Cooperstown has proven an unexpectedly popular place for medical students.

When the Bassett Healthcare Network and the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons joined forces to start a new 10-student medical school program in the fall of 2010, officials predicted great things.

But no one foresaw the programs popularity with medical school applicants.

So far, it has drawn between 698 and 971 applications a year for just 10 slots, said Senior Associate Dean Dr. Walter Franck. That compares to 5,100 to 5,800 applications for 155 spots in Columbias regular medical school and MD/PhD programs, he said.

The program, along with a similar one between the University of South Florida and Lehigh Valley Health Network, is training the next wave of physician leaders with unique curricula that teach doctors about medical care and the health care system, said Henry Sondheimer, senior director of medical education projects at the Association of American Medical Colleges.

I think theyve both been overwhelmed with the interest in these programs, he said. I think they picked something for all the right reasons because God knows we need physicians who are going to be leaders in improving the health care system, but I dont think either of them, to be honest, anticipated the tremendous amount of interest that this would generate in this group of applicants and I think its wonderful.

Katherine Schwartz of Mount Sinai on Long Island knew she wanted to go to Columbia-Bassett as soon as she heard about it as a history major at SUNY Geneseo.

Schwartz, a member of the programs first class, was drawn by the opportunity to follow a group of patients in Cooperstown for a year.

That was the initial draw for me. It seemed to get at why I wanted to go into medicine, I guess, the emphasis on interpersonal relationships, she said.

And Schwartz, whos now applying for pediatrics residencies and considering a future in neonatology, said its lived up to her expectations.

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Bassett medical school’s popularity soars