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Nazareth Student in Lehigh Valley Health Network's First Med School Class

Ramin Aresh of Nazareth is one of five Lehigh Valley students to be a part of a new partnership between Lehigh Valley Health Network and the University of South Florida College of Medicine.

Five area medical students, including one from Nazareth, will study in Florida and in the Lehigh Valley to prepare them for leadership roles in the changing world of medicine and health care reform.

Officials from the Lehigh Valley Health Network and the University of South Florida College of Medicine last week announced the selection of the students -- one is Ramin Aresh of Nazareth -- for the program called SELECT -- Scholarly Excellence, Leadership Experiences, Collaborative Training.

The program is an outgrowth of a new partnership between the two institutions.

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During the four-year program, students will spend the first two years studying at the medical school in Tampa -- they began their studies in July. It is at the Florida-based college where the students will take courses on leadership, coaching, finance and the impact of health policy.

In order to complete their medical degrees, the students will then head to for two years of clinical training.

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The first SELECT students will arrive in the Lehigh Valley in 2013.

In addition to their academic credentials, Aresh, Kirk Chassey of Easton, Kyle Correll of Bethlehem, Christian Pothering of Neffs, and Emma Webb of Macungie were chosen based on their emotional intelligence, which was noted during an in-depth interview process -- a process more commonly used to find leaders for the business world, school officials said.

This past Friday, officials from both locations conducted a long-distance ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Lehigh Valley Health Network Leadership Center on the University of South Florida campus.

The 9,000-square-foot facility, formerly an auditorium, was renovated into classrooms with advanced technology. The facility can hold up to 300 students. LVHN contributed $2 million to the project, which was matched by University of South Florida Health.

The ceremony showcased the video-conferencing abilities of the two locations, which are 1,100 miles apart. Speaking into a microphone in a classroom at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, LVHN President and CEO Dr. Ronald Swinfard addressed the assembly in Florida.

Dr. Alan Otsuki, the associate dean of educational affairs at University of South Florida Health and the education chief at LVHN, spoke from Florida.

“We know our health care system is broken,” Otsuki said, adding that change will start with small steps that employ innovative solutions, like the center’s technology-rich environment.

Student Kirk Chassey of Easton explained how the SELECT curriculum will prepare doctors for changes in health care, such as the expected switch from HMOs to health centers where care will be coordinated by interdisciplinary healthcare teams, instead of by the patient.

The partnership between South Florida Health -- which includes the colleges of medicine, nursing, public health and pharmacy -- and LVHN dates back to 2009.

That same year, , headquartered in Bethlehem, partnered with Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, to form Medical School of Temple-St. Luke’s.

Students enrolled in that program will complete their first year at Temple, followed by three years at St. Luke’s in Bethlehem. The inaugural class of 30 students begins in August. Students will come to St. Luke’s next year.

Classrooms initially located in renovated areas of the Bethlehem campus will eventually move to the new facility, St. Luke's Riverside Campus, currently being built in Bethlehem Township.

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