All eyes on med school

After five years of planning, the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine is ready to open its doors

• Overview: All eyes on med school

The series

Meet the community

• Med school's opening was a university/hospital partnership from the start

Meet the builders

• Campus construction was a local effort from the ground up

Advice from other schools

• From Miami to Scranton, what other med-school leaders learned in their first year in operation

Tour the school

• Take a visual tour of the medical school's building

The pieces have come together.

Despite worries about funding, a harsh winter, tight construction schedules and late-night meetings, the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine will open to its first class of 42 students in a week.

The brainchild of a small group of regional health and education leaders, the medical school has been nearly five years in the making. It's the first public-private partnership of its kind in the state, and it will emphasize a patient-centered curriculum, an idea first adopted in 1969 in Canada.

School officials know they'll face uncertainties during the first year. But Dr. Cynda Johnson, the founding dean of the school, knows one thing is for sure: A unique model and potential economic effect will put Roanoke's new medical school in the national spotlight.

"They're watching, and we're going to be there show them some excitement," she said.

-- Annie Johnson