State turns focus to Med School reputation

Gov. Mark Dayton applied to the University of Minnesota Medical School when it was a top leader in medical research decades ago, and now he has set the goal of returning it to its former glory.

After years of concern surrounding the schools reported declining status, members of the Blue Ribbon Committee which Dayton created last month have begun forming plans to improve its reputation and further its research.

The committees list of goals includes expanding the Universitys clinical services and taking advantage of Minnesotas investments in biomedical research. In December, the Blue Ribbon Committee will recommend policy and budget changes to state lawmakers for the 2015 legislative session, said Larry Pogemiller, the states commissioner of higher education and a member of the committee.

A 2012 external review of the Universitys Academic Health Center noted that some faculty, staff and administration had great concern about the Medical Schools reputation and ranking, which the review said have gradually declined.

The review also found that those people frequently brought up the schools status in interviews and surveys.

Part of the Medical Schools falling reputation is based on the decreasing number of grants it has received from the National Institutes of Health, Pogemiller said.

The Medical Schools overall funding has declined along with NIH grants to the University over the past three years, according to annual reports from the Office of the Vice President for Research.

Jesse Klingelhoets, an officer for the Medical Student Council, said he noticed the school was trying to increase its national competitiveness even before the committee formed.

[It was] trying to get rid of that Minnesota nice modesty thing and try to actually brag about the things that we do at the Medical School, he said.

In a 2015 national ranking of medical schools published by the U.S. News and World Report, the University came in 34th for research and sixth for primary care.

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State turns focus to Med School reputation

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