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Abstract

During the past six years, there has been a remarkable transformation of research, faculty, and interdepartmental, interinstitutional collaboration in the health professions at the University of South Carolina (USC). The author describes the context in which this transformation has occurred and the factors that caused the USC medical school to move from a position of relative insularity from the other colleges within the university-conducting little extramural research, and regarding its relationship with its teaching hospitals as distal, associated institutions-to a position of full integration into the Division of Health Sciences with very significant growth in externally funded research and closer-than-ever-before working relationships with its two teaching hospitals. The author hopes that the model of interinstitutional collaboration USC is developing throughout the region will be thought worthy of emulation elsewhere.In this article, the author reviews the transformation of research in the school of medicine and the other health professions schools-specifically, nursing, pharmacy, public health, and social work-at USC during the past six years. He explains how these changes were effected while the school continued to support its original mission. Acad Med. 2008; 83:832-836. Dr. Sorensen is president,