Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
Encyclopedia
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine is an allopathic medical school
located in Springfield, Illinois
, the state capital. It is part of the Southern Illinois University
system, which includes a campus in Edwardsville
as well as the flagship in Carbondale
. The medical school was founded in 1970 and achieved full accreditation in 1972. It was originally founded to relieve a chronic shortage of doctors in downstate Illinois
.
with its main campus outside of Chicago or its suburbs (although the University of Illinois maintains satellites
in Champaign-Urbana, Peoria
, and Rockford
). It is known nationally for multiple reasons. SIU and Harvard
were the first two medical schools in the nation to incorporate problem-based learning (PBL) into their curricula (see below). SIU also was one of the first medical schools in the United States to incorporate trained actors to serve as "standardized patients" for medical student testing purposes. Being able to interact with standardized patients now comprises the majority of one of the four major exams that all US allopathic medical students must pass (the USMLE Step 2 Clinical Skills). SIU students begin care of patients in a clinical setting within the first two weeks of classes. By the end of their first trimester, they are tested on their ability to obtain medical histories from, examine, and diagnose the diseases simulated by standardized patients. Such education measures and SIU's large primary care faculty led US News and World Report to rank SIU in the top 10 medical schools in the country for primary care by the 1990s. SIU students also receive in depth training in medicolegal issues thanks to the medical school's close relationship with the Southern Illinois University School of Law
and the retention of attorneys
on its Springfield faculty in the Department of Medical Humanities.
Training programs in Springfield are supported primarily by the city's two large tertiary care hospitals – Memorial Medical Center (507 beds) and St. John’s Hospital (738 beds). Combined, these hospitals have more than 45,000 admissions and more than 123,000 emergency room visits annually. Services include the only level 1 trauma center in the area between Peoria and St. Louis and a regional burn center. The school has more than 300 full-time faculty members, as well as more than 880 part-time and volunteer faculty members. More than 225 full-time physicians supervise nearly 360,000 clinic visits per year in primary and specialty care clinics. The patient base of the Springfield region includes more than 500,000 people in at least 10 counties.
SIU-Med employs Problem Based Learning, which involves using small groups of students, along with a faculty mentor. The students are presented with a clinical scenario and must approach it as if they were trying to diagnose and treat a real patient. Each clinical scenario is accessed on a secure website that provides information about the patient. When the students face basic science and clinical problems that they do not know, they incorporate these issues into a list and divide the list amongst themselves for self-directed learning. At their next faculty-supervised meeting, the students teach each other what they have learned, with input also provided on the topics by the faculty member. Each case also has set learning issues, so that all students in all the small groups within the class learn the objectives planned by the faculty in both basic and clinical science for that particular case. Each case is designed to be completed over three meetings lasting around 9 hours in total. This style of learning is also used with traditional lectures and laboratory sessions over the first two years of medical school. Since it is more interactive, it is thought to promote better problem-solving skills useful in real life situations than traditional lecture based learning, and it is now used by many medical schools.
Medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
located in Springfield, Illinois
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
, the state capital. It is part of the Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University is a state university system based in Carbondale, Illinois, in the Southern Illinois region of the state, with multiple campuses...
system, which includes a campus in Edwardsville
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, commonly abbreviated SIUE, is a four-year coed public university in Edwardsville, Illinois about from St. Louis, Missouri. SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and is the younger of the two largest...
as well as the flagship in Carbondale
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a public research university located in Carbondale, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1869, SIUC is the flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system...
. The medical school was founded in 1970 and achieved full accreditation in 1972. It was originally founded to relieve a chronic shortage of doctors in downstate Illinois
Downstate Illinois
Downstate Illinois refers to all of Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area. This term is flexible, but because it is generally meant to refer to everything outside the Chicago-area, some cities in Northern Illinois, such as Rockford and DeKalb, , are considered to be "downstate".The term...
.
Notability
SIU is the only medical school in IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
with its main campus outside of Chicago or its suburbs (although the University of Illinois maintains satellites
Satellite campus
A satellite campus or branch campus is a campus of a college or university that is physically detached from the main university or college area, and is often smaller than the main campus of an institution....
in Champaign-Urbana, Peoria
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
, and Rockford
Rockford, Illinois
Rockford is a mid-sized city located on both banks of the Rock River in far northern Illinois. Often referred to as "The Forest City", Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County, Illinois, USA. As reported in the 2010 U.S. census, the city was home to 152,871 people, the third most populated...
