Building the Future Physician Workforce Through Medical Education Partnerships with Leon Clark & Dr. Peter Broderick
In this episode, Leon Clark, Vice President, Chief Academic Affairs Officer and Designated Institutional Official at Sutter Health, and Dr. Peter Broderick, Director, Undergraduate Medical Education Department, Executive Consultant, Graduate Medical Education, Sutter Health, discuss Sutter Health’s partnership with Charles R. Drew University to strengthen the physician pipeline. They explore scholarships, clinical training, mentorship, financial sustainability and building long-term pathways to expand access to care and develop the next generation of physicians.
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- This is Laura Dierdahl with the Becker's Healthcare
- podcast. I'm thrilled today to be joined by
- Leon Clark, vice president and chief academic affairs
- officer at Sutter Health, and doctor Peter Broderick,
- director of undergraduate medical education department and executive
- consultant in graduate medical education at Sutter Health.
- Leon, doctor Broderick, it's a pleasure to have
- you both on the podcast today. It's our
- pleasure to be here.
- Yes. Now I'm excited for our conversation. I
- know we're gonna talk about some of the
- big issues plaguing many health systems, looking at
- physician shortages,
- rising medical education costs, and some of the
- disparities in care as well, and how you're
- addressing that at Sutter Health
- through a partnership with the Charles R. Drew
- University
- of Medicine. I I think it's an exciting
- way to think about how the next generation
- of physicians,
- is gonna grow and lead and and strengthen
- that pipeline,
- of folks not only who are committed to
- providing health care, but those with diverse backgrounds
- who can serve these communities in a very
- strong way. So
- I'd love to hear first and foremost, Leon,
- could you tell us a little bit about
- that partnership and the program that you're working
- on there at Sutter Health? I would love
- to get a a little bit of a
- lay of land of what the program is
- and,
- how you're working on this partnership to strengthen
- the pipeline for the future.
- Sure. Thanks for the question, Laura.
- Let me first start by, talking a little
- bit about, why Charles Drew and and and
- Sutter, came together.
- I think, both organizations
- share this, commitment to educating
- future physicians,
- but it's really about expanding access and improving
- health care outcomes.
- What attracted us to Charles Drew, quite frankly,
- is that they bring this,
- long standing mission of preparing health care,
- leaders dedicated to,
- serving the underserved.
- And when you combine that with, Sutter's,
- scale of an integrated health care delivery system,
- and our capabilities
- and clinical training, mentorship,
- and research opportunities,
- together,
- we believe that, you know, we can create
- pathways that,
- neither organization could have done, on its own.
- The partnership has three primary components.
- One is, we provide,
- Sutter provides
- full tuition scholarships for,
- 50 of our, Drew students or 50 Drew
- students,
- over a five year period.
- We also provide,
- clinical clerkships or clinical training,
- for their, medical students.
- And then there is a a research alliance,
- where together,
- we,
- try to divide,
- design interventions,
- that improve health care outcomes for the communities
- in which,
- we operate.
- And again, I think this is a opportunity
- for both organizations to leverage,
- their respective expertise
- to really improve,
- health care outcomes for all.
- That's amazing to hear, and it seems like
- such a great opportunity to not only strengthen
- the pipeline of clinical leaders coming into the
- organization, but also provide such needed services,
- to the community
- where where you operate.
- So, from your perspective,
- you know, what does it take
- to build a program like this? How do
- you really make sure you've got the right,
- people in place to provide that mentorship and
- and build
- a program that will actually bring in folks
- who then stay in the community and become
- part of the larger health care delivery team?
- Well, I'll start out, and I know that,
- doctor Broderick will, also want to opine. I
- think, I I think it requires some intentionality.
- On the Sutter side, of course,
- long before we signed our partnership agreement,
- we made sure that we had physicians and
- administrative leaders,
- across the organization who,
- recognized the need to develop
- a strong clinical
- pipeline given the shortage of physicians that,
- is not only projected for California, but the
- nation, writ large.
- And, we have, come to understand,
- that you can't really recruit your way out
- of the workforce shortage.
- We believe that the best workforce strategy is
- to actually help build the workforce itself.
- And, we also recognize that the physician pipeline
- begins long, before residency. And so creating these
- pathways,
- is, not only the right thing to do,
- but it's, the strategic thing to do, and
- in order to support the,
- aspirations of, Sutter Health as a
- growing,
- health care delivery system that wishes to serve,
- more more patients. So, you know, part of
- how we make this work is by securing
- the commitment from,
- Sutter Health leadership, writ large, the physicians who
- ultimately
- provide,
- mentorship and clinical training,
- to the Charles Drew students.
