Mercy, SEMO, Pennsylvania college collaborate for medical studies

Mercy Southeast, Southeast Missouri State University and Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) have collaborated on an endeavor to turn Mercy Hospital Southeast into a teaching hospital. The Mercy Southeast and Mercy Stoddard hospitals will host clinical rotations for LECOM medical students during the school year.

“Mercy Southeast is thrilled to join LECOM and SEMO in attracting medical students to Cape Girardeau,” Dr. Naresh Agarwal, Mercy Southeast chief medical officer, said in a Thursday, Nov. 7, news release. “This expansion lays the foundation for Mercy Southeast to serve as a regional teaching hospital and become a center of excellence, delivering high-quality, compassionate care to our Southeast community while also attracting top-tier physicians.”

This is not the first time Mercy has worked with LECOM, the nation’s largest medical college. Though the school’s flagship campus is in Erie, Pennsylvania, it opened a regional campus at Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Festus in June. The outreach allows for the students to support rural communities where health care resources are often in higher demand.

“Expanding to Cape Girardeau just makes sense,” said Karthik Iyer, Mercy Jefferson chief medical officer and LECOM regional dean. “Mercy Southeast is about an hour away from our campus at Mercy Jefferson, allowing for easy collaboration between our two hospitals. We see a tremendous opportunity to increase access to higher education for residents in the area with this expansion with LECOM and now Southeast Missouri State University. The chance to serve as faculty in a community teaching hospital is a big draw for many physicians. It has already helped us recruit additional physicians to Mercy Jefferson, which has been a huge win for the entire community.”

LECOM will also partner with SEMO to identify potential medical school candidates and help them earn an advanced degree through an Early Acceptance Program. Qualified students can receive early acceptance to LECOM’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, School of Pharmacy, School of Dental Medicine or School of Podiatric Medicine by taking SEMO courses before completing their bachelor’s degrees.

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