UMass Chan-Baystate Campus
Address
3601 Main Street
Springfield, MA
(Map and directions on Google Maps)
Parking
There is free parking for PURCH students in "N Lot" in the section nearest the building.
Brightwood House, PURCH instructional space, and campus administrative offices are all located in this building.
Brightwood House Learning Community
Brightwood House community space has a comfortable lounge area and kitchen facilities equipped with a refrigerator, microwave, Keurig coffee brewers, sink, dining tables and chairs.
Instructional Space
Most of your time when at the Baystate campus for the Early Clinical Learning course is spent in its large instructional space. There are several classrooms with teleconferencing capabilities, interview rooms, restrooms, lockers, and showers.
Clinical Sites at Baystate Health
You do all of your clerkships during the Exploration Phase at clinical sites within Baystate Health—one of the largest academic health systems in New England.
You'll train in a variety of urban and rural inpatient and outpatient clinical settings.
Travel Between Campuses
The new Vista curriculum currently has PURCH students traveling from the main campus in Worcester to the UMass Chan-Baystate campus in Springfield, a distance of about 50 miles, an average of 2 - 3 times a month during the Discovery phase.
Ridesharing with fellow PURCH students is a common option. PURCH students say they enjoy carpooling when possible, and find it a good opportunity to bond with their peers. In the second year, ridesharing may not be as practical due to individual placements at Longitudinal Preceptor and rotation sites.
By the end of April or early May of the second year, you will likely move to the Springfield area for your Core Clinical Experiences. While living here, you will travel to Worcester ~6 times for clinical exams, and will travel to other western Massachusetts clinical sites for the Family Medicine rotation.
Student Housing
Planning For the Move
When you arrange housing in Worcester, we recommend that you negotiate a lease with your landlords/roommates that allows you to move at that time. You can also consider subletting your room/apartment to incoming nursing or medical students or residents.
If you are considering moving back to Worcester for your final year, try to negotiate flexible lease arrangements for your Springfield housing as well.
Finding Housing
The Baystate campus, like the main campus, does not provide housing for medical students. Finding affordable, safe housing near Baystate Medical Center has not been a problem for the hundreds of medical students who have done their clerkships or electives here over the years.
There are houses and apartments for almost any budget. If you prefer a more bucolic setting, nearby small towns and rural areas in western Massachusetts offer many alternatives.
We provide the resources below as a convenience. Neither Baystate Health nor UMass Chan Medical School endorse these websites.
City of Springfield
Realtor.com: Homes and apartments for rent in Springfield
Apartments.com: Apartments for rent in Springfield
Greater Western Massachusetts Area
Craigslist
MassLive