OPINION: Loss of medical school good news?

Montanans had mixed reactions to news that a group of New Mexico investors have chosen a site near Boise, Idaho, to build a for-profit college of osteopathic medicine.

But, on balance, Montanans should be relieved.

The Burrell Group was exploring the possibility of building the college here in conjunction with Montana State University. But that was before many area physicians voiced concerns that school’s 600-student enrollment could out-compete students in MSU’s existing medical program for scarce internships at regional hospitals. That prompted MSU President Waded Cruzado to withdraw university support for the proposal and sent the investors looking for a new home in Idaho.

Some said Montana officials blew it while others welcomed the news.

“Montana dropped the ball,” state Sen. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, wrote on his Facebook page, while the chief of staff at Bozeman Deaconess Hospital said, “Overall, we are breathing a sigh of relief.”

On its face, the proposal to build the school here had all the hallmarks of great news. There would good-paying jobs during the construction phase of the college. And there would be ongoing faculty positions that would contribute to the local economy.

Perhaps the osteopathic college would be different, but it needs to be said that for-profit higher education has a record that is mixed at best. Low retention and graduation rates along with burdensome debt loads shouldered by students have led to congressional investigations and federal demands that for-profit universities change recruitment policies.

Time will tell if the osteopathic college will be able to avoid those pitfalls.

And fears there would not be enough internships and other training opportunities for all the new students were real. Even located near Boise, the Burrell Group will have to cast a wide net to find enough openings for all the college’s students. And that may still impact opportunities available to students in MSU’s WWAMI program — a physician-training program conducted in cooperation with the University of Washington in Seattle and the states of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Alaska.

The controversy over the proposed osteopathic school drew fresh attention to the WWAMI program. And the state Board of Regents should heed calls to continue expanding that program.

Make no mistake: Montana needs more rural doctors. But expanding the WWAMI program will meet that need in a far more manageable way than an osteopathic college here in Montana would have.