- It involves engaging,
- CDU,
- leadership,
- in making sure that their students are well
- prepared when they show up on to our
- campus,
- and ready to, you know, experience,
- you know, clinical training and clinical care and
- research,
- in our environment.
- But, Peter, what would you what what did
- I miss, and what would you add?
- Yeah. Well, thank you, Leon. You know, Laura,
- you know, the scholarship and partnership
- are really the visible commitment,
- but the real work is building the clinical
- learning infrastructure, as Leon was saying. You know,
- it allows students to become confident, community oriented
- physicians and,
- etcetera.
- That means clerkships,
- need preceptors, preceptor engagement,
- site readiness,
- housing, we provide for our students since they
- are, some distance from their home,
- onboarding support, helping them learn our EMR,
- feedback systems,
- and a learning environment where the students can
- really turn
- their classroom knowledge into patient care. And it
- really gives them an authentic experience
- of what it will be like for their
- future career. And it's really it's not just,
- as Leon says, a scholarship program or relationship.
- It's a pipeline strategy. And so by showing
- them
- what a highly accountable health care system can
- deliver
- in terms of quality patient care, I think
- our hope is that it inspires them and
- even hopefully consider, you know, practice within our
- region and and keeping them within California.
- Absolutely. That sounds amazing to hear, you know,
- really a smart way to think about strategy
- and be upstream when you look at where
- the clinical workforce is headed and what's gonna
- be most valuable in the future.
- I'm curious.
- As you have gone through this process and
- and matured the partnership,
- what have you learned along the way? Is
- there anything that you have pivoted or adjusted
- as time went on, to really
- make these types of,
- scholarships and the experience more valuable?
- Yeah. I think, you know, one of the
- first things
- being a physician
- is kind of an entry into being a
- teacher, but that isn't enough in and of
- itself. You have to do
- preceptor development. You have to have engaged, enthusiastic
- preceptors because they're really the gateway to,
- you know, the aspirational,
- desire of the students to become excellent clinicians.
- And so choosing our preceptors, having them trained,
- having our site directors also be attentive to
- the learning environment
- such that the students are embedded into the
- health care system, not just observing it. They're
- participating
- alongside our clinicians,
- our our residents in which they, also co
- learn, and that kind of environment is a
- really authentic
- experience for the students, gets them out of
- the classroom,
- and starts to make their their learning,
- real and really applied.
- So it does take some infrastructure work. It
- takes some encouragement.
- It takes some faculty development.
- And, you know, the time and incentives need
- to be recognized
- as in competition to a lot of other
- demands on our clinicians. And I think Sutter's
- done a great job in trying to balance
- those demands and support the medical education enterprise
- that we're developing.
- And, Peter, if I could just add to
- that, Peter and Laura. I think the other
- thing that we've, we've learned and,
- are are
- is essentially,
- reacting to
- is, we're coming into an understanding that scholarships
- alone isn't enough.
- But it's really about,
- pairing the students with,
- interested faculty,
- providing mentorship, providing research,
- experiences. In other words, you know, building a
- connection,
- with the students beyond, you know, the scholarships
- is really gonna make the the difference. What
- we're developing is,
- relationships,
- you know, with the students, with the university,
- such that,
- over time,
- they can see themselves part of our system,
- part of, you know, serving the needs of
- communities in, California,
- writ large.
- That makes a lot of sense and is
- really valuable information. I know that have a
- program like this, I can imagine it is
- a lot of moving parts and it takes
- a lot of enthusiasm, energy,
- and people who are really committed to seeing
- this pipeline be successful.
- I'm curious too. I know as you mentioned,
- being able to provide
- the access for medical students who have, significant
- financial barriers as well, providing the scholarships, housing,
- and more.
- How are you able to make sure you
- have,
- a program that's financially sustainable, especially
- thinking about how,
- the finances in in
- in health care overall are challenging in many
- ways. So it's great that you have this
- commitment and then being able to,
- create the type of program that will be
- sustainable.
- I just love to hear how you make
- sure that the finances
- are every dollar counts, basically.
- Yeah. I think from the very beginning, we've
- we,
- thought about, financial sustainability.
- And, there's a couple ways to, in in
- which we think about it. One,
- this is a investment in the future workforce
- of,
- Sutter Health,
- and a way to invest in,
- communities across, California
- by providing,
- you know, pathways for, new physicians who, like,
- again, will, you know, serve,
- the communities in which we operate.
- I I think when you you think about,
- the investments that we're making today in the
- future workforce,
- with a goal to, you you know, recruit,
- these,
- medical students into our residencies and then ultimately
- into our,
- aligned medical groups.
