UC Davis Health System leaders and campus officials, along with students, faculty, legislators and community members, opened the new 121,000-square-foot education building and medical library in Sacramento at a celebratory event in December.

The $46.2 million facility – located at 45th and X streets at the heart of UC Davis' Sacramento campus – replaces outdated classrooms, doubles the space for library services and serves as a hub of learning where students, faculty, staff and UC Davis partners can collaborate.

Medical students began their classes in January in the new building. It marked the first time that all four years of the medicalschool classes received training in a single location. Before, firstand second-year medical students studied in facilities on the Davis campus while thirdand fourth-year students, along with residents and fellows, received most of their training at the Sacramento campus.

The new building includes:

• two 150-seat lecture halls
• 60- and 30-seat classrooms
• a clinical skills center with a mock patient waiting area and eight examination rooms
• multiple 12- and 16-seat teaching rooms
• a student commons area that includes lockers, mailboxes, a lounge, study areas and a cafe

The building is equipped with the latest educational and communications technologies, from wireless connectivity to highquality projection and video streaming, allowing students to monitor and learn from live surgeries, telemedicine consultations and other doctorpatient interactions as well as assess and receive feedback on recorded mock patient encounters.

The building was recently recognized as the best Northern California higher-education construction project of 2006 by California Construction magazine.