Educating Arizona's Next Generation of Physicians - Creighton University's Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine (AZCOM)
Creighton University School of Medicine — Phoenix provides interdisciplinary collaboration through undergraduate and graduate (over four hundred medical students enrolled) medical education programs. Their Arizona Health Sciences Campus is a branch of Creighton University in Omaha, NE, and is not currently separately accredited.
The cornerstone of Creighton is guided by the Jesuit Catholic tradition and Ignatian Values of “cura personalis” (care for the whole person), “faith that does Justice” and “men and women for and with others.” As the school remains committed to community engagement while working to accomplish their mission to improve the human condition.
CREIGHTON’S LEADING DEAN IN PHOENIX
At the helm of Creighton’s medical school in Phoenix is Regional Dean Randy Richardson, MD, a physician leader who has been practicing Pediatric Radiology for more than twenty-four years.
Dean Richardson was nineteen years of age when he signed up for a two-years mission’s trip in Mexico. On this trip his eyes were opened to a dire problem that existed between the healthcare system and patient wellness. He understood quickly that not all problems could be solved, however just as Mother Teresa taught... Dean Richardson learned he could help “one person at a time,” while sharing his faith with them. He found joy and peace in helping others that led to his pursuit of medicine and eventually to diagnostic radiology.
Dean Richardson finished his pediatric radiology fellowship training at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in 2000. First in San Antonio with the Air Force and then at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center.
Throughout his career Dean Richardson felt a calling to academics and was eager to seek a position in education. In 2012, when Creighton opened a clinical medical school campus at St. Joseph’s in Phoenix, he became the inaugural Dean of Medical Education and, a year later, the regional Dean for the campus.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN IN PHOENIX
In 2006, Creighton-Phoenix students began doing elective rotations at St. Joseph’s hospital. Six years later in 2012, St. Joseph’s Hospital then President, Linda Hunt, invited Creighton to be their academic partner and to establish a clinical campus for medical students. Medical students would complete their first two years of medical school in Omaha Nebraska and then finish their third and fourth years of medical school at St. Joseph’s hospital. At the center of the partnership between Creighton and St. Joseph’s was a shared mission to care for the whole person (body, mind, and spirit). This alliance positioned Creighton with enough clinical support to open a four-year medical school to meet the growing need for physicians in the state of Arizona.
Creighton University - AZCOM by the Numbers:
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Founded in 2021
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11 Departments:
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Anesthesiology, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Neurology, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Pathology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Radiology, and Surgery.
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64 Faculty
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29 Physician Faculty
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Location:​
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Midtown Phoenix
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​Visit Creighton University - AZCOM at creighton.edu or (602) 812-4312​
CULTIVATING SUCCESS IN PHOENIX THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS
At Creighton they align with mission minded clinical partners such as Valleywise Health, Dignity Health Arizona, St. Vincent de Paul, District Medical Group and Dignity Health Medical Group for best practice to help care for marginalized communities throughout Phoenix. Partnerships with Dignity St. Joseph’s Hospital and Valleywise Health play a crucial role in supporting Graduate Medical Education (GME) training for more than 320 residents and fellows with eight residency programs and nine fellowships.
At St. Vincent de Paul Medical clinic they strive to help improve the health conditions of the uninsured that inevitably experience, “crisis care.” Crisis Care is when a person unfortunately receives overdue medical treatment for their health challenges… As a result, the patient has a medical crisis in an emergency room and is admitted into a hospital stay.
Dean Richardson recognizes that he has an amazing team of physician leaders to help bring Creighton’s missions to fruition. Physician leaders such as John Anwar, MD endowed Chair of Medicine at the St. Vincent de Paul clinic and Sara Beste, MD endowed Chair of Pediatrics for the St. Vincent de Paul clinic to name a few.
The St. Vincent de Paul clinic has worked to establish a multi-specialty clinic relying on Creighton’s faculty to care for the growing uninsured population. At the clinic, a potential patient can be seen by more than thirty-eight different medical specialists and get pharmacy, lab, diagnostic imaging, and a variety of other medical services.
“Partnering with St. Vincent de Paul has been a natural fit as we fuse together our missions and values to help care for the uninsured in our community,” says Dr. Richardson.
Creighton students also enjoy working collaboratively with other health sciences colleagues (i.e. nurses, pharmacy, physical and occupational therapist, and physician assistants) at the St. Vincent de Paul clinic to help meet the community need. The students benefit from working with other professional students and faculty in a true health care team setting.
The partnership with St. Vincent de Paul is one of their best examples of how Creighton stays true to their value of “men and women for and with others,” as they work alongside medical specialties and inter-professionally to improve the human condition of the growing and diverse population throughout Phoenix.
At the clinic students are presented with an hour’s appointment per patient where they can get to know the person before reporting back to the attending physician to create a plan. According to Dean Richardson, this approach of compassionate, wholistic care is a blessing to both the patient and the caregiver. On one hand the patient receives compassionate quality care from a provider and on the other hand the caregiver is trained to understand unique situations and diverse backgrounds while witnessing how spiritual, emotional, and mental challenges play a role in the whole health. The Ignatian\ value of caring for the whole person does not just apply to patients but also to their students, faculty, and staff.
