LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NASDAQ: SNTA) today announced the appointment of Dr. Dvorit Samid as Vice President of Medical Affairs.

Dr. Samids three decades of oncology research and drug development experience, and her relationships with leading investigators around the world in lung cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer and other indications will be a tremendous asset to us at Synta in advancing our lead clinical programs, said Safi Bahcall, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Synta Pharmaceuticals. From her early work as Section Chief at the National Cancer Institute, to her lead role in Medical Affairs at Roche, ImClone and Abraxis Oncology in building awareness and successfully launching certain widely-used anti-cancer drugs, Dr. Samid has built a strong reputation in successfully communicating the science and medical potential of novel, important compounds. We are excited to have Dvorit join Synta to help us in the clinical and pre-commercial development of ganetespib.

Ganetespib is a potent inhibitor of heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) that is structurally unrelated to first-generation, ansamycin-family Hsp90 inhibitors and is being evaluated in over 20 clinical trials ongoing, recently completed, or currently initiating. Over 500 patients have been treated to date with ganetespib. In these trials, ganetespib has demonstrated strong single-agent clinical activity, with a favorable safety profile, in patients with several different types of cancer, including lung cancer and breast cancer, who have failed to respond to, or progressed following treatment with, multiple prior therapies. A Phase 2b/3 trial evaluating the combination of ganetespib and docetaxel in patients with non-small cell lung cancer who have progressed following treatment with first-line therapy, the GALAXY trial, is ongoing with data readouts expected later this year. Ganetespib has also shown strong single-agent clinical activity in patients with ALK+ lung cancer, as well as patients with HER2+ and triple-negative breast cancer. A global clinical trial evaluating ganetespib in approximately 100 patients with ALK+ lung cancer, who have not been previously treated with a direct ALK inhibitor, is now initiating.

This is a very exciting time to be joining Synta, said Dr. Samid. There are very few late-stage drug candidates in the industry that have both demonstrated compelling single-agent anti-cancer activity in multiple tumor types and have such a favorable safety profile. Chaperone inhibition represents an entirely new approach to the treatment of cancer, which offers potential both in molecularly targeted patient populations, such as ALK+ lung cancer, and more broadly, in combination. Ganetespib is positioned to be first to market - the first compound to unlock the true potential of this approach for treating patients with cancer. I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with Synta and apply the experience and relationships I have developed towards advancing this program to registration and commercialization.

Dr. Samid has extensive experience in oncology drug development including clinical development, launch and life-cycle management of drugs in lung cancer (Erbitux), breast cancer (Abraxane, Xeloda), and colorectal cancer (Xeloda). Her career spans academia (University of Virginia Medical School), government (Section Chief Differentiation Control, National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health Division of Cancer Treatment) and pharmaceutical industry (Roche, ImClone and others).

Dr. Samid holds a Ph.D. in Cell Biology from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., completed graduate studies in Biology at Technion Institute in Haifa, Israel and holds a B.Sc. in Microbiology from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel. Dr. Samid has authored over 80 publications in oncology and holds 19 patents.

About Ganetespib

Ganetespib is the most advanced of the next-generation, synthetic Hsp90 inhibitors with over 450 patients treated to date and 20 trials recently completed, currently initiating, or actively enrolling, including the global Phase 2b/3 GALAXY trialTM in second-line non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Ganetespib has shown anti-tumor activity in heavily pretreated patients with lung cancer, breast cancer, and other tumor types and has been well tolerated with no evidence of severe liver or common ocular toxicities seen with other Hsp90 inhibitors. The most common adverse event seen to date has been grade 1 or 2 diarrhea, which has been transient and manageable with standard supportive care.

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Synta Announces Appointment of Dvorit Samid, Ph.D., as Vice President, Medical Affairs

Posted: Monday, March 12, 2012 2:30 pm | Updated: 7:05 pm, Mon Mar 12, 2012.

GLASSBOROSouth Jersey's new medical school has received a significant boost from a local couple.

Former Moorestown resident Lawrence Salva and his wife, Rita, donated $1.055 million to the Cooper Medical School at Rowan University in Camden.

Announced Monday, the gift is the largest donation ever received by the university from an alumnus. It also is the biggest gift to date earmarked for the medical school.

"The Salvas' gift truly is transformative and will have a lasting impact on Rowan University, our new medical school and the entire region," said R.J. Tallarida, assistant vice president for development.

