Students curious about the expansion of the UA's medical school to Phoenix will have the opportunity to pose their questions to administrators today during a Campus Town Hall meeting.

UA President Pete Likins, Provost George Davis and Ken Ryan, dean of academic affairs for the College of Medicine, will provide an update regarding the UA College of Medicine's expansion to Phoenix and will also take questions from students at the meeting today, said Anne Driscoll, assistant director of university relations for University Advancement.

In August, Likins signed a memorandum of understanding, along with Arizona State University President Michael Crow and Arizona Board of Regents President Gary Stuart, which outlined the collaborative efforts to expand the UA's College of Medicine to Phoenix in the face of Arizona's physician shortage and growing biomedical research fields.

However, since then, students have raised many questions regarding the expansion, which have yet to be answered.

Dania Molla, vice president of the pre-medical honorary Alpha Epsilon Delta, said she would like the administrators to address exactly how the new Phoenix campus will differ from the Tucson campus. Prospective medical students also want to know if the Phoenix will be a clinical or research-based school, Molla said.

"I would like to know how this expansion will affect the present status of our medical school, if it will bring in a new and diverse faculty, and how it will benefit the students who are now applying to medical schools," Molla said.

Chandan Kundavaram, president of the Medical Student Government and a second-year medical student, said the big concern among medical students is that the expansion should not hurt the Tucson campus.

In November, MSG drafted two pages of questions regarding funding, infrastructure, faculty, administration and curriculum of the new campus, which will be part of a 25-acre biomedical site in Phoenix.

The latest update on the expansion came during the regents meeting in January, when Stuart said the two campuses might offer dual tracks, with the Phoenix campus placing an emphasis on biomedical informatics.

Joe Rojas, president of Fostering and Achieving Cultural Equity and Sensitivity in Health Professions, said his concerns surround admissions policies, such as the College of Medicine accepting out-of-state students or if there will be one common application for both campuses.

"If there is just one common application, who decides at which campus a student will study?" Rojas asked.

However, answers to such questions may not come until March, when the Arizona Commission on Medical Education and Research, a group established by Gov. Janet Napolitano, presents specific details on areas of planning, design and development.

Graff, who volunteered during the regents' November meeting to organize an expansion forum to answer student questions, said if administrators do not address student concerns today, he will continue to pursue a student-specific forum.

Regardless of the uncertainties, Rojas said the expansion is a great idea because Phoenix is the only major metropolitan area in the country without a medical school.

"As a matter of school pride, I'm glad the school will remain under U of A's direction," Rojas said. "I think that this will definitely be of great benefit to Arizona and the quality of health care in the state."

Graff said he encourages students interested in any health-related field, such as medicine, pharmacy and nursing to attend the forum, as well as students who take an interest in overall university accomplishments.

"This is an opportunity to take part in the most drastic change in health related education in Arizona," Graff said.

Anyone is welcome to the Campus Town Hall meeting today at noon in the DuVal Auditorium at the Arizona Health Sciences Center.