Because of the unique structure of these relationships, however, the hospitals give the College a certain advantage over traditional academic medical centers. In a traditional academic medical center, the medical school administers and teaches its students in its own hospital, as is the case at the UIC College of Medicine at Chicago. Most of America's 127 medical schools are structured this way. The College of Medicine at Rockford, instead of administrating its own hospital or affiliating with only one of the hospitals, sets its educational programs in the context of the entire community, rather than in the often far-removed world of hospital specialists and subspecialists that characterize traditional academic medical centers. Aside from this fundamental desire to improve the medical community as a whole, health system administrators say that their relationship with the College also satisfies a certain amount of self-interest for their particular system.
Teaching tends to raise quality of health care delivery, as many studies have shown.
One recent study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, stated that overall survival for patients with conditions such as stroke, coronary heart disease and hip fractures are better at teaching hospitals. Students bring with them questions that force doctors to reevaluate their own knowledge and the processes behind their care. The students constantly keep our physicians alert and always learning, which in turn translates to a higher level of care. Nearly 100 FPR and medical school graduates practice in the greater Rockford area. The influence a hospital experience may have over a medical student or resident may prompt a desire to come back to the hospital to practice.