Scott O'Connell Telegram & Gazette Staff @ScottOConnellTG

WORCESTER Once again, UMass Medical School has welcomed a historically large class of medical students, as 162 future doctors arrived on campus this week.

But after years of growth the schools enrollment cap used to be 100 students not long ago Chancellor Michael F. Collins said he doesnt expect new records to be set anytime soon.

Im not seeing the enrollment rising beyond that (162) at the moment, he said, explaining the lack of available clinical assignment spaces for additional students, as well as the potential reduction in instructional quality that could come from straining the medical schools staff and facilities, are the two main arguments against further expansion.

But Mr. Collins said the medical schools relatively fast enrollment growth since 2009, when its enrollment maximum increased to 125, has been managed well so far, which he credited in large part to the extraordinary commitment from UMasss faculty. In the last couple years in particular the medical school began accepting out-of-state students for the first time in 2016 the school has had to stretch its capacity to take on 150 students last year and now 162 this summer.

Nearly half of those students will go into primary care, Mr. Collins said, which is one of the reasons UMass the states lone public medical school has sought to expand its enrollment recently.

Obviously the nation needs more doctors, he said, especially in primary care. We feel a responsibility its good weve been able to increase the class size. We have the facilities and competent faculty to do it.

The true challenge of accommodating this years additional students wont come until their third year, however, when theyll be placed in clinical assignments.

Its easy to put a row of chairs in a classroom, Mr. Collins said. Its not so easy to find clinical placements for everybody.

Some students will be going to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, which UMass partnered with two years ago for the purpose of creating more clinical opportunities for medical students. Others will go to the medical schools new Baystate campus in Springfield; 22 from this years class, in particular, will participate in the new Urban and Rural Community Health track, which will take them to Springfield after two years to train to become primary care doctors in an urban or rural setting.

Most of this years record-setting class has come from within the state. According to UMass, 131 are Massachusetts residents, while the other 31 are from out of state, which is up from 19 a year ago. Technically, the new out-of-state acceptance policy is supposed to be capped at 25 students. But James Fessenden, a spokesman for UMass, said the acceptance process is ultimately an inexact science we manage it the best we can, which sometimes leads to slightly more or fewer students being accepted.

Mr. Collins said opening up the medical school to non-Massachusetts residents a move driven by UMasss desire for more high-quality candidates, as well as more revenue, since it can charge out-of-staters a higher rate has not in his view led to any changes to the culture or environment at the school.

Its imperceptible, he said. These are just students going to medical school.

But Mr. Collins said accepting large numbers of new students could negatively affect the program, which is why UMass has tried to keep year-over-year increases below 10 percent.

If we all of a sudden took 50 more students, it would be a different place here, he said.

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UMass Medical School welcomes largest class ever, but future ... - Worcester Telegram