Cunningham/Carrell: UMR and Rochester: A unique health care education partnership

In the heart of the medical world, next door to Mayo Clinic, and throughout the city of Rochester, our students, faculty and staff at the University of Minnesota Rochester are forging a bright future for tomorrow’s health care workforce — the lifeblood to providing care in communities around the state.

As Minnesotans, we are at a critical moment in time. Our state, like so many others, faces critical shortfalls across almost every health care profession. While there are many factors at play, it is clear that building tomorrow’s health care workforce — highly diverse, well-educated, and trained through state-of-the-art instruction and real-world experiences — requires an innovative approach and unwavering focus.

Our Rochester campus was built for this moment. We specialize in educational innovation. Our faculty put students at the center of everything we do, ensuring they are prepared to successfully meet the health care needs of all Minnesotans. Our students are committed to making a difference, and they are uniquely positioned to achieve their professional goals of serving patients and communities because of the world-class U of M experience they get here in Rochester.

We are grateful to our many partners at Mayo Clinic and throughout the community for working with us to create learning experiences for our students. By learning and working with world-class researchers and health care providers, our students are able to transition seamlessly from the classroom to hospitals, labs and clinics, where our state so badly needs them.

We are fortunate to have such an incredible resource located right here in Rochester, and we look forward to strengthening our collaborations with Mayo Clinic and other key partners so that, together, we can advance the health of all Minnesotans.

Our health sciences graduates serve increasingly diverse populations in Rochester, Olmsted County and Minnesota broadly. Research shows improved health outcomes for those from historically under-resourced populations when they are cared for by professionals from similar cultural, racial or ethnic backgrounds.

Not only does UMR enroll one of the most diverse student bodies in the U of M system — two-thirds of our students are first-generation college students, Pell-grant eligible students (many from middle-class families in both rural and metro regions of the state), or students of color — but our campus has virtually eliminated any significant differences in graduation rates that persist in so many educational settings, graduating our talented students at similar rates, regardless of their individual identities. As our grads begin working in clinics and labs around the state, they strengthen the diverse professional workforce our state needs — right now — to support the health of Minnesota’s increasingly diverse population.

This campus is distinctly unique in our U of M system and in our state’s workforce development network. These points of pride we casually mention — nearly eliminating differences in graduation rates between students of different backgrounds, graduating a high percentage of our students and watching nearly every one of them pursue advanced health sciences degrees or immediately begin work in their field — are not typically seen across higher education. They are exceptional, and they are something the entire Rochester community can celebrate, because the support of this community has played a vital role in the resounding successes of this young and innovative campus.

The University of Minnesota Rochester has become a shining example of what health care education can be, as we plan now for the unbound opportunities yet to come. With continued shared commitment, we will advance this legacy in the years to come.