Half of new medical school's inaugural class are Utahns

By John Rogers

It has been more than 100 years since a medical school opened in Utah. That all changed earlier this month when official and dignitaries cut the ribbon at the Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine campus in Ivins, near St. George. The only other medical institution in the state is the University of Utah’s School of Medicine, which opened in 1905.

And the new school will be creating doctors out of Utah residents. According to Clinton Adams, RVU president and chief executive officer, 50 percent of RVU’s first class of students are from Utah. 

“That’s really our dream,” Adams said. “To keep it that way in the future should not be a problem.” 

Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, RVU hosted its first class of 135 students that gathered at the Ivins campus for orientation. Adams said that eventually, the university is equipped to handle 250 students on a year-round basis. The RVU Ivins campus is a residential facility where student will be housed during the school year. The initial class will spend four years at the two-story, 135,000-square-foot facility that sits on 32 acres in the middle of Ivins. Adjacent to the main building are two residential halls.

{mprestriction ids="1,3"}The addition of the students, faculty and staff to the small, rural Utah community is something Ivins Mayor Chis Hart said he’s most excited about.

“We’re a population of 10,000, and there are almost no communities of our size that can boast they have a medical school,” Hart said. “So it gives us some bragging rights.” 

Hart said the economic impact RVU will have on the Ivins is not yet known. He said it will certainly be an important economic factor for the region, but the small town on the fringes of the greater St. George area isn’t likely to attract much commercial development, he added. “But I do believe you can’t have 300 hungry students studying all night without getting pizza at a pizza parlor, right?” he joked. “Who knows what else might come along?”

The RVU campus is located adjacent to the Southern Utah Veteran’s Home, another thing that excites Adams who retired from the U.S. Navy as an admiral after serving for 30 years. 

“This is kind of the “last hoorah,’” Adams said. “This is all about connecting with people, which will help our students become more humanistic and reaching out at the VA home. Our students hooking up with each one of those patients who are there and understanding their life stories and helping them enjoy their last years is more than one can dream about in a lifetime.”

Part of the operating model for RVU is a connection with local undergraduate institutions. Eleven Southern Utah University graduates are among the 135 accepted this year as part of the inaugural class.

The first Rocky Vista class is 10 students larger than the 125 incoming first-year medical students at the University of Utah, according to posted enrollment numbers.

The just-completed RVU building includes two 200-seat lecture halls, 36 study rooms, a simulation center, standardized patient rooms and a 9,000-square-foot library.

Utah health officials have expressed hope that the new medical school will alleviate a physician shortage ongoing in the state.

Students will leave RVU as osteopathic physicians but will still need to complete the same post-graduate programs such as residencies that traditional medical school graduates do in order to practice medicine. Osteopathic physicians are medical doctors with specialized training in osteopathic manipulation who take a more holistic approach to a patient’s health.

Gov. Gary Herbert addressed by video those gathered for the opening of Rocky Vista campus.

“As our state’s population continues to grow, the need for physicians continues to grow,” Herbert said. “And starting today, more Utah students will be able to stay in their home state while pursuing their medical education.”

Rocky Vista University has also named an advisory council for the new Southern Utah branch. Timothy Anderson, an attorney with Jones, Waldo, Holbrook and McDonough in St. George, will serve as chairman of the council, which will provide guidance and advice to the leadership and faculty at Rocky Vista.

Other members of the council include Eric Leavitt, CEO of the Leavitt Group in Cedar City; Donna L. Milavetz, CEO of Salt Lake City-based OnSite Care Clinics; Stan Albrecht, recently retired president of Utah State University; and Richard G. Whitehead, a former administrator at Dixie State University and Southern Virginia University.

Also named to the council were R. Lane Beattie, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce; Mindy Benson, vice president for alumni and community relations at Southern Utah University; Warren A. Peterson, a dermatologist and osteopathic educator from Woodland Hills; and B. Grant Bishop, professor emeritus at the University of Utah School of Medicine.

“We are very pleased to have such a cross-section of prominent Utahns to serve on the committee as we finally realize this significant new addition to higher education in the state,” Adams said in a statement.

The council will also advocate for the school, provide access to higher education and business leaders, and assist with fundraising for the nonprofit part of the school’s mission such as scholarships and student well-being.{/mprestriction}