Jonny Kim was in the grocery store when the call came: He would have to exchange his emergency room scrubs for a space suit.

I was happy, jubilated, excited all these emotions, Kim said. My wife was there. I told her and she was jumping up and down in the grocery store. So we looked silly. I was about to pay for the food.

Kim, a 2016 Harvard Medical School(HMS) graduate, was one of a dozen candidates picked by NASA in June for its next astronaut class. A year into a four-year residency at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Kim will put his medical career on hold so he can learn to fly a plane, spacewalk, operate the International Space Stations robotic arm, and master other skills NASA considers essential.

This isnt the first time Kim has exchanged one high-pressure career for another. Before going on inactive reserve to pursue his medical training, he was a Navy SEAL with more than 100 combat missions under his belt. His military honors include a Silver Star and a Bronze Star.

Why wouldnt NASA want him? said David Brown, head of MGHs Department of Emergency Medicine and MGH Trustees Professor of Emergency Medicine at HMS. We wanted him. Harvard Medical School wanted him. Everyone wanted him.

Kim, 33, has come a long way from the shyness and small dreams of his Los Angeles youth. Buffeted by family instability and a difficult time at school, he didnt see in himself the qualities he admired in others: the courage of the astronauts whose posters adorned his walls, the quiet professionalism and odds-defying determination of the Special Forces. As high school graduation neared, it seemed only a radical step could get him off the road to nowhere. So he enlisted in the Navy and asked to become a member of one of its elite SEAL teams. The recruiter could promise only the chance to try. For Kim that was enough.

I didnt like the person I was growing up to become, he said. I needed to find myself and my identity. And for me, getting out of my comfort zone, getting away from the people I grew up with, and finding adventure, that was my odyssey, and it was the best decision I ever made.

SEAL training was just as tough as advertised, Kim said. He considered quitting during hell week, a five-day stretch of near continuous training in cold, wet conditions.

They let us sleep for a couple of hours in nice sleeping bags, one of only two naps you get in five days of training, Kim said. And when youre snuggled up in this warm sleeping bag and they wake you up and immediately make you go in the frigid ocean, it was the closest I ever came to quitting. I had that taste of comfort, and then it was taken away from you. The cold was magnified because your bodys so broken. When youre exercising, you can push through the pain. When youre cold, youre just by yourself.

Once past the initial phase, Kim had additional training that prepared him for service as a navigator, sniper, point man, and combat medic. Combat was inevitably very different from what he envisioned as a high school recruit, and Kim said he still feels a duty to close friends killed in fighting.

I dont watch a lot of war films and documentaries anymore, he said. Losing a lot of good friends galvanized me and made a lot of my remaining teammates make sure we made our lives worthwhile. I still, to this day, every day, think of all the good people who didnt get a chance to come home. I try to make up for the lives and positive [impact] they would have had if they were alive.

Kim traces his interest in becoming a doctor to a day in 2006 in Ramadi, Iraq, when he was serving as a medic and two close friends were shot. Both eventually died. Kim treated one in the field.

He had a pretty grave wound to the face, Kim said. It was one of the worst feelings of helplessness. There wasnt much I could do, just make sure his bleeding wasnt obstructing his airway, making sure he was positioned well. He needed a surgeon. He needed a physician and I did eventually get him to one, but that feeling of helplessness was very profound for me.

The doctors and nurses who worked on his friend made a lasting impression on Kim. Three years later, in 2009, having joined a Navy program through which enlisted personnel can be commissioned as officers, he left for undergraduate studies at the University of San Diego, with the intention of ultimately going to medical school.

He earned a bachelors degree in math in three years the Navy required full course loads during the academic year plus summer school and then, in 2012, arrived at Harvard Medical School.

Among the people he met early in his HMS career was Assistant Professor of Neurobiology David Cardozo, associate dean for basic graduate studies, who served in the Royal Canadian Navy and acts as an informal mentor for veterans on campus. The Medical Schools community of veterans is small, numbering about 20 at any one time. Students with special operations backgrounds are even fewer. Though Kim was one of the Schools most decorated veterans, Cardozo was struck by how modest he was.

Hes the steadiest person you could imagine, Cardozo said. Hes very gifted and he has a depth of character thats unequaled. He did wonderfully here.

During his third year at HMS, Kim entered a mentoring program and met Brown, who heads the hospitals Emergency Department. After graduating, Kim decided to specialize in emergency medicine and joined the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency, a cooperative program between MGH and Brigham and Womens Hospital.

Kim wasnt expecting to go to astronaut school not yet, at least. He joined more than 18,000 other applicants for the NASA class recruited every four years as a first step, hoping to improve his chances in the next selection process, once his medical training was complete.

