LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Simmons College of Kentucky has announced a partnership with two healthcare companies to offer a new degree in medicine.
The school said St. Louis-based Tiber Health and Norton Healthcare will join the program to offer the Master of Science in Medical Science degree.
Simmons said the 42-credt program is a year-long.
The institutions hope this will address the need for more Black representation in the medical workforce.
“Less than 5% of African Americans are physicians. Here in Kentucky, we recently launched a workforce collaborative to try to encourage more people to get into careers in healthcare,” Dr. Rick Smith, associate vice president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, said. “There’s a particular lens on trying to get more African Americans involved in the healthcare industry. That is a challenge, and this program certainly addresses those challenges.
Dr. Kelly McCants, who serves as director of Norton’s Health Equity Institute, said programs like this are vital, especially in Black and Hispanic communities.
“When we think about cardiovascular disease, hypertension and diabetes it disproportionately affects these communities. So having an institution like Norton Healthcare be intentional about building pipelines like this is extremely important,” he said.
The program is expected to begin in January 2024.
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