The donation will establish a $1 million endowment to benefit medical school students. Earnings on the endowment, plus the additional $55,000 gift, are expected to provide $100,000 in scholarships for the school's charter class. The first students will begin classes in August.

Annual tuition for the medical school is $32,860 for in-state residents and $52,680 for those from out of state, according to Paul Katz, the school's founding dean. Fees and living expenses boost in-state annual costs to about $57,400, Katz said. The average medical student graduates with more than $150,000debt.

Many medical students base their education and speciality decisions on their anticipated debt and the funding available to help pay their costs, Katz said. The Salvas' gift will better allow students to choose their careers based on medical interests that could include areas with significant shortages, he said.

The newly established Lawrence and Rita Salva Medical Scholars Fund is expected to provide one or more of three distinct four-year scholarships annually. They include the Southern New Jersey Scholarship for students with financial need who have attended a kindergarten-through-12th-grade school district in South Jersey; the Founder Scholarship for students in financial need who come from traditionally disadvantaged backgrounds; and the Service Scholarship, which will be awarded to students who have performed more than 200 hours of volunteer service before matriculation.

During a news conference at Rowan's Campbell Library in Glassboro, Salva talked about his opportunities on campus and expressed a desire to help medical students get their career starts.

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Cooper-Rowan medical school receives $1.055 million donation

Medical school rankings are one indicator of an institution's perceived quality; however, gauging the importance of rankings is not as clear-cut as with undergraduate institutions, law schools, and business schools.

With law schools and business schools, there is a wealth of data suggesting that the employment rate as well as the initial salary and bonus post-graduation gets higher the closer you get to the top of the rankings. This incentivizes students to attend the highest-ranked school possible.

In contrast, all medical school graduates who choose to go directly into a residency training program (which is required if you want to practice clinical medicine) make roughly the same amount of money during their training program. The income differential arises post-residency and is dependent upon the choice of specialty.

That said, attending certain medical schools can increase the chance of matching in your desired specialty choice, and the medical research rankings are arguably more important if you are an aspiring M.D./Ph.D. candidate. But your future opportunities will be more tightly coupled with your performance during medical school and your United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) scores than the name of the institution on your degree.

[Learn more about joint M.D./Ph.D. programs.]

So how big of an influence should rankings be on school selection?

Unfortunately, not everybody can go to Harvard Medical School or University of Pennsylvania. However, there are more than 100 medical schools in the United States, as well as numerous overseas, that students enthusiastic about a career in medicine can consider.

When applying to medical school, the influence of rankings on what schools to apply to should depend on your objectives. For an aspiring physician scientist, being at a top-ranked research school that has the resources, aggressive publishing expectations, postdoctoral fellows, and grant-writing expertise can enhance your academic opportunities and set you up for future success.

For the aspiring clinician, rankings should be factored in, but can play second fiddle to the geographic, demographic, average MCAT score/average GPA, and academic culture of the institution.

[Find out what looming MCAT changes will mean for aspiring M.D.'s.]

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How Important Are Medical School Rankings?

March 11, 2012

By KALI DINGMAN, The Minnesota Daily

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Sitting in a medical school classroom in Moos Tower, middle schoolers, retirees, businessmen and dozens of others listened intently to a speaker talking about the importance of the brain.

They're all students in the Mini Medical School, created by the University of Minnesota's Academic Health Center in 1999 to provide education for community members who want to learn about the medical field.

Each semester, roughly 200 students pile into a lecture hall once a week over a five-week term to listen to a professor speak about research or clinical applications he or she is conducting.

The two and a half hour long sessions include two speakers. Each speaker presents for about 45 minutes, followed by a question-and-answer session, The Minnesota Daily reports.

"Mini Medical School offers the public a place to learn about disease, physiology and anatomy by those clinicians and researchers at the top of their fields," said second-year medical student and emcee Tori Bahr.

According to a survey done by the school, 71 percent of the students are between the ages of 46 and 80, but they've had students as young as 12 years old.

"The classes bring an engaged group of people to campus who would not usually (take medical school classes)," said Steve Jepsen, coordinator of Mini Medical School.

The school is modeled after the Washington, D.C.-based National Institutes of Health's community education program, he said.

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U's Mini Med School offers just a taste of medicine

After four years of medical school and at least three years of a medical residency, young doctors are eager to start their journey into practicing medicine, something many have trained for most of their lives.

As baby boomer doctors with practices in quiet, rural areas continue to retire, the newest generations of doctors arent replacing them. This is especially evident in Eastern North Carolina, as Hyde and Tyrrell counties have no physicians.

