Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/220800
The Gift of Knowledge Alumnus Sapan Desai modernizes the COM's education by providing interactive media textbooks for free to COM students I Renderings courtesy of Divine Signs, Inc. Learning of Medicine's facilities mix of open space for individuals and groups, a small-group meeting area dedicated to student government and organizations, access to computer resources, and casual space for students to eat, relax and socialize. b Upgraded building systems with modernized electrical, plumbing and temperature control, as well as sustainable and healthy design principles, and secure 24-hour access. "A modern auditorium and classrooms, as well as group and independent study areas equipped with adjustable furnishings, ample power and data, and technology are required for medical students to learn via a wide range of active learning methods," says Kathleen Kashima, PhD, senior associate dean of students and interim senior associate dean for undergraduate medical education. "Facilitator-led seminars, team-based learning, and small-group clinical instruction can also be supported, better preparing the students for the clinical phase of their training and board exams, where applying knowledge and critical thinking skills to patient care is required." magine having access to review courses and study materials that are available online, containing information that's written by the best minds in medicine and continuously updated. Imagine, too, if all that information were available at no cost. That's the impact of a gift to the College of Medicine from Sapan Desai '98, MD '06, PhD '06, MBA, president and CEO of Surgisphere Corp., the medical education firm he founded as a COM student. Desai has kept one foot in the academic world as an adjunct assistant professor of surgery at Duke University and a fellow in vascular surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. Simultaneously, during the past decade, his company has grown into the world's largest portal for medical education, with a review textbook used by roughly half the universities in the U.S. and dozens more around the world. Sapan Desai "When I was in medical school, the textbooks we were using were several years out of date," recalls Desai. "By developing a highly integrated, multidisciplinary suite of products at all levels of health care, we aim to promote change throughout the infrastructure. We continually build on the progress that leading minds around the world have achieved, and then take the next step forward." The idea behind Surgisphere was to create interactive multimedia textbooks that could be updated continuously. Desai found what he considered the best people—the leaders in each field—to write these books with the physician in mind. He also developed a continuous assessment so that students could tell where they stand in relation to their peers. "We started writing practice questions, supplemented with assessment and review courses," Desai says. "That led to faculty getting involved in universities around the country and sending me their tape-recorded lectures by medical leaders, which we now stream online." Desai's donation to the College of Medicine was obtained by Abbas Hyderi, MD '01, MPH, associate dean for curriculum and course director for Essentials of Clinical Medicine. "This in-kind gift of $10.4 million in software from Surgisphere provides review courses and study materials to assist University of Illinois College of Medicine medical students and residents in surgery and internal medicine as they prepare for the medical licensing examinations," Hyderi says. The donation offers unfettered access for all COM students and faculty at all four campuses—Chicago, Peoria, Rockford and UrbanaChampaign. This allows students in all phases of their training to review content and prepare for exams. "One review textbook from a medical publisher might cost a student $50," Hyderi says. "So the fact that all this information is free is an enormous benefit." "I'm excited about the impact this will have for students and faculty," Desai says, "and I hope it encourages continued philanthropic support by COM alumni and friends." — Catherine Rategan For more information on how you can make a gift in support of medical education at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, visit www.medicine.uic.edu/giving or email Give2Med@uic.edu. illinois medicine | 17