WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) – A feasibility study that found an osteopathic medical school in Wausau won't work in its current model will not stop the Medical College of Wisconsin from pursuing its own doctor training program in the region.

The Medical College is studying the possibility of a community-based medical education program in eight Wisconsin cities, including Wausau. The study should be done by next month, said dean and executive vice president Dr. Joe Kerschner.

Kerschner said the school is looking at all eight areas equally though it will narrow its focus based on the level of support it receives from each region. Other areas under consideration include Green Bay, the Fox River Valley, northwest Wisconsin, Eau Claire, La Crosse, Janesville/Beloit and Racine/Kenosha.

“We need this to be a community partnership,” Kerschner said by phone Tuesday. “This final decision will have a lot to do with...how enthusiastic and willing they are to partner with us to get the job done.”

The Medical College's program would be an extension of the Milwaukee-based school. That makes it different than the Wisconsin College of Osteopathic Medicine's proposed medical school which would operate independently of any other school.

“The Medical College really feels that we can provide the needs for the state at a very reasonable cost to local communities and a substantially lower cost than what was being proposed for the start up of a whole new school,” Kerschner said.