The number of rural doctors continues to drop, and health problems of rural America steadily increase and become more severe.

North Carolina has always been a medically-underserved area, something Dr. Paul Cunningham, dean of the Brody School of Medicine at ECU, said he has seen plaguing the East since first coming to the region in 1981.

What we are seeing is that and this is typical across the country there are specialties in short supply, Cunningham said. Its more acute in rural and remote areas than it is in built-up areas. Greenville, for example, has an adequate supply of all specialties and physicians, with few exceptions. But the region around it is having desperate needs for surgeons, more obstetricians and gynecologists and, of course, primary care doctors.

Primary care doctors i.e. family physicians, internal medicine physicians and pediatricians are supposed to be a leading force in prevention and early detection. But Eastern North Carolina has a long way to go before it has a sufficient number of doctors to fight the health problems facing rural areas, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Jim Dobbins, vice president of human resources at Lenoir Memorial Hospital, is in charge of recruiting physicians to the area and reported 24 of the 85 physicians in the county are primary care doctors. A recent study showed that the number needs to double to 48 for sufficient coverage.

Medicaid expansion

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ENC facing primary physician shortfall, bracing itself for Medicaid expansion

Nearly two decades after he graduated from the Universitys medical school, Sanjay Gupta will return to his home state to deliver this years Spring Commencement speech on April 28 at the Big House.

Gupta, a native of Novi, currently serves as CNNs chief medical correspondent, where he contributes to various CNN shows and is the anchor of the self-titled show, Sanjay Gupta M.D., which airs on weekends. He is also a practicing neurosurgeon at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta and authored two books about medicine, and his first novel will be released tomorrow.

In an exclusive interview with The Michigan Daily on Friday, University President Mary Sue Coleman said Gupta serves as an influential example of what University graduates can aspire to become.

We thought he so represents Michigan alums and the impact that they can have on the world, Coleman said. In so many areas, he has really become a spokesperson who has tremendous influence in the country so I think for young people he really does represent a terrific role model.

Gupta was on vacation last weekend and unable to be reached for comment, according to his assistant.

Gupta started school at the University as an undergraduate in 1986, and then continued on to the Universitys Medical School, specializing in neurosurgery through Inteflex a program no longer offered at the University that granted high-school students admission to the University for their undergraduate studies and medical school.

At the request of medical school students, Gupta returned to the medical school in 2009 to deliver their commencement speech. Medical School Dean James Woolliscroft said he was pleased with Guptas 2009 address, and expects Guptas upcoming commencement speech to showcase his commitment to humanity.

He did a superb job then, and I fully expect hell do a superb job for commencement this spring as well, Woolliscroft said.

Woolliscroft said he remembers Guptas impressive academic work as a student.

He certainly was very, very capable, Wooliscroft said. He excelled as a medical student, and he also excelled as a neurosurgical resident. He has a very broad interest for many years going back to the time of training.

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Dr. Sanjay Gupta to speak at graduation

ISABELLE DILLS Napa Valley Register | Posted: Saturday, March 10, 2012 12:15 am |

Dr. Joyce Colton-House had just finished her medical residency in June 2010 when she saw a job posting with Queen of the Valley Medical Associates. Like many of her peers, Colton-House wanted to avoid the complications of going into private practice.

By joining the new Napa medical group, Colton-House, an ear, nose and throat doctor, would be free of administrative responsibilities, like billing insurance companies and hiring staff.

I went to medical school, not business school, Colton-House said. I really wanted to focus on patient care.

Queen of the Valley Medical Associates began two years ago to attract more physicians to the Napa Valley and keep them practicing locally, said Walt Mickens, CEO of Queen of the Valley Medical Center. Currently, the group has nine physicians.

Physicians employed by the medical group provide outpatient and hospital-based services at facilities operated by Queen of the Valley, but the hospital does not manage the medical group.

All administrative responsibilities are handled by St. Joseph Heritage Healthcare, a medical practice foundation operated by the St. Joseph Health System, to which Queen of the Valley Medical Center belongs.

The medical group uses fully electronic medical records, including physician notes, billing information and prescription orders, allowing the physicians within Heritage and Queen of the Valley Medical Associates to communicate and share information electronically, Queen spokeswoman Vanessa deGier said.

Before the medical group formed, the most viable local option for physicians was to join the not-for-profit Kaiser Permanente. Kaiser operates a closed-system model, offering both health coverage and medical care through its own clinics and hospitals.

