The ground was broken this week for a new building to expand Memorial’s Faculty of Medicine.

Heavy equipment rolled into the parking lot northeast of the Health Sciences Centre and traffic and pedestrians were diverted away from the area as crews are set to begin work on the Medical Education Expansion.

The expansion includes a six-story building adjacent to the Health Sciences Centre with three floors devoted to the expansion of genetics and genomics research. The first two floors are dedicated to expanding the medical education program. This will allow the faculty to admit additional students from Newfoundland and Labrador starting in two years, bringing the total number of new medical students admitted each year to 80 from the current 64. A minimum of 60 of those seats are reserved for students from this province.

Some of the key features of the new building include an advanced patient simulation centre, a 120-seat lecture theatre, standardized patient exam rooms and educational support units. Construction is expected to be complete in September 2012.