By msnbc.com staff and news services

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- A dehydrated squirrel monkey died at a Harvard Medical School research facility in December, the third monkey to die at the New England Primate Research Center in 19 months.

The Boston Globe reports  that the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited Harvard for failures to comply with federal animal welfare regulations, including injuries to monkeys.

William Chin, executive dean for research at Harvard Medical School, told the newspaper that the incidents are unacceptable. He said problems with management systems and implementing basic procedures were found in a review in 2010.

Chin says new leaders are addressing the issues.

Harvard and agriculture officials say the Dec. 27 death and non-fatal dehydration of a second monkey was caused by employees' failure to check a malfunctioning water dispensing system.

Read more on boston.com

Another squirrel monkey???s leg was fractured in January, when it was caught under a door, according to the Boston Globe. Also, the newspaper reported that a group of rhesus macaques escaped from their pen in December, resulting in an injury to one monkey???s foot.

???They???ve had a tough stretch, and it???s certainly something that???s gotten our attention and we look forward to them correcting the situation,?? David Sacks, a USDA spokesman, told the Boston Globe.

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US cites Harvard medical research facility

Last year, while I was interviewing to get into medical school, one of my interviewers asked me: “What was the most difficult situation you ever faced, and how did you deal with it?”

I started talking. It was not the first time I shared this particular story – or even the first time it had come up during an interview – but as I became immersed in telling it, I felt tears coming to my eyes. Oh no, I thought. I stopped talking and looked at my interviewer. Embarrassed and unsure what to say, I went with, “um… I’m sorry.”

She didn’t miss a beat. “It’s OK,” she said gently, reaching for a tissue. “We can talk about something else.”

And we did.

Later, I called my sister. I was feeling something worse than embarrassment: guilt.

“I feel like I used [my situation],” I said. “And – I think my interviewer liked me more because of it. What if that helps me get in?”

It felt exploitative. I felt exploitative.

I had not gotten teary intentionally, of course. I had answered my interviewer’s question honestly. It seemed a natural reaction to the topic at hand.

I also cannot imagine I was the first to feel unease in response to that question. Not long after that experience, a fellow medical school applicant and friend of mine expressed a similar sentiment to me as I had to my sister. My friend had lost her father at a young age, and many schools asked her about it. She felt extremely uncomfortable discussing it at all, for fear she “use” an intimately painful situation for practical career gain. Losing her father had nothing to do with her decision to go into medicine, nor, she thought, her potential as a future physician.

Medical schools are looking for many things these days. They want to see that you are compassionate. They want to see empathy. They want to see that you can deal with challenges and stress – that you are experienced, emotionally mature, and will not splinter under pressure.

I fully support this ideal. Medicine is a field that requires two categories of attributes. You need to know how to solve problems and reason through information. And, you need to know how to relate to people.

But is there a way to find those qualities without making applicants feel exploitative?

I think there is an important distinction between probing for a relevant emotional history – and a contrived attempt to solicit depth. That is, sometimes an applicant’s answer to the “most difficult situation” question is directly related to her interest in medicine. There are many cases in which obstacles shaped someone’s choice to pursue a life of caring for patients or helped him develop the skills to do so. There, I can see the appeal of the question. It contributes to painting the complete picture of the applicant’s motivations and aspirations in medicine.

For others, the question is less relevant. This was the case for my friend and me. Enduring our difficult situations had nothing to do with our subsequent decisions to go into medicine. Our situations were simply incidents that happened to punctuate the narratives that are our lives.

That is why talking about them in the explicit context of trying to gain acceptance into graduate school felt sleazy.

I had another interviewer, who, after asking the same question, handled our conversation with less sensitivity. She wrote down my answers without once looking up. As though she was checking off criteria I was supposed to have to become a competent doctor. Check: there was hardship. Check: I dealt with it in a healthy way.

“And… how do you think that will impact your ability to take care of patients?” she asked next, as though reading off a template. I don’t know. Maybe it won’t. There are other things in my life, things I chose to do, that I think will impact my ability to take care of patients. Can’t you ask me something else?

To medical school interviewers: it is perfectly acceptable to pursue emotional depth. I do not think the “most difficult situation” question should be tossed completely. But if you choose to use it, please do so cautiously. Stay within the bounds of what is relevant and what the applicant wants to discuss. And, if that emotional line is crossed, please be aware that the tone of the interview has fundamentally changed. Please handle the interaction with the same sensitivity you are asking for from applicants who will very soon be on the other side, asking similar types of delicate questions to vulnerable patients.

“It’s OK. We can talk about something else.”

I wish she knew how much I appreciated that.

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The hardest medical school interview question

Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have built technologies that enable cellphones to detect and intervene when a person battling post-traumatic stress disorder or substance abuse needs support. In a paper published in the Journal of Medical Toxicology, the researchers describe the system, which includes wireless sensors that can measure stress symptoms and algorithms capable of crunching data from those sensors to detect patterns that suggest an emerging anxiety attack or drug craving.

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Medical sensors could phone for help

By Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff

A squirrel monkey died of dehydration at a Harvard Medical School research facility in December -- the third monkey to die at the New England Primate Research Center in 19 months -- and animals there also suffered a fracture and other injuries over the past three months, according to a federal inspection report released today.

The US Department of Agriculture cited Harvard for three serious incidents, which occurred after the medical school had responded to a series of other problems by replacing the center’s leadership. Harvard could face fines or receive a warning because of the failures to comply with federal animal welfare regulations.

Harvard officials and the Agriculture Department report, posted on the agency’s website, attributed the December 27 death and the non-fatal dehydration of a second monkey to employees’ failure to check a water dispensing system that had malfunctioned sometime after both monkeys arrived at the center Dec. 7.

Another squirrel monkey’s leg was fractured in January, when it was caught under a door. And a group of rhesus macaques escaped from their pen in December, resulting in an injury to one monkey’s foot.

The Agriculture Department considers all three incidents “direct noncompliance” issues, meaning there is a direct, adverse impact on the welfare of animals, or the high potential of such an effect. In fiscal year 2011, there were 25 direct noncompliance issues at research facilities nationwide.

“They’ve had a tough stretch, and it’s certainly something that’s gotten our attention and we look forward to them correcting the situation,” said David Sacks, a USDA spokesman.