So we were all surprised and thrilled when he was selected, but not really all that surprised, Brown said. Hes just a remarkable young man incredibly committed, absolutely unafraid.

Kim said hes ready for whatever NASA asks. Due in Houston in late August, he recently left the residency program to prepare for the move with his wife and children.

Im going to be a student at the bottom of another totem pole trying to learn as much information as possible, he said. Im excited for the adventure. I think itll be another occupation where I say, I cant believe Im getting paid for doing this.

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Med School grad to trade scrubs for space suit | Harvard Gazette - Harvard Gazette

By now you probably know the details.

Dr. Carmen Puliafito, a $1.1-million-a-year professor, doctor, dean and big-bucks rainmaker for the University of Southern California, left plenty of time in his busy schedule for extracurricular activities.

They included drug-fueled parties with a prostitute, convicted criminals and drug addicts. Los Angeles Times sleuths dug up photos of Puliafitos exploits in hotel rooms, apartments and even the deans office at USC, including a shot of him using a butane torch to light a glass pipe while a female companion smoked heroin.

RELATED: An overdose, a young companion, drug-fueled parties: The secret life of USC med school dean

In Mondays bombshell expose in The Times, reporters Paul Pringle, Harriet Ryan, Adam Elmahrek, Matt Hamilton and Sarah Parvini also reported the details of a 911 call from a Pasadena hotel where a woman had overdosed before being hospitalized. She later told reporters that she and Puliafito had been partying together for two days.

But Im not interested in pounding on Puliafito here. The man appears to have serious problems. He needs help and I hope he gets it.

Complex addiction doesnt respect age, income or title, said a USC-trained physician, who added that he thinks USC will survive this episode, but Puliafito and his family may need help to get through it.

The physician, who didnt want his name used, also suggested that, given the private schools endless quest for money, Puliafitos strengths made him like a star quarterback and he was worth keeping in the game if they could keep the incident private, too.

Alex J. Berliner / Associated Press

Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito

Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito (Alex J. Berliner / Associated Press)

And thats the part of the story that interests me most the actions and non-actions of USC administrators and the Pasadena Police Department.

Let me start with the latter.

On March 4, 2016, paramedics and police responded to the call from the hotel where Puliafitos companion had passed out. But the responding officer did not file a report on the incident, even though methamphetamine was found in the room. After dogged questioning by my colleague Paul Pringle, Pasadena officials said a report should have been filed and the officer had been disciplined.

Does anyone think for a minute that if an average Joe had been in that room, he wouldnt have been written up, investigated and possibly charged?

Did someone influential intercede on behalf of Puliafito to protect his reputation and preserve his status as a prodigious USC fundraiser who schmoozed with the likes of billionaire Larry Ellison, Jay Leno, Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Martin Short and developer Rick Caruso?

If the allegations are true, said Caruso, a USC graduate and member of the schools board of trustees, I'm very disturbed and condemn the illegal use of drugs, especially by someone who holds the highest level of trust and care.

But, like I said, Im less disturbed by what Puliafito might have done, and more disturbed by what his bosses didnt do.

The Times reported that 10 days after the hotel incident, an anonymous complaint about Puliafito was submitted to two employees in the office of USC President C.L. Max Nikias. A week and a half later, Puliafito resigned as dean. He later told The Times by email that he had voluntarily decided to move on and pursue a job in biotech.

That sounded suspicious, given what The Times knew. But a Nikias staffer told our reporters: The president will not be speaking to The Times on this matter.

Maybe thats because Nikias was too busy planning a celebratory, catered wingding for Puliafito. If youre poor and have a drug problem, you land on skid row. If youre rich and connected, its cocktails and kudos.

In June of last year, three months after Puliafitos resignation as dean, he was honored by various USC administrators, including Nikias.

Today, we have one of the, not just the areas, but the nations preeminent medical schools and medical enterprises and, in many ways, thanks to the leadership of Carmen, Nikias gushed.

Are money and prestige all that matter?

Did Puliafitos prolific fundraising and ability to draw top medical talent earn him not just a pass, but a party?

Reporter Pringle sent numerous emails to Nikias and his associates over more than a year, respectfully asking for an interview. He was ignored each time.

Pringle sent Nikias an email with numerous questions about the Pasadena hotel incident and USCs handling of the Puliafito matter, and requested, yet again, an interview with the president.

No interview was granted. (Nor did I get anywhere Wednesday with my requests for an interview with Nikias and Puliafito).

And heres a detail that might make any self-respecting Trojan root for UCLA next year:

Despite having resigned as dean, Puliafito remained on the faculty and continued to see patients for more than a year.

