A tale of two campuses: Lessons learned in establishing a satellite campus

Abstract

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity.” The opening line of Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities could easily be the dramatic opening line of a summary of the establishment of a satellite medical school campus in Manitoba. Reflection on my last four years as associate dean reveals that most of the descriptors in that famous sentence at one time or another were apropos. This brief essay will relate the experiences of the last four years and some of the lessons learned along the way.

Disclosure statement

Medical Director, RANA Respiratory Care Group, PFT Laboratories, Calgary, Alberta.

Medical Director, Cerebra Health Incorporated, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sleep Digital Analytics Company.

Neither of these are related to satellite campus development or medical education.

Notes on contributor

Dr. Charles Penner, MD, FRCPC, has been Associate Dean of the Brandon Satellite Campus, University of Manitoba since 2013. His clinical background is in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Currently he practices Sleep Medicine. He has been a senior health administrator and has also practiced in a cross cultural setting in the Middle East.