The high cost of medical school often gets tossed around as a key reason why doctors dont go into primary care jobs, instead choosing specialties such as radiology and surgery that prove more lucrative. When physicians graduate with an average of $161,290 in debt, its hard (Melissa Cannarozzi/The Washington Post) to see money not factoring into career decisions.

While this narrative makes sense, theres one major flaw: It doesnt seem to be true. Aaron Carroll flags a story in the San Francisco-area Bay Citizen, where a local health-care authority established a loan forgiveness program. If doctors committed to practicing primary care in the area, for at least four years, all of their loans would be forgiven.

The program has been around for a decade now and no one has signed up. Not a single doctor has volunteered for the opportunity to have all of their educational debt relieved. In San Mateo County, at least, debt didnt seem to be the big obstacle for doctors pursuing primary care careers.

This doesnt seem to be specific to one area of California. National data on medical student debt find that those with a high debt burden are actually more likely to go into the less lucrative primary care fields than doctors who hold no loans at all.

For private schools, odds of choosing primary care increases as debt increases, with those having no debt (and no scholarships) less likely to choose primary care, researchers at the Robert Graham Center concluded in a 2009 report.

Why do those with a higher-debt burden go into lower paying medical fields? Debt-free doctors, the thinking goes, come from higher socioeconomic backgrounds and tend to have higher expectations for their eventual salary.

For those who come from a less advantaged background, and do take out loans, the calculus might be a bit different. You have people who are willing to tolerate up to $200,000 in debt to become a doctor, Robert Phillips, director of the Robert Graham Center, said in a recent interview. To him, it suggests that doctors who have already made a huge financial commitment to becoming a physician arent as concerned with their eventual salary.

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Maybe medical school debt isn’t the problem

NORTH BRUNSWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) and Kern Medical Center (KMC) in Bakersfield, Calif. today announced a 10-year affiliation agreement to allocate, on an annual basis, a significant number of core clinical rotation slots to RUSM students. The affiliation, which will allow RUSM students placed at KMC to complete all of their third-year clinical rotations there over 48 consecutive weeks, is the largest clinical affiliation arrangement in RUSMs history.

Kern Medical Center, established in 1867, is a 222-bed acute care teaching hospital owned and operated by the County of Kern. As the major healthcare provider serving a community of approximately 650,000 residents, KMC is an integral part of the local community. KMC provides care for more than 16,000 inpatients annually, and experiences 43,000 Emergency Room visits per year. In addition, KMCs three federally qualified health centers serve 100,000 outpatients per year.

This is a landmark development for Ross for many reasons, especially for the opportunity to work closely with an institution that shares our commitment to serving the local community, said Joseph Flaherty, MD, dean and chancellor of RUSM. RUSM students who complete their rotations at Kern will not only benefit from learning from Kerns great faculty and residents, but also gain an appreciation for the important role these community hospitals and their physicians play in the lives of local families.

All of KMCs core residency programsInternal Medicine, Family Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Psychiatryare accredited by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). KMCs affiliations with the University of California at Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine and University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine ensure a significant depth and breadth of teaching resources, in addition to KMCs 65 full-time faculty physicians.

Paul Hensler, FACHE, chief executive officer at KMC, said that RUSM is a partner that shares Kern Medical Centers academic vision. The affiliation, he said, is geared to looking after the long-term sustainability of the local physician workforce. California in general and the San Joaquin Valley in particular are medically underserved. We believe that building a robust working relationship with RUSM will enable us to provide a superior clinical rotation experience with the potential to attract physicians to our community, said Hensler.

Enrique Fernandez, MD, senior associate dean for clinical sciences at RUSM, said the new affiliation is great news for current students, seventeen percent of whom are from California. Many of our students have already set a goal of returning to their home communities to practice medicine. This partnership will enable many of them to complete their clinical clerkships in California as well, he said.

As part of the agreement, RUSM and KMC will offer scholarships to accepted RUSM students from Kern County, via the Kern Medical Center Foundation.

About Ross University School of Medicine

Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) was founded in 1978 and is a provider of medical education offering a Doctor of Medicine degree program. Students begin their foundational studies in Dominica, West Indies, and complete their clinical training in teaching hospitals throughout the United States. RUSM graduates obtain more US residencies than graduates of any other medical school in the world.

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Ross University School of Medicine Signs Affiliation Agreement to Enhance Clinical Education with Kern Medical Center

ATLANTA The Morehouse School of Medicine is creating what is being called the first endowed chair on sexuality and religion at a U.S. medical school.

