The University of Maine System has partnered with a national consultant to study the feasibility of establishing a public medical school in the state.

The decision to commission such a study was prompted by the critical shortage of physicians in rural areas of Maine. The study is supported by several physician associations as well as the Maine State Legislature and the Governor’s Office, who also provided funding.

The system hired Tripp Umbach, a firm that has conducted dozens of similar feasibility studies across the country, including in rural states such as Idaho and Montana, to lead the study.

“We appreciate that Maine policymakers and health care leaders view our university as a central institution in addressing the state’s health care workforce shortage, which is particularly acute in the rural areas where we have such strong roots and includes the need for more physicians,” said Joan Ferrini-Mundy, president of the University of Maine at Orono, the system’s flagship campus.

“While we recognize that establishing and sustaining a public medical school requires significant resources, we look forward to working with Tripp Umbach and state-level stakeholders to understand the opportunities for our university, the broader system and our partners, and to building on our strengths to continue improving health care access and outcomes in Maine and beyond,” Ferrini-Mundy said.

A new school would likely be affiliated with the system’s flagship campus in Orono and partner with Northern Light Health, the state’s second-largest health care provider and the parent company of Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. The bill for the study was authored by Sen. Joe Baldacci, Democrat of Bangor.

“Like Maine generally, our physician workforce is aging. It is difficult to keep up with retirements and demographic changes to meet the healthcare needs of northern Maine,” said Dr. James Jarvis, director of clinical education at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center. “This exciting first step, examining the feasibility of a new medical school in Penobscot County, could stimulate interest among current physicians to move here while also advancing the building of a sustainable physician workforce for the future.”

The study will involve stakeholders from across the state to determine whether establishing a medical school makes sense and what resources it might require. The conclusions and recommendations are expected to be presented to the legislature in November 2025.

Any proposal would have to go through a lengthy review process and seek approval from the system’s board of trustees, even though the board already has the authority to operate a medical school and award doctoral degrees.

Maine’s only medical school is located on the campus of the University of New England in Portland.

To increase enrollment and train more physicians, the college moved its College of Osteopathic Medicine from Biddeford to Portland this year.

This school works closely with MaineHealth and its largest hospital, Maine Medical Center.

The degree awarded by the Faculty of UNE is Doctor of Osteopathy (DO), which is slightly different from Doctor of Medicine (MD).

UNE leadership has already spoken out against the idea of ​​competition. In an opinion piece this spring, college president James Herbert said a new school would not solve the state’s problem.

“Not only would establishing another medical school in Maine be extremely expensive, it would not result in more physicians working in Maine,” he wrote. “This seems contradictory, but the fact is that Maine does not have a shortage of medical students; it does have a shortage of clinical training and residency positions that are key to keeping those students in the state after they graduate.”

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