The first class at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine campus in Bowling Green will be welcomed with a white coat ceremony Friday. The coating ceremony symbolizes the transition into medical school.
In 2016, the UK College of Medicine announced plans for regional campuses in Bowling Green, Morehead and Northern Kentucky. The Bowling Green campus is the first to open and will be a complete medical school program. Don Brown is the Assistant Dean at UK College of Medicine’s Bowling Green campus. He said the new institution will help address a physician shortage in the state, while providing new opportunities for Kentuckians.
“This community has come together with a dream of starting a medical school so we can train physicians that are from Kentucky,” he said.
Brown said students will work in smaller groups than those at UK’s Lexington campus, allowing them to get more one-on-one time with instructors. Bowling Green students will utilize the same curriculum as those at the UK campus in Lexington.
Brown said students who complete their four years of medical school in Bowling Green will also have the opportunity to complete their residency in the city.
“Students that were from this area can go to medical school here, can do their training and residency or their fellowship here and we think the chances of them practicing here will be even greater,” he said.
Construction of the new campus will be completed in mid-September to welcome the new class of students. The white coat ceremony is at Van Meter Hall on Western Kentucky University’s campus on Friday/tomorrow at 4 p.m. central.