The Atlanta medical school on Thursday announced it raised $2 million for the endowed chair, and it will begin a one-year national search to hire someone to fill it.

The chairperson will develop ways to train physicians and theologians on a wide range of sexual health issues that include contraception, rape prevention, unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

The chair will report to Dr. David Satcher, a former U.S. Surgeon General who issued a controversial report on sexual health in 2001. Satcher is now a Morehouse administrator.

A spokeswoman for the Association of American Medical Colleges said she was not aware of a similar endowed chair anywhere else.

Satcher and others at Morehouse previously coordinated national panel discussions on sexual health that involved organizations ranging from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

The medical school, founded in 1975, has an enrollment of about 300. It is separate from Morehouse College, a historically black university located across the street.

The medical school previously created an endowed chair for mental health issues, which was co-funded by entertainer Bill Cosby and child psychiatrist Dr. Alvin Poussaint. Satcher occupies that position.

The new chair is named for two Florida-based benefactors the Rev. Marta Weeks, an ordained Episcopal priest, and the Rev. David Richards, a retired Episcopal bishop.

The chair will teach at Morehouse but will also be expected to work with other medical schools and religious academic institutions to help shape curricula elsewhere.

Originally posted here:
First endowed medical school chair created in Ga. to focus on sexuality and religion

Medical school cleaners secure London living wage

7:40am Tuesday 29th May 2012 in News By Alexandra Rucki

Campaigning cleaners were celebrating after securing a pay increase up to the London living wage.

The cleaners for St George's Hospital Medical School, housed within St George's Hospital, Tooting, have been running a campaign for increased pay through posters, leafleting and petitions.

They will be paid a new hourly rate of 8.30 per hour from August 1, an increase from their current wage of 6.08 an hour after UNISON signed a deal with contractors Ocean Contract Cleaning Ltd.

However, trade union Industrial Workers for the World (IWW) have said the cleaners could face having their hours cut, which would make the pay rise futile.

UNISON have denied signing anything agreeing to cuts, with a spokesperson accusing IWW of being an anarchist group.

A protest to raise awareness of the issue was staged by IWW outside St George's Hospital last Friday, May 25.

Cleaners, medical students and families took part to raise awareness staff were being paid below the London wage.

A spokesperson for UNISON said: "We managed to secure the London living wage for hospital staff, but never for the teaching school.

Originally posted here:
Medical school cleaners secure London living wage

The second class of DukeNUS Graduate Medical School (Duke-NUS) students marked the completion of their fouryear Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) training today. Mr. Heng Swee Keat, Singapores Minister for Education, graced the schools pregraduation celebration held in the auditorium of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music at the National University of Singapore. The distinguished Professor Sydney Brenner, Nobel Laureate in Medicine 2002, was the event's keynote speaker.

This cohort of DukeNUS graduands will further receive training as postgraduate year one doctors who will provide clinical care as vital members of the healthcare team. They may be trained under the Residency Programmes in specialties such as Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Otorhinolaryngology, Paediatrics and Psychiatry, among other fields.

Mr Heng Swee Keat, Minister for Education, said: With its intensive focus on research and its unique feature of taking in graduate-entry students from a variety of academic backgrounds, but who share a common passion of serving others, Duke-NUS produces doctors with a diversity of insights and perspectives, and brings together different strengths and expertise to continually innovate and improve on the healthcare provision for Singaporeans.

Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, NUS President, said: Today, we celebrate with pride the remarkable accomplishments of Duke-NUS Class of 2012. Over the last four years, these students have been immersed in the Duke-NUS culture of excellence, boldness and imagination; and they have benefitted greatly from the innovative clinical and research training. The rigorous training and exposure will enable our graduands to make a real difference to patients, our community and society. We are confident these graduands will become role models for future generations of clinicians and clinician-scientists who will transform medicine through research and innovation. My heartiest congratulations to the Class of 2012!

It is clear that the innovative approach to medical education, clinical and basic research embodied by Duke-NUS is producing an extraordinary calibre of clinician-scientists who are uniquely equipped to become the healthcare and research leaders of the future, said Dr. Victor J. Dzau. Never before has there been as great a need for clinician-scientists who can not only engage in discovery science, but can translate discoveries from the laboratory to the clinic and improve the health of patients and the community. I have great pride and expectations for the class of 2012. Dr. Victor J. Dzau, Chancellor for Health Affairs, Duke University, and CEO, Duke University Health System, was in Singapore to grace the hooding ceremony.

I am proud to see that our graduands are starting a new chapter in their lives. They will work as critical members of clinical healthcare teams, to bring hope and relief to patients and their families. We hope they will continue to let their passion for medicine and their spirit of inquiry and curiosity drive future discoveries in patient and disease management, said Professor Ranga Krishnan, Dean of the DukeNUS.