Only after the story hit on Monday did USC release a statement saying Puliafito is currently on leave from his roles at USC, including seeing patients. And then on Tuesday, Nikias sent a letter to the USC community saying we are working to determine how we can best prevent these kinds of circumstances going forward.

Shouldnt that have begun more than a year ago, when The Times first started asking questions?

The mood on campus is one of stunned depression, a USC physician said in an email to me, asking me not to use his name. Students are upset that this was allowed to happen at their medical school, while the faculty are flabbergasted as well as embarrassed. The physician said that in his opinion, Puliafito should have been immediately suspended in March 2016 and an investigation launched.

By allowing him to continue to practice, he said, patients health was put at risk.

Thats consistent with sentiments expressed Wednesday when the dean who replaced Puliafito told a gathering of students that his predecessors alleged actions were horrible and despicable.

Students at that meeting said university officials should have known more about Puliafitos behavior. One woman said it seems shocking that no one has been able to figure anything out.

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USC bosses flunk the leadership test amid shocking allegations about former medical school dean - Los Angeles Times

By Forrest Milburn, Staff Writer

Photo: Marvin Pfeiffer /San Antonio Express-News

New UIW medical school in San Antonio celebrates opening

City leaders and health-care providers gathered Thursday morning for the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the University of the Incarnate Words School of Osteopathic Medicine at Brooks City Base.

Later this month, the school will welcome its inaugural 150-member class, who will be taught by more than 45 faculty members. The campus includes four refurbished buildings on 16 acres.

San Antonio, our eagle has landed, said founding dean Robyn Phillips-Madson, referring to the late President John F. Kennedys 1963 space-age speech made at the same location.

Phillips-Madson frequently mentioned that more than 50 years ago, JFK gave a dedication speech at what was then called the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine to begin a new age of space exploration research for San Antonio and the rest of the country.

The UIW school is the states second to teach osteopathic medicine and its first private one. Both osteopathic and allopathic students can be certified to practice medicine in Texas, but the philosophy differs. For osteopathic doctors, designated by D.O., theres more of a focus on the person rather than their ailments, Phillips-Madson said.

The school, which was privately funded through donors, cost about $50 million to start, including renovation of the buildings.

It is the second medical school for San Antonio. The University of Texas medical school, known as the Health Science Center, offers doctor of medicine, or M.D., degrees.

When somebody comes to San Antonio and they ask, Where is the medical center? we will respond with which one? said UIW Board of Trustees Chairman Charlie Lutz.

Several of the speakers said the new school would fulfill the need for more primary-care doctors on San Antonios Southeast Side, as well as the state as a whole.

In 2016, there were 20,578 practicing primary-care physicians in Texas, about 73 for every 100,000 residents, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

fmilburn@express-news.net

The need is a little better in Bexar County, where there are 82.1 primary care physicians for every 100,000 residents, according to the same data.

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New UIW medical school in San Antonio celebrates opening - San ... - mySanAntonio.com

The former Hoffmann-La Roche campus on the border of Clifton and Nutley is being redeveloped by Prism Capital Partners. Owen Proctor/NorthJersey.com

A medical school will anchor the mixed-use redevelopment of the former Hoffmann-La Roche campus.(Photo: Photo courtesy of Prism Capital Partners)

Planning for a medical school in Nutley is starting from the ground up, as its representatives seek parking for the facility.

In January 2016, Seton Hall University and Hackensack Meridian Health announced a medical school for part of the Hoffmann-La Roche campus, closing on the border of Clifton and Nutley. When Bloomfield-based Prism Capital Partners bought the Roche property last October, the parties signed a lease for the medical school in Building 123 and its 123A wing.

The application, which the Nutley Planning Board is considering, represents only the medical school site plan, specifically pertaining to traffic and parking.Prism is marketing the entire redevelopment as On3with an emphasis on life sciences.

At this point, the applicant for the Seton Hall and Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine and Nutley officials arent seeing eye-to-eye on parking proposals.

REDEVELOPMENT:Ex-Roche campus reinvented as 'On3' science center

ONCE BUSTLING:Ex-Roche campus awaits next chapter

BELLEVILLE:Board revisits plan for Roche site

The site plan for the medical school, as well as the partners other entities sharing Building 123 and its wing, calls for 1,387 parking spaces, including 951 in Nutley, according to testimony. However, the school and Nutley officials dispute what should be considered permanent and temporary parking.

Based on redevelopment documents, Nutley Planner Paul Ricci deemed much of the parking as temporary. He interpreted the three parking lots, as presented, would only be used for parking, with no permanent or accessory use.

The applicant disagreed.

