s education is very community based,” he said. “There is a real focus on serving the underserved.”
Estrella is already a great example of the potential for this partnership to attract new physicians for the long haul: He and his fiancée, a physician assistant, have just purchased their first home in Hope Mills.
“We can definitely see ourselves living here for a long time,” he said. “We really prefer not to be in a big city, and we like the warmer weather. There’s plenty to do here, and the cost of living is great.”
Dr. Bell noted that these students began their medical education in the summer of 2020, the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has already made their experience unlike any other.
“They were doing so much virtual learning,” he said. “Most medical students form study groups and social networks to carry them through, but these students didn’t have that same benefit.”
To make up for lost time, while getting to know North Carolina they’ve also been encouraged to get to know each other.
“Some of them truly met for the first time here in Fayetteville,” Dr. Bell said.
While the partnership between Drexel and Cape Fear Valley is in its early days, Dr. Bell said he can already see it paying off.
“These students are gaining an understanding of unique issues in this area,” he said. “I know they have what it takes to improve healthcare in southeastern North Carolina.”