Duke-NUS had five annual intakes since its M.D. programme started in August 2007. Since then, the school has admitted more than 240 post-baccalaureate students into its Americanstyled, researchoriented, four-year medical school programme. These students come from a diverse range of local and international undergraduate institutions. These include: National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Peking University, Chinese University in Hong Kong, University of Mumbai, University of Philippines, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Johns Hopkins University, Yale University, Duke University, Harvard University, and others.

The DukeNUS graduands will receive a joint Duke and NUS M.D. degree at the NUSCommencement Ceremony on 7 July 2012.

In addition to its 240-strong M.D. cohort, the school has over 20 students in itsPhD programme track. This track enables research-oriented medical students to leverage on their biomedicine knowledge to spur translational research aimed at developing better patient treatment, strategies and technology.

Duke-NUS Class of 2012 - Graduation Celebration & Hooding Ceremony, May 26, 2012

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Duke-NUS Medical School Marks Second Graduation

May 27, 2012 12:06 am

By Steve Twedt/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The life of a medical researcher can be both rewarding and solitary, with the rewards often coming in breakthrough scientific discoveries made after long hours alone in a laboratory.

Beginning July 1, medical research will be slightly less rewarding -- at least financially -- for faculty at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine.

In a memo sent to department chairs, directors and faculty at the school this spring, the dean, Arthur S. Levine, cited economic conditions as the reason the school will reduce an incentive payment based on researchers' outside grants from 10 percent to 8 percent, while also instituting a $50,000 minimum in outside grant money for researchers to qualify for the incentives.

"As you know, we find ourselves in difficult financial times and need to take such actions as these to maintain operational viability," stated the memo, a copy of which was provided to the Post-Gazette.

The amounts that the researchers will lose will vary widely, since it is a percentage of whatever grants they receive, although Dr. Levine downplayed its significance in a phone interview.

"We're talking about tiny amounts. This isn't going to be a threat to anybody," he said.

The real story, he said, is the larger funding picture and specifically the sluggish national economy that is drying up funding for basic research.

At one time, at least 35 percent of grant applications to the National Institutes of Health were funded, said Dr. Levine, who worked at NIH before coming to Pitt. Currently the grant success rate is 17 percent, and he expects it may fall to 12 percent or 13 percent next year. "We're all victims of the same bad economy."

Originally posted here:
Pitt cuts medical research incentive

JERUSALEM Israeli medical student Mohammad Hijazi seems the ideal candidate to alleviate the country's looming doctor shortage.

He graduated first in his high school class, scored in the top 5% of Israel's version of the SAT and rounded out his resume by founding a grass-roots organization that encourages blood donation.

"And it works," said Hijazi, 25, who is now pursuing a medical degree in Poland.

High enrollment in medical schools has long been a rare success story for Israel's 1.6 million Arab Israelis, who complain of discrimination by the government in many spheres of their lives.

Nationwide, an estimated 19% of medical school students are Arab, according to a 2009 parliamentary study. The ratio is in line with Israel's Arab population, which is about 20%, and is impressive considering Arabs account for just 9% of the total number of university students and about 6% of government employees.

Arab activists say the rising number of Arabs in medical schools over the last two decades has alarmed Israeli officials and led to an effort to restrict enrollment.

For the last six years, most medical school programs have required that applicants be at least 20. School officials say the rule was adopted to ensure a greater maturity among applicants. Critics, however, say it chiefly affects Arabs because most Jewish students begin college after a compulsory two- or three-year stint in the military; most Arabs don't serve in the military.

Rather than wait two years after graduating from high school to begin their studies, many Arab Israeli students opt to enroll in colleges in the West Bank or abroad, or choose a different field of study. (Unlike in the U.S., doctor-training programs in Israel begin at the undergraduate level.)

"The rule has the effect of discouraging Arabs from enrolling in medical schools," said attorney Sawsan Zaher of Adalah, an Israeli group that works against discrimination of Arabs.

Medical school officials dispute that assertion.

Read this article:
Israel curbing Arab enrollment in medical schools, activists say

BY KELLIE SCHMITT Californian staff writer kschmitt@bakersfield.com Tuesday, May 29 2012 03:26 PM

Kern County supervisors unanimously approved a unique proposal to give Ross University in the Caribbean the vast majority of Kern Medical Center's student rotation slots in exchange for $35 million over 10 years.

