Welcome from Dean and Provost Dr. Jerry Kruse
Since our beginning, more than 3,000 medical students have graduated from SIU School of Medicine. Our community-based approach places medical students in hospitals and physicians’ offices throughout central and southern Illinois, working with patients in real-world situations. This produces better prepared, more confident clinicians as they begin residency.
Education
Residency programs provide specialized training for students who have just finished medical school and fellowships equip them with advanced training beyond residency. More than 2,850 resident physicians have trained at SIU School of Medicine.
Word of our educational innovation spread as the 20th century concluded, and the SIU model has now been adopted by the vast majority of U.S. medical schools. We have received consecutive accreditations in 2007 and 2015, with no citations, from the nation’s major accrediting body. SIU is the only U.S. medical school to ever be scored flawlessly twice.
Research
Our research portfolio demonstrates what happens when an academic environment nurtures creativity among its clinicians and scientists. Research teams are continually discovering, investigating and testing cutting-edge diagnostic and treatment methods that are as innovative as those being developed anywhere in the world.
Multi-disciplinary research labs are working toward new and exciting breakthroughs; up-and-coming researchers are advancing novel ideas, while our seasoned scientists continue to demonstrate the dedication and persistence to withstand the slow pace of research.
In the decades to come, SIU’s commitment to advancing human health will further expand with projects in clinical, translational and population health research. We plan to increase collaborations with other health professions schools, affiliated hospitals, private sector entities and other organizations.
Patient care
SIU Medicine, our physician practice, is one of the largest multi-specialty physician group in the region, with nearly 300 full-time physicians and other medical professionals who provide patient care to more than 125,000 individuals each year.
SIU Medicine now includes the largest university-owned and administered Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) system in the U.S., which serves the region with 13 clinics in eight cities. The programs offer a comprehensive primary medical, dental and mental health care, neighborhood assessments with community health workers and hot-spotting for comprehensive care.
Service to the community
Through the school and the physician practice, we have a vision for community service that embraces the responsibility to care for people in the region, not only through direct health care services, but also by influencing the social and cultural determinants of health.
Our commitment to social accountability is also evident in the work we do make the school and equitable environment for all. Specific programs for broad-based inclusion, women in medicine, global health, student groups and our work to become and antiracist institution are only a few of the initiatives that bring the principle of equity to the forefront at SIU School of Medicine.
It is my hope that all that come here will find SIU School of Medicine to be a place where students, clinicians, researchers and educational health workers can all learn to lead.
Jerry Kruse, MD, MSPH
Dean and Provost
SIU School of Medicine
