In a move that should help with the state's doctor shortage, Quinnipiac University soon will have a medical school.

And it will have significant ramifications in our backyard.

The new medical school, which will have St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport as its primary clinical partner, received unanimous approval from the state Board of Education on Wednesday. Coupled with the announcement that the school also received preliminary accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, Quinnipiac can start recruiting future doctors immediately.

Quinnipiac's Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine is expected to enroll a charter class of 60 students in August 2013 and grow to 275 students by 2017. Dr. Bruce Koeppen, founding dean of the new medical school, told the state board that the doctors that Quinnipiac will create won't bury themselves in research labs, but rather will be primary care physicians.

"Not only will it help address the current physician shortage, but it will provide long-term benefits to the state," said Elizabeth Beaudin, director of nursing and workforce initiatives for the Connecticut Hospital Association. "Because of health reform, more people will be receiving coverage. As such, we need more primary care physicians who will be involved in prevention and health promotion, as well as chronic disease management. This will ultimately result in healthier communities and fewer avoidable hospital visits."

Although clinical rotations are two years away, Koeppen said students would start getting clinical experiences at St. Vincent's in year one. "I expect eventually our medical students will set up free screening clinics for people in Bridgeport who don't have access to medical care or who can't afford it," said Koeppen.

Dr. Stuart G. Marcus, president of St. Vincent's Medical Center, said the alliance would change the culture of St. Vincent's and raise the bar for everybody. "Faculty members at St. Vincent's are looking forward to educating students in the clinical sciences and teaching them the principles of safe, reliable patient care of the highest quality," said Marcus.

In their third year of training, medical students will spend the majority of their time rotating through various departments at the hospital including surgery, medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry and family medicine. In year four, students will rotate through intensive care and the emergency department. The students will also have a presence in St. Vincent's outpatient sites as well as two secondary training sites: MidState Medical Center in Meriden and Middlesex Hospital in Middletown.

The school will be located on Quinnipiac's North Haven campus. Koeppen anticipates the charter class will be selected from a pool of 2,000 to 3,000 applicants. The university is nearing completion on a new medical school classroom building and has hired 19 of 20 new faculty members. So far, Quinnipiac has spent $100 million on the effort.

This is the first time St. Vincent's has taken a lead clinical role with a medical school. Koeppen said he visited 16 hospitals in the state and invited them to become clinical partners. Five applied. All submitted position papers to outline what their partnership would look like. That Bridgeport had a medically underserved population and didn't have a medical school affiliation attached to one of its hospitals played into the decision to select St. Vincent's, Koeppen said.

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Quinnipiac/St. Vincent's medical school wins approval