"This provides KMC and Ross the ability to enhance their program offerings," said Supervisor Ray Watson. "In the long term, this will be good for the health of Kern County. I think it's a step forward both financially and in terms of the education we can provide."

The new arrangement will give Ross, which is located on the island of Dominica, about 100 medical school rotations. Medical students typically spend their first two years focusing on academics and their last two rotating through hospitals to learn clinical expertise under close supervision.

They are different from the residents at KMC, who study a specialty there after graduating from medical school.

While California-based medical schools have affiliations with nearby hospitals that allow free student rotations, Caribbean schools often pay to allow their students to train in the United States.

It's tough for offshore schools like Ross to secure rotations in U.S. hospitals, especially in California, the home of nearly 18 percent of its students. That's why officials were willing to dole out $35 million, the highest amount the school has ever offered a hospital for rotations, officials said.

"We thought we could provide something good for U.S. students and the community," said Ross Dean Joseph Flaherty.

While Caribbean schools have a reputation for attracting students who can't get in to U.S. schools, KMC CEO Paul Hensler said Ross' test scores and students are highly competitive; there just aren't enough medical school slots nationwide.

And, since there likely won't be a medical school in the Central Valley anytime soon, a close affiliation with a top Caribbean school is a good option for funneling physicians into Kern County, Hensler said.

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Supervisors approve $35 million deal with Caribbean medical school

May 20, 1933May 21, 2012

Dr. John P. Naughton, the longest-serving dean in the history of the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, died Monday in his Cheektowaga home.

The internationally known cardiologist, who served as dean for 21 years and was UBs vice president for clinical affairs for the last 12 of those years, was 79.

A native of Nanticoke, Pa., he graduated from St. Louis University and earned his medical degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.

Dr. Naughton never forgot the lessons he learned while observing a family doctor in a small Oklahoma town during a rotation in medical school.

He tried to create a medical school that would train students to provide the kind of patient- centered care he saw there, said his longtime colleague, Dr. Thomas C. Rosenthal, chairman of UBs department of family medicine.

Dr. Naughton joined the UB faculty in 1975 as dean and professor of medicine, according to a biography provided by the university.

He previously had served as professor of medicine and dean for academic affairs at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Dr. Naughton was considered an expert in the field of exercise and physical activity and in the prevention of coronary heart disease.

He developed the Naughton Treadmill Protocol, the first protocol used for exercise stress tests.

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Dr. John P. Naughton, UB medical school dean

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Among the graduation ceremonies this weekend was a special one. Two-hundred and sixteen students received their degrees in medicine from UT Health Medical School. And one famous Houstonian was there to see his grandson follow in his footsteps and become a doctor -- legendary heart surgeon Dr. Denton Cooley.

They are the grandsons of Dr. Cooley, one of the most famous heart surgeons in history, and Peter Kaldis and Charlie Fraser are medical students at UT Health Medical School.

"He's brilliant, he's very witty and he's very fun to be around," said Fraser.

Kaldis remembered how his grandfather's name would often come up in class.

"The surgeon would ask for the 'my scissors' and they'd go in and do a story about these scissors. These are called 'my scissors' because Dr. Cooley would ask for 'my scissors' and he designed these not knowing that I was his grandson," said Kaldis.

And when other med students would find out who they were.

"Most of them say it's pretty cool," said Fraser.

"I remember being little and looking in the Guinness Book of World Records and seeing there's my grandfather's name!" said granddaughter Laura Fraser.

Of the five Cooley children and 16 grandchildren, nine are in the medical field. His daughter, Dr. Weezie Davis, is an ophthalmologist and Peter's mother.

"I'd love to watch him operate, although I would get a little faint and I'd have to sit down from time to time. But he encouraged me, if he hadn't encouraged me to go to medical school I probably wouldn't had enough courage to do it," said Dr. Davis.

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Medical legend present to see his grandson graduate med school

BOSTON -

A Team 5 investigation found that Thomas D. Manning, deputy chancellor of Commonwealth Medicine, will be eligible for the states highest pension when he leaves his position June 30.

Manning works at a nonprofit consulting operation at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) that employees 1,800 people and has been hired by more than 20 states.

Manning is currently one of the states highest-paid employees with a base salary of $433,500.

Last year he earned a $130,050 bonus and received a $43,350 boost to his retirement plan.

The school also reimbursed him $25,396.56 for the cost of leasing a 2009 Chevrolet Impala and $2,160 for an annual membership to the Worcester Club for entertainment purposes.

Its a compensation package worth more than $634,456.

The compensation is so far out of whack with anything else, with any other set of values that you see in state government that it just really jumps out at you, said Kevin Preston, state director of the National Association of Government Employees.

