The Dell Medical School Will Break Ground Well After It Breaks Ground

June 20, 2013

While the construction plans for expansive, state-of-the-art medical school facilities are not entirely set in stone, the anticipation is palpable. The Dell Medical School as it is proposed will cost $334 million to construct, and will encompass 515,000 square feet of the University of Texas Austin campus. This new center for academics and research will undoubtedly make Austin a globally significant source of innovation in the field of medicine.

As a member of the Medical Community Engagement Board that is helping to design the curriculum structure of the new medical school, I see many opportunities for this school to empower its students with both knowledge and invaluable experience.

Bill Powers, president of UT Austin, noted the symbiotic relationship between different academic fields, and how having a medical school in a centralized location at the university can help provoke new ideas and better prepare students for the sort of collaboration required in the real world: “Our medical students will be walking distance from some of the most innovative research in the world — not only in medicine but in pharmacy, chemistry, medical business systems and biomedical engineering. They will be learning shoulder-to-shoulder with the other professionals who will be on their teams in the hospitals and clinics.”

You cannot become a great physician by simply reading books (though that step certainly cannot be skipped). The fact that the Dell Medical School is designed to facilitate formative experiences and relationship building is a sign that the school will be making waves in the medical field in every generation of doctors it produces.

Dell Medical Center Plans