COLUMBIA The MU School of Medicine welcomed both a new building and new class of students Friday, marking the most diverse class in the school's history, Dean of Medicine Patrick Delafontaine said.

The school has been facing pressing issues about the lack of diversity in their student population. In 2015,only 5 percent of the medical school students were underrepresented minorities, according to previous Missourian reporting. This year, 9 percent of the class are underrepresented minorities, meaning black, Latino and Native American students, an MU Health Care spokesperson said.

Melanie Bryan, a fourth-year student at the school of medicine, said at the dedication of the new building that she was proud of not only the new structure but also the diversity of this year's class.

"(This is) a student population as diverse as our patient population," Bryan said.

In recent years, the school had to send the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which accredits medical schools, a plan to improve its diversity issues by December 2016. If the committee had decided that there hadn't been enough improvement, the school could have been put on probation, according to previous Missourian reporting.

The school of medicine's class of 2021, welcomed Friday morning at the annual white coat ceremony, consists of 128 students. This is an increase of 32 students from last year, according to a news release.

Also, 32 percent of the incoming class are ethnic minorities, including black, Asian, Latino, Native American and Pacific Islander students. That is in addition to the 9 percent of the class who are underrepresented minorities.

This is an increase from last year, where 27 percent of the class were minorities and 8 percent were underrepresented minorities, Diamond Dixon, an MU Health Care spokesperson, said.

The Patient-Centered Care Learning Center, a new, $42.5 million medical education building, was dedicated Friday afternoon after ten years of brainstorming and construction. It was the result of a partnership between the school of medicine and two hospitals in Springfield, CoxHealth and Mercy. The Chambers of Commerce in Columbia and Springfield, as well as the state legislature, also supported the project, said Weldon Webb, the MU associate dean for Springfield Clinical Campus Implementation.

"The return on investment of this expansion is tenfold," Barbe said at the dedication ceremony. "This activity that looks like a big investment will reach broadly for many years to come."

The expansion is expected to generate jobs in the medical field that will help alleviate the shortage, he said.

"By giving students more options for clinical training in other hospitals and physician practices, we are educating them on the diverse health needs of our state and increasing the odds of putting more physicians in Springfield and southwest Missouri," Steve Edwards, president and CEO of CoxHealth, said in a statement.

Through the partnership with the two hospitals, MU's school of medicine was able to create an additional medical campus in Springfield in 2016, according to a news release. In February,nine third-year students were in Springfieldand 32 additional medical students were expected to be admitted each year as a result of the expansion.

Supervising editor is Sky Chadde.

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MU School of Medicine welcomed its most diverse class Friday ... - Columbia Missourian