William W. Chin, executive dean for research at Harvard Medical School, acknowledged in an interview that “there have been deficiencies in what we’ve been doing, leading to a number of incidents. These are regrettable. ... I would say they’re frankly unacceptable.”

Chin discussed the new issues and broader problems at the primate center during a 45-minute interview earlier this month, on the condition that the Globe would not report his comments until the Agriculture Department posted the latest findings. It was the first time a medical school official had agreed to discuss the situation at the Southborough research center in depth.

He said problems with management systems and the implementation of basic procedures were discovered through a review launched in the summer of 2010, after the first monkey died. Those issues are being addressed, Chin said, through the change in the leadership team last September, disciplinary actions, new policies and procedures, and the formation of a six-member team that will perform continual reviews, training, and testing of staff, and conduct random audits. Harvard Medical School released a lengthy statement, describing some of the problems at the center, and its response.

“We, as part of this public trust, even though we’re doing great science, we have to be sure that the animals are treated in the best way possible. And we just haven’t done it, and now we are working so hard to continue to do better in this,” Chin said. He added that the recent incidents occurred because it will take time for the ongoing improvements in training, procedures, and oversight “to take hold.”

Sacks said that the agency was still investigating the October death of a monkey. A common marmoset escaped while it was being transferred for an imaging procedure, was caught with a net, and was found dead after undergoing imaging. Sacks said that investigation could expand to include new problems. If an investigation finds a violation of the Animal Welfare Act, consequences could include an official warning letter or a fine -- a maximum of $10,000 per violation.

The New England Primate Research Center houses 2,058 monkeys and has a staff of 231, including veterinarians, technicians, and scientists. It receives about $25 million annually in federal funding to support its research activities, which include developing a vaccine for HIV.

Chin said Harvard officials first became aware of problems at the center in June 2010, after a cage went through a washer with a monkey in it. The cotton-top tamarin was found dead on the floor of the cage. An autopsy determined the animal died of natural causes prior to the cleaning, but the Agriculture Department issued a warning letter to Harvard.

Harvard initiated a comprehensive review, involving outside veterinary experts and consultants, which revealed a lack of oversight and disturbing series of breaks in following procedures that govern the research.

The review found that in more than one case, procedures were being done on animals without the required approval of an institutional committee. Chin said the lapses “almost certainly” did not affect the scientific integrity of the experiments, but were not acceptable.

That led the investigators to examine animals’ medical records and to discover troubling omissions, including incomplete records of tuberculosis tests, which are supposed to be performed regularly to ensure the health of the large monkey colony.

“It was kind of a messy situation in terms of being able to know exactly what happened to each of the animals,” Chin said.

New experiments were suspended in summer 2011 while the health of the colony was tested. There were no cases of tuberculosis. But it had become clear that the problems were deeper than initially thought, Chin said.

Senior medical school officials decided to replace the key leaders at the center last September, including the director, associate director for administration, and veterinary leadership. Dr. Fred Wang, the interim director, was not made available for an interview. Disciplinary actions were also taken, Chin said, but he could not be specific about what actions were taken or how many individuals were involved, citing employee privacy reasons.

In addition to the three deaths since 2010 at the primate center, a monkey died at a separate Harvard Medical School facility in Feburary 2011, due to an anesthesia error.

Carolyn Y. Johnson can be reached at cjohnson@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @carolynyjohnson.

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A third monkey death reported at Harvard’s New England Primate Research Center

QUESTION: I am a 55-year-old woman who struggled with an eating disorder (anorexia) when I was a teen. As I get older, it's becoming harder to keep excess weight off, and I'm afraid I am slipping back into unhealthy behaviors. Are eating disorders common in older women? What can I do?

ANSWER: In a sense, it's good that you still take pride in your appearance. In fact, many baby boomers are experiencing a disconnect between how old they feel and their chronological age. In a 2009 Pew Research Center survey, half of people in their late 60s and early 70s said they felt at least 10 to 20 years younger than their actual age.

Feeling youthful inside is great, but a glance in the mirror may bring you up short. No matter how young you feel, you're likely to see wrinkles, sags, tummy fat and less firm muscles because of weakening elastic tissue and the muscle loss that comes with aging.

At the same time, we're surrounded by unrealistic images aimed squarely at mature women. You know that when you see a model or celebrity touted as looking "good for her age," it's the work of plastic surgeons, colorists, stylists and airbrushers, but your unretouched body image can't help but suffer by comparison.

If you feel you should look as good as celebrities your own age, even though their public images may be artificial, your self-esteem can suffer. And this can, in turn, lead to extreme eating habits aimed at weight loss, without regard for your own well-being. Because you have a past history of eating disorders, you're more susceptible than most.

Here are some questions to help you assess whether body image and food concerns are crowding out other important parts of your life:

• Do you worry about your body and your age more than your friends do? What efforts do you make to hide the effects of aging?

• If you had the choice between living an extra five years and attaining your perfect weight, would you pick attaining your perfect weight?

• Do you and your friends spend a lot of time discussing diets, weight, your looks, gym routines, etc.?

• Does the number on the scale determine your mood for the day?

• Do you spend an inordinate amount of time planning what to eat and not to eat and how to get enough exercise?

• Do you gravitate toward health regimens that involve purging or restricting food, going gluten- or yeast-free, becoming a vegan, fasting, or doing colonics or cleanses, for example?

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, try to shift your conversations and mental energy away from food and body awareness. If this proves difficult, consider consulting a mental health professional.

Eating disorders are usually regarded as a problem of adolescents and young women; their prevalence among older women is less clear. Secrecy and shame often accompany these disorders, and women may not seek help -- particularly if they fear being forced to gain unwanted weight or stigmatized as having a "teenager's disease."

In a 2010 study at the Oregon Health & Science University, women ages 65 to 80 were just as likely as young adult women to feel fat or concerned about their body shape.

First, you need a thorough medical examination. Certain medical conditions that cause rapid weight loss, interfere with appetite, or make eating difficult can be confused with an eating disorder.

Tell your doctor about any experiences with weight loss or gain, eating disorder behaviors or use of drugs to control weight. Your doctor also needs to know about any emotional problems you're confronting, including depression and anxiety.

After taking a history and performing a physical, she or he may order certain tests, such as an electrocardiogram to check for arrhythmia, laboratory tests for metabolic imbalances, or a bone density scan. And if your doctor feels you could benefit from an expert in eating concerns, ask for a referral to a specialist.