At aJuly 12 board meeting, in an effort to ensure permanent parking, Seton Hall and Hackensack Meridians attorney Kevin Coakley offered to reduce the parking spaces from 1,387 to 1,162, but contingent on all 1,162 being permanent. Mayor Joseph Scarpelli, a board member, countered that a draft resolution designate 465 as permanent and the rest temporary.

The planners report is replete with omissions and deficiencies that cannot be relied upon, Coakley contended before the board. There was never an illusion to have temporary parking.

Ninety-nine percent of parking is permanent, especially in this case, when it is an accessory, the attorney told The Record. Who would invest all this money and not have permanent parking?

Temporary parking is a frightening proposition to the user, Coakley said. The municipality would lose too, if limited parking resulted in less building occupancy, he added.

The plans 1,387 spaces seeks to avoid potential overflow parking into Nutley neighborhoods, the attorney said. The applicant's proposed reduction to 1,162 permanent spaces are per ordinance, he said.

Regarding the boards resolution, expected Wednesday, Aug. 16, Coakley said, The board has the discretion to reconsider, and we intend to follow that avenue.

There is a floating consideration for a garage on the redevelopments Clifton side that could help resolve parking concerns. It could possibly move some 400 spots from Nutley land, officials discussed.

While the medical school partners are willing to consider building a parking garage, contingent on finances as well as Cliftons approval of such a plan, the entities are not obligated to do so, Coakley said at the meeting.

Since the building is split between Clifton and Nutley, each towns representatives also expressed concern about a fair split of the parking.

Jaime Placek, special counsel for the City of Clifton, cautioned that the two town governments take a team approach to divvying up parking proportionally.

Meanwhile, Nutley Revenue and Finance Commissioner Thomas Evans suggested, if 40 percent of Nutleys building occupancy is to represent 40 percent of Nutley parking, that would allocate 555 of the 1,387 spaces to Nutley.

Email: proctor@northjersey.com

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Towns, medical school hammer out parking plan - North Jersey - NorthJersey.com

The union that represents the Pasadena police officer who was disciplined for not filing a prompt report on a drug overdose witnessed by the then-dean of USCs medical school is conducting a legal review of the incident, the labor organization said Thursday.

A tip about the March 2016 overdose of a young woman at the Hotel Constance in Pasadena led to a Times investigation that found that Dr. Carmen Puliafito associated with criminals and drug abusers who said they used methamphetamine and other drugs with him while he headed the Keck School of Medicine.

Puliafito, 66, resigned as dean three weeks after the overdose. USC kept the renowned ophthalmologist on faculty and he continued to accept patients at university medical offices, according to a USC website. The overdose suffered by Sarah Warren, who survived after being rushed to a hospital, was not publicly reported until The Times published its findings Monday.

Alleged conduct by former USC dean 'horrible and despicable,' med school head tells angry students

Officer Alfonso Garcia did not write a required report on the overdose until three months after the incident in response to repeated requests by The Times for information about the episode.

Garcia did not respond to an interview request made through the Pasadena city managers office Thursday. He otherwise could not be reached.

The president of the Pasadena Police Officers Assn., Sgt. Roger Roldan, said in emails that attorneys for the union are reviewing the circumstances surrounding the overdose. Roldan declined to provide any details about the review, including whether it was aimed at challenging the discipline of Garcia.

The type of discipline has not been disclosed.

Last year, a Pasadena police spokeswoman said Garcias failure to file the report was a training issue, but offered no details. This week, city spokesman William Boyer said Garcia was disciplined.

City Manager Steve Mermell said in an email Thursday that the Times findings have raised many questions. As it relates to the city, I have made a public commitment to review the facts and circumstances involving city personnel. I expect to have more information in the near future.

Mermell did not elaborate.

Puliafito has not responded to numerous interview requests. In an email shortly after resigning the $1.1-million-a-year deanship, Puliafito told The Times he made the move voluntarily to pursue a biotech job.

In the wake of The Times investigation, USC has said that Puliafito is on leave from the university and is no longer seeing patients. Puliafitos successor as dean, Dr. Rohit Varma, on Wednesday told a gathering of students, many of them angry about the affair, that Puliafitos conduct is the subject of several internal investigations.

Steve Lopez: USC bosses flunk the leadership test amid shocking allegations about former medical school dean

The Medical Board of California has said it is also investigating Puliafito on the basis of The Times reporting.

In the months after the overdose, authorities did not release Warrens name. The Times identified her through interviews, social media and property records.

Now 22, Warren has been in an Orange County drug treatment program since November, and said she no longer has contact with Puliafito. She told The Times in interviews that she and Puliafito had been partying at the hotel for two days. Then she took too much GHB gamma-hydroxybutyrate, the so-called date-rape drug that some users take in lower doses for its euphoric effect. Warren said the drug left her completely incapacitated.

