[Source: Ken Alltucker, Arizona Republic] — Arizona leaders see the new University of Arizona medical-school campus in downtown Phoenix as an anchor of a biomedical hub that will train more doctors, foster cutting-edge research and spur the state’s economy. But as 48 students usher in the Phoenix college’s second year of instruction, much has changed from the original vision. The medical school’s leadership is being overhauled. Plans for a new downtown teaching hospital have stalled. And the school’s Tucson faculty members have raised questions about whether the Phoenix campus will take away limited resources.
University officials acknowledge a rocky start in some respects for the nearly 2-year-old Phoenix campus. “Any new concept will have some growing pains,” said Robert Bulla, a member of the Arizona Board of Regents and a regents committee overseeing development of the biomedical campus. “I am not disappointed that it has been slow, but it has taken a little longer than I hoped to get things in place,” Bulla added.
Still, no one doubts the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix in partnership with Arizona State University has made significant strides since its official October 2006 dedication. The school has assembled its curriculum, hired faculty and welcomed the first two classes of medical students. It also has secured funds to pursue an ambitious expansion that will add a new educational and a state-of-the-art research lab that will be shared by the state’s three public universities. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]
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