A balanced diet is important for good health. With planning and perhaps some help, you can eat right and look good, too.

Have a question? Send it to harvard_adviser@hms.harvard.edu

Continued here:
Harvard Medical School Adviser: Eating disorders affect older people, too

DIARY OF SHORTCOMINGS: Margaret O'Connell has applied for a transfer. Source: The Courier-Mail

IN AN affront to free speech, Queensland Health has demanded all medical students sign a gag order or be turfed out of their courses.

Students are furious that the University of Queensland medical school has gone along with the ridiculous ban they fear will prevent them from speaking out against wrongdoing or mistreatment of patients.

The students fear they are being coerced into signing the seven-page student deed poll agreeing not to reveal anything.

The medical school's online forum has run hot with complaints.

"Of primary concern is the contents of the document which seems to provide disproportionately harsh penalties for students in relation to extremely vaguely worded 'breaches', most of which seem designed to protect Queensland Health, not patients," said one student.

"Also of concern is the manner in which students are being forced to sign these documents as a 'requirement' of their placement.

"If students choose not to sign this deed - a document which the students have had no role in writing or drafting and have not even been informed about - then Queensland Health will disallow the student to continue on a placement, effectively meaning their medical studies are over.

"This penalty is by virtue of paragraph 17 (which says): 'This Deed Poll will continue for the duration of the placement, subject to the student's right to withdraw this consent. The student acknowledges that they may withdraw this consent by providing written notice to Queensland Health and the education provider. A withdrawal of consent will affect the student's ability to continue with the placement'."

The unsigned deed warns that "Queensland Health may seek and obtain an ex parte interlocutory or final injunction to prohibit or restrain the student, from any breach or threatened breach of this Deed Poll".

The deed contains a direct threat of legal action. It says: "In the event of a breach or threatened breach of the terms of this Deed Poll, Queensland Health shall be entitled to seek the issue of an injunction restraining the student from committing any breach of this Deed Poll without the necessity of proving that any actual damage has been sustained or is likely to be sustained by Queensland Health."

Another student said there were already adequate privacy regulations.

She added: "It strikes me that this is Queensland Health out of control. With an election imminent, they are inappropriately trying to control all aspects of information about their organisation and inappropriately entitle themselves to take harsh punitive action against students.

"The document seems to have more to do with protection from comment or criticism about Queensland Health than patient privacy."

Matthew Ramsay, a student from the US, said the document appeared to be an attempt to shut down media scrutiny of Queensland Health and the university medical school.

"It's very disconcerting," he said. "It appears to be a cover-up. The medical profession is dangerously close to allowing the Hippocratic Oath to degenerate into the Hypocritical Oath."

He said the medical school was racked with discontent following the nepotism scandal that claimed the scalps of vice-chancellor Paul Greenfield and his deputy Michael Keniger.

Ramsay said he wondered whether it was linked to the controversy surrounding medical student Margaret O'Connell, who kept a diary of shortcomings at the school.

O'Connell said students were not properly supervised during a seven-week "rotation" at a Queensland private hospital catering chiefly for the mentally ill. She said doctors made fun of suicidal patients, including one who had threatened to jump into the Brisbane River.

O'Connell complained doctors would not let students attend consultations with them. And doctors made it clear to students they didn't care whether they turned up. The doctors didn't even know the students' names and didn't want to know.

"I suspect this gag order is directly or indirectly related to the case of Meg," said Ramsay.

O'Connell said she was asked to see a psychiatrist and failed on a rotation to far north Queensland.

But her case was strengthened when she won a glowing report card from Dr Peter Chilcott,

director of medical services at Gove District Hospital in the Northern Territory.

Chilcott went further, accusing the university of a witch-hunt.

In evidence tendered to the university, he said: "I applaud your courage in taking on the Queensland medical establishment. As you are aware, your time in Gove was cut short by similar slurs and innuendos concerning your mental state. I had no concerns about your time at Gove.

"I was contacted by the medical school to provide reports.

"There was no doubt in my mind that the medical school simply wanted me to falsify reports and would have been quite happy for the whole mess up here to simply go away. I told the medical school that I had many concerns about how your case was handled.

"If someone had concerns about your mental state at that time then who better to look into the matter than myself with 38 years of GP experience. I also had at that time a GP trainee who is very experienced in mental health because she was originally on a psychiatric training pathway before switching to general practice.

"From my perspective your case had all the signs of a witch-hunt."

Chilcott saw no signs of mental illness, adding: "I did see someone who is 'eccentric'. However, do not take offence at this because I am considered 'eccentric' as well."

He said he was happy to support O'Connell's complaints to the CMC and the Ombudsman.

O'Connell has applied for a transfer to other universities. Her complaint is being considered internally.

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Health chiefs gag medical students

Dr. Frank M. Torti, who on Friday was named vice president for health affairs at the University of Connecticut Health Center, said he was drawn to UConn partly by the potential for Connecticut to become a bioscience leader.

"There's an excitement in focusing around this bioscience initiative, and it's the sort of challenge that we'll be a part of at the UConn Health Center," Torti said. He specifically cited Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's plan to boost bioscience and the university's partnership with Jackson Labs, a Maine-based mammalian genetic research lab.

Torti's appointment takes effect May 1.

"Frank Torti is a brilliant researcher, physician and teacher — a transformational leader who will make UConn one of the premier institutions of health care in the world," UConn President Susan Herbst said in a statement released by the university.

Torti currently works at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, where he is vice president for strategic programs, director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center, and chairman of the Department of Cancer Biology. He has also served as a chief scientist and acting commissioner of theU.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Torti's base salary will be $780,000 with a possible $150,000 performance incentive at the end of his first year at UConn. His predecessor, Dr. Cato Laurencin, received similar compensation.

After Laurencin stepped down as vice president of health affairs and dean of the medical school, the university began a national search for his replacement in July.

If there was anything on his resume that helped him edge any other candidates for the position, Torti said, it might have been experience with the FDA. Many academics and scientists are good with the creation of new drugs, he said, but negotiating the often convoluted maze toward approval is another matter.

"A lot of people don't realize that many drugs fail not because they aren't good drugs, but because people don't understand the regulatory path," said Tort. "I can bring that to the table."

In the next few years, Torti said, the medical community will increasingly understand that "we ought not be satisfied with the same drugs and treatments of the 20th century." Instead, he said, as genetics technology advances, it will focus more on personalized medicine.

