Virginia Tech has teamed up with the Carilion Clinic to create a new medical school and research institute in Roanoke. Its first class of 42 students will begin classes on August 2.
The idea for the Virginia Tech Carilion Medical School and Research Institute developed between Tech president Charles Steger and Carilion CEO Ed Murphy. They first announced the idea three years ago on January 3, 2007.
The two parts of the center, the medical school and the research institute, are collectively known as Virginia Tech Carilion, or VTC.
“Virginia Tech and Dr. Steger were interested in being involved with medical research more than was possible without a medical school,” said Cynda Johnson, dean of the medical school. “It met the needs on both sides.”
In what is known as a “public-private partnership,” VTC will combine the scientific expertise and research at Tech with Carilion’s trained medical staff to teach future physicians.
According to Johnson, it is the school’s curriculum that makes it stand out among other medical schools in the nation.
“Having the curriculum based on the four different value domains is unique to the country,” Johnson said.
These four value domains are basic sciences, clinic sciences, research and interprofessionalism.
She explained that because medical knowledge is constantly being advanced, the curriculum focuses less on content and more on teaching the students to become leaders and researchers who can adapt to an ever-changing field of medicine.
“What I think is important for the future is that the physician’s primary practice and research principles are inseparable,” Johnson said. “If you practice using research and critical thinking you are able to assess your patients critically and be the best doctor of all.”
VTC will also employ a teaching method called “patient-centered learning.”
“It means that we think about the patient in everything that we do. Everything is based on the needs of the patient, as opposed to what might make the doctor happy,” Johnson said.
According to VTC’s website, only 15 percent of medical schools in the country use a patient-centered learning program.
In the Research Institute, which will eventually be housed in an adjacent building to the school, Tech professors and Carilion physicians will conduct research with the help of students.
A version of this article appeared in the Jul 22 issue of the Collegiate Times.
Leave a comment 2 Comments Write a letter to the editor
All letters to the editor must include a name, e-mail, daytime phone number and affiliation to Virginia Tech. Affiliation includes: year and major for students; position and department for faculty and staff; current city for alumni and parents.
What about VCOM?
Reply to this Top
It's always not easy to tell whether an image has been manipulated. However, site <a href="http://www.pskiller.com/">Photoshopped Image Killer</a> makes things easy. By submit an image URL you can see if the image has been altered. Altered image will get a red flag while original image gets a white flag.
Reply to this Top