Its four times what Gov. Deval Patrick makes and double what Michael Trotsky, the man in charge of managing Massachusetts $41.3 billion pension fund earns.

The school has reduced its staff by 107 people in the last three years.

Original post:
UMass Medical School official eligible to receive $1,000 a day pension

A few weeks ago, I wrote about creativity. With its emphasis onrequirements and contrived benchmarks of success, medical school admissions might inadvertently be selecting for those who are skilled at jumping through hoops and weeding out more independent thinkers. I received comments from people who were so inspired that they wanted to discuss ideas about reforming the curriculum. Creativity is missing; how are we going to fix this? It was the epitome of irony to me: attempting to standardize the exact thing that refers to thinking outside standardization.

In this post, I hope to address my thinking about the subject in a bit more detail. I believe excessive curriculum mandates are a well-meaning but counterproductive approach to solving what we are aiming to solve.

The temptation to improve education through mandates is not new. Every few years, medical administrators, politicians, or some other Powers That Be decide an important quality that all doctors should have is not being taught, and that it must be standardized into medical education. Focus was first on mastery of the hard sciences, then turned to increased emphasis on compassion and communication. The latest has been a turn to the medical humanities, with endeavors such as visiting art museums and engaging in poetry-writing sessions becoming increasingly widespread. At the end of 2011, 69 of 133 accredited medical schools in the US required a course in the medical humanities.

Medicine is holistic a blend of science and art which those inclined to suggest reform rightly realize involves far more than repairing the human body when it malfunctions. The medical humanities, as a field of study, is invaluable. The question is: should it be required?

Fourth-year medical student Rhys Davies has reservations: Asking students to compare the role of literature in sickness between Broyard and Mantel is pointless unless they want to get something out of it, he writes. In fact, he says, its because he cares so much about the medical humanities (he is completing a thesis in it) that he opposes its obligatory presence in the curriculum. The setup is bad for everyone. Those not interested are miserable, and those who are have a mediocre experience tainted by the heel-dragging of their peers. As Davies puts it, Anything compulsory is duly attended but interest is notably absent.

That is not to say there is no worth in a well-rounded curriculum. There is value in exposing students to diverse ideas and activities, perhaps sparking new passions that never would have been discovered otherwise. There is something to be said for making students do things considered good for them. Mandate nothing, and people might not learn enough. Some need that extra push. They might gripe along the way, but then say after, Im really glad I did that.

But place too much emphasis on curriculum, and the downside is exacerbating a culture of excessive busywork at the expense of some of the most meaningful ways of learning. The knee-jerk desire to reform curriculum whenever a desirable skillset is identified is based on a particular assumption: that every skill is best learned through the medium of coursework. Unfortunately, that assumption just isnt true.

There is a wonderful ethics professor here at Harvard, Dr. Edward Hundert, who has written a lot about the informal curriculum of medical school. A significant transmission of culture happens outside classes, hospital rounds, and the like, he says, over meals or during carpool rides from remote clinical sites. From focus groups with students, he found that the vast majority of the situations the students described as most influential were conversations with no faculty present. He concluded: I have discovered just how little a role the formal ethics curriculum plays in the moral and professional development of our students and residents. We succumb to the mistake of emphasizing teaching, when what we really ought to focus on is learning.

That can occur in many ways. Dr. Faith T. Fitzgerald, former dean of students at the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, understands this well. She boldlychallenged a request from politicians that more humanities coursework be added to the medical curriculum, explaining:[I was concerned that] the addition of required courses in literature, drama, sociology, music, and art might actually limit students opportunities to read, go to the theater, be with friends and family, and attend a symphony or museum. Even if they would not have done these things, she continued, the additional coursework would cut down on contemplative time, volunteerism in free clinics, hobbies, and sleep.

Requirements come withan inherent trade-off. With the medical part of medical school demanding enough, free time is a commodity. Soak up our time with mandates aimed to make us well-rounded people, and we have less time to actually do the things, outside the narrow confines of a formalized curriculum, that make us well-rounded people.

See the rest here:
Are medical schools squashing creativity? Part 2: Lighten up on mandates, and take advantage of the informal curriculum

In an unusual arrangement that was described as benefiting both institutions, a for-profit Caribbean medical school has offered Kern Medical Center $35 million over 10 years for nearly exclusive rights to have its students rotate through the county facility.

For the financially struggling country hospital, the money would help improve its medical student program and overall academic mission, said CEO Paul Hensler.