Unlike most private practice physicians who operate on fee-for-service contracts, Permanente doctors are given fixed salaries.

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Queen of the Valley supports new medical group

QUESTION: My cardiologist says I have aortic stenosis and need a new aortic valve. Apparently the FDA has approved a new procedure that replaces the aortic valve without open-heart surgery. This option sounds safer to me, but my doctor says it is not for everyone. Can you walk me through the pros and cons of these two approaches?

ANSWER: Ask your doctors. This is a complicated decision that requires an individualized answer depending on your health, your preferences and -- above all -- the experience and skill of your cardiac care team. With that said, let's discuss some general considerations.

The aortic valve is a three-flapped structure that ensures the one-way flow of blood from the heart's main pumping chamber to the rest of the body. In some people, the aortic valve becomes encrusted with calcium deposits that stiffen and narrow it, restricting blood flow.

When people with aortic stenosis start feeling symptoms such as light-headedness or fainting, breathlessness, fatigue and loss of appetite, quality of life goes downhill quickly until the valve is replaced.

Until recently, replacing the aortic valve required open-heart surgery. Now that the FDA has approved a no-surgery technique for replacing a failed aortic valve, many people with aortic stenosis are asking, "Can I get this procedure?"

The answer is "Maybe." That's because the FDA has currently restricted its use to people who are not good candidates for open-heart surgery.

As you point out, it's easy to see why people might prefer the new approach, called transcatheter aortic valve implantation, or TAVI. The new valve is placed using a wire, or catheter, that is maneuvered into the heart from a blood vessel in the groin. Both the hospital stay and recovery are shorter and less painful than with open-heart surgery.

The FDA based its approval on a clinical trial dubbed PARTNER. In this trial, 69% of the patients undergoing TAVI were alive after a year, compared with 50% of a group that received standard therapy, which included balloon valvuloplasty, an attempt to increase the valve opening with a balloon-tipped catheter.

PARTNER data presented at a scientific meeting in late 2011 showed that more than two-thirds of the people in the standard-care group had died after two years, compared with 43% in the TAVI group. Another analysis found that quality-of-life scores after one year among the TAVI group improved by 32 points on a 100-point scale, while scores among the standard-care group improved by only 4 points.

But although it prolongs life and is less invasive than open-heart surgery, TAVI has its drawbacks. TAVI recipients in the trial had more than twice the number of strokes and many more serious bleeding complications than patients in the other group.

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Harvard Medical School: No-surgery option of aortic stenosis not for everyone

IBM's Watson ruled on Jeopardy, but how can scientists make it into a doctor or a banker? Photo: Courtesy IBM/Bob Goldberg/Feature Photo Service

IBMs Watson may have trounced former champion Ken Jennings in Jeopardy, but now its facing an even bigger challenge: proving that it can make money for its creators.

Its well on the way. Last week, IBM said that it was working with Citi to explore how the Watson technology could help improve and simplify the banking experience, but for the past six months, Big Blue has also teamed up with health insurer WellPoint to turn Watson into a machine that can support the doctors of the world.

IBM isnt saying too much about what Watson will be doing at Citi. The two companies plan to build the first consumer banking applications for the supercomputer. WellPoint is a bit more forthcoming. In December, the health insurer said that it was working with Cedars-Sinai Hospitals Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute to help physicians treat cancer patients.

It turns out that training Watson to help doctors and financial services customers has a lot in common with cramming for Jeopardy. In both cases, the computer has to do two things that machines have traditionally flubbed. First off, theres natural language processing. That means figuring out what the question actually is. Then theres machine learning: understanding what facts are important for which question. In others words, you give Watson questions, it gives you answers.

If we can parse the clue and understand what the question is asking about, and we can parse this text in our documents and understand what our text is talking about then we can try to match, says David Gondek, a scientist with IBM who has worked on Watson for the past five years.

But there are differences too. When Watson helps out Cedars-Sinai doctors, its not engaging in a vicious death-match for Triva-God bragging rights. Its a collaboration.

Its a very different situation. Because in Jeopardy we were kind of constrained in that you get a question, you get an answer, and thats it, says Gondek. In the medical case, we think more about interacting with a medical professional. that means that its not just a question and answer.

The processing is different, too. The Jeopardy system was trained to answer quiz show questions, where the answers are pretty much black and white. Feed Watson a copy of the Bible, and its pretty much good to go on Bible trivia questions. In business and medicine, there are a lot of different sources, and some of them are considered more important than others.

