The University of Massachusetts Medical School – Chan (UMass Chan) opened in the 2017-18 academic school year. Baystate Health’s partnership with UMass Chan expanded the state’s only public medical school into Springfield and is University of Massachusetts’ first regional medical school campus.
With the introduction of the Population-based Urban and Rural Community Health (PURCH) program at UMass Chan, UMass Chan has increased its total class size by 25 PURCH students per year. These students take basic science courses at the Worcester campus and complete their clinical requirements at the UMass Chan campus. PURCH provides clinical and clerkship opportunities for students who would like to benefit from UMass Chan’s wide range of clinical settings as well as its expertise in population health and clinical effectiveness research.