NEW HOSPITAL IMPORTANT IN EDUCATION OF DOCTORS

More medical schools needed, writes Dr. Michael J. Strong.

This new hospital will be a welcome addition to Windsor and Essex County.

As the dean of the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, I want to lend my full support for the creation of a new hospital in Windsor in which research and education will be critically interwoven with patient care.

Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry is Southwestern Ontario’s only medical school.

And although we are based in London, Ont., we enjoy partnerships and offer training across the region.

As part of our distributed education model, our medical learners are training in hospitals and clinics in Elgin-Middlesex, Lambton-Kent, Huron-Perth, Oxford, Grey-Bruce and Essex counties.

In 2008, the Schulich Medicine — Windsor Campus was established in partnership with the University of Windsor in order to better serve the need for new physicians for the population of Southwestern Ontario.

As we approach the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Windsor campus, we can all look back with great pride on this investment in our region’s health care as being a tremendous success.

Each year, 38 learners elect to undertake their medical training at the Schulich Medicine — Windsor Campus, and increasingly, this community is home to a great number of residents who pursue their specialization training in Windsor and its surroundings.

Many of these newly minted physicians remain in the community, providing superb patient care and contributing in immeasurable ways to the life of the community itself.

The visioning session that took place in December 2016, focusing on research and education within the new hospital, was encouraging.

There can be little doubt that the foundations of health care as it is evolving across the world will arise from the ability to continue to develop skilled physicians who not only understand the scientific underpinnings of health, but who become the instruments by which this new knowledge is transformed into exemplary health care.

This means working within an environment in which superb patient care, critical inquiry and contemporary teaching are the fabric of our daily activities.

The concepts underlying the new hospital exemplify this, and as educators and scientists whose goal is to build the next generation of health-care professionals — we couldn’t ask for more.

I was born in Windsor, grew up in Leamington, worked in tomato and tobacco fields, pounded pistons at the Ford factory to pay for my university education, and spent most of my young adult years in the region.

I understand the great pride that we all take in Windsor and Essex County, and I still call it home.

In my current role as dean of the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, I also understand the importance of health care in this region, and what a facility like this will mean for Windsor, and for the people from the surrounding communities.

This new hospital will be a welcome addition to the city of Windsor and Essex County. It will ensure that Schulich Medicine learners are educated in a modern facility where the opportunities for research and collaboration are a top priority.

This new facility will help to move these priorities forward in a positive way. It will further ensure that the Windsor and London campuses of the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, and all points in between, continue to provide the best possible experience to learners.

Like so many of you, we are eagerly awaiting news that the project has moved to the next stage of development.