FARMINGTON — Franklin Memorial Hospital dedicated the former McLean house on Wilton Road on Friday as a “home away from home” for third year  medical students working at FMH.

“This is our future right here. I don’t mind being part of that,” said Dr. David Dixon after being surprised that the house was renamed The Dixon House, Medical School Partnership Teaching Site.

The home is on the east side of the hospital. It will house students enrolled in medical school through a partnership between FMH and Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston and Maine Medical Center in Portland. FMH is one of four rural hospitals in Maine to become a teaching site for medical students. The partnership’s goal is to reduce the shortage of physicians in rural Maine.

“This provides an opportunity to learn their craft with experienced physicians in a community hospital like yours,” Dr. Peter Bates, academic dean, Maine Medical Center-Tufts University School of Medicine, told hospital employees, directors and friends at the afternoon celebration. It also provides an opportunity to get young people interested in health care, he added.

“This will serve as their home away from home for future medical students,” Gerald Cayer, executive vice president of Franklin Community Health Network, said. “It took a team and a partnership to bring it to life.”

Describing Dixon as a physician committed to the community and the future supply of physicians, and a visionary player, FCHN President Rebecca Ryder announced the house would have Dixon’s name, which brought a round of applause from his peers and co-workers.

After living in the home 53 years and raising her family there, Estella McLean, former University of Maine at Farmington professor of physical education and coach, retired and sold the home to FMH, Ryder said before the ceremony.

Students will live in the home, which is now renovated with a path connecting the property to the hospital, while training at FMH during their third year of medical school.

“They spend their first two years at Tufts with rotations in Maine, then transition to Maine Medical Center for their third year . . . during which they live and learn in Franklin County. Their curriculum focuses on rural and small-town practices,” according to the FMH program.

The Dixon House was open for tours.

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