It would be a few more weeks before their new
$24-million facility would be completed and ready
for the Windsor-based students though that doesn’t
bother Campagna. He is a member of the first class
of the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry –
Windsor Program.
Campagna says this is what he has anticipated
since June when he learned he had been accepted
into the program.
The moment arrives when, through video-
conferencing technology, Dr. Peter Flanagan in
London addresses his two classes for the first time:
“This truly is the first day of the rest of your lives.”
On the videoconferencing screen, Flanagan tells
students about what lies ahead. He says that it will
be a “bit of a shocker” to discover that high marks
are not as important anymore and that many will
settle closer to the 60 percent passing grade. “You
will be appalled at the quantity of work that you’ll be
expected to cover,” he says. Students will not be able
to memorize their way through the curriculum. They
will have to “synthesize” their learning, a process he
acknowledges is easier described than done.
In short, the students will experience a sea
change in their educational experience, just as the
ability to offer a full-fledged medical education on
campus pushes UWindsor’s evolution as an institution
that delivers positive change in the community and
the world that surrounds it.
The dream of providing a medical education
on the UWindsor campus was realized through the
collective will of the partners: The University of
Western Ontario’s Schulich School of Medicine &
Dentistry, the University of Windsor, and the London
and Windsor hospitals. The curriculum will be set
by Western, though delivered on the University
of Windsor campus through a combination of
videoconferencing and live instruction.
The program will also involve training at Windsor
Regional Hospital, Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital and
other regional education sites. Graduates will receive
University of Western Ontario medical degrees.
The program is led by Dr. Tom Scott, associate
dean, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry -
Windsor Program, director of Medical Education at
the University of Windsor, and Dr. Raphael Cheung,
Assistant Dean, Southwestern Ontario Medical
Education Network (SWOMEN) Windsor.
Dr. Carol Herbert, dean of the Schulich School
of Medicine & Dentistry says developing the new
program as a co-operative venture between the
universities enabled the program to be developed
“far faster” than if Windsor tried to go it alone.
Although running a medical program from
Opening a
medical treasure
BY PAUL RIGGI
view . fall 2008
13
It is September 2 – Day One – and Craig Campagna is pumped. “I’m
looking forward to this,” he says. “Fight day – first day.” He is seated in
a makeshift classroom in the basement of Erie Hall on the University
of Windsor campus with his 23 new classmates. Ahead of them on a
screen, the students can see their colleagues at the Schulich School of
Medicine & Dentistry in London, Ont., also settling into their seats to
await the delivery of their first course, Introduction to Medicine.
Opposite page: First-year medical students Craig Campagna and Melissa Tenbergen.
