Classroom with a View

“I love the act of healing,” she says.

This first-year medical student nurtured her passion for healthcare at Michael DeBakey High School for Health Professions in her hometown of Houston. An interest in research took hold of her at Emory University, where she graduated summa cum laude with a major in biology and a minor in global health, culture and society. Following a gap year devoted to a fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, she was accepted to the highly selective Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine.

For Ekpo, it was love at first sight when she first set foot on the Health Education Campus, a collaboration between Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic that came to fruition amid The Power of Every One Centennial Campaign. Its centerpiece is the Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion, a 477,000-square-foot learning hub designed to foster a team-based approach to healthcare among more than 2,000 aspiring health professionals, including medical, nursing and dental students.

“Everything about the building is absolutely gorgeous,” Ekpo says. “The natural light. The artwork. The open spaces. It feels like a breath of fresh air.”

Classrooms are hardwired with large touch-screen monitors, advanced sound systems and other leading-edge technology, all of which comes in handy if, like Ekpo, you need to give a presentation on, say, the inner workings of the knee. There are no cadaver labs; instead, students learn how the body functions by interacting with 3D holograms of anatomical systems and organs. Comfortable communal areas are conducive to studying or socializing.

“It’s such a welcoming environment,” Ekpo says. “I feel like the building itself sets us up to learn together.”

High above the Samson Pavilion’s airy atrium, linear skylights would seem to remind students: The wild blue yonder is the limit. So where does Ekpo see herself after med school? She hasn’t decided just yet. “I’m letting God lead with that,” she says. “For now, I’m taking note of things that speak to me and energize me. I don’t know exactly what I’ll be doing a few years from now, but I know a lot of joy will come from it.”