Dive Brief:
- The Board of Trustees at the University of Illinois voted Thursday to create what is reportedly the first engineering-based medical school in the U.S.
- The provost was quoted in a blog post about the college, saying that the idea of focusing an entire program on the intersection of engineering and medicine has been “percolating” at U of I for 50 years, but a partnership between the Urbana-Champaign campus and Carle Health System has been making concrete steps forward for the past year.
- Carle Health System, which pledged $100 million over the college’s first 10 years, is the biggest investor in the project, according to the university.
Dive Insight:
The Carle-Illinois College of Medicine has incredible potential to effect change in the nation’s healthcare delivery system as it trains doctors as scientists and engineers from day one of their programs. According to the college’s website, it plans to have 25 students in the first year, allowing maximum program flexibility. There are already doctors and scientists exploring ways to use engineering in innovative ways to improve medicine. This college, though, is the first to focus exactly on this intersection for a student’s entire medical training. Next steps include finding a dean, recruiting additional investors, and achieving accreditation.