Students from the Arab American community have long been important contributors to the Wayne State School of Medicine, and soon they will have a permanent reminder of that, thanks to a generous donation.

Ronald Spalding, chief administrative officer of academic and student programs at Wayne State University, points out progress in construction of an expansion of the university’s medical school. Photos courtesy of WSU

A new, vital de-briefing room in the clinical skills suite of the Richard J. Mazurek, M.D. Medical Education Commons building, which should be completed in June, will be named after the Arab American community thanks to a donation of $100,000 by the Ibn Sina group. Ibn Sina is a committee of Arab American physicians, family members, and community members.
The room will allow students to practice their skills on simulated patients and will be used by virtually all medical students in the school.

“The donations were extremely important because the entire facility was built with donations,” said Philip Van Hulle, spokesman for the WSU School of Medicine.

“The members at-large made this pledge because they have such a high regard for education and they want to make sure the whole community knows their dedication.”

Dr. Bashar Succar, chairman of Ibn Sina, told Van Hulle that the goal of the donation was to create a legacy for future generations as well.

The Richard J. Mazurek Medical Education Commons building, to include a room named after the Arab American community, is set to complete construction in June.

The pledge marks the Arab American community’s second financial commitment to Wayne State, having previously raised $200,000 to establish an endowed scholarship to Arab American students.
Ibn Sina also recently gave out scholarships to two Wayne State School of Medicine Students. The recipients were Mark Toma, a third-year medical student, and Riham Alwan, a second-year student pursuing an M.D. degree and a Masters of Public Health degree.

“Their dedication toward education will create a lasting legacy not only for the Arab American community but for the School of Medicine as well, it will be there forever,” said Van Hulle.

The new Richard J. Mazurek, M.D. Medical Education Commons will serve as a centralized location for all programs at Wayne State’s School of Medicine for both students and health care professionals.