"I think [UConn] will be the national leaders in this area," he said.

Among the medical organizations that Torti serves on, or has served on, include the Cancer Biology Training Consortium, North Carolina's Drug Discovery Center of Innovation's Scientific Advisory Board, the Association of American Cancer Institutes and of the National Coalition for Cancer Research, the National Institutes of Health Council for the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and the National Cancer Institute's Clinical Trial Advisory Committee and the Board of Scientific Advisors

Torti received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Johns Hopkins University in 1979, his doctor of medicine from Harvard Medical School in 1974, and his masters in public health in 1973 from the Harvard School of Public Health. In the mid-1970s, he was an intern and resident at the Beth Israel Hospital in Boston.

Torti's wife, Suzy V. Torti, is a cancer researcher and has been hired as a professor in the UConn School of Medicine. She currently teaches at the Department of Biochemistry at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

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UConn Appoints New Health Center Leader

A day after the UConn Health Center got its first researcher for a new genomic center, UConn President Susan Herbst announced that the school had hired a new leader for the health center and the UConn medical school.

Dr. Frank Torti, a vice president at Wake Forest University who runs the school's cancer biology center, will come to UConn as the eighth dean of the UConn medical school, and the school's vice president for health affairs.

The move comes two weeks after Herbst hired Warde Manuel to run the school's athletic department, and a day after a Maine genetics lab announced it had hired Yijun Ruan as the first researcher for the new genomic center.

Torti, who will also hold a Board of Trustees professorship in the Department of Medicine, will join the health center May 1, UConn announced in a press release.

"Frank Torti is a brilliant researcher, physician, and teacher -- a transformational leader who will make UConn one of the premier institutions of health care in the world," Herbst said in a statement. "It is a new day at UConn. As I have said since my appointment, we have the highest ambitions for excellence, so that we may take our place among the international pantheon of great institutions. Dr. Torti is a superb leader, and I want every citizen of this state to know that their Health Center simply could not be in better hands. With Dr. Torti's guidance, we will find new cures for disease, map the future political economy of health care, and most of all, ensure that every single patient we see receives the best possible care known to contemporary science."

Torti, a New Jersey native who has worked at Wake Forest since 1993, said in a statement that he's "honored to have the opportuinity to lead the UConn Health Center and the School of Medicine."

"Governor Malloy's Bioscience Connecticut program and the state's partnership with Jackson Laboratory are nothing less than transformational. Working together, Connecticut and the University will change the bioscience landscape and grow the region's economy. I look forward to working with everyone to ensure that this outstanding academic medical center reaches its full potential."

It's the second time this month that Herbst has hired a new campus leader.

On. Feb. 13, the school announced it had hired Manuel, the athletic director at the University at Buffalo, to be its new athletic director. He's the first African-American to hold the position, and will lead the athletic department at a time of transition and great uncertainty.

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UConn hires new medical school dean

08-02-2012 19:03 (November 29, 2011) Thomas Quertermous explores how genetics influence cardiovascular diseases and how much risk heritability presents as opposed to behavior. This course is a single-quarter, focused follow-up to the the yearlong Mini Med School that occurred in 2009-10. The course focuses on diseases of the heart and cardiovascular system. The course is sponsored by Stanford Continuing Studies and the Stanford Medical School. Stanford University http://www.stanford.edu Stanford Continuing Studies http:///continuingstudies.stanford.edu/ Stanford University School of Medicine med.stanford.edu Stanford University Channel on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com

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9. Genetic Risk Factors | Mini Med School - Video

Five firms will compete to design and build the University at Buffalo’s new School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences proposed for Main and High streets at the edge of downtown.

The five firms were introduced Thursday at the Greatbatch Pavilion of the Darwin Martin House, where university officials described to architects what UB is looking for in a new $375 million medical school.

“This whole competition is an attempt to elevate the dialogue about the quality of the architecture,” said Robert Shibley, dean of UB’s School of Architecture and Planning, who is directing the competition. “We want to do this in the very best possible way.”

In describing the project, UB officials released a few new details about the targeted property at Main and High streets. The site currently includes an HSBC Bank branch, parking lot and the Allen- Medical Campus Metro Station.

UB is still working to acquire the land from property owners, Shibley said, but envisions a Phase I of the Medical School project to include 520,000 square feet of space within a 12-, nine-, or seven-story building at the site.

UB’s preference, Shibley said, would be a seven-story building that would incorporate a more grand Metro station at Allen Street, but that’s going to depend on the outcome of property negotiations. Plans also show a Phase II for the Medical School, but that would be another decade down the road.

“We want it to create a ‘front door’ to the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, emphasize its student-learning environment and emphasize the interdisciplinary collaboration between the school’s academic departments,” Shibley said.

A competition selection committee comprised of eight design and engineering professionals from the state and UB pared the 19 applicants down to a short list of five: Cannon Design; Diller Scofidio+ Renfro/Gensler; Grimshaw Architects; Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum; and Rafael Vinoly.

Interim UB Provost Bruce McCombe and Dr. John Canty, chief of the cardiovascular division, talked to the architects and got them up to speed on the university, its strategic plan and the relocation of the Medical School from the South Campus to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus with the help of $35 million in seed money from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

The competitors will take tours of the downtown and Main Street campuses today, then meet with the selection committee for a workshop.

The firms will present their proposals March 16 to 22. They will be publicly exhibited March 27 and 28. A final selection will be made March 29.

UB wants to begin construction of the new Medical School in September 2013 and complete the building by fall 2016.

jrey@buffnews.comnull

Read the original:
Medical school architect's list pared to five

Five firms will compete to design and build the University at Buffalo’s new School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences proposed for Main and High streets at the edge of downtown.

The five firms were introduced Thursday at the Greatbatch Pavilion of the Darwin Martin House, where university officials described to architects what UB is looking for in a new $375 million medical school.

“This whole competition is an attempt to elevate the dialogue about the quality of the architecture,” said Robert Shibley, dean of UB’s School of Architecture and Planning, who is directing the competition. “We want to do this in the very best possible way.”

In describing the project, UB officials released a few new details about the targeted property at Main and High streets. The site currently includes an HSBC Bank branch, parking lot and the Allen- Medical Campus Metro Station.

