There's a lot riding on this week's meeting of university trustees. <\/p>\n
Later this week, University of Illinois trustees will cast a vote that either will embrace the future in a way that could affect thousands maybe even millions of people or timidly step back from a glittering challenge. <\/p>\n
It's our hope that trustees will approve Chancellor Phyllis Wise's proposal for a new engineering- and technology-oriented medical school. Planned as a partnership with Carle Hospital, the proposed medical school represents a game-changing concept that could put the local campus in the forefront of what will be a burgeoning field fusing medical education with engineering. <\/p>\n
There are questions, of course. <\/p>\n
After Wise proposed her plan for the local campus, the UI's Chicago medical school proposed a Translational BioEngineering Institute based in Urbana to work with the local engineering program but making it part of the UIC's College of Medicine. <\/p>\n
Then there's the matter of finances. Some might think it counterintuitive that a university facing a cut in state appropriations is proposing a new program of this magnitude. How would it be financed? <\/p>\n
There are good answers to those issues of place and process. <\/p>\n
But, first, there is the vision of a pioneering program in a hugely important field that creates vast possibilities both human and economic for the local campus, the Champaign-Urbana community and beyond. <\/p>\n
The future of medicine lies, at least partly, in the creation of new medical devices that are both lifesaving and cost-effective. <\/p>\n
No one can predict exactly what the future holds. But compared to today, it will be unrecognizable, thanks to the relentless march of technology. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Original post:<\/p>\n
Medical school on the agenda<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There's a lot riding on this week's meeting of university trustees. Later this week, University of Illinois trustees will cast a vote that either will embrace the future in a way that could affect thousands maybe even millions of people or timidly step back from a glittering challenge. It's our hope that trustees will approve Chancellor Phyllis Wise's proposal for a new engineering- and technology-oriented medical school Continue reading