Headquartered in Botterell Hall along with the rest of the Faculty of Health Sciences since 1979, the School of Medicine had outgrown its space. Classes were scattered across campus in lecture halls, laboratories, and seminar rooms. To address the School’s infrastructure needs as well as its evolving curriculum, the four-storey School of Medicine opened in fall 2011.
The 11,600-square-metres of teaching and learning space was designed to support the delivery of the School’s patient-focused competency-based curriculum. The curriculum ensures students become fully rounded practitioners. Nearly every feature of the building was designed to facilitate teamwork and case-based learning. Instead of mainly sitting and taking notes in lectures, students spend much more time working together to solve clinical problems.
The $77-million home for the School of Medicine was made possible with a $500,000 pledge by current and future medical students, $1.5 million from the Clinical Teachers’ Association at Queen’s University and $57.6 million from the provincial and federal governments. The $28.8 million federal contribution was part of the $2 billion Knowledge Infrastructure Program. The balance was provided by gifts from alumni, friends, faculty and students.