CREIGHTON’S LEADERSHIP FORGING THE WAY
As medicine, technology, and science evolve, Creighton sees medical schools futuristically as an inter-professional and integrated curriculum. At Creighton they have made great progress in both areas under the direction of their Dean of Medical Education Claudia Chambers, MD. They have created a health sciences campus with multiple schools facilitating the opportunity to work together as a formal part of a simulation curriculum.
Creighton has found that students learn better by working together in these interprofessional teams than they do working
in isolation. Students take these concepts to other activities, including community service locally and internationally (Mexico Rocky Point and Kino Border Nogales).
Jason Beste, MD runs the Creighton Arrupe Global Scholar program where students can serve in other countries while
learning from other providers on how to care for people in their communities. The students selected for the Arrupe scholars are dual enrollment students and get a master’s degree in public health as part of their program.
At the direction of Kathryn Coan, MD, the Assistant Dean of Admissions, Creighton has made great progress in creating a medical school class that is reflective of the geographic population. Dr. Coan helps to recruit students who want to see justice in society that focus on addressing the disparities that permeate throughout healthcare. Under the guidance of Jaya Raj, MD the Dean of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, they have worked with Arizona State University (ASU) to create a funded summer health institute program geared toward high school students in the Phoenix area. This program helps to give students in-depth exposure to health sciences professions with an opportunity to work with Creighton faculty and students.
Creighton also facilitates a mini-medical school program three to four times a year for younger children in Phoenix, to help kids gain early exposure to the medical field.
Furthermore, Creighton, recognizes the disparities in health care and have collaborated with the Virgin G. Piper health disparities fellowship program at St Vincent de Paul to address some of these complex issues.
Research at Creighton has been a surprise in Phoenix, Arizona. Under the guidance of Dan Gridley, MD the Assistant Dean of Research, and the Assistant Chair of Research Jeffrey Curtis, MD they provide outstanding instruction for research design and have extensive research opportunities in all areas of medicine for their students. Although they do not require research, their students see great benefit in participating in research as they gain insight into the field of medicine. Creighton has witnessed a steady increase in research with their class of 2024 having produced an average of more than three peer reviewed publications per student.
One of the outstanding highlights of innovation in research at Creighton is the creation of the Knowledge Donor Program, led by Hahn Soe-Lin, MD. This program allows surgery residents to perform surgical procedures on cadavers using a novel cadaveric fixation technique that maintains tissue fidelity and allows the surgeon to perform surgeries on the highest fidelity platform possible. The lungs ventilate mechanically and expired donated blood products circulate through the cadaver so that tissues bleed when cut just like living tissue. This invaluable program is supported by the St. Joseph’s Foundation, the Flinn Foundation, and Creighton University School of Medicine.
Within the school of medicine, they also have a Physician Assistant Program (PAP) run by their inaugural program director Emily Babcock, MD. The program began in 2023, and Dr. Babcock and her team have worked with their clinical partners to create interdisciplinary clinical rotations for their students that will begin in September of 2024. The class size of PAP will increase from 36 to 56 students over the next three years.
As the United States grapples with the physician shortage, Creighton is also tackling mental health among its population. Physicians and medical students have some of the highest levels of depression, anxiety, and suicide in any profession and the problem only appears to be increasing. Research is consistently showing improvement in mental health among physicians and students who give voluntary service. In the past Creighton has hosted a mental health ministry conference sponsored by Bishop Dolan of the Diocese of Phoenix where faith-based leaders around the Phoenix area gathered to discuss mental health challenges in their community and among physicians.
To help with the ongoing crisis, Creighton provides on-site counseling services on their campus to support the mental and emotional needs of their students. To help combat this issue students have formed a humanities interest group hosting artists, musicians, poets and others to present in both formal and informal settings to help our students in their journey of wholistic health.
At Creighton, they recognize that there are spiritual needs to be met and their inaugural Chaplain (Father Kevin Dilworth) offers counseling to the students as well as providing Catholic mass service at the University Campus Chapel twice a week.
CREIGHTON’S PHOENIX FUTURE
The impact in Phoenix has been significant for Creighton’s large health care providers, Valleywise and Dignity, in conjunction with St. Vincent de Paul to do their best to improve healthcare to all people throughout the area as they see a decline in admission rates of the uninsured.
As Dean Richardson steers his ship filled with medical students, faculty, and innovative ideas into the future... he would be remised if he did not give gratitude to the incredible donors that have given generously over the years and provided moral support. Additionally, community organizations and medical associations, such as the Maricopa County Medical Society (MCMS) that continue to advocate for medical professionals throughout Maricopa have been instrumental in external endorsement.
Dean Richardson feels confident that Creighton will have the ability to expand and grow alongside their clinical partners into other areas throughout Arizona over the next ten years. Allowing for the opportunity to continue to provide services and treatments to the uninsured and marginalized community, while creating outstanding physicians. â–
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Desire’e Hardge, MBA, is the CEO & Executive Director of MCMS and the Editor-in-Chief for the Arizona Physician magazine. Desire’e brings over 19 years of experience across both for-profit and non-profit sectors.