UB is still working to acquire the land from property owners, Shibley said, but envisions a Phase I of the Medical School project to include 520,000 square feet of space within a 12-, nine-, or seven-story building at the site.

UB’s preference, Shibley said, would be a seven-story building that would incorporate a more grand Metro station at Allen Street, but that’s going to depend on the outcome of property negotiations. Plans also show a Phase II for the Medical School, but that would be another decade down the road.

“We want it to create a ‘front door’ to the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, emphasize its student-learning environment and emphasize the interdisciplinary collaboration between the school’s academic departments,” Shibley said.

A competition selection committee comprised of eight design and engineering professionals from the state and UB pared the 19 applicants down to a short list of five: Cannon Design; Diller Scofidio+ Renfro/Gensler; Grimshaw Architects; Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum; and Rafael Vinoly.

Interim UB Provost Bruce McCombe and Dr. John Canty, chief of the cardiovascular division, talked to the architects and got them up to speed on the university, its strategic plan and the relocation of the Medical School from the South Campus to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus with the help of $35 million in seed money from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

The competitors will take tours of the downtown and Main Street campuses today, then meet with the selection committee for a workshop.

The firms will present their proposals March 16 to 22. They will be publicly exhibited March 27 and 28. A final selection will be made March 29.

UB wants to begin construction of the new Medical School in September 2013 and complete the building by fall 2016.

jrey@buffnews.comnull

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Medical school list pared to five

MIAMI, Feb. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Dade Medical College concluded the American Cancer Society's Miami-Dade fundraising efforts for the 2011 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer with a generous contribution of $10,000. Dade Medical College President and CEO Ernesto Perez noted that "supporting health-related organizations was a natural for the College," and added that "helping fight breast cancer was paramount as in today's world with education and early detection, the war could be won."

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120223/CG58946)

The check was presented at the college's Homestead Campus during a community health fair and School of Nursing Open House where the college offered free glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure screenings.

Funds raised through Making Strides Against Breast Cancer support breast cancer research, provides up-to-date breast cancer information, ensures everyone has access to breast cancer screening and treatments – regardless of income – and provides services that improve the quality of life for patients and their families.

The Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk supports the American Cancer Society's unique mission to fight cancer on all four fronts: research, education, advocacy and patient services. Over time, the Society has invested more in breast cancer research than any other voluntary public health organization. Since 1972, it has invested nearly $323 million in breast cancer research grants, resulting in many of today's breast cancer treatments.

The 2012 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk is scheduled for Sunday, October 13 at Tropical Park. For more information or to sign up for the 2012 American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer in Miami, please contact Arlene Hidalgo, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Manager at 305-779-2879 or Arlene.Hidalgo@cancer.org.

About Dade Medical College

With more than 400 academic, administrative and support professionals at four South Florida campuses and corporate office, Dade Medical College offers and provides quality, outcome-based education through professionally credentialed and certified faculty whose commitment to excellence in education is unparalleled by other colleges and institutions. Dade Medical College offers Associate and Bachelor of Science degrees in programs that include nursing, radiologic technology, cardiac sonography, diagnostic ultrasound, medical assistant, massage therapy and more. The School of Continuing Education offers non-credit courses for students and professionals in support of their professional development, advancement and licensing/registry attainment and/or renewal.

Classes start every four weeks. Online course and program offerings will be available soon. Dade Medical College is accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools, the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (Miami and Hollywood Campuses) and is licensed by the Florida Commission for Independent Education. Dade Medical College has also been approved by the Florida Board of Nursing and the Florida Board of Massage and is a member of the Florida Association of Postsecondary Schools and Colleges and the South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association.

For more information, visit http://www.DadeMedical.edu, like them on http://www.facebook.com/DadeMedicalCollege or call 305.644.1171.

Media Contact: Elizabeth Martinez of Dade Medical College, +1-786-374-4997, liz@dademedical.edu

News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com

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Dade Medical College Presents $10,000 to the American Cancer Society in Support of the Fight Against Breast Cancer

Dr. Edward Boyer, professor of emergency medicine at UMass Medical School.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

By Lori Valigra

UMass Medical School researchers in Worcester used smartphone programming, artificial intelligence, biosensors, and wireless networks to develop a device to help treat drug abusers.

The device is designed to detect physiological stressors associated with drug cravings and respond with user-tailored behavioral interventions that prevent substance use, according to the researchers, who published preliminary data about the multi-media device, called iHeal, online recently in the Journal of Medical Toxicology. The device is still in experimental stages and needs some improvements in technical issues, such as privacy and design, before it’s ready for prime time, according to the researchers.

According to the study’s authors, many behavioral interventions used to treat patients are ineffective outside of the controlled clinical settings where they are taught. The failures stem from several factors, including a patient’s inability to recognize biological changes that indicate increased risk of relapse and an inability to change their behaviors to reduce health risk.

Dr. Edward Boyer, professor of emergency medicine at UMass Medical School and lead author of the study, worked with colleagues at UMMS and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to design a mobile device using enabling technologies to make substance abuse behavioral interventions more effective outside the clinic or office environments. The iHeal combines sensors to measure physiological changes and detect trigger points for risky health behaviors, such as substance use, with smartphone software tailored to respond with patient-specific interventions.

The researchers asked individuals with a history of substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder to wear an iHeal sensor band around their wrist to measures the electrical activity of the skin, body motion, skin temperature, and heart rate, which all can serve as stress indicators. The band wirelessly transmits information to a smartphone, where software applications monitor and process the user’s physiological data. When the software detects an increased stress level, it asks the user to input additional information about their perceived level of stress, drug cravings, and current activities. That information is then used to identify, in real-time, drug cravings and deliver personalized, multimedia drug prevention interventions at the moment of greatest physiological need, according to the researchers.

Boyer and his teams examined the iHeal system architecture, as well as preliminary feedback from initial users, to identify key attributes and assess the device’s viability. They found that there are a number of technical issues related to data security and the need for a more robust and less stigmatizing version before the device could be worn in public.

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UMass Medical uses smart phones to treat drug abuse

Every doctor has to start somewhere. Now they can make it MidMichigan Health.

The health care system welcomed its first class of medical students from the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine last summer. Third- and fourth-year students at the MidMichigan are completing a core competency program and several clerkships in departments, gaining clinical experience as they train for full-time jobs as doctors.

So far, the experience has surpassed the expectations of the medical professionals and students involved.

