 MAY 14 • 2020 | 23

MAY 14,
 2020

GRADUATING 
MSU 
HEALTH 
CARE 
STUDENTS 
AID 
IN 
COVID-
19 
RESPONSE 

As Michigan works swiftly to expand its 
health care workforce to battle the COVID-
19 pandemic, Michigan State University has 
made available hundreds of health care 
students who have successfully completed 
their program requirements to Michigan 
health care systems earlier than usual.

As a result of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’
s 
efforts to increase the speed at which 
health care professionals can enter the 
workforce, these health care systems will 
have access to 87 baccalaureate-prepared 
nurses, 61 medical doctors and 213 
osteopathic physicians. MSU is working 
with the Department of Licensing and 
Regulatory Affairs in expediting the 
licensure of these health care workers.

“MSU has one of the largest training 
programs of health professionals in the 
nation,” says MSU Executive Vice President 
for Health Sciences Norman J. Beauchamp 
Jr. “We recognized early in the pandemic 
that additional providers would be needed. 
We actively pursued a pathway to make it 
possible. Adding more than 350 medical 
professionals to the health care workforce 
at this critical juncture will make a 
substantive difference in combating this 
virus. Together, everything is possible.”

Students in the colleges of Human 
Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine 
normally start their residencies July 1. With 
this licensing option, graduates could enter 

the workforce ahead of their scheduled 
residency — before the end of April. Each 
graduating student has completed eight 
years of college education and thousands 
of hours of clinical activity.

“The College of Osteopathic Medicine has 
been a leader among Michigan medical 
schools in the number of graduates that go 
on to practice medicine in the state,” says 
Andrea Amalfitano, dean of the College of 
Osteopathic Medicine. “Around 65% to 70% 
of our osteopathic medical students stay in 
Michigan to practice. The decision to 
expedite our graduates entering the 
physician workforce sooner in the face of 
the COVID-19 pandemic is something that 
furthers our long-standing goal, namely, to 

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on 
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2

provide the state of Michigan great doctors 
who provide quality care for its residents.”

“Our newly licensed MDs are clinically 
experienced and well prepared to serve 
the needs of Michigan hospitals in this 
unprecedented health crisis,” says Aron 
Sousa, interim dean of the College of 
Human Medicine. “This initiative of rapidly 
increasing the number of physicians in our 
hospitals is a core part of MSU’
s 
contribution to the COVID-19 effort in our 
communities throughout the state.”

Early licensing is also available for nursing 
students across Michigan. Before entering 
the workforce, nursing students normally 
are required to pass the National Council 

MICHIGAN STATE
U N I V E R S I T Y

Hundreds 
of 
MSU 
health 
care 
students 
who 
have 
successfully 
completed 
their 
program 

requirements 
are 
entering 
the 
workforce 
earlier 
than 
usual 
to 
help 
with 
Michigan’s 
response 
to 
the 
COVID-19 
pandemic.