The students, most of whom will be U.S. born, will come from Ross University, located on the Caribbean island of Dominica. Only 29 miles wide and 16 miles long, Dominica lies at the top of the Windward Islands in the West Indies.

The move benefits Ross by securing coveted medical school rotation spots in California, a region that has not offered as many opportunities for offshore schools.

The arrangement needs the approval of the Kern County Board of Supervisors, which will consider the matter on Tuesday. It may raise questions because Caribbean schools have a reputation for attracting Americans who can't get into U.S. medical schools.

Medical students typically spend their first two years on basic science coursework and the last two years in clinical rotations. U.S. schools often have affiliated hospitals where students can do those rotations, without having to pay additional costs.

Most Caribbean schools have no nearby associated hospitals, so they must seek out U.S. teaching hospitals willing to host their students.

KMC already receives about $750,000 per year from a variety of Caribbean schools in exchange for hosting about 100 rotation slots for med students. They also get a handful of students from UCLA, which, like other American medical schools, does not pay for the opportunity.

Medical students observe and participate in clinical care under the supervision of a faculty member or resident. Residents, on the other hand, already are licensed doctors, and are in the process of training in a particular speciality, such as family medicine.

If the KMC proposal is approved, Ross will be given priority for those slots. UCLA students will still be allowed to come, as well as students from other offshore schools with Kern County connections.

Originally posted here:
KMC proposes $35 million deal with Caribbean medical school

Dr. Richard V. Aghababian, a Southboro resident and the founding chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, has been elected president of the Massachusetts Medical Society.

Dr. Aghababian has a long record of distinguished service with the state medical society. He served as president-elect and vice president, respectively, for the last two years, and was secretary-treasurer for two years before that. He has also been a member of its District Leadership Council and House of Delegates and was a member of the committees on Finance, Nominations, Physician Preparedness, Global Medicine and Medical Education.

He served as chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School from 1994-2007. A Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians, he is still active in education in disaster response and international development of emergency medical systems.

Dr. Aghababian has also held a number of key leadership posts in local and national groups. He has served as president of the Worcester District Medical Society, the Massachusetts College of Emergency Physicians, American College of Emergency Physicians and the Society for Airway Management. He is the secretary-treasurer of the Society for Chest Pain Centers, a national group that helps hospitals improve management of cardiac patients in an observation setting.

An editor-in-chief, associate editor, and contributing author for several textbooks and a widely-published author and lecturer on topics in emergency medicine, disaster response and preparedness, Dr. Aghababian has received honors and awards for his contributions to medicine and the community from the American Red Cross, the Worcester District Medical Society, Massachusetts College of Emergency Physicians and the University of Massachusetts. In 2007, he was a recipient of the Annual Health Care Heroes Award from the Worcester Business Journal.

Harrington HealthCare System is one of the top performers in the state for vaccinating employees against influenza, according to the state Department of Public Health.

The health care system, which includes Harrington Hospital, Harrington HealthCare at Hubbard in Webster and Harrington HealthCare at Charlton, vaccinated 90.4 percent of its employees this flu season, according to state records. That puts it in the top 20 acute care hospitals in the state.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health challenged all acute care hospitals in Massachusetts to improve their rate of vaccination for the 2011-2012 flu season. Harringtons vaccination rate improved almost 40 percent this year, to 90.4 percent, compared to 65.2 percent last year.

The Couples Project for Women offers free treatment for women with prescription and other drug problems who are either married or live with a male partner. This is 13 weeks of one-on-one outpatient therapy to help people achieve and maintain sobriety. Some women and their male partners will also receive couples counseling to help improve their relationship and to build support for recovery. This study is conducted by researchers at Harvard Medical School and AdCare Hospital. For more information, call AdCare Hospital of Worcester at (800) 345-3552, ext. 4043.

UMass Memorial Health Cares Ronald McDonald Care Mobile provides medical and dental services to people without health or dental insurance. The Care Mobile will be providing services on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Worcester Department of Public Health at 25 Meade St. in Worcester. For more information or to make an appointment, call (508) 334-6073. People who need medical or dental insurance can call (508) 334-9300.

Link:
Aghababian leads Mass. Medical Society

The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College and The Short List: Grad School to find data that matters to you in your college or grad school search.

As the congressional debate over student loan interest rates heats up, prospective medical students should pay close attention to a less publicized aspect of the legislation: Starting July 1, graduate students will lose access to federally subsidized Stafford loans.

The change means new medical students will be responsible for paying for interest that accrues on Stafford loans as they work toward their degrees. The interest could add up to a significant chunk of change considering the already hefty debt burden of most medical school graduates.

[Learn how to go to medical school for free.]

