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Medicine & the Windsor Community  


How does the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry – Windsor Program operate?


The program is a partnership between Western University, the University of Windsor and the London and Windsor hospitals. The curriculum is set set and delivered by Western’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and graduates will receive Western University medical degrees. However, over 200 Windsor-based physicians are currently involved as faculty in the new Program and the previous clerkship and residency training established through the Southwestern Ontario Medical Education Network which has been operating in Windsor for the past six years.


I thought there were already medical students in Windsor. How does this program differ?


Third-year undergraduate medical students (clerks) as well as postgraduate medical students (residents) are currently training in Windsor through SWOMEN.  The Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry – Windsor Program will bring all four years of undergraduate medical education to Windsor.


Does Windsor now have a medical school?


The Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry – Windsor Program is not a stand-alone medical school but is a collaborative effort between Western University, the University of Windsor and the London and Windsor hospitals to bring a medical program to Windsor. Across Canada existing medical schools are developing partnerships with universities and communities to extend the reach of medical education. This national precedent addresses our society’s critical need for physicians by reducing the time required to get new medical programs established and more doctors graduating. The Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry – Windsor Program leverages the medical education curriculum, knowledge and experience at Western to get the program in Windsor operating sooner. As such, students trained in Windsor will still receive their medical degrees from Western University.


How does the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry – Windsor Program address the critical need for health care professionals in Windsor and Essex county?


Research indicates that medical students build links in the communities where they do their training and are more likely to practice there after graduation. By allowing more medical students to live and train in Windsor for a longer duration (four years of undergraduate medical training), the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry – Windsor Program increases the likelihood these future doctors will choose to practice in Windsor and its surrounding communities.

In addition, Schulich Medciine & Dentistry's admissions process provides special consideration to applicants who indicate they are from a community in Southwestern Ontario. Currently, for the class of 2012, 11 of the 24 students in the Windsor Program are from Southwestern Ontario (7 from Essex County and 4 from Middlesex County). By comparison, 48 students based in London are from communities in Southwestern Ontario.
 

What is SWOMEN?


The Southwestern Ontario Medical Education Network (SWOMEN) is a partnership of rural and regional communities and hospitals throughout Southwest Ontario -including Windsor and the University of Windsor - networked with London. SWOMEN provides rural and regional medical education and training experience to undergraduate and postgraduate medical trainees (residents) from Schulich Medicine & Dentistry, ensuring graduates are prepared for practice in any geographic setting.

 

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