‘Demanding in a great way’

John Evans, a Flint native who chose to come to the MSU College of Human Health Midland Regional Campus after a site visit, said the demanding schedule was expected, but the experiences he has had are beyond what he anticipated.

“Even when it’s demanding, it’s demanding in a great way,” he said. “What else would I be doing?”

On a typical day the students shadow an attending physician in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, surgery and psychiatry. MSU sets the curriculum and MidMichigan staff offers instruction, letting the students observe and participate in medical care.

Evans said the students start work early in the morning and most days could be done by 5 p.m., but they typically want to stay to continue patient care, follow up on something interesting that happened or study for tests that come after each clerkship ends.

“You want to be here, you want to have access,” Evans said.

Evans was in awe reflecting on the 10 babies that he was the first person to ever touch in the world. He said he got emotional about the first delivery because that’s a major milestone in a doctor’s life.

“I had been gearing up that, and there it was,” he said. “It was incredible.”

After medical school, the students will earn an M.D. and will complete a residency, during which they gain specialized knowledge in the area in which they will practice.

Delivering the babies put OBGYN into Evans’ top three options for his residency program, with general surgery at the top and the emergency room as the third option.

Evans said joining a new program means coming at a time when there is a lot of enthusiasm to teach and learn. Students at other campuses have told Evans that they haven’t had the same access to real-life experiences.

“The way we were embraced by the MidMichigan Health system is incredible and something we weren’t really expecting,” he said, describing support and encouragement from staff at every level. “You don’t feel like you’re bothering anybody. You feel like they want you there and they encourage you.”

Fresh skills, top recruits

Dr. Paula Klose, community assistant dean for the new campus, said the staff loves working with the students and feel like they’re helping set up the new campus for long-term success.

Klose said when physicians teach it can help to keep their skills up, meaning better care for patients. Having a teaching component also helps recruit physicians, some of whom only want to work at a medical center where they can teach. The local instructors were selected based on having an interest in teaching and qualifications for the job.

This year, students are spending most of their time at MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland, with some time also spent at MidMichigan Medical Center-Gratiot. Klose said as the program expands, students also could spend time in MidMichigan’s medical centers in Gladwin and Clare.

This year there are three third-year students and five fourth-year students at the Midland campus. Klose said next year, another six third-year students will be added to the program. It could build up to nine to 12 students each year as the program grows.

The program is expected to offer more electives as time goes on and could lead to the development of a simulation center, medical research and residency opportunities at the medical centers.

Klose hopes the students will find residencies to gain in-depth knowledge in a specific medical field and then choose to return to MidMichigan Health because of their experiences as students.

Evans said after spending time in the “fantastic community,” he can see how that hope could turn into reality.

“That’s a very high likelihood,” he said. “It’s growing on me and is such a nice community.”

‘This is our community now’

Medicine was the first thing to appeal to Evans. After an uninspiring education in the Flint school system, he moved to New York and earned a master of fine arts degree. Now, he wants a career where he can see results and know he is making a difference in people’s lives.

“There’s the traditional path, the non-traditional path and then there’s my path,” Evans said with a laugh.

His easy-going demeanor works well with patients, which is a skill doctors need in addition to medical knowledge.

Evans said most patients are fine with a student being with a physician during a medical exam, but some may want privacy.

He said the patients don’t benefit from a vast new source of medical knowledge when a student is present because they are still learning everything, but students can be up-to-date on new practices or research that can help a patient.

One benefit some patients experience from having a student present is the additional time the students can spend with them when the residents or physicians are required to move to the next patient.

“It increases face time, and patients really like that,” Klose said, noting the current group of students have been great at interacting with patients.

Evans said some patients have felt their care is more thorough, which is good for the patient and the Health System. He said the MSU College of Human Medicine stresses not just the medical care, but the human side of medicine.

“They get the medical care they want and the attention that they need,” he said of patients.

Being able to spend more time with a patient also allows Evans to better remember all the things that must be asked and checked. He said the more times people does something, the faster they become.

The students also hope to become more involved in community initiatives. Evans said MSU’s core competency program includes learning about health disparities in a community. Mike Krecek, director of the Midland County Health Department, spoke to the students about Midland County’s medical needs, including access to medical care for the county’s rural residents.

“We really want to be involved in outreach services,” Evans said. “This is our community now. We don’t just want to be at the hospital and then go to sleep. We want to be a part of the community.”

Copyright 2012 Midland Daily News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Medical practice: Michigan State University launches regional campus for medical school

Public release date: 21-Feb-2012
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Contact: Jim Fessenden
james.fessenden@umassmed.edu
508-856-2000
University of Massachusetts Medical School

WORCESTER, Mass. ? Clinical researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) are combining an innovative constellation of technologies such as artificial intelligence, smartphone programming, biosensors and wireless connectivity to develop a device designed to detect physiological stressors associated with drug cravings and respond with user-tailored behavioral interventions that prevent substance use. Preliminary data about the multi-media device, called iHeal, was published online first in the Journal of Medical Toxicology.

According to the study's authors, many behavioral interventions used to treat patients are ineffective outside of the controlled clinical settings where they are taught. This failure can be attributed to several factors, including a patient's inability to recognize biological changes that indicate increased risk of relapse and an inability to change their behaviors to reduce health risk.

Edward Boyer, MD, PhD, professor of emergency medicine at UMass Medical School and lead author of the study, worked with colleagues at UMMS and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to design a mobile device using so-called "enabling technologies" that could be used to make behavioral interventions for substance abusers more effective outside the clinic or office environments. The result of their work, iHeal, combines sensors to measure physiological changes and detect trigger points for risky health behaviors, such as substance use, with smartphone software tailored to respond with patient-specific interventions.

Individuals with a history of substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder were asked to wear an iHeal sensor band around their wrist that measures the electrical activity of the skin, body motion, skin temperature and heart rate ? all indicators of stress. The band wirelessly transmits information to a smartphone, where software applications monitor and process the user's physiological data. When the software detects an increased stress level, it asks the user to annotate events by inputting information about their perceived level of stress, drug cravings, and current activities. This information is then used to identify, in real-time, drug cravings and deliver personalized, multimedia drug prevention interventions precisely at the moment of greatest physiological need.

Boyer and his teams examined the iHeal system architecture, as well as preliminary feedback from initial users, to identify key attributes and assess the device's viability. Their analyses suggest a number of technical issues related to data security, as well as the need for a more robust and less stigmatizing version before the device could be worn in public.

