DE PERE, WI (WTAQ) - Officials with the Medical College of Wisconsin says it will welcome the first students to its new Green Bay program in the summer of 2015.
The college will utilize classrooms at the brand new science center on the St. Norbert College campus in De Pere, along with space at Bellin College in Green Bay.
Thursday morning, the Medical College said it would wait until 2016 to start classes in Wausau – so area residents can first get a look at how the school’s other graduates perform.
The new facilities were developed after the state’s Hospital Association warned in 2011 that Wisconsin would have a severe shortage of doctors by 2030 unless more are trained.
CEO John Raymond said Medical College students from the Milwaukee and Green Bay campuses would perform clinical work at hospitals in central Wisconsin and Marshfield Clinic in the year before Wausau opens. Raymond says it will show, “a presence and a commitment to the community.”
Officials said the delay would also provide more planning time for the central Wisconsin facility – which will have both classes and office space at North-central Technical College and Aspirus Wausau Hospital.
Raymond expects the first Wausau class to have 15 to 25 students, who would complete their residencies at area medical facilities. They would get three-year general medical degrees, then work in specialty fields during their residencies.
Deans for both the Wausau and Green Bay facilities will be announced this fall. Students will be recruited starting next year.