By AP
ROYAL OAK, MI –
A national oversight group has approved the opening of a fourth medical school in Michigan, sponsored by Oakland University and Beaumont Hospitals.
Royal Oak-based Beaumont says the medical school can start accepting applications this year for an entering class in August 2011.
It will be called the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education gave it preliminary accreditation Tuesday.
The University of Michigan, Wayne State and Michigan State universities now have medical schools, and Central and Western Michigan universities are seeking approval to do so.
The openings are part of a national trend in response to forecasts of a coming shortage of U.S.-trained doctors.