After she awoke in the hospital six hours later, Puliafito picked her up, and we went back to the hotel and got another room and continued the party, she said.

Puliafito and his much younger acquaintance captured many of their exploits together in videos and photos. Sources allowed The Times to review dozens of the images on condition the videos not be published. They were consistent with Warrens account of drug use at the Hotel Constance.

An overdose, a young companion, drug-fueled parties: The secret life of USC med school dean

The police confiscated a little more than a gram of meth in the hotel room. No arrests were made, and Warren said the police never interviewed her.

A week after the March 4, 2016, overdose, a witness filed an anonymous complaint through a city website urging Pasadena authorities to investigate Puliafito and the police handling of the incident, according to a copy of the complaint obtained through the California Public Records Act.

Three days later, the same witness phoned the office of USC President C.L. Max Nikias and told two employees about Puliafitos role in the hotel incident. The witness spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity.

Phone records confirm that the witness made a six-minute call to Nikias office on March 14, 2016, 10 days after the overdose.

Former USC medical school dean no longer seeing patients; Pasadena police discipline officer

Experience Los Angeles 2049 at the Blade Runner 2049 Experience, only at Comic-Con.

Experience Los Angeles 2049 at the Blade Runner 2049 Experience, only at Comic-Con.

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Police union examines incident at Pasadena hotel involving a former USC dean after an officer is disciplined - Los Angeles Times

Sixty boxes, clad in gray wrapping paper and topped with a scarlet bow, were piled artistically atop a table in the Student Union ballroom Monday.

Inside, the tool of the trade: stethoscopes. The UNLV School of Medicines inaugural Class of 2021 were given their instruments the day before settling in for their first day of classes.

Its still seeping in. Things have happened so suddenly, I actually forgot to invite my parents, said Johnnie Woodson, who did his undergraduate work at Rice University. Im just excited to see what happens. For me personally, I wanted to come home. I didnt realize how much I loved the city until I went away for four years. I had a friend who was part of an inaugural class in Austin, Texas. He was telling me how amazing it is for future medical students. Its a big honor to be a part of a class like that. I wanted to come back home and be part of the first class, be a part of the history of Las Vegas.

UNLVs medical students will put the scopes to use immediately. Their first day of classes includes working in small groups on how to apply the CPR training students have already been receiving. Their student experience will include completing emergency medical technician certification in their first year, projects to immerse them in community issues, and intensive hands-on learning.

It was the first ceremony to welcome the inaugural class made up entirely of students who are from Nevada or have strong ties.

It took a lot of people a decade or more to get to this day, President Len Jessup said. This is an incredibly important occasion in the history of this university, not just for the Top Tier strategic plan, but its important for this community.

The stethoscopes were donated by Dr. Constantine George, a native Las Vegan who went to med school in Reno before returning to Las Vegas to practice. George has served on the community engagement board for UNLVs new medical school since Day 1.

To see (the school) come together is an honor, George said at the event. Its going to take time, but to have these students when they finish residency want to stay in town, hopefully, will help alleviate the doctor shortage.

Nevada is ranked near the bottom in the number of physicians per capita. One of the primary goals of the UNLV medical school is to train specialists committed to serving the region and improving access to high quality health care.

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Med School Students Make It Official | News Center | University of ... - UNLV NewsCenter

by Holly Coombs

holly@ironcountytoday.com

University of Utah has the first medical school and 112 years later, Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine marks the second Utah has a second medical school to open in this state as its grand opening took place last Friday in Ivins, Utah.

The school may have just opened, but was 50 years in the making as Thomas Told, Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine dean and Chief academic officer, had big dreams to open the school over the decades. Told grew up in rural Utah and had aspirations of opening a school in an area similar to where he grew up.

I finished up my education in Northern Utah, but my heart was always down here, Told said. People have to go elsewhere to train, and it shouldnt be that way. Every year, 400 students leave Utah to go elsewhere for careers.

In 2006, Rocky Vista University in Parker, Colorado opened, which Told joined and brought his vision to Utah with new campus marking the Universitys second campus.

I had to go to Colorado first to make what I had been wanting for so long here in Utah, Told said.

With the opening of the Ivins campus, Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine President and Chief Executive Officer Clinton Adams said the school will open opportunity for students within Utah to stay in their home state to complete their degrees and even remain in the state for their careers.

With school beginning Monday, more than 100 students are enrolled, more than 50 percent of them are from Utah universities, Vice Dean David Park said. The university, which is still under completion, will eventually be equipped to hand 250 students year-round when finished.

We have interviewed nearly 300 top-tier applicants and gone through 2,000 plus applications and I can assure you that the students coming here are truly exceptional, Park said.

