by Katie Zaun

Parker Hicks, a second-year medical student, was just 12 years old when he first understood what medicine could do. His older sister, then 14, was diagnosed with leukemia, and he watched as she was treated—and eventually cured—at Intermountain Health Primary Children’s Hospital, the main pediatric teaching and training facility for University of Utah Health.

“That was the first experience of many that eventually led me to pursue becoming a physician, in hopes that I can give back, even just a little bit, for what medicine has given my family,” Hicks said, speaking to an audience of faculty, staff, donors, and fellow students at the new Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine building dedication on August 19, 2026.

The new building—made possible thanks to community generosity, including a landmark $110 million gift from the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation and the Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation—is now serving as a state-of-the-art hub for the school’s mission-driven MD framework, vast research enterprise, and innovative rural and global health initiatives.

A Glimpse of the Future

Long before Hicks ever stepped foot inside a lecture hall, he knew the medical school’s previous home, the historic Building 521, by sight. As a high schooler visiting the U’s campus, a friend once pointed out the building, and Hicks immediately began picturing himself there. Years later, as a summer undergraduate research assistant at the U, he made a habit of walking the halls of Building 521 on his way to the lab—not because it was on his way, but because he wanted to know what it felt like to walk through a medical school.

Hicks was still completing his undergraduate degree when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and he began working weekend nights as a certified nursing assistant on a COVID floor. Despite the difficulty of the role, he left each shift feeling fulfilled—“like I had done something meaningful, as part of a team,” he noted.

The experience gave him a passion for clinical care that put his various academic interests into perspective. In addition to the research opportunities he explored in college, Hicks worked as a teaching assistant in public speaking. Becoming a physician, he decided, would allow him to pursue all these interests at once.

The Call That Changed Everything

Hicks’s acceptance to the University of Utah’s medical school came by way of a highly anticipated phone call—a detail unique to the U among the other schools he applied to. Now a college graduate, Hicks was driving to his job as a medical assistant during his gap year when a “No Caller ID” number lit up on his dashboard. He pulled over immediately. On the other end of the line was Benjamin Chan, MD, MBA, MEd, then the associate dean of admissions for the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine.

“It felt surreal to get that acceptance call on my way to work,” Hicks explained.

Afterward, the first call Hicks made was to his father, a lifelong Utah fan and alum who had taken Hicks to football games growing up. When he walked into work, the clinicians on his shift—all of whom, it turned out, were fellow U alumni—erupted in cheers at the news.

A Dream Made Reality

Hicks’s first year of medical school unfolded amidst final construction of the new Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine building. He studied nearby to watch out the window as the building’s final touches went up. Meanwhile, the curriculum he was learning—a collaborative, team-based model built around problem-solving in small groups—was not only shaping his understanding of medicine but had guided the design of the building itself.

In March 2026, Hicks got his first look inside the innovative new space on a tour ahead of its opening. Instead of traditional lecture halls with rows of seating, he found large pavilions with round tables perfectly suited for teamwork and simulation labs built for hands-on clinical training—a feature the U is incorporating from day one rather than waiting until medical rotations common in year three.

The curriculum that I had spent the entire year studying was embodied in the new medical school building,” he said. “An entire team working together makes a lot more sense in this kind of space.”

A Legacy of Giving

The new Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine building and the early clinical exposure that students like Hicks are benefiting from wouldn’t exist without philanthropy. In addition to the Eccles Foundations, many families and organizations who have been longstanding supporters of the U stepped forward to make this vision a reality.

Thanks to the Dr. Ezekiel and Edna Wattis Dumke Foundation, the first floor of the new building houses the Dr. Ezekiel R. and Edna Wattis Dumke Interprofessional Experiential Learning Center, an advanced simulation center—collaboratively operated with the College of Nursing—comprising a reception area, six acute care patient rooms, high fidelity manikins (infant to adult), two Operating Room Theaters, classroom space that can also be used for procedural training, and six debriefing rooms, all outfitted with advanced technology to provide students real-world learning scenarios. A generous gift from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints created the Russell M. Nelson Global Health Pavilion, located on the second floor of the new building, as well as an endowment supporting faculty and students that honors alum and world-renowned cardiac surgeon Russell M. Nelson, MD’47. The third floor is the Intermountain Health Collaboration Level—over 20,000 square feet dedicated to teaching, learning, and collaboration across disciplines in recognition of Intermountain Health’s commitment to advancing medical education and patient care in Utah and throughout the region.

Reflecting on this legacy of giving, Hicks emphasized, “I feel like there’s a responsibility on our part, as students, to receive it well. To dedicate myself to my work and to go out into my career and give back.”

While he hasn’t settled on a specialty yet, one thing is clear to him already: whatever path he chooses, he wants to teach. It’s why he enrolled in the school’s Students as Teachers pathway, one of several tracks, including personalized medicine and population health, the new curriculum offers students hoping to focus their training on a specific domain of health care. When Hicks finally steps into that role, it will be his turn to inspire the next generation of physicians who have long dreamed of walking the halls of medical school.