Page 18 - Delaware Medical Journal - July/August 2019
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The Delaware Institute of Medical Education and Research (DIMER) Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary
Sherman L. Townsend
Samantha Bush, fourth-year PCOM
The Delaware Institute for Medical Education and Research (DIMER) was established in 1969 as Delaware’s alternative to an in-state medical school.1 This year marks the 50th anniversary of its founding. At its core, DIMER sought to provide access to high- Delawareans — a mission that continues to this day.
The initial estimates for establishing an in-state medical school were in the tens of millions of dollars annually, although this estimate assumed a stand-alone medical school without necessarily leveraging the strengths of university and health system partners. Today’s estimates, 50 years later, are well above $100 million annually to establish and operate a medical school in the State of Delaware!
The longest-standing DIMER partnership is with Thomas Jefferson University’s (TJU) Jefferson Medical College, now Sidney Kimmel Medical College (SKMC). The initial agreement between the State
of Delaware and TJU was for a minimum
class of DIMER students was admitted
in the fall of 1970. Since that time, more than 1,000 Delawareans have attended that medical school through the DIMER program.
In 2000, DIMER added the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) as a partner, with an agreement to provide Delawareans per year. More than 200 Delaware students have attended PCOM since 2000 through the DIMER program.
162 Del Med J | July/August 2019 | Vol. 91 | No. 4
