On Tuesday, Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz sent another campus-wide update on the university’s health sciences strategy, which includes the merger of two colleges of medicine and a new College of Health Professions.

In tackling these ideas, the university has formed the One Health Council to advise Guskiewicz and other university leaders on how to bring his vision to life.

Guskiewicz calls this vision the “One team, One health,” stating it’s “this proposed integrated framework could help drive groundbreaking discoveries and innovations addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges: cancer, emerging infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, food and water safety and environmental threats.”

The One Health Council will consider three ideas:

• Creating a unified College of Medicine
• Launching a new College of Health Professions
• Establishing an innovative cross-disciplinary health sciences center or institute (e.g., Institute for Collaborative Biomedical Research)

“The proposed ideas are not ends in themselves but potential means to strengthen collaboration, focus our efforts and amplify our impact,” Guskiewicz said. 

In order to do so, this council will work closely with four task forces: Accreditation, the College of Health Professions, the College of Medicine and a cross-disciplinary center/institute. 

Each task force will conduct research to present to the One Health Council in early May, staying engaged throughout the summer and ultimately submitting recommendations to Guskiewicz by early fall.

“This is a critical moment for MSU to lead, given our society’s unmet and evolving needs,” Guskiewicz said. “By working together across boundaries, we can better serve our communities, attract top talent, increase research competitiveness and expand our global reach.”

Throughout sharing this vision, Guskiewicz has received feedback from faculty, staff, alumni, students and health care leaders across Michigan. He wrote that they’ve raised concerns including “whether we should rewrite the playbook of interprofessional medical education and/or concentrate our resources on high-impact initiatives.” 

He said he plans to carefully consider this feedback.

“I look forward to continuing to engage the campus community throughout this process and will share updates and opportunities for input as the council and task forces move forward,” he said. “Together, we can shape the future of the health sciences at Michigan State and have a transformative impact on improving health outcomes for the people of Michigan and beyond.”