ROSS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE CELEBRATES OPENING OF ITS TEMPORARY CAMPUS IN KNOXVILLE

Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero was in attendance with leaders from RUSM and Lincoln Memorial University (LMU), which is graciously leasing classroom and office space to RUSM for this purpose.

In September 2017, Hurricane Maria struck the RUSM campus on the island of Dominica, resulting in an evacuation of more than 1,300 members of its campus community. With the urgent obligation to sustain its students’ education, RUSM resumed the fall semester classes on a cruise ship docked on the island of St. Kitts. The instruction was concluded in early January. Now, RUSM has entered a new phase of academic continuity in Knoxville.

On January 15, RUSM students began medical instruction by about 75 RUSM faculty and skilled professionals at the temporary location in Knoxville while damage assessments and repairs continue on Dominica. 

RUSM Dean and Chancellor William F. Owen, Jr., MD, FACP said, “We are extremely pleased with the facilities for our students in Knoxville. There is about 110,000 sq. ft. of purpose-remodeled space that offers state of the art learning spaces like lecture halls, small group learning rooms as well as dedicated areas for instruction on patient examinations. Within the next several weeks, our students will be able to learn human anatomy in a fully equipped dissection laboratory.”

“Lincoln Memorial University is proud to be able to accommodate Ross University School of Medicine under these extreme circumstances. We heard of a need, had the space and made special efforts to move up our construction timeline to make sure these students were able to continue their studies,” said LMU Chairman Autry O.V. “Pete” DeBusk. “This facility is well-suited in size and scale to meet the needs of a medical school curriculum and it is great to see it alive with students and faculty.”

“Lincoln Memorial University has been very supportive during an unprecedented time of challenges for RUSM,” said Stanley J. White, PhD, FPhysiol, senior associate dean of Medical Sciences at RUSM. “We appreciate the opportunity to lease LMU’s facility, where we will be good tenants and hospitable neighbors.”