Officials from Hurley Medical Center and Kettering University proudly showcased a Physician Scribe program —the first of its kind in the country that sends students for three month full-time, paid professional co-op jobs, then rotates them back into the classroom for more education in the classroom/lab setting.  Kettering University is the only higher education facility in the country with this unique educational co-op model.  

The news was announced during a press conference on Friday, March 8.  The technology-rich joint venture benefits the medical staff at Hurley Medical Center and the students of Kettering University.  

The Scribe program provides support and training for medical professionals using the new Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system.  Scribes work closely with doctors as they assist the physician in learning to navigate the EMR. In exchange, a select number of co-op students from Kettering University get a premier opportunity to explore career paths in medicine while also developing their technology skills in their chosen field.

Dr. Michael D. Roebuck, Chief Medical Information Officer at Hurley Medical Center, said the Physician Scribe program assists physicians who are transitioning to computers when recording patient information. "There are a lot of scribe programs around the country but really what makes this unique is the co-op model and close partnership with Kettering,” said Dr. Roebuck. “The opportunity for the students to be here and the access they receive would otherwise be challenging to get. It's really been beneficial on both sides of the relationship.”

Kettering University Professor Patrick Atkinson said the Scribe position “is an ideal environment for an aspiring physician to see what it’s like to be a doctor, day in and day out.”

"When we talk about this being first in the nation, here's the difference: if you go to another school and you're premed, you can scribe where you want, but those two schedules aren't going to complement each other,” he explained. “In this relationship, we give you three months to go to school and get that deep technical knowledge, then three months to work and have a break from school; three months of deep scribe and technical knowledge."

At the press conference, Kettering co-op students who are leaders in the Physician Scribe program demonstrated to those in attendance the Computer on Wheels equipment and also discussed the details of their unique professional co-op jobs.  

For more information on Friday’s press conference, contact:

Ilene Cantor, Administrator, Marketing, Community and Public Relations at Hurley Medical Center, at 810-262-7164 or iCantor1@hurleymc.com

Patricia Mroczek, Public Relations and Communications, Kettering University at 810-762-9533 or pmroczek@kettering.edu

Hurley Medical Center is a 443-bed premier public teaching hospital in Flint.  Hurley is the region’s only Level I Trauma Center, Level II Pediatric Trauma Center (Genesee, Lapeer, Shiawassee Counties), Burn Center, and the highest level (III) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Genesee County.  Founded in 1908, Hurley provides patient care for more than 100,000 people annually.  For more on Hurley Medical Center, visit www.hurleymc.com

Kettering University is a nationally ranked Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Business university and a national leader in combining a rigorous academic environment with rich opportunities for experiential learning and cooperative education.  Kettering focuses on the learning experience of the individual student.  For more information, visit www.kettering.edu.