The Department of Medicine exists within The University of Illinois College of Medicine (UICOM), the nation’s largest medical school. The college is distributed among four locations across the state: Chicago, Peoria, Champaign-Urbana, and Rockford, with regional medical school campuses at each site providing medical student and residency training.

The Department of Medicine at UICOM-Peoria provides patient care and clinical training at OSF-Saint Francis Medical Center (OSF-SFMC), a 600-bed tertiary care academic medical center which is the largest and most comprehensive facility outside of Chicago. It is the 4th largest hospital in the state, providing almost every service for patients in need of internal medicine expertise. OSF-SFMC has just completed a $250 million expansion and jointly with the College of Medicine, as the result of a generous $25 million gift, will soon begin construction on a state-of-the-art clinical simulation and education center. As one of the College of Medicine’s four main campuses, we enjoy the advantages of the University’s resources while teaching and practicing at OSF-SFMC, one of the country’s best healthcare organizations.

The Department has 19 full-time faculty members in general internal medicine, infectious diseases, and rheumatology, whose primary focus is patient care and clinical education of residents and medical students. One hundred volunteer clinical faculty members supplement the core faculty by sharing their collective expertise in patient care and teaching in each of the medical subspecialties. We take pride in the fact that patient care and teaching are provided by physicians who are first and foremost clinicians. Fellowship programs in Cardiology and Gastroenterology are in development.

Ten years ago, the Department of Medicine set the following goal for itself:

“By the year 2010, the Department of Medicine will be known for innovative educational programs, research, and scholarly activities that produce high quality physicians and patient care, leading to national reputation and recognition.”

We are proud to say that, because of the dedicated efforts of our faculty, residents, students, and partner organizations, we have achieved this goal.

We serve the medical needs of Peoria and a referral population of over one million downstate Illinois residents. Located halfway between Chicago and St. Louis on the shores of the Illinois River, Peoria combines the advantages of big city living with the charm of a small town.

The metro area includes nearly 350,000 residents and is the cultural, medical and retail center of downstate Illinois. It is the worldwide headquarters of Caterpillar, Inc., and home to Bradley University.

Peoria makes a good base for this campus of the University of Illinois College of Medicine. Peoria offers many of the amenities you find in large cities, including cultural events, professional sports, and a civic center, where national acts perform nearly every week.