He said the students come from 24 different countries and 50 percent of the applicants are from Utah schools including 26 from Brigham Young University, 14 from the University of Utah, 11 from Southern Utah University, 10 from Utah State University, 11 from Utah Valley University and five from Weber State University.

Although this was our vision, this was not our bias in selection, he said. These students were not chosen for their resident state, but by their rigorous academic standings. This is a testament to Utahs quality of students so today is a celebration of Utahs excellence education system.

Park asked those involved in Utah education to stand and be applauded.

The addition of the students, faculty and staff is something Ivins Mayor Chis Hart said hes most excited for, since the move-ins will provide a brightness and forward-thinking mindsets.

Were a population of 10,000, and there are almost no communities of our size that can boast they have a medical school, Hart said. So it gives us some bragging rights.

SUU President Scott L. Wyatt said he is proud to be a partner to the medical school.

This medical school will stand as a monument of possibilities, a place of dreams that just having this located here is a constant reminder to the youth of southern Utah that they can actually go to medical school, Wyatt said. More people will stretch into this difficult profession.

SUU President Scott L. Wyatt speaks to the crowd at the grand opening of the Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine this last Friday in Ivins, Utah.

The two-story, 104,000 square-foot school building includes two, 200-seat lecture halls, 36 study rooms, a simulation center, standardized patient rooms and a 9,000 square-foot library. The campus also has two student housing buildings.

Utah Governor Gary Herbert commented on the states milestone via video message.

As our states population continues to grow, the need for physicians continues to grow (with it), Gov. Gary Herbert said And starting today, more Utah students will be able to stay in their home state while pursuing their medical education.

Elder Steven E. Snow, general authority seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, gave the dedicatory prayer blessing the faculty, students and the building that great things would come from the new medical school.

We dedicate this site to be a safe place of learning, Snow said. We bless this place to be safe from the ravages of nature. That these buildings will stand for generations, to bless those who will study here. We dedicate the foundation, the baring walls, all components of this structure to bear up under the pressures of time and external influences.

He dedicated the College of Osteopathic Medicine to be a place of service in the community and to all who visit it.

We pray that this place will serve well the needs of faculty, staff and especially students, who will study and learn here, Snow said. We dedicate this place to the teaching of medicine; may it always be a place of compassionate teaching and learning. We pray this school will bless the medical profession with well-trained and qualified physicians who will provide medical care to patients throughout the country.

He continued to pray that the school would be a blessing to graduates, that they would leave with much knowledge and having hearts full of compassion.

Original post:

Utah's second medical school opens doors in southern Utah - Ironcountytoday

Addressing scores of bewildered and at times angry students, the dean of USCs medical school said Wednesday that the university had launched multiple internal investigations into the conduct of his predecessor after The Times reported that he associated with criminals and drug abusers who told of using methamphetamine and other drugs with him.

These allegations, if they are true, they are horrible and despicable, Dr. Rohit Varma told the gathering of scores of medical scholars and graduate students at the Keck School of Medicine in Boyle Heights, who were summoned to a town-hall-type meeting to discuss The Times article about Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito. The newspaper obtained a recording of the meeting.

Hes a man who had a brilliant career, all gone down the drain, Varma said. Im standing in this place where my predecessor now has this taint. ... It is sad.

He also said Puliafito, who stepped down as dean last year, had sought treatment in the past for alcoholism, but that the allegations in the article that he used drugs came as a complete shock to us.

On Monday, when The Times lengthy investigation was published, USC announced that Puliafito, 66, had been placed on leave from his positions as a faculty member and Keck eye surgeon, and was no longer treating patients. The school has been struggling to contend with the fallout from the accounts that the renowned ophthalmologist, who headed the medical school for nearly a decade, led a second life involving meth and other drugs he used with a circle of much younger people.

At the meeting on the Keck campus, students some wearing hospital scrubs said university administrators should have known more about Puliafitos troubling behavior, including reports that he appeared drunk or otherwise intoxicated at campus events. One woman said that it seems shocking that no one has been able to figure anything out in the last 10 years. ... People are now going to be questioning our professionalism.

Another student said, Its pretty unfathomable to believe there was no one in the loop and that no one had any idea and that everyone is completely blindsided. We want to be assured that there will be people held accountable that this was allowed to take place.

Puliafito resigned his $1.1-million-a-year deans post in March 2016, in the middle of the spring term, saying he wanted to explore outside opportunities.

He did not mention that three weeks earlier, a 21-year-old woman had overdosed in his presence in a Pasadena hotel room. The woman was rushed to a hospital, where she recovered. Police found methamphetamine in the hotel room, according to a police report, but made no arrests.

