Serious question; does anyone know the status of SLU's medical school? Is enrollment up, down, the same? How about their national rankings? Is SLU still relevant?
While Wash U pumps millions into their program, SLU tears down facilities and builds ball fields.
Does anybody know if SLU even has a master plan for its campus? I hate what they've done with their properties, but I also think that all of the needless demolition and empty land *could* eventually be part of a pretty cool, modern campus if we grudgingly let them have their way. However, it seems like they're just going about it on an ad hoc basis with no larger vision.
framer wrote: Is SLU still relevant? While Wash U pumps millions into their program, SLU tears down facilities and builds ball fields.
Good observation. What exactly is going with SLU Med? Is it completely moribund because SLU sold it to Tent healthcare in 1998? Because of that do neither the school nor hospitable system invest in the plant/facilities? SLU Med looks increasingly like another St. Mary's or St. Alexius, while Wash. U. becomes a global leader in research and care. The campus is now such a wasteland it would be laughable if it weren't so sad. It seems that you can count the number of actual research/healthcare buildings on one hand, while the empty lots, parking lots, garages, and ballfields grow exponentially:
SLU will never be Wash U and their proximity is probably detrimental to SLU's reputation much like St Louis being unfairly compared to Chicago. To question SLU's planning is one thing, however to question their relevancy is a bit extreme. The facilities are not the best, however referring to a place as a "wasteland" that has hundreds of medical students, residents, professors, nursing students, attending physicians, nurses, technicians, PAs, and clerical staff swarming upon it daily seems inappropriate. The resources that Wash U have at their disposal put them in a league with the most influential medical centers in the country, however such places do not have a monopoly on meaningful contribution to medical education. Much like how it takes a little effort to uncover the good in St Louis compared to flashy metropolises around the country, there is plenty of good coming from SLU. It is a solid, upper middle ranked medical school that while financially strapped, provides a well rounded education with certain departments and training programs that are quite highly regarded. All that said, given stagnation after the research tower and the Pevely debacle, it is warranted to question their long term vision for facility expansion and upgrades.
Saw this morning as I was driving past that crews were beginning to put up fences along Chouteau between Spring and Grand. I reaaaaaally hope these are construction fences.