###

About the University of Massachusetts Medical School

The University of Massachusetts Medical School, one of the fastest growing academic health centers in the country, has built a reputation as a world-class research institution, consistently producing noteworthy advances in clinical and basic research. The Medical School attracts more than $277 million in research funding annually, 80 percent of which comes from federal funding sources. The mission of the Medical School is to advance the health and well-being of the people of the commonwealth and the world through pioneering education, research, public service and health care delivery with its clinical partner, UMass Memorial Health Care. For more information, visit http://www.umassmed.edu.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

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Preventing and treating drug use with smartphones

Prospective medical students will face an entrance examination that expands its focus beyond natural sciences starting in 2015.

The Medical College Admission Test will add a section covering the psychological, social and biological foundations of behavior, the American Association of Medical Colleges finalized Feb. 16 after three years of review.

Richard Riegelman, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics in the School of Public Health and Health Services, served on the association’s 21-person committee that conducted the review of the test and said the change will ensure students have a thorough medical background.

“The changes in the MCAT aim to prepare students for the changing world of medicine and clinical practice,” he said.

Riegelman added that aspiring doctors face an increased demand to be prepared for the job’s social and behavioral aspects.

Students will also be tested in social sciences and humanities in a new critical analysis and reasoning section, bringing the total number of sections to four.

The changes, which are the first alterations to the test since 1991, came in light of mounting evidence that shows how patient health can improve by weaving an understanding of people into scientific knowledge.

The revised MCAT, likely to be in place until 2030, will increase in length by about 1.5 hours, for a total testing time of about 6.5 hours. There will also no longer be a writing section, after admissions officers said it did not give them sufficient or accurate information about a student’s qualifications for medical school.

Senior Melissa Delgado, a pre-med student, said she supports the newly implemented changes to the MCAT, noting that the current test format “fails to capture the humanistic aspect of medicine.”

Medical school applications have been rising for a decade, reaching a record 43,919 applicants in 2011, according to the AAMC.

Diane McQuail, assistant dean for admissions at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, said it is too soon to predict if the broader MCAT will encourage or discourage students from pursuing medical careers.

“These changes are being made to prepare medical students to become doctors that can address issues in health care in the years ahead,” she said, adding that medical schools nationwide have also adjusted their curricula in order to better train students.

Continue reading here:
Medical school entrance exam broadens scope

Published: Thursday, April 18, 2002

Updated: Thursday, March 3, 2011 16:03

High school students wanting to enter into the medical field may have the reinforcement they need with the Pre-Health Reinforcement and Enrichment Program or PREP.
The Quillen College of Medicine Office of Student Affairs determined that the best way to aid their potential students with basic courses was to start early.
This year Yvonne Buford, PREP program coordinator, decided to invite high school to participate in the summer program and continue with the program throughout high school and college.
"After two summers of watching senior college students struggle through basic science classes, I thought I could be more helpful by going back to the high schools and working with counselors to help them understand what the students need before they get to this level," Buford said.
PREP is designed to strengthen students' academic skills and to increase the opportunity for students to get into the medical school of their choice. Students will live on campus and meals will be provided.
"We have workshops planned, speakers coming in and we'll be doing job shadowing," she said.
Buford said that this type of a program could have a great effect on the students' admissions to a medical school.
"The admissions has offered to put out information about the program," she said. "And during the school year we will have first-year med students as tutors."
Buford has received a lot of feedback from the students who have participated in the program and believes the program will be beneficial to all who attended.
So far 26 high school students and 45 college students have applied for the program.
"If all goes as planned we'll be working with the students for eight years each," Buford said. "We want to carry them through high school, bring to college and take them to the exam."
Call Buford at 439-5655 for more information about the program.

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Summer program to prepare students for medical school

Not so long ago, many medical school graduates entered residency burdened with large amounts of student loan debt. And just when you thought that was the worst of it, many residency-related student loan deferments for federal loan repayments were phased out in the early 1990s, leaving many residents with relatively large monthly loan payments while still in training.

The federal government has embarked upon programs aimed at attracting medical residents to work in HPSAs (Health Professional Shortage Areas) for three years after graduation, at which time they would receive tuition and stipend reimbursements for each year of HPSA service. The government recently expanded the program, after it announced that almost 20 percent of Americans live in underserved areas, ranging from isolated rural areas to areas many would be surprised are considered underserved, including the Venice Beach and West Hollywood/Hollywood areas of Los Angeles.

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

Students can apply for healthcare loan repayment programs through the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), which asks medical residents for a flexible commitment of working for at least two or three years in an underserved area of the United States in a primary care specialty. The government would then repay up to $120,000 in debt. From 2008 to 2011, the program has nearly tripled its enrollment from 3,600 physicians to more than 10,000. Additional loan repayment support is available if physicians choose to work longer.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius recently announced a newer initiative toward student loan repayment. This new loan repayment program, to which Sebelius committed $9.1 million, is targeted at recruiting current medical students, particularly those in their fourth year, who are dedicated to specifically designated specialties.

[Check out rankings of medical school primary care specialties.]

The announcement of this additional option makes the following federal scholarship and loan repayment avenues available:

• NHSC Scholarship: In this program, students entering medical school—or those who haven't yet completed their fourth year of medical school—receive tuition scholarships and monthly stipends. The students sign a commitment to spend one year working in an underserved area for each year of support received. There is a limit of four years of funding per student.

This program can sound tempting—after all, what is four years if your entire medical school tuition is paid in advance? But if you happen to change your mind after graduation and you don't enter or finish residency, the penalty can be steep. You must repay the government tuition costs plus penalties and interest within a specified period of time. In rare cases, the government has disciplined doctors who did not repay these costs in time.

• Students to Service Program: With the recently announced funding, this program allows fourth-year medical students who have solidified their career choice down to a primary care specialty (internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, geriatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, and general psychiatry) the opportunity for loan repayments.

[Find out which public medical schools award the most financial aid.]

• Commitment after residency: If you complete a residency in one of the primary care specialties above, you can work in a HPSA for as long or as little time as you desire. Each year you spend working 32 or more hours per week seeing patients, a certain percentage of your loans will be repaid.

