Design Phase Approved for UK College of Medicine Construction

  • By Matt Jones
  • 05/05/21

This week, the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees approved the design phase for the construction of a new building for the UK College of Medicine. According to a press release, the facility will include about 380,000 square feet of classrooms, conference rooms, simulation suites, office space, and support space. A location for the building on campus has yet to be determined and will be announced in late summer or early fall.

“Physician demand is expected to exceed supply exponentially over the next 10 years,” said UK College of Medicine Dean Robert DiPaola. “And we know the most effective way to increase the number of physicians practicing statewide is to train them. In Kentucky, it is especially dire as the medical needs across the state are among the highest in the nation, particularly in rural areas.”

The university’s medical students currently take classes in either the William R. Willard Medical Education Building, the Charles T. Wethington Building, and the Clinical Skills Training and Assessment Center. During the 2020–21 academic year, the UK College of Medicine had an enrollment of 717 students. The number of applicants for a set number of spots (201) increased from 2,394 in 2019 to 3,792 in 2020.

“Increasing the number of practicing physicians is one of the many ways in which the UK College of Medicine is responding to increased health care demands throughout the Commonwealth,” said DiPaola. “Training physicians and other health care professionals to practice statewide in Kentucky is of major importance, and to do that effectively, the College of Medicine and other health care colleges at UK need the space available to grow the number of students to meet the needs of the Commonwealth.”

Once the design phase of the project is complete, it will go back to the Board of Trustees for approval, and then the bidding and construction phases will begin.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Kimball International Launches Season 5 of Alternative Design Podcast

    Commercial furnishings manufacturer Kimball International recently premiered the fifth season of its Alternative Design podcast, according to a news release. The first episode was released on March 17, and new episodes will launch monthly. The podcast discusses forces that shape built environments, from work to housing to healthcare to human wellness.

  • Singlewire Software Report Reveals Gaps in K–12 School Entrance Security

    Single Software recently released its first-ever School Entrance Security Report based on more than 500 responses from U.S. school staff members. According to a news release, the findings highlight a gap between K–12 leaders’ wishes for school safety and how safe the schools actually are, as well as the challenges facing students and staff in that goal.

  • K12 Tutoring Earns Every Student Succeeds Act Level II Validation

    Personalized online tutoring service K12 Tutoring recently announced that it has received Level II validation underneath the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), according to a news release. The independently validated study provides evidence of K12 Tutoring’s role in creating positive student outcomes through effective academic intervention and research-based solutions.

  • modern college building with circuit and brain motifs

    Anthropic Introduces Claude for Education

    Anthropic has launched a version of its Claude AI assistant tailored for higher education institutions. Claude for Education "gives academic institutions secure, reliable AI access for their entire community," the company said, to enable colleges and universities to develop and implement AI-enabled approaches across teaching, learning, and administration.

Digital Edition