When offered the opportunity to help launch the proposed Illinois College of Osteopathic Medicine (IllinoisCOM) at The Chicago School, Monica Kinde, Ph.D., senior associate dean of Pre-Clinical Affairs, knew she couldn’t say no.
“It is really a great experience of creating a culture, taking this idea, and making it a reality,” Dr. Kinde says. “I get to do this big and crazy thing of building a medical school. How cool is that?”
This is not Dr. Kinde’s first time helping build a college of osteopathic medicine. Through her previous leadership experience at Kansas City University, she gained valuable insight into the world of osteopathic medical education.
“My experiences helped me learn about key programmatic needs from different perspectives and establish myself as a leader in osteopathic medical education,” Dr. Kinde says. “I am excited to bring this inclusive, accessible approach to curricular innovation to our proposed Illinois College of Osteopathic Medicine as well.”
In her previous role, Dr. Kinde was tasked with standing up one of the college’s satellite campuses. “I was there during the accreditation process, tasked with being the sponge,” she says. “I was on the campus almost weekly for a whole year just absorbing and learning how to be a functional osteopathic medical school, so I could take that info and operationalize it on the Joplin [Missouri] campus. Now, I have the great opportunity to apply all that I learned to ensure the success of the proposed IllinoisCOM as well.”
At The Chicago School, Dr. Kinde has the crucial task of applying input from stakeholders to the development of the proposed IllinoisCOM.
“We’ve spent the last year visualizing and being innovative in our ideas. Now, we have to move from conception to operation, which is the critical next step,” Dr. Kinde says. “The next two years are going to be a flurry of activity where we’re growing from a team of three that we’ve been for the last year to a team of 90. I can’t wait to continue cultivating a team of medical leaders just as excited as I am to educate the next generation of change-makers at the intersection of mental and physical health.”
In addition to hiring staff and faculty, Dr. Kinde will craft a curriculum and design learning spaces to help students learn how to provide compassionate, patient-centered care in their future medical careers. “It’s not often that you find an opportunity to do work that draws upon your experiences and your passions quite like this job does for me,” Dr. Kinde says. “This opportunity with this mission and this vision at the proposed IllinoisCOM in Chicago felt like a culmination of opportunity that really aligned with me personally. I feel like we’re destined to do great things here.”