Building for the Future

Health Sciences Facility I

The buildings that make up the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s campus are far more than a collection of bricks and mortar. They are places of discovery. They are where teaching takes place, where young minds and bright ideas take shape. They provide the means by which new theories are tested and translated from the lab to the bedside.

A walk through campus pays tribute to the past and points to the promise of the future. There’s Davidge Hall, the 1812 building that is the oldest continuously used facility for medical education. Thousands of medical students have passed through the columned entryway of this National Historic Landmark in their journey to become accomplished, caring physicians. A block away is the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, which has borne witness to thousands of miracles since ground was broken in 1985. Across the street is Health Sciences Facility II, completed in 2003, whose sophisticated laboratories and equipment put scientists on the frontiers of biomedical research. Attached to this facility is HSFI, where new vaccines are developed and some of the most advanced neuroscience research is conducted.

In the past decade, the pace of construction has been faster than it’s ever been at the medical school. Our expanded facilities—with new and advanced spaces for teaching, treating and research—have made it possible for the School of Medicine to achieve great progress. The School of Medicine currently occupies approximately 715,000 net square feet of academic, research and clinical space in 11 buildings.

But we are not done yet. Physical facilities will always play a crucial role in the school’s ongoing growth and success.

• To continue educating and training exemplary physicians, our facilities must reflect the latest in medical education as it becomes more interdisciplinary and technologically advanced.

• To treat growing numbers of patients, we need sufficient space for offices and treatment areas.

• To recruit and retain the brightest faculty, we need the space and facilities that will enable them to do their best work.

• To enable scientists in genomics to continue investigating the inner workings of the human body, we need to expand our wet, dry and clinic-based research space, along with advanced lab equipment and space for those who deal with this specialized data.

At the School of Medicine, we’ve seen the impact that well-designed and equipped buildings have on our missions. We truly believe in the power of place.