Among the 112 medical schools reporting average indebtedness data to U.S. News in an annual survey, 2010 graduates averaged $145,020 in debt. The average debt burden jumps to nearly $204,000 at the schools where students shoulder the heaviest debt burden.

Medical students graduating from the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine average $229,132 in debt at graduation--more than any other medical school in the country, among those providing data to U.S. News. The average debt load exceeds $200,000 for M.D.'s graduating from Temple University in Philadelphia or George Washington University in Washington, D.C., among other schools.

[Grad students: Read about options to manage student loan debt.]

Future physicians and surgeons aiming to limit their medical school debt should research scholarship, grant, and fellowship opportunities at their prospective schools. They should also consider the price tag of public versus private schools.

Of the 10 schools where students average the most debt, 9 are private schools. Overall, graduates of private medical schools average nearly $155,000 in debt, compared to just more than $138,000 that average graduates accrue at public medical schools.

Below is a list of the 10 medical schools that averaged the most debt for the 2010 graduating class. U.S. News defines debt in its survey as loans taken out by students from the colleges themselves, from financial institutions, and from federal, state, and local governments.

Originally posted here:
10 Medical Schools That Lead to the Most Debt

BLACKSBURG, Va.

The Osteopathic Medical School in Blacksburg now has two campuses and a record number of graduates, and some of them are about to head to a small town near you.

Your future doctor could be in a Blacksburg classroom, but it won't be without some blood, sweat, and tears.

"At first I came in really excited. I'm still very excited but it has been overwhelming. They told me it was like drinking out of a fire hose and it really is," student Jazma Phelps said.

The Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, or VCOM for short, was the 20th. It's located in the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center and it was founded a decade ago.

"Ten years ago, some people in the state of Virginia said what is osteopathic medicine? And now they realize it's the full practice of medicine," said Dixie Tooke-Rawlins, the school's executive vice president.

Osteopathic physicians can choose any specialty, prescribe drugs, perform surgeries, and practice medicine anywhere in the United States.

The school in Blacksburg is about to graduate its 933rd physician, and VCOM has had one main mission since day one.

"Our mission is to recruit from and train in and hopefully come back to southwest Virginia and Western North Carolina," said Jan Wilcox, the school's vice dean.

The school's first graduating class is just completing their residencies.

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Once unknown Blacksburg medical school celebrates its 10th anniversary, success

Tuan Win graduated from Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire last year and hes hoping to move on to medical school. A native of Vietnam, Win came to the United States in 2000, wracked with polio and facing an uncertain future. He joined hundreds of other children from Southeast Asia who have come to America over the years, courtesy of Child Medical Connection.

Changing the lives of hundreds of Vietnamese children has been a decade-and-a-half obsession for Joe Bodanza, who has volunteered his own time and resources to support children with serious medical needs for treatment at Shriners Hospital in Springfield.

Binders and folders occupy Bodanzas bookshelves, each holding photos of Vietnamese kids once distorted by polio, warped by scoliosis, or covered with burns and tumors, all kids supported by his self-made organization, Child Medical Connection. Thanks to financial assistance from donors, including Chelmsford resident Roland Van Liew and the Van Liew Family Foundation, the agency continues to enhance lives.

At age 7 Bodanza contracted polio and so understands the diseases hardships. With no family of his own, Bodanza surrounds himself with his Vietnamese children who refer to him as Mr. Joe.

I want no money. What I have, I share with my kids. I sleep in a chair, I have coffee, thats all I need, said Bodanza. My needs are very simple. People come first. Those who dont have, come first.

It all started after Bodanza retired from the state Department of Education at age 58, and he ran a small business with his partner, a Vietnamese man, creating restaurant placemats. They traveled to Vietnam twice in 1995 where Bodanza witnessed the cultural negligence of children with disabilities. According to Bodanza, in Vietnam the handicapped are considered cursed and often shunned from society.

People in Vietnam avoid a person who is handicapped and theyre considered a bad luck person People believe bad luck is contagious so they avoid the family, the child and all the people in the house as bad luck people, said Bodanza.

Bodanza retuned with a personal mission: To bring home a youngster, Phuc (Peter) Nguyen, for polio treatment. Nguyens one-year treatment for his severe spinal curvature was $500,000.

I knew nothing, said Bodanza about the challenging process of bringing Nguyen overseas. I had more rejections for people coming here than you would believe. Kids with polio coming here were rejected.

