The vision for the state-of-the-art technology in the Center for Medical Education (CME) at East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine came into better focus this month thanks to a $1 million award from the Golden LEAF Foundation.
“We are grateful to the Golden LEAF Foundation for investing in our new Center for Medical Education,” Chancellor Philip Rogers said. “Their support helps ensure a state-of-the-art learning environment is available for future medical students. By investing in the Brody School of Medicine, Golden LEAF is also advancing the future of health care for the region we both serve.”
Construction of the state-funded, seven-story, 195,000-square-foot building is underway and expected to be complete in 2027. Once open, the CME will be connected to the existing Brody Medical Sciences building at every level, providing high-tech classrooms, anatomy labs and simulation technology integrated with space for the growing student body to learn.
An architect’s rendering shows the learning studio that will be part of the Center for Medical Education at the Brody School of Medicine.
“Golden LEAF’s support of the Center for Medical Education builds on ECU’s proven record of preparing health care professionals who stay and practice in rural North Carolina,” said Golden LEAF President, Chief Executive Officer Scott T. Hamilton. “The advanced simulation and clinical training technologies supported through this award will give students hands-on experience that directly translates to stronger, more resilient rural health care.”
Rogers said the support is a continuation of the foundation’s longtime partnership and shared vision with the university.
“To fulfill our missional work of regional transformation, we need exceptional partners. We need people to walk alongside us to drive positive change in the lives of the people that we serve,” Rogers said. “Golden LEAF’s support of our mission has led to a long-standing partnership with real, impactful and tangible outcomes at ECU and in the region.”
The Golden LEAF Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 1999 to receive a portion of North Carolina’s funding from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with cigarette manufacturers. For more than 25 years, Golden LEAF has worked to increase economic opportunity in North Carolina’s rural and tobacco-dependent communities.
“Growth at the Brody School of Medicine directly supports Golden LEAF’s mission,” Hamilton said. “By expanding ECU’s capacity to train more physicians, physician assistants and medical residents, this project will not only increase health care jobs in rural communities but also help build a healthier workforce by improving access to care in a medically underserved region.”
The award is the first million-dollar philanthropic investment — in partnership with the ECU Health Foundation — for the medical school expansion. The funding will outfit the CME’s learning studio with 360-degree screens and the software to run the whitebox simulation room.
“We are thrilled to celebrate this transformative grant from Golden LEAF in support of the Center for Medical Education, as it will allow us to further the mission-driven alignment between the health system and the university,” said Dr. Scott Senatore, chief philanthropy officer of the ECU Health Foundation. “Golden LEAF is an outstanding community partner and is an integral part of elevating student success and training future physicians to meet crucial health care needs in North Carolina. Their award will provide a lasting impact for years to come, and for that, we are truly grateful.”
An architect’s rendering shows the whitebox simulation room that will be part of the Center for Medical Education at the Brody School of Medicine. Funds from the Golden LEAF Foundation will provide the software to run the whitebox.
In addition to the CME support, Golden LEAF provides an undergraduate scholarship program, which currently supports 70 ECU students. The organization has provided funding for the world-renowned ECU Diabetes and Obesity Institute, the ECU Family Medicine Center, which trains future physicians, and the Eastern Region Pharma Center in ECU’s Life Sciences and Biotechnology Building, which connects industry and business to academics and research. In 2018, Golden LEAF also provided a $10 million grant for cancer care equipment for the Vidant Health Cancer Center (now ECU Health Medical Center).
Dr. Michael Waldrum, dean of the medical school and CEO of ECU Health, said the Golden LEAF award will help the medical school continue to build on its reputation for producing physicians who are prepared to provide health care in rural North Carolina.
“Healthy rural communities need access to excellent physicians, and no one does that better than ECU. This allows us to answer the call of students in this state who dream of being physicians in North Carolina,” Waldrum said. “By providing for advanced medical simulation and classroom technology in our new Center for Medical Education, Golden LEAF is underlining an important aim — that this collective project be not just an expansion of physical space but an educational leap in addressing the needs of our students, our region and rural North Carolina.”
The expansion of learning space will enable an increase in class cohorts in the coming years. Incoming medical school classes will grow to 120 students over time, and the number of residents and fellows who can be trained at ECU will increase by 89 associates.
“We are proud to have a 100% residency match rate for our students. Brody students have a reputation for giving excellent, hands-on care to patients on Day 1 of residency. That’s not just great student recruitment. It’s a testament to the education that we offer here, and this award from the Golden LEAF Foundation is a fantastic vote of support for what we do best,” said Dr. Jason Higginson, Brody’s executive dean. “New teaching technology, such as 360-degree screens in the learning studio and whiteBox immersion in our simulation center, is going to advance recruitment, advance learning and burnish the reputation for readiness that our graduates have earned.”
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