So IBM is working with doctors to ensure that it has the right data sources and that the different sources its using medical journals, papers and textbooks are given each given the proper weight.

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IBM Sends Jeopardy Supercomputer to Medical School

SHAKER HEIGHTS -- Students in University Schools Young Surgeons Club are getting the kind of experience some dont receive until medical school.

The Young Surgeons Club at University School Shaker Campus is an afterschool enrichment program started last year by middle school science teachers Dr. Roberta Brown and Kathy Osborne.

Osborne said when Brown came on board at University School, the teachers were required to find another dimension of teaching. While other teachers coached sports teams after school, Osborne and Brown honed in on a medicine course they could develop. Out of that idea came the Young Surgeons Club.

Club Activities

The club consists of 12 seventh and eighth grade boys who get to experience the ins and outs of the medical field. Recently, the group took a trip to MetroHealth and attended an emergency room simulation where they learned intubation and resuscitation.

The simulation lends them the opportunity to understand a more hands-on approach and what a medical staff needs in an emergency, Brown said. They can see a combination of how technology can be used in medical training. They can use their communication abilities so each person knows what his partner is doing together to help a patient.

Osborne said the group also got to conduct ultrasounds on each other, got to see the Metro Life Flight helicopter up close and met the medical crew and pilots during the visit.

They were trained how an intern or resident would be trained. They got to see the training dummy that breaths, has a pulse and bleeds. The doctors spent a lot of time with them, she said.

The group plans to take a trip to the Cleveland Clinic Beachwood Family and Health Center to take a tour of the surgical suite and learn how to scrub in for surgeries.

Brown said the students enthusiasm is infectious. Its very satisfying to see them get excited about learning about medicine, learning to use tools and dissections.

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Shaker Heights University School enrichment program assists young surgeons

16-12-2011 15:15 Change the way you think about medical school. At the University of Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio, medical students are immersed in hands-on learning experiences that better prepare them for a career in medicine.

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UT School of Medicine at San Antonio - Video

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Dr. Dan Hale, 67, founder of HRC Medical and the visionary developer of the companys Amor Vie, has announced his intention to retire from the natural hormone replacement company.

The company also announced the launch of a new website which features hundreds of stories from real people who have had profound improvements in their health and well-being as a result of HRC Medicals Amor Vie. http://www.hrcmedical.com

HRC Medical is a privately held company that manages 37 HRC Medical Centers located in 21 states. Through its affiliated physicians, the company has served more than 30,000 patients with its Amor Vie. Amor Vie therapy is a highly personalized treatment plan that seeks to improve natural hormone levels to improve the health and well-being of patients.

To everything there is a season, Dr. Hale said. The time has come for me to step back from active involvement in HRC Medical.

Don Hale, President of HRC Medical and Dr. Dan Hales brother, said, This is a bittersweet time for me and for this company. Dr. Dans vision is now being realized as we grow HRC Medical to a national company helping thousands of people. My brother is a true visionary who developed our Amor Vie and trained our medical staff in its effective use for our clients.

Dr. John Argerson will succeed Dr. Dan Hale as Interim Chairman of the HRC Medical Advisory Board.

HRC Medical also announced plans to establish the HRC Medical Foundation as a vehicle to fund ongoing research and education in the arena of hormone replacement therapy. Through the HRC Medical Foundation, HRC will seek to initiate and fund independent research in the area of personalized wellness care.

Dr. Hale will continue to practice medicine in his East Tennessee practice and increase his dedication to charitable work. Dr. Hale has been responsible for building a school in the African country of Benin where 300 students now have access to a high quality education. This has been a 15-year passion for Dr Hale.

The solid growth of HRC Medical means it is time for me to turn over the reins to the next generation so that our ongoing leadership and commitment to the highest standards of care can continue now and into the future, Dr. Hale said. There are simply not enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do. HRC Medical will be in good hands with the scores of highly capable doctors and staff that deliver outstanding care as shown by the unprecedented volume of stories noted in our website.

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Dr. Dan Hale Announces Retirement from HRC Medical

VANCOUVER - Parents desperate to see their sons and daughters get a highly coveted seat at the University of B.C. medical school are trying everything, from calling their MLAs and the dean to waving around their chequebooks.

We do get a number of calls, requests and even offers to pull out chequebooks from people who say, What would it take to get [my kid] into this medical school? said Dr. Gavin Stuart, dean of the UBC medical school.

Although I am fairly shielded from the process, I do get sporadic calls from angry people yelling at me. Its a competitive process, a highly charged area, he added.