). It is known nationally for multiple reasons. SIU and Harvard
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
were the first two medical schools in the nation to incorporate problem-based learning (PBL) into their curricula (see below). SIU also was one of the first medical schools in the United States to incorporate trained actors to serve as "standardized patients" for medical student testing purposes. Being able to interact with standardized patients now comprises the majority of one of the four major exams that all US allopathic medical students must pass (the USMLE Step 2 Clinical Skills). SIU students begin care of patients in a clinical setting within the first two weeks of classes. By the end of their first trimester, they are tested on their ability to obtain medical histories from, examine, and diagnose the diseases simulated by standardized patients. Such education measures and SIU's large primary care faculty led US News and World Report to rank SIU in the top 10 medical schools in the country for primary care by the 1990s. SIU students also receive in depth training in medicolegal issues thanks to the medical school's close relationship with the Southern Illinois University School of Law
Southern Illinois University School of Law
Southern Illinois University School of Law is a law school in Carbondale, Illinois. The college offers Juris Doctor, Master of Laws, and Master of Legal Studies programs. It also offers dual degree programs in Accounting, Medicine, Education, Business Administration, Public Administration, Social...
and the retention of attorneys
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
on its Springfield faculty in the Department of Medical Humanities.
Research
Research at SIU School of Medicine, as of 2010, consists of more than 220 projects underway in 100-plus laboratories. As of this same year, SIU was supported by over $25 million in funding by agencies including the National Institutes of Health. One of the leading areas of research at SIU is in oncology, with the Simmons Cancer Institute being the largest oncology facility in Illinois outside of Chicago. Ongoing research includes projects on basic molecular mechanism of tumorigenesis, identifying molecular biomarkers for early detection of cancer, and identifying targets for molecular level cancer treatment. The Simmons Institute has dedicated clinics for patients with breast, colorectal, gynecologic, head and neck, hematologic, skin, pediatric, prostate, and lung cancer. The Springfield Combined Laboratory Facility is a five-story building that houses immunology and virology laboratories and a biomedical research imaging suite. The Springfield and Carbondale campuses have multiple other medical research buildings.Residency programs
SIU offers residency programs in dermatology, emergency medicine, family medicine, general surgery, internal medicine, medicine and psychiatry, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, orthopaedics, otolaryngology, paediatrics, plastic surgery, pyschiatry, radiology, and urology . It has fellowships in burn treatment, child psychiatry, colorectal surgery, endocrinology, head and neck oncology, infectious disease medicine, neurophysiology and epilepsy, pulmonology, and vascular surgery. As of 2009, there were 229 medical residents training on the Springfield campus and 51 training primarily at other sites.Training programs in Springfield are supported primarily by the city's two large tertiary care hospitals – Memorial Medical Center (507 beds) and St. John’s Hospital (738 beds). Combined, these hospitals have more than 45,000 admissions and more than 123,000 emergency room visits annually. Services include the only level 1 trauma center in the area between Peoria and St. Louis and a regional burn center. The school has more than 300 full-time faculty members, as well as more than 880 part-time and volunteer faculty members. More than 225 full-time physicians supervise nearly 360,000 clinic visits per year in primary and specialty care clinics. The patient base of the Springfield region includes more than 500,000 people in at least 10 counties.
Library and Budget
The SIU Medical Library houses more than 159,000 volumes, 1,145 current periodicals, 3,400 audiovisual programs, and a collection of historical medical documents . SIU's total annual budget is approximately $138 million; about 31 percent is from state appropriations .Curriculum
Students spend the first year at the main campus of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL before moving to Springfield.SIU-Med employs Problem Based Learning, which involves using small groups of students, along with a faculty mentor. The students are presented with a clinical scenario and must approach it as if they were trying to diagnose and treat a real patient. Each clinical scenario is accessed on a secure website that provides information about the patient. When the students face basic science and clinical problems that they do not know, they incorporate these issues into a list and divide the list amongst themselves for self-directed learning. At their next faculty-supervised meeting, the students teach each other what they have learned, with input also provided on the topics by the faculty member. Each case also has set learning issues, so that all students in all the small groups within the class learn the objectives planned by the faculty in both basic and clinical science for that particular case. Each case is designed to be completed over three meetings lasting around 9 hours in total. This style of learning is also used with traditional lectures and laboratory sessions over the first two years of medical school. Since it is more interactive, it is thought to promote better problem-solving skills useful in real life situations than traditional lecture based learning, and it is now used by many medical schools.