For the past 8 years, I have had the privilege to be the Dean and Provost of the SIU School of Medicine (SOM). Next month, I will have been with the SOM for 40 years, in capacities such as professor, practicing physician, residency program director, department chair, chair of the curriculum committee, and CEO of SIU Medicine, our clinical practice. I have experienced the breath and excellence of the SOM for 40 of its 54 years.

The SOM was built on two foundations, one of social accountability and one of curricular innovation and educational excellence. We were born out of societal necessity. In 1970, there were far too few physicians and healthcare professionals in Central, Western and Southern Illinois and health outcomes in the region were suboptimal. The first dean, Dr. Richard Moy and the faculty members who joined the SOM in its first 5 years also recognized that medical education needed substantial, if not total, reform. “The Springfield Experiment”, as Dean Moy fondly referred to the SOM, was the perfect solution to both problems.

Last Sunday, the day before Memorial Day, Dr. Sergio Rabinovich passed away at age 96. Dr. Rabinovich was one member of the first cohort of the SOM faculty, and helped launch us on our missions to train new physicians and healthcare professionals for the region, and to improve education for medical students across the globe.

Dr. Rabinovich joined the SOM faculty in 1973. He became the chair and residency program director of the Department of Internal Medicine in 1974, and retired in 1996. The kind and gentle Dr. Rabinovich was dedicated to exceptional educational achievement; his method was to train one physician at a time, through mentorship and strict adherence to the principles of professional excellence.

After his retirement, two endowments were established in his name, the first of which dedicated funds to teach resident physicians to become outstanding teachers of medicine themselves. To intentionally focus time and money on teaching student physicians the principles of teaching other physicians was revolutionary, and captured one of the 5 historic characteristics the learned professions – to teach the next generation of professionals.

Dr. Rabinovich was one of many innovative educators who joined the SOM bandwagon. Through such dedicated professionals, the SIU SOM was the first to implement a comprehensive problem-based learning curriculum (though you will hear faint voices of protest from Harvard, Michigan State and New Mexico), the first to develop a full-service surgical skills and simulation lab, and the first to use real patients for the final senior comprehensive examination for our medical students. Now, decades later, every medical school in the US and many across the world

have implemented, either fully or partially, these three educational models that were pioneered by the SIU SOM.

Indeed, the early faculty members vaulted the SOM to the top of the world in medical education. The largest medical education organization in the world is AMEE, the International Association for Health Professions Education. AMEE gives Aspire to Excellence Awards to deserving medical schools. The SIU SOM has been awarded five of these awards, one each for excellence in social accountability, for student engagement in the curriculum, for student assessment, for medical simulation and for curricular innovation. We are one of only two medical schools in the world who have at least five of these awards, and thus, the SIU SOM and the University of Leeds School of Medicine were given recognition in 2020 by receiving the inaugural AMEE Stellar award for overall lifetime achievement in health professions education.

The early faculty members also set us on our path to improve health and healthcare in our region. To date, over 6000 physicians have received their medical degree or residency certification from the SOM.

We owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Rabinovich and the other early faculty members, who, as pioneers, took a risk on the “The Springfield Experiment” and made the world a better place for us all. It has been my honor to have known some of them and to lead the current group of innovative leaders at the SOM who are continuing their legacy.

Jerry Kruse, MD, MSPH, is dean and provost, SIU School of Medicine and CEO, SIU Medicine.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Remembering the legacy of Dr. Sergio Rabinovich at SIU School of Medicine