The school accepts 288 into its four- year, undergraduate medical degree program, but gets about 1,800 applications a year. Its considered to be in the top tier of Canadas 17 medical schools. The competition for spots is so overheated that, as an internal memo obtained by The Vancouver Sun attests, even prominent individuals are not above asking for special consideration.

The memo, sent nearly a year ago by former admissions director Denis Hughes to Dr. David Snadden, executive associate dean of education at the medical school, states:

Allowing submission of late documents has become a recurring theme this cycle. We have made more exceptions this cycle than in all three previous years combined. I find this troubling on many fronts.

The memo, which contains some blacked-out parts, mentions one case in which the applicants father contacted UBC to plead for late filing of documents due to circumstances beyond his daughters control. In that case, the father was a Victoria surgeon with an affiliation to UBC. His email message included his full signature clinical faculty, UBC and University of Victoria.

The memo states that the applicant was allowed to file late documents even though she was given six (automated) email reminders that her application would become ineligible if she missed the deadline.

Hughes, who left his position last summer, confirmed he wrote the memo. It ends with this statement:

It is in the best interest of the faculty of medicine to uphold a transparent and unbiased admissions process.

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Parents turn up the heat on UBC medical school for acceptance

SACRAMENTO The UC Davis School of Medicine ranks among the top medical schools on the 2012 American Medical Student Association (AMSA) PharmFree Scorecard, a national assessment of medical school policies governing how the pharmaceutical industry interacts with faculty and students.

UC Davis received an "A" rating on the scorecard, which it has received every year since AMSA established the scorecard in 2007. Of the 152 U.S. medical schools and colleges of osteopathic medicine included in the report, 28 received As (18 percent) 74 Bs (49 percent), 15 Cs (10 percent), and 13 Ds (9 percent) and 9 Fs (6 percent).

The AMSA PharmFree Scorecard uses letter grades to assess a school's performance in 11 potential areas of conflict, including gifts and meals from industry to doctor; paid promotional speaking for industry; acceptance of free drug samples; interaction with sales representatives and industry; and funded education. It offers a comprehensive look at the current and changing landscape of conflict-of-interest policies across American medical education, as well as more in-depth assessment of individual policies that govern industry interaction. The report included 98 percent of all eligible medical institutions in the United States.

UC Davis's policies scored highest in six specific domains AMSA assessed, including policies related to acceptance of gifts and meals from industry; limiting pharmaceutical samples accepted; individuals with financial conflicts participating in university purchasing decisions; financial support for attending industry-sponsored lectures and meetings (off-campus); industry support for scholarships and trainee funds; and inclusion of education about conflict of interest within the academic curriculum. The report also noted the presence of oversight and sanctions for noncompliance, although these factors were not included in the grade calculation.

Other schools receiving an A grade included UCLA, UC San Francisco, UC Irvine and UC San Diego, which adopted strong policies modeled after those first introduced at UC Davis, as well as the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and the University of Pennsylvania.

According to AMSA, the PharmFree Scorecard reflects the growing public outcry over conflicts of interest, both real and perceived, that are occurring throughout the health-care industry. The organization notes the increasing concerns among the public, policymakers and medical professionals focused on the potential for these conflicts to influence medical care, with profit potentially taking precedence over the interests of patients. A major part of the national discussion aims to balance the benefits of industry partnerships with the risks of industry marketing adversely impacting medical care, clinical research and medical education.

The UC Davis School of Medicine is among the nation's leading medical schools, recognized for its research and primary-care programs. The school offers fully accredited master's degree programs in public health and in informatics, and its combined M.D.-Ph.D. program is training the next generation of physician-scientists to conduct high-impact research and translate discoveries into better clinical care. Along with being a recognized leader in medical research, the school is committed to serving underserved communities and advancing rural health. For more information, visit UC Davis School of Medicine at medschool.ucdavis.edu.

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Med school recognized for conflict-of-interest policies

5 March 2012 Last updated at 14:36 ET

Doctors have called for a rethink of plans to split the Plymouth-based Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD).

A letter from the Devon Local Medical Committee (DLMC) called the move by PCMD founders University of Exeter and Plymouth University a "disaster".

The plans would mean a medical and dental school at Plymouth and a medical school at Exeter.

PCMD, which opened in 2000, has 200 medical and 64 dentistry students.

The DLMC, which represents Devon GPs, said in a letter to Plymouth University Vice Chancellor Wendy Purcell that the announcement in January was a "momentous shock to all students and staff involved with the medical school across the peninsula".