- There is a, a return,
- on investment that could be,
- realized from that. Right? When you think about,
- you know, the cost to recruit
- a a new physician,
- we look at this one holistically. We also
- look at it over over the long run,
- knowing that the investments we make today will
- pay off,
- downstream,
- not only for us, but for the students
- themselves. And so, that's,
- in part how we,
- we we think about it. It's not just
- a gift,
- but it is in fact,
- an investment in the future workforce of, Upsetter
- Health
- and an investment in,
- California communities, especially those communities that,
- are most vulnerable.
- Yeah. And I I would add one more
- benefit that medical education really affords Sutter.
- I come from a background in academic medicine,
- and the and the truth is there are
- many,
- clinicians who find the combination of medical practice
- and and teaching to be a very enlivening
- experience and help them, you know, keep their
- verve for their profession and their calling. And
- we have seen a great, response to the
- growth in medical education in terms of recruitment
- of
- highly talented
- clinicians who are both excellent
- in their specialty, but also excellent teachers. And
- not every health care system can offer that.
- So I think it does give Sutter a
- competitive advantage in terms of recruiting excellent talent.
- And what that really does for our patients
- is expand access to care, the highest quality
- care,
- that we achieve, and also gives the students
- the aspirational view of what their future could
- be in a system like Sutter's.
- Absolutely. That makes a lot of sense. And,
- you know, it's fascinating to think about,
- that mindset in in truly transforming how you're
- looking at these types of programs, giving Sutter
- the competitive advantage and being able to continue
- down that pathway of high quality care. Now
- I'm curious if either of you are able
- to share, you know, some of the the
- fruits, I suppose, of this program or any
- specific things that you've noticed as a result
- of being able to have this type of
- partnership,
- successes that you've had, and,
- just ways that you've seen really,
- that talent pipeline turnaround a bit.
- Well, I think one of the things that
- I find most gratifying and we just finished
- our first,
- cohort of third year students.
- So in medical school, traditionally, the first two
- years are often basic sciences and and, the
- classroom learning.
- But the second two years, the the third
- and fourth years, are particularly important for the
- development of professional identity.
- And in the third year, the the all
- medical students are required to take certain core
- clerkships, and Sutter is offering currently
- core clerkships to the CDU in family medicine,
- neurology, pediatrics,
- surgery, and internal medicine.
- And the feedback we've gotten from the students,
- has been very gratifying. One student, you know,
- said that
- their preceptor really,
- challenged their thinking in a very supportive way,
- used opportunities and gaps of knowledge as opportunities
- for learning, not as, criticism or critique.
- And in working with the residents,
- you know, they're they're on the learning continuum
- as well,
- and that relationship
- often is very,
- supportive
- of the students' growth. And the feedback we've
- gotten from our first first cohort of third
- years has been really gratifying to see.
- That's amazing to hear. Now before we wrap
- up, I wanted to ask you all about
- the future as well. What are you excited
- about for the growth of this partnership? What
- does it look like a few years down
- the line? What are you growing towards
- and expecting to see as time goes on?
- Yeah. I'll I'll start and, you know, doctor
- Broderick, of course, will will amplify. I think,
- the way I think about it, success,
- of the partnership over time,
- means,
- producing durable pathways,
- you know, more students can, afford medical school,
- more CDU learners complete high quality clinical and
- research experiences, etcetera,
- and more trainees see Sutter in Northern California
- as places to continue,
- their their careers.
- We also want, as, doctor Breidorke was pointing
- out,
- this partnership to ultimately contribute to better access
- for patients,
- a stronger physician workforce that reflects,
- the values and,
- aspirations of Sutter Health as a system,
- and measurable academic and community
- impact.
- And so, that's what we're looking forward to.
- That's what we're we're building,
- towards,
- as we move forward.
- Yeah. And I would say one of the
- other long term,
- outcomes that I think are going to be
- really important for Sutter is, you know, my
- my role is in helping make the clinical
- education infrastructure reliable, onboarding, site readiness, preceptor engagement,
- and such. And that is actually laying,
- you know, sort of the DNA for our
- future
- as a medical education
- enterprise. We're currently in the process now of,
- in the very early stages of developing a
- medical school in partnership with a local university,
- and that gives our preceptors the opportunity to
- grow
- even further within the undergraduate med ed environment.
- So this long term benefit and this continued
- CDU relationship
- helped jump start our development as a medical
- education enterprise as well.
- Wow. That's that's amazing. Thank you both so
- much for jumping on the line and and
- talking about this incredible program. I appreciate your
- time today, Leon and doctor Broderick, and hopefully
- we'll be able to catch up again soon
- once you've spent more time with it and
- and just really be able to share additional
- wins and success stories from Sutter and Sutter
- Home.
- Well, thank you. It's, it's, our pleasure to
- join you today, Laura. Thank you for
- lending the platform, to have this important conversation
- this morning.
- Yeah. Thank you very much, Laura.