Baton Rouge General, Tulane finalize deal for medical training

An agreement between Baton Rouge General and Tulane University School of Medicine that will lead to medical students training at the General’s Mid City campus has been finalized. The first group of 10 Tulane third- and fourth-year medical students will begin training at the General in May. Plans are to ramp up the enrollment by 20 more students in 2011 and eventually involve 160 students in the next several years. Bill Holman, president and CEO of the General, says the hope is to establish one of the largest satellite medical schools in the country. While the bulk of training will go on at the Mid City campus, Tulane students will also learn at other General medical facilities in the region and may even hold internships with the state Department of Health and Hospitals. The program, dubbed the Baton Rouge LEAD (Leadership, Education, Advocacy and Discovery) Academy, is the first time in its 175-year history that Tulane has opened a medical training facility outside the New Orleans area. Dr. Floyd “Flip” Roberts, Baton Rouge General chief medical officer, will serve as regional dean.