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A tip about the episode prompted The Times to investigate. The newspaper interviewed six people who said they partied and used drugs with Puliafito in Pasadena, Huntington Beach and Las Vegas, as well as at USC. They ranged in age from the late teens to late 30s. None were USC students.

Members of the group captured their exploits in photos and videos shot in 2015 and 2016.

In one video, a tuxedo-clad Puliafito displays an orange pill on his tongue and says into the camera, Thought Id take an ecstasy before the ball. Then he swallows the pill.

In another, Puliafito uses a butane torch to heat a large glass pipe outfitted for methamphetamine use. He inhales and then unleashes a thick plume of white smoke. Seated next to him on a sofa, a young woman appears to smoke heroin from a piece of heated foil.

Near the end of his remarks Wednesday, Varma said he had recently spoken with Puliafito, and he asked those present in the auditorium not to share with others the personal interaction he had with the former dean.

An overdose, a young companion, drug-fueled parties: The secret life of USC med school dean

He called me yesterday and he apologized for what had happened and for putting me and the school and SC through what has happened, and he informed me that hes going to go and get help.

USC has declined to say when it first learned about Puliafitos alleged conduct or how it responded. Varma said at Wednesdays meeting that USC Provost Michael Quick told him that Puliafito had resigned because he cannot continue his activities here anymore as dean.

Varma said Quick provided no other information about the resignation. That is what was communicated to me, he said. There were no other additional aspects.

A witness to the incidents phoned the office of USC President C.L. Max Nikias and told two employees about Puliafitos role. The witness spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity.

Phone records confirm that the witness made a six-minute call to Nikias office on March 14, 2016, 10 days after the overdose.

A third student at Wednesdays meeting said that if Nikias did receive the call, his handling of the affair needed further scrutiny.

If this is true, if it turns out that it is a cultural problem with the university, with President Nikias, will you fight for President Nikias to be let go, so we can bring in another president who wouldnt let this happen? the student asked.

Varma told the students that university officials had not corroborated that the call had been placed. There was no evidence particularly of that phone call, he said. There is a full-on series of investigations.

Nikias did not respond to an interview request.

The Medical Board of California said Wednesday that it had opened an investigation into Puliafito.

In a statement Wednesday, USC said we have multiple investigations ongoing, and much of this situation is complicated by confidentiality. The university also said that Varma held the meeting with good intentions but did not intend it as a public statement.

The university has been trying to address widespread concern on campus and off about The Times article and how USC handled the former dean.

In a letter to USC faculty on Wednesday, Quick said that all along we have taken this matter very seriously, that we made what we felt were the best decisions we could make, as swiftly as could be done in a prudent and thoughtful manner, and given the information we had at any given time.

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Alleged conduct by former USC dean 'horrible and despicable,' med school head tells angry students - Los Angeles Times

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July 20, 2017

Representatives from The University of Texas at Dallas and UT Southwestern recently traveled to Havana to meet with the president of Cubas Latin American School of Medicine and officials from the University of Havana to investigate establishing two- to four-week observerships in which faculty from both Texas universities would visit laboratories and classes to see how Cubans approach research and clinical care training.

Dr. Mark W. Spong, dean of the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science; Dr. Magaly Spector, assistant to the provost for strategic initiatives and professor in practice at UT Dallas; Dr. Nora Gimpel, associate professor and chief of community health at UT Southwestern; and Erica Asante of the UT Southwestern Office of Global Healthmet with Dr. Antonio Lopez Gutierrez, president of the Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina (ELAM), to learn more about the medical school and discuss potential areas for collaboration.

The Jonsson School has a number of exchange agreements with universities around the world, said Spong, holder of the Lars Magnus Ericsson Chair in Electrical Engineering and Excellence in Education Chair. The opportunity to foster a collaborative relationship with ELAM is exciting. It would bring a new dimension to our international collaborations.

During the meeting, Spong and Gimpel gave overviews of the bioengineering program at UT Dallas and family medicine efforts at UT Southwestern, respectively.

It was a rare visit among faculty from The University of Texas System and Cubas top medical school, which has more than 20,000 students from over 100 countries. The school occupies a former naval base that Fidel Castro transformed in the late 1990s into a global medical school for qualified students, regardless of national origin.

We look forward to seeing what the future holds. The fact that our institutions came together to discuss a doable and mutually beneficial exchange is a milestone.

Dr. Magaly Spector, assistant to the provost for strategic initiatives and professor in practice at UT Dallas

The trip also included meetings with ELAMs director of research and investigations, Maria Adelaida Sareigo Riumbau, and the director of foreign affairs, Dunia Cribeiro Gregores. Faculty also met with U.S. students studying at ELAM, three of whom are from Texas.

We are very proud to initiate these talks, Gutierrez said. We look forward to implementing concrete steps toward a partnership.