It feared that the "excellent collaborative work" in research projects at the college would be disrupted.

It added that if a split was the only way forward, it was "essential" that medical student numbers were distributed fairly "to ensure two sustainable medical schools emerge".

The proposed dismantling of the Peninsula Medical School is a disaster to all those trying to provide top quality healthcare, education and research across the region

The letter said: "The NHS should be working together across the peninsula and the proposed dismantling of the Peninsula Medical School is a disaster to all those trying to provide top quality healthcare, education and research across the region."

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Medical school split a 'disaster'

For the first time, students who live outside the Abilene Independent School District will be able to take the prerequisite course for Holland Medical School.

Students who will be in 10th grade or higher next year can enroll in Principles of Health Science which is required to attend Holland.

Once students complete the course, they are eligible to transfer districts to attend the medical school.

Holland Principal Gail Gregg says this is a great opportunity for students who may have considered this as an option but thought it wouldn't be possible.

"Whether it be kids from in the district, or even outside of the district, their plans change. Their sophomore year they decide, 'boy I'd like to be a nurse but I haven't taken the prerequisite classes that I need to take to go to Holland,'" Gregg says.

AISD's 2012 summer school will be held at Abilene High and registration is June 7 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

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Holland Medical School to Offer Prerequisite to Students Outside District

HOUSTON, March 8, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Memorial Hermann -- Texas Medical Center has established a new cancer center to provide Houstonians with an option for exceptional cancer care. The Center offers advanced treatment from a highly-skilled team of affiliated specialists with the University of Texas (UT) Health Medical School and access to innovative technology and supportive personalized care in a comforting environment.

"We recognize that people have a choice for cancer treatment and we are proud to be leaders in providing superior, comprehensive and accessible patient-centered care to the Houston community," said Dr. Robert J. Amato, medical director of the Memorial Hermann Cancer Center -- TMC and a professor at UTHealth.

The state-of-the-art Cancer Center introduces cutting-edge clinical capabilities, physician expertise and services within a fully integrated space that promotes holistic care and healing. The facility is designed to provide a highly-personalized and comforting environment to support the needs of patients throughout the continuum of care with private treatment suites and counselor guidance during every step of the process.

The team of nationally-recognized oncologists and researchers are equipped to address the needs of all diagnoses and stages of cancer offering access to the latest procedures and clinical trials. The dynamic team works together to develop new and successful treatments to improve cancer survival rates and quality of life for patients. Comprehensive and coordinated care is initiated by an accredited, multidisciplinary tumor board that meets regularly to evaluate the most effective treatment plan for each patient, tailored to the type, stage and aggressiveness of the tumor.

"The Memorial Hermann Cancer Center -- TMC is built on years of experience and extensive knowledge in helping thousands of cancer patients in Houston find hope and healing," said Paul O'Sullivan, Oncology Service Line Executive. "Our cancer center features the hallmarks that Memorial Hermann patients have come to expect, putting patients first and supporting them with physician expertise, advanced treatments and gifted caregivers."

In addition to personalized physical care, the cancer care team provides emotional support during the entire course of each patient's treatment. As an essential part of the care team, patients are provided with the information and support they need to take an active role in all decisions. Patients have access to a combination of therapies -- medical, nutritional, physical, psychological and spiritual -- and treatment plans personalized by professionals who understand the concerns of cancer patients and their families.

Social workers are available to help with non-medical needs associated with a patient's illness and can offer assistance to connect with legal and home health services, communicate with their physicians, and complement the healing process through customized therapy. Further comprehensive patient support services include: nutritional counseling, support groups, cancer education and resources, pastoral care, genetic counseling and psychosocial support.

The Center houses advanced technologies to enhance patient care including the Varian Trilogy linear accelerator, which is considered one of the most versatile cancer treatment devices available in the field of radiation therapy. The Trilogy accelerator enables any area of the body to be treated with the latest approaches in radiosurgery and radiation therapy and is highly accurate, flexible and reliable.

"Memorial Hermann-TMC and UTHealth have taken cancer treatment to the next level and we are glad to offer Houstonians a viable option in their cancer care," said Amato.

For more information, visit Memorial Hermann Cancer Center -- Texas Medical Center or call 713.222.CARE.

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Memorial Hermann -- Texas Medical Center Offers Houstonians an Option in High-Quality Cancer Care With Opening of New ...

