Bassett welcomes doctors-in-training
Feb. 2—Bassett Medical Center announced this week it is welcoming 10 students comprising the Columbia-Bassett Medical School Program Class of 2025.
The students have completed 18 months of pre-clinical training on Columbia's New York City campus and will now be based at Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown for the clinical component of their education, according to a Bassett media release.
Columbia's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons has worked with Bassett since 1947 to "give students a unique clinical education," the release said. Columbia and Bassett expanded the experience by establishing the Columbia-Bassett Medical School Program, which began with 10 VP&S students in 2012.
Dr. Tommy Ibrahim, president and CEO of Bassett Healthcare Network, said: "We are excited to welcome the exceptional students of the Columbia-Bassett Program Class of 2025. They will help create the future of healthcare. We are proud that Bassett, a leader in rural health, is where they will gain invaluable clinical experience. I hope you will take a moment to learn about each of them and welcome them to our community."
The Columbia-Bassett Medical School Program "is unique in its design and consistently attracts some of the best medical students from around the country," the release said. The first year-and-a-half of the curriculum takes place in New York City in pre-clinical studies. The second phase, two-and-a-half years, is based in Cooperstown. Students' clinical experiences at Bassett's Cooperstown campus consist of a required one-year experience followed by 18 months of electives and pursuit of an area of concentration "utilizing the full array of opportunities at both campuses," the release said.
"The students in the Columbia-Bassett Program benefit immensely from the special experience of learning about health delivery in an integrated, rural hospital network," said Dr. Katrina Armstrong, dean of the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. "The clinical education they receive in the Columbia-Bassett Program not only enriches their medical school experience, it will benefit these doctors and their patients through the entirety of their careers."
"Columbia-Bassett students experience health education in the best of two worlds — New York City's Presbyterian Hospital and Cooperstown's Bassett Medical Center. The contrasts of settings and patient populations merge in the single mission of learning to help people in their pursuit of health," said Dr. Henry Weil, senior vice president and chief clinical and academic officer of Bassett Healthcare Network and chief operating officer of Bassett Medical Center.
