Magnet School and UMMC Partnership Boosts Medical Profession Interest

COLUMBUS—A new partnership between the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) and Franklin Academy Medical Sciences and Wellness Magnet School in Columbus signifies a landmark event for a state plagued with overall poor health.  

Among other contributions, UMMC has pledged faculty support to enhance the curriculum and overall learning environment at Franklin Academy, Mississippi’s only medical sciences and wellness magnet school.

“It's just a great opportunity for Mississippi,” said James Keeton, MD, vice chancellor for health affairs at UMMC. “We still have the worst healthcare disparity in America, and we have the lowest number of healthcare professionals per capita in America, so we’ve got to do something to change that. And the only way we know to do that is to pipeline into the grammar schools, and this is the first one we're doing that with.”

UMMC kicked off the innovative pact amid fanfare on a crisp autumn morning with Keeton arriving via AirCare helicopter on the school’s football field, accompanied by Franklin Academy’s falcon mascot to the cheers of delighted schoolchildren.

Returning to his hometown school where he enrolled in 1945, Keeton revealed the plan for the state's only health sciences campus to routinely contribute to classroom enrichment activities at the state's oldest public school. Also in attendance: state lawmakers, University of Mississippi Chancellor Dan Jones, MD, Mississippi Superintendent of Public Education Tom Burnham, EdD, and Columbus Mayor Robert Smith.

“It's going to expose our children to a wide variety of opportunities that we couldn’t provide otherwise,” said Patricia Overstreet, principal of Franklin Academy. “They're going to help us as we continue to write our curriculum.”

Franklin Academy was established in 1821, a year before Mississippi became the nation’s 20^th state. Several years ago, while discussing the state’s high rates of obesity, diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, and the trending shortage in healthcare professionals particularly in rural areas of Mississippi, Columbus Municipal School District administrators began developing the medical sciences and wellness magnet theme for Franklin Academy to target the next generation of medical professionals. Enrollment to the magnet school opened in 2007 to K-5 children in Columbus families through a lottery system. The historic school now has 414 students.

“We want to grow our own, so to speak,” said Del Phillips, PhD, superintendent of the district. “We have to expose our children to doctors and dentists if they’re going to dream about being a doctor or a dentist. It's just that simple. We have the future medical community in our schools right now.”

Keeton became aware of the program last year, when Sharon Reifers, the school district’s nurse, dialed Keeton’s wife to share the magnet school’s progress. He decided to see for himself. While roaming the hallways of the elementary school he had attended decades earlier, Keeton was impressed by the transformation. Posters and crafts projects depicting the anatomy were on display outside classrooms, fittingly punctuated by a red stripe painted along the walls mimicking a strong heartbeat. He noticed the school’s curriculum, with a health-centric perspective, included an emphasis on medical sciences, various healthcare fields, and fitness and healthy living. He appreciated the details in the school’s medical lab—microscopes, computers, a smartboard, skeleton puzzles and a small closet housing miniature lab coats.

When Keeton returned to UMMC, he summoned Jasmine Taylor, MD, associate vice chancellor for multicultural affairs, to collaborate on a way to support the school's long-term mission. Both Franklin Academy and UMMC shared a vision for students to develop a strong desire to achieve academically in all areas of study and to cultivate interests specifically in the medical field. All parties agreed the partnership would explore opportunities to facilitate community outreach from UMMC and to supplement Franklin Academy’s curriculum.

The plan came together easily. Beginning in the fall, faculty and staff volunteers recruited by the Division of Multicultural Affairs would visit Franklin Academy regularly and speak to classes on the current area of study, such as the skeletal system. UMMC representatives also would help train schoolteachers on healthcare topics. In the spring, Franklin fifth-graders would travel to Jackson for a tour of the medical center.

On the day of the announcement, UMMC students of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health-related professions, and graduate students in health sciences and pharmacy guided schoolchildren through activity booths they had set up for the event. 

“This is a landmark event and a great thing for the medical center and the state,” said Ole Miss Chancellor Dan Jones, MD, noting the partnership could easily serve as a model to foster additional medical sciences magnet schools and collaborations.

Caption: Dr. James Keeton with Franklin Academy Students, from left, Benjamin Graham, Skylar Despain, Keara Williams, and Brianna O’Neal in front of the new sign placed on the front of the campus in honor of the partnership between the Medical Center and Franklin Academy Medical Sciences Magnet School.

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