The working relationship with faculty colleagues on the Kansas City campus has led to improvements in the curriculum. Additional progress is expected. Closer partnerships with the Sedgwick County Health Department, the School of Allied Health at Wichita State University, and other outpatient facilities will improve the graduates' knowledge and skills in public and population health, interdisciplinary teamwork, continuity of care, and non-traditional medical therapies. Graduates of the future will be more skilled in health promotion and disease prevention as well as excellent diagnosticians and disease interventionists. Modest research programs have developed but most occur off campus in partnership with local agencies.
Additional research is needed in order to improve the population's health.
If successful, these expanded activities in research will increase the reputation of the faculty, improve faculty and resident recruitment, generate additional financial support for academic programs, enhance student and resident education and, most importantly, improve the health of the public. Partnerships with local hospitals and the health department have been vital in caring for this population. Improved and additional partnerships with local clinics for the underserved, Federally Qualified Health Centers, state government, integrated health systems and philanthropic organizations will be needed to improve health care for these and other populations. Through improved and expanded programs of health care service, our educational programs will be strengthened. All health care organizations including medical schools will depend on electronic information collection, storage, transmission and manipulation in order to be successful.