A half-time work option is also available. After three full (or six half-time) years, these physicians have the option to continue on for more substantial support. Physicians who terminate the program without NHSC approval face substantial financial penalties (usually more than $100,000).

Keep in mind that these programs, as they're federally administered, do not tax funds given to these physicians for the purpose of loan repayment. Programs outside the NHSC that offer these benefits may report the repayment to the IRS, which then taxes the physician.

For those premeds who find current medical school tuition figures daunting, these programs offer a great way to become debt-free in a shorter amount of time than for most graduates. Premeds can still get a fairly competitive salary at the same time. Just be sure to read all the fine print, especially if you are committing early.

Ibrahim Busnaina, M.D. is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and coauthor of "Examkrackers' How to Get Into Medical School." He has been consulting with prospective medical school applicants, with a special focus on minority and other nontraditional candidates, since 2006.

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Explore New Options to Repay Medical School Loans

It was an exercise on how to interview for admission to medical school.

Not even Darcie Spresser, a 24-year-old undergraduate at Wichita State University who volunteered to be interviewed in front of others, knew how real and how emotional it would be. It was just an exercise, but Spresser nailed it.

It happened Saturday during a day-long program in Wichita that brought about 340 undergraduate students and advisers from Kansas and surrounding states. The program, co-hosted by KU School of Medicine-Wichita and Wichita State University, was designed to help them know what to expect about medical school and help them prepare for the challenges.

James Kallail, professor and associate chairman for research in the Department of Internal Medicine at KU School of Medicine-Wichita, conducted the interview exercise in an amphitheater at the Wichita medical campus as about 35 students watched. Kallail, a member of the admission committee for the medical school system, told Spresser he wanted her to be as open and honest as possible.

“Tell me why you want to be a physician,” he asked in a calm, clear voice.

“My heart lies there,” she said, explaining that she had tried another career but realized that caring for others as a doctor is what she decided she had to do. She now works as a phlebotomist, drawing patients’ blood at Via Christi Hospital on St. Francis, so she sees all kinds of patients. A defining moment came one day when she walked into a cancer patient’s room to take a blood sample from her.

Sunshine from a window was hitting the ill woman in the face.

“Oh, honey, let me close that blind down for you; the sun is in your eyes,” Spresser told the woman.

“That’s OK,” the patient said. “I’m just glad God gave me another day to see the sun rise.”

Spresser’s voice caught, and she teared up as she recounted it to Kallail. She apologized for getting emotional. He said it was OK, to continue. The other students listened intently.

Spresser, a native of Selden in northwest Kansas, also talked about donating a kidney to a relative two years ago. Kallail said it was quite a sacrifice.

She said that because of her Christian faith, it is important for her to help people, that it is who she is.

As Kallail and the students critiqued the interview afterward, Spresser conceded she was nervous and emotional, that it “just came out.”

It’s natural to be a little nervous during an interview, Kallail said. “It’s an anxiety-provoking situation.”

But Kallail told her she came across as genuine, that the emotion came as part of her credible, compelling story.

The students discussed whether her mention of religion could be controversial in the context of a medical school interview. But Kallail said he didn’t take it that way, that it’s OK to bring up faith if it is relevant during an interview.

The test, he said, is if religious belief gets in the way of treating a patient.

A score of 6 is the top interview score, he said. “I’d give her a 6. This was a star interview. I don’t see interviews like this very often.”

In another session – a panel discussion in which current medical students shared what it takes to get into medical school and succeed there – one of the panel members told the undergrads to make sure they know how they will answer the question interviewers always ask: “Tell me about yourself.” It’s not always easy to answer.

Whatever you say, you have to be yourself and be genuine, the med students said.

As for what classes to take, the message was: Get a degree in what really interests you, not what you think will look good on paper. Still, some specific course areas, like biochemistry and anatomy, are especially important.

Many of the med students exposed themselves to the profession by shadowing doctors – learning what is really involved, by seeing surgeries and other procedures first-hand.

Someone asked if it’s doable to start families while attending medical school. The answer: Some med students do have small children, but it forces them to closely budget their time.

Med school, they said, is a full-time job.

Reach Tim Potter at 316-268-6684 or tpotter@wichitaeagle.com.

Read more:
A prospective KU med school student speaks from the heart

Upstate Medical University's medical school was placed on probation Thursday by an accrediting organization after concerns were raised about the school's curriculum.

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education recommended Upstate be placed on probation last fall, but State University of New York academic medical center officials appealed the recommendation last week, according to an article published in The Post-Standard on Saturday.

The committee made its final decision to follow through with the sanction Thursday, according to the article.

Upstate joins five other schools placed on probation by the LCME and will have two years to fix all problems identified by the organization, according to the article. The committee accredits a total of 136 U.S. medical schools.

Losing accreditation may be detrimental to the school, as it would no longer be allowed to distribute medical degrees. David Duggan, interim dean of the medical school, told The Post-Standard the chances of this happening were extremely slim.

Duggan said the school remains fully accredited and is working to address the committee's concerns, according to the article.

Duggan could not be immediately reached for comment.

The LCME acts as the nationally recognized accrediting authority for medical education programs leading to a degree in the medical field in the United States and Canada. The organization is sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association, according to the article.

Accreditation shows that a medical school is meeting national standards, and graduating from an LCME-accredited school is required for a medical license in most states, according to the article.

LCME's largest criticism against Upstate was the lack of a central committee with the authority to make changes to the school's curriculum, according the article.

The organization was also bothered by a cheating incident that occurred last year involving fourth-year medical students who assisted each other on online quizzes in a medical literature course, according to the article. Upstate suspended the course for at least one year to try and improve it.

Duggan told The Post-Standard that Upstate's sanction was not "based on any shortcomings in the quality of its medical students or their accomplishments." Upstate has alerted all prospective applicants about the school's probation, Duggan said, but so far it has had no effect on the applicant pool.

In recent years, the LCME became stricter and is taking more severe actions against medical schools it does not believe to be meeting standards, according to the article.

The medical school exists within Upstate Medical University Hospital. The hospital was placed on a "watch list" for the hospital's high frequency of safety concerns, complications and patient deaths in September.

The Niagara Health Quality Coalition, a hospital performance research group, included University Hospital along with 20 other New York state hospitals on the list as part of an annual report card. The report stated statistics of patient deaths, patient dissatisfaction and complications.

egsawyer@syr.edu

Originally posted here:
Upstate Medical University placed on probation