CHICAGO (WGN) — Chicago recently opened its first new medical school in nearly a century.
The doors at Illinois College of Osteopathic Medicine (IllinoisCOM) officially opened to the public on Monday. The college’s West Loop campus welcomes 91 future doctors in a building that stands nearly 247,000 square feet.
Leaders with the organization say the school is opening during a time when the country faces both a shortage of primary-care physicians and a mental health crisis. All told, the students will have the privilege of training in advanced AI-driven simulation centers and a standardized patient center, using mannequins to advance their studies.
The facility is not just training doctors, it’s rethinking how they’re trained, says Dr. John Lucas, founding dean of IllinoisCOM…