Syracuse, N.Y. -- When members of a national accreditation group visited Upstate Medical University in March last year to evaluate its medical school, they discovered some striking inconsistencies.

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education LCME for short learned the medical schools entire first-year class of students was participating in community service. But that positive impression was tarnished by the discovery the school was grappling with the fallout of a cheating scandal involving more than 100 members of the senior class.

The learning environment for SUNY Upstate in some ways is very strong and in other ways is an area of concern, the LCME says in a 192-page report that explains why it put the medical school on probation.

Upstate provided a copy of the report to The Post-Standard after the newspaper filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the document.

The report shows the committee found the school out of compliance with 15 accreditation standards. Upstate must fix the problems within two years to keep its accreditation so it can continue offering medical degrees.

The LCME recommended last fall that Upstate be put on probation. Upstate filed an appeal last month, rebutting nearly all of the committees findings. After reviewing the appeal, the committee rescinded its original findings of noncompliance on three standards, but affirmed its position on the other 15. It also affirmed its decision to put the school on probation.

The report says the medical schools curriculum is out of sync, student complaints often go ignored and the dean is a paper tiger. It also says complaints by graduating medical students of discrimination or mistreatment on the basis of gender, race/ethnicity or sexual orientation are being reported at above-average rates at Upstate.

Students interviewed during the survey repeated over and over that the most serious issue facing them and their school was the lack of central authority to address issues that were of concern to them, the report says. Faculty echoes those concerns as well.

One of the committees major criticisms is the schools lack of administrative oversight over curriculum and its inability to modify and coordinate courses.

The dean, who serves as the chief academic officer, does not have the explicit authority to ensure the implementation and management of the medical education program when modifications to the curriculum are determined to be necessary, the report says.

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Accreditation group finds erratic learning environment at Upstate medical school

AUSTIN (KXAN) - What will Central Texas need in the next decade to offer world class healthcare for a growing population? Some say it will take a medical school and teaching hospital.

Sen. Kirk Watson is leading the effort to get one.

When Dr. TJ Milling visits Houston's Medical Center he can't help but think of what Austin could be.

"All those buildings, all that research, all that medical education going on and across the street is Rice University and it made me think about the Northeast corner of our downtown," said Milling, an emergency room physician.

That's why Milling and others are pushing for a medical school and teaching hospital to replace University Medical Center Brackenridge.

On Wednesday, March 7, KXAN will host a live town hall discussion called " ATXpansion : Healthcare in Central Texas. Community leaders will talk about the various issues we face in the coming years. It will take place from 7 p.m . to 8 p.m . at the Hill Country Bible Church - Northwest Campus in Cedar Park. Register here to attend free of charge.

"The truth is you need to have that infrastructure surrounding a medical center to draw the best and brightest positions to a community," he said.

According to officials at Seton, Texas ranks 42nd in the number of physicians per capita, and in 2016, Seton anticipates a shortage of 770 physicians in Central Texas.

The largest deficits will be in specialties like family practice, internal medicine, as well as infectious disease, pulmonology and rheumatology.

"Having a medical school here will enable us to provide more support personnel, more doctors, doctors tend to stay in the areas where they train," said Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell.

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New medical school 'crucial' to Austin

California Gov. Jerry Brown said Friday hes not prepared to support funding the UC Riverside medical school at a time when the state still faces a $9 billion deficit.

Brown asserted that position during a talk at The Press-Enterprise that ranged from his tax proposal to high-speed rail, pension reform and drivers licenses for illegal immigrants.

Im not ruling it out, but Im not ruling it in right now, Brown said of funding for the medical school. Weve got to get our house in order before we expand.

While acknowledging he hasnt looked at the schools merits, Brown said he is less inclined to fund it when the University of California regents havent committed any of the systems state funding to the school.

The medical school has been in the works for years and originally was set to open this year. But so far, UCR officials have not been able to secure ongoing state funding.

UCR leaders are pushing ahead with private fundraising the goal is $10 million a year for the next decade and hope to open the school next year, but with only 50 students to start. To be viable long term, though, the school must have ongoing state support, UCR officials have said.

The money has yet to be included in any of the governors budget proposals.

Browns comments about the medical school go against what Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said during a visit to Riverside last week.

Feinstein sent a letter to Brown urging him to support the medical school, and during a speech before the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce, she urged local officials to contact the governors office on the issue.

I am going to need your help to call on our great governor and say, Jerry, youve got to find $15 million, she said. It can be found.

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Governor says he won’t back UCR medical school