The campaign will build upon the School of Medicine's distinctive qualities and will enable groundbreaking interdisciplinary studies, said Ann Paton, executive dean for advancement. Most Brown medical students are products of an unusual eight-year Program in Liberal Medical Education, considered to be among the most selective university programs in the nation. In an arrangement rare in higher education, biology faculty and those in the School of Medicine are combined under one division, sharing basic science training and undergraduate biology instruction. In 1996, the medical school unveiled a curriculum reform called MD2000, which emphasizes mastery of nine abilities that focus on those things a good doctor must be able to do. Brown is also one of the few medical schools that does not own or operate its own teaching hospital.
Medical education is a joint endeavor between the school and seven affiliated hospitals.
However, the challenges of practicing academic medicine in the current health care environment are greater than ever due to increasing pressures on physicians to maintain revenues by seeing more patients - leaving less time and opportunity for teaching and research, she said.