The University Healthcare System Committee on Sept. 3 told Chancellor Phyllis M. Wise to proceed on plans to develop an autonomous, engineering-centered college of medicine on the Urbana campus, but stopped short of endorsing the proposal.
The chancellor said she had hoped for an endorsement, but committee members balked at that, pending the presentation of a detailed business plan for the proposed college to the full U. of I. Board of Trustees at its Nov. 13 meeting in Chicago.
Trustee Timothy Koritz, the committee chairman, said the fact that no committee member voiced an objection over the proposal was a sign that Wise should proceed on a long list of tasks that would have to be completed before a college of medicine could become a reality.
He said the committee does not normally endorse proposals, but forwards them to the board for action.
"We're not saying, in any way, we should not proceed with the endeavor," he said. "By no means is the discussion over."
At the subsequent board of trustees meeting Sept. 11, Koritz called Wise's Urbana college of medicine proposal "the most important proposal that has come before this committee."
Wise's formal presentation to the committee detailed the Urbana medical school's new degree program.
She said the size of the school, created in partnership with the Carle Health System, would at first only accommodate 25 students. A curriculum would be developed to combine a traditional doctor's training with a focus on engineering and "Big Data." She said the degree titles would run along the line of physician-engineer, physician-inventor and physician-scientist.
The result, she said, would be the education of new medical specialists who can bridge the gap between physician and patient with groundbreaking discoveries that lead to new medical devices and procedures.
"We will integrate the sciences with health care from the very beginning," she said. "It will produce groundbreaking medical research and change the delivery of care in ways that have never been done before. We're establishing a new paradigm."
Wise said the new college would not compete financially or academically with the UIC College of Medicine, which offers degree programs in Peoria, Springfield, Rockford and Urbana. She said the Urbana school would depend on public and private donations, commercial revenue, tuition, clinical revenue and indirect cost recovery.
Wise said the school has the potential to impact the region and the state, with an estimated $1 billion in direct economic benefit, according to a feasibility study.
She said the venture would be another example of Illinois excellence that will help attract and retain top national faculty members, and allow the university to move up in the rankings of the Association of American Universities. As it stands, Illinois is at risk of slipping out of the rankings completely because schools that are ranked higher have fully functioning schools of medicine.
"Without a college of medicine, we are less competitive," she said. "It's a matter of our vibrancy, vitality, impact and pre-eminence. We think this is a defining moment."
Dr. James Leonard, Carle president and chief executive officer, told the committee that Carle is "absolutely committed" to the proposed expanded partnership with the U. of I.
He said the pairing is natural, considering Carle already has clinical infrastructure in place and is "poised for growth."
"It's a time of historical changes in health care," he said. "We want to change the way physicians are trained."
Wise's presentation was followed by a competing vision for the new medical school, delivered by Dr. Dimitri Azar, the dean of the UIC College of Medicine.
Azar asked trustees to consider instead the creation of the Illinois Translational Bioengineering Institute, which would offer engineering-centered doctor's training through the UIC medical school.
He said Wise's plan would benefit the Urbana campus and the immediate region, but not the university's existing medical school or the state as a whole. He said a UIC-based institute would have a wide economic and academic reach, with medical partnerships extended to Carle and other Chicago-area facilities that already work closely with UIC's medical school.
"(The benefits) would double or triple if we worked together and not in isolation," he said of the UIC plan, adding that the Urbana plan creates "conflicting, competing entities."
Azar said the UIC plan could be implemented with fewer financial resources and would have more capabilities to serve underrepresented populations in the state, based on the regional campuses that already exist. He said the plan also would be more inclusive for the 1,300 medical students who now attend Illinois - allowing all of them to take engineering-intensive classes, instead of those enrolled in the Urbana-only plan.
He said the institute would redefine and expand the Urbana campus's role within the university's school of medicine. Currently, the campus has 125 students and 11 professors connected to the College of Medicine - with all of the students completing just a year's worth of coursework here before going to one of the other campuses for specialized training and to finish their degree.
"It brings the campuses together rather than increasing the separation," he said of the institute plan.
One of the next steps in Wise's plan - gaining campus support for the new college of medicine - began Sept. 12 with a public hearing on the issue.
Gay Miller, chair of the senate's educational policy committee, said the hearing was held before a packed meeting room and included a public discussion with a seven-member panel.
"There were good questions and good responses," she said.
The minutes of that hearing were forwarded to the Senate Executive Committee, which at their Sept. 15 meeting included the minutes in the senate packet for the Sept. 22 senate meeting. A resolution asking for the senate's support will be offered for a vote at that meeting.