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NASSAU HEALTH CARE CORPORATION AND AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF THE CARIBBEAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE SIGN 10-YEAR AGREEMENT TO OFFER AMERICAN MEDICAL STUDENTS STUDYING OFFSHORE THE OPPORTUNITY TO COMPLETE THEIR CLINICAL EDUCATION AT NASSAU UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER, A MAJOR ACADEMIC CAMPUS ON LONG ISLAND, ALREADY A TRAINING CENTER FOR 280 RESIDENTS AND MEDICAL STUDENTS

July 7, 2008           
Contact:  Shelley Lotenberg
(516) 572-6055
shelley@numc.edu

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NASSAU HEALTH CARE CORPORATION AND AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF THE CARIBBEAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE SIGN 10-YEAR AGREEMENT TO OFFER AMERICAN MEDICAL STUDENTS STUDYING OFFSHORE THE OPPORTUNITY TO COMPLETE THEIR CLINICAL EDUCATION AT NASSAU UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER, A MAJOR ACADEMIC CAMPUS ON LONG ISLAND, ALREADY A TRAINING CENTER FOR 280 RESIDENTS AND MEDICAL STUDENTS

10 YEAR AGREEMENT WILL ALLOW NASSAU UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER TO EXPAND THE OFFICE OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS, THE TEACHING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR STUDENTS, AND EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES , IMPORTANT STEPS IN ELEVATING NUMC’S ROLE AS A TRAINING GROUND FOR THE FUTURE HEALTHCARE FORCE OF NASSAU COUNTY

NEW MODEL OF COLLABORATION THAT FOCUSES NEED FOR A MUTUAL PARTNERSHIP FOR BOTH INFRASTRUCTURE AND BEST MODEL CLINICAL TEACHING SUPPORT

East Meadow, New York…..Arthur A. Gianelli, President/CEO of the Nassau Health Care Corporation (NHCC) and Bruce Kaplan, D.O., Chief Academic Officer of the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, (AUC) announced an agreement to provide clinical clerkships for AUC’s medical students at Nassau University Medical Center on Long Island, , already a major post-graduate teaching hospital with 280 residents.  The agreement will result in an 100% increase of the number of undergraduate medical students being trained at the hospital.

The agreement, dated July 1, 2008, is between the NHCC, a public benefit corporation which operates NUMC, an acute care hospital, and the AUC, N.V., a Netherlands Antilles company which operates a medical school chartered in St. Maarten, Netherland Antilles.
“The turnaround of Nassau University Medical Center requires growth in the clinical, academic and financial spheres.  This 10 year agreement signals an important step in elevating NUMC’s role as a training ground for the future healthcare force of Nassau County, allowing NUMC to expand the office of academic affairs, the teaching infrastructure for students and teaching facilities to meet our educational commitment,” stated Mr. Gianelli.
Dr. Kaplan, expressed delight at being able to offer AUC students the opportunity to complete their training at the expanded NUMC clinical campus, saying  “We are quite excited regarding the development of a quality academic based new clinical campus.  This is a new type of collaboration that focuses the need for a mutual partnership for both infrastructure and best model clinical teaching support.” 
        
The third year medical school students will do core rotations in internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology and psychiatry.  The fourth year students will have the opportunity for multiple clinical rotations throughout the hospital and its various community health centers.  NUMC will designate a site director to oversee the clerkships and provide appropriate clinical supervision and training of AUC students, including their performance of relevant clinical procedures, while they are taking core and elective clerkships at NUMC.

According to Steven Walerstein, MD, NHCC’s Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs and Medical Director, “The agreement between NHCC and AUC, in addition to our long-term affiliations with SUNY Stony Brook and NY College of Osteopathic Medicine, reflects NUMC’s role as a major academic medical center for the training of medical students.”

The agreement provides funding intended to enable NUMC officials to upgrade the Health Sciences Library, the departmental classroom facilities, and improving NUMC’s role as a center of education for the community by also upgrading the amphitheater, the auditorium, creating a simulation center while improving the quality of the academic experience and building a solid foundation for a much larger campaign to turn around the Undergraduate Medical Education at NUMC. In addition, Dr. Walerstein said: “We hope that by establishing a long-term relationship with AUC students, we can identify the cream of the crop and recruit them into residency programs at NUMC.  In the long run, it is our hope that these students will choose to practice in our community, especially serving our patient population experiencing healthcare disparities.”

Mr. Gianelli concluded by stating; “This agreement represents a long-term commitment for NUMC to serve as a major teaching center for AUC and for AUC to invest in the educational infrastructure of NUMC.  Over the next few years, we envision the transformation of the NUMC campus for the benefit for all the AUC students, our other medical students and residents, our faculty and the community at large.”