EVANSVILLE — Come August, about 500 students from three universities will be in Downtown Evansville daily, studying medical disciplines together in a new, four-floor, state-of-the-art facility.
The medical school is expected to bring an economic boost to Downtown, but officials this week said its larger impact is in the training of healthcare professionals for years to come.
Students from the Indiana University School of Medicine-Evansville will do residencies at Deaconess Health System and St. Vincent Health System, and at Vincennes and Jasper hospitals. The Downtown campus will have practicing dental students from IU, plus students in medical programs from the University of Southern Indiana and University of Evansville.
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The building most recently has been called the Multi-Institutional Academic Health Science and Research Center. That is its second working title, and officials said it is likely to change again before August. The goal is a more succinct identity.
Officials promise a facility that is high-tech and modeled after quality facilities in other communities. IU officials toured a medical education building at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and a downtown facility in Grand Rapids, Michigan, run by Michigan State University.
“We’re constantly benchmarking our facilities against all others that are doing well, trying to do just a little bit better,” said Rich Thompson, senior associate university architect with IU.
Construction on the Downtown Evansville campus is about 80 percent complete. The first day of fall semester classes is Aug. 6.
A theme throughout the facility is collaboration among participating universities. The ground floor has a 150-seat auditorium available to all programs, an expansive vestibule and IU’s dental studies clinic.
The second floor is devoted to anatomy classes and simulated medical activities, where students see mock patients (either mannequins or human actors). Recording equipment is positioned throughout. Various complications can be injected into training exercises.
“When you go in to do your activity, you will be critiqued not only by those in the room, but you’re also on (video) record,” Thompson said. “ … This facility really takes advantage of the concept of team-based learning.”
First-year med students from Indiana University School of Medicine-Evansville and physician assistant students from the University of Evansville will be in anatomy classes together.
“That is the foundation science for either course,” Cathy Zimmermann, director of development and public relations for IUSM-E.
More classrooms, labs, work stations and administrative offices are on the top two floors. Hallways are lined with lockers. The building will have some vending machines and lounge spaces, but it won’t have a food service operation.
“You would utilize the Downtown for those things,” Thompson said.
IU officials said they are hopeful the new facility in an urban setting can be an effective recruiting tool for students.
“Dr. Becker has noted we’ll actually be interviewing students in Evansville for this region,” Zimmermann said. “Presently all the admissions go on in Indianapolis. But there will actually be interviews with students going on here. This is definitely a recruiting tool.”
Thompson added: “I suspect each institution will see it as an asset in their portfolio. This is a unique facility, with multi institutions involved. We’ve done collaborations before, but not like this, with the diversity of programs we have in this facility.”
It's unclear how many of the campus' 500 students will live Downtown and how many will commute. Zimmermann said some Indiana University School of Medicine-Evansville students already choose to live Downtown, even though their program is currently housed at USI, west of the city limits.
Zimmermann said officials are often asked by local developers and others about demographics of students in the facility and what needs they will have.
In the case of IU students, "we're telling them they are typical grad students," Zimmermann said. "They like close proximity to Downtown. They like to have restaurants, facilities to exercise, walkable paths, connectivity."