Word spread of Bodanzas work in Vietnamese communities and on his second trip back more than 100 people appeared at his hotel room. Maxing out his credit cards, depleting his retirement income and a small $1,600 monthly state pension, Bodanza was going into debt bringing the children to America for treatment. After being advised to incorporate his work as charity, Bodanza founded the nonprofit Child Medical Connection, with the help of a pro bono lawyer. The move enabled him to receive more donations. He made three trips back to Vietnam between 1996 and 1997.

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Chelmsford group helps support medical care program

University of Miami Health System layoffs

University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala talks about layoffs at the University of Miami Health System, including the medical school. Shalala spoke to the Miami Herald Tuesday, May 8, 2012.

Chuck Fadely / Miami Herald Staff

The top ranks of the University of Miamis medical school continue to be shaken up as part of the massive restructuring that includes laying off of up to 800 full-time employees.

The latest change: Steven Lipshultz, the longtime chair of pediatrics, one of the largest departments in the school, will be stepping down from his leadership roles, Dean Pascal Goldschmidt announced in a memo to staff.

Four other top leaders have also lost their posts as the school seeks to make major changes in its finances, which show losses of $18 million for the first 10 months of its fiscal year.

Lipshultz is being replaced temporarily by Judy Schaechter, the associate chair of pediatrics. Ira Karmin, interim chair of obstetrics and gynecology, will oversee pediatrics from the new position of associate dean for womens and childrens health.

Goldschmidt thanked Lipshultz for his service and said the pediatric cardiologist will continue to work at UM, but the dean added in his staff memo: At this moment in our schools history, we need particularly strong leaders leaders who can drive innovation, deal with challenges and recognize that our world needs to change.

It is about leaders who bring solutions, who engage the faculty in dialogue, and who think differently about how we do the things we do. Judy and Ira are such leaders. We are grateful for their willingness to step up and take on critical new responsibilities.

Steve Green, former head of the faculty senate, said Lipshultz was extremely well regarded nationally both as a clinician and as a researcher and he recently received excellent reviews from his faculty.

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University of Miami medical school shakes up leadership

Springfields Southern Illinois University School of Medicine has no Nobel Prize winners on its faculty, and its research budget is small compared with larger and older medical schools.

Those conventional measures of prestige, however, overlook a quality that puts SIU close to the top nationwide in fulfilling the social mission of medical education, according to Dr. Fitzhugh Mullan, who will speak today at the schools commencement exercises at Sangamon Auditorium.

Theyve done a fabulous job in delivering on that to the population, to the citizenry, in terms of training excellent physicians for their geographic area, said Mullan, a pediatrician from Washington, D.C.

Mullans 2010 study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, ranked SIU 15th out of 140 medical schools, and ahead of all others in Illinois, when it comes to social mission.

The study measured performance on what Mullan defined as the basic purpose of medical schools: to educate physicians to care for the national population.

The rankings were based on the percentage of graduates who enter primary care specialties, those working in rural or other areas with shortages of health professionals, and those who are African-American, Hispanic or American Indian.

Mullan, 69, received his medical degree from the University of Chicago and worked early in his career at a New Mexico community clinic as part of the National Health Service Corps.

He currently is professor of medicine and health policy at George Washington University School of Medicine.

Mullan said medical schools such as SIU, as well as Morehouse College, Meharry Medical College and Howard University the top three finishers, respectively, in the study often dont receive the attention they deserve from publications such as U.S. News and World Report.

He is working on a follow-up study that will explain in detail why six of the top-performing schools, including SIU, did so well.

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80 to graduate today from SIU Medical School

One well-known U.S. senator and Kentucky native came to the mountains to speak to medical school graduates. Some might say he could relate more to these students as he has not always been involved solely in politics.

Sen. Rand Paul (R) had uplifting words for the University of Pikevilles School of Osteopathic Medicine graduates.

Paul encouraged the young doctors to overcome the obstacles of becoming a physician, such as caring too little, too much and even challenging the norm when necessary.

Don't let them tell you it can't be done, think outside the box, said Paul. Be your own man, or your own woman.

This was the senators first commencement speech and he said it was special to speak to medical school graduates as he is a doctor.

I still remember those young, heady days when I was first becoming a physician and what they have to look forward to and what the community has to look forward to having these young doctors in their region of the mountains, said Paul.

Paul said this was a new experience and he admitted he was nervous.

I was a bit nervous, even though I have now given thousands of speeches, said Paul. Particularly, because this is a little bit different than the red meat and potatoes of politics.

Paul said the speech was more about his experiences in medicine and what the graduates should expect and how they choose their path.

This is the first class to graduate since the college became a university. UPIKE President Paul Patton says his speech hit home.

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U.S. Senator addresses UPike medical school graduates