Queen’s medical students have pledged a half-million dollars to the university’s new school of medicine building.

At the annual general meeting of the Aesculapian Society last week, the students surprised Health Sciences Dean David Walker with two cheques – one for $10,500 and another representing $500,000 that will be collected over the next several years through an optional $100 annual fee.

“This magnificent level of support from our medical students is symbolic of this very special place,” says Dr. Walker.  “I was quite overwhelmed.” Read more...

Photo: Greg Black

Medical Student Society President Karmen Krol, Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement and School of Medicine Vice-Dean Lewis Tomalty inspect the site of the new School of Medicine currently under construction at the corner of Stuart and Arch Streets. Minister Clement was in Kingston Friday and spoke in Botterell Hall about the government's Economic Action Plan, which is contributing $28 million to the project through the Canada-Ontario Knowledge Infrastructure Program. The provincial government is also contributing $28 million to the facility, which is scheduled to open in Spring 2011.

Health Sciences Dean David Walker controls backhoe as official party celebrates groundbreaking of the new Medical School building.

A new home for the School of Medicine moved a step closer today when government dignitaries (including two Queen's graduates and a former faculty member) helped university representatives shift earth with a backhoe at the $77-million building's official groundbreaking. The Knowledge Infrastructure Program (KIP) press release for this event is available here, and the KIP backgrounder may be downloaded here.

The Queen's news release for the groundbreaking is available from the Queen's News Centre.

Click here to read an update from Dean David Walker on construction and fundraising efforts for the new Medical School Building.

Dean David Walker (at podium) with Tom Williams, Gord Brown, Peter Milliken, and John Gerretsen.

It’s now official: pre-construction work will begin shortly on a new home for Queen’s medical school. 

“The new medical school building will become the home base for our students, our classrooms and labs, which have been scattered in cramped and aged facilities across campus,” said Dr. David Walker, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences. “The facility will include state of the art simulation labs, and expanded distance teaching programs so that we can continue providing an excellent education to students across southeastern Ontario.” 

Read more...