Officials discuss the development of UMKC School of Medicine in St. Joseph

By Jenna Wilson

Local leaders and state representatives met at the Chamber of Commerce on Thursday to discuss ways to continue developing the health care system in rural communities, including with the opening of a new school of medicine in St. Joseph.

State Rep. Brenda Shields was among the many leaders who gathered to talk about the progress of the $14.5 million building that’s set to be completed in St. Joseph in June 2025.

In 2021, UMKC opened its St. Joseph campus in partnership with Mosaic Life Care, where they’ve trained area physicians and will now be expanding the program in hopes of solving the shortage of physicians in rural areas across the state.

“There is a real shortage of rural physicians, not only in Missouri but across the nation,” Shields said. “The goal of the school is for us to train rural physicians in rural Missouri and become the premier location for any person who wants to become a rural physician across the nation. We’re starting with Missouri and we’re going to make sure that we fill our pipeline here first.”

The UMKC School of Medicine will be graduating its first class of locally trained physicians this fall in St. Joseph as the program continues to grow.

In an effort to continue bringing more students with the additional facility, officials are also developing ways to keep students in the area after receiving their medical degree in St. Joseph by creating post-graduate education opportunities.

“After these students receive their medical education, we want them to stay here in the area,” said Dr. Alexander Norbash, dean of the UMKC School of Medicine. “That way they are more likely to have been set up their final practices here. So we are working on that with Mosaic Health and government officials to see how we get funding for the residencies.”

The White Coat Ceremony for the St. Joseph campus students will be at 10 a.m. on Saturday at emPowerU.