Cuba, which boasts a patient-to-doctor ratioof 150 to 1, prides itself on educating doctors focused on public health and the more humanistic practices of traditional medicine (e.g., the physical exam) that can sometimes be overlooked in more technologically advanced settings, Gutierrez said.

Both UT Dallas and UT Southwestern have been invited back for a second visit in the fall to discuss the possibility of signing a memorandum of understanding that may involve hosting Cuban researchers in Texas, as well.

Spector, who has overseen the development of University programs in Cuba over the last several years, led the trip. In the past, Spector has led delegations from the Naveen Jindal School of Management (JSOM) and the School of Arts and Humanities to Cuba. JSOM has a number of programs aimed at exposing students and faculty to the business environments and socio-cultural dynamics of emerging markets in countries such as China, India, South Africa, Turkey, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Mexico, Poland and Estonia.

Despite a recent shift in the United States evolving Cuba policy, educational trips of this kind remain unrestricted.

We look forward to seeing what the future holds, Spector said. The fact that our institutions came together to discuss a doable and mutually beneficial exchange is a milestone.

Media Contact: Alex Lyda, UT Dallas, (972) 883-3783, [emailprotected] or the Office of Media Relations, UT Dallas, (972) 883-2155, [emailprotected]

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Delegation Explores Possible Partnership with Cuba's Medical School - University of Texas at Dallas (press release)

The former dean of USCs medical school is on leave and is no longer seeing patients after the Los Angeles Times reported that he associated with criminals and drug users who said he abused methamphetamine and other drugs, university officials said Monday.

Carmen A. Puliafito led the Keck School of Medicine for nearly a decade before resigning in 2016. He remained on the Keck faculty and continued to represent the university at public events.

Puliafito, a noted ophthalmologist, also continued to accept patients at campus eye clinics as recently as this weekend, according to his USC web page.

The Times published its investigation Monday. USC said in a statement later in the day that it was following all proper procedures to review his status in patient care. He is currently on leave from his roles at USC, including seeing patients.

If the assertions reported in the July 17 Los Angeles Times story are true, we hope that Carmen receives care and treatment that will lead him to a full recovery, the statement said. Officials declined to comment further.

As of Monday, Puliafitos USC web page had been changed to say he is not accepting or seeing patients.

Paul Pringle, Harriet Ryan, Adam Elmahrek, Matt Hamilton and Sarah Parvini

Photos and video show then-head of Keck School of Medicine partying with criminals and drug-users.

Photos and video show then-head of Keck School of Medicine partying with criminals and drug-users. (Paul Pringle, Harriet Ryan, Adam Elmahrek, Matt Hamilton and Sarah Parvini)

Also, a tweet sent Friday by the USC Roski Eye Institute, announcing that Puliafito was among five doctors who had been inducted into the Retina Hall of Fame, was deleted.

Puliafito, 66, is a renowned eye surgeon whose skill in the operating room was matched by his gift for attracting talent and money to the medical school. USC officials hired the Harvard-educated physician in 2007 to raise the profile and ranking of the Keck School.

As dean, he oversaw hundreds of medical students and thousands of professors and clinicians. He was also a key fundraiser for USC, bringing in more than $1 billion in donations, by his own estimation.

Puliafito resigned his $1.1-million-a-year deans post in March 2016, in the middle of the spring term, saying he wanted to explore outside opportunities.

He did not mention that three weeks earlier, a 21-year-old woman had overdosed in his presence in a Pasadena hotel room. The woman was rushed to a hospital, where she recovered. Police found methamphetamine in the hotel room, according to a police report, but made no arrests.

The incident drew no notice, but a tip about it led The Times to investigate.

The newspaper found that during his tenure as dean, Puliafito kept company with a circle of criminals and drug users. They captured their exploits in photos and videos shot in 2015 and 2016.

In one video, a tuxedo-clad Puliafito displays an orange pill on his tongue and says into the camera, Thought Id take an ecstasy before the ball. Then he swallows the pill.

In another, Puliafito uses a butane torch to heat a large glass pipe outfitted for methamphetamine use. He inhales and then unleashes a thick plume of white smoke. Seated next to him on a sofa, a young woman smokes heroin from a piece of heated foil.

The overdose occurred at the Hotel Constance in Pasadena. Just before 5 p.m. on March 4, 2016, a hotel employee called 911 to report that a guest had suffered an apparent overdose. The woman, Sarah Warren, now 22, told The Times she became incapacitated while using drugs with Puliafito.

Pasadena police did not write a report on the incident. After The Times made repeated requests for information, the department acknowledged that an officer at the scene should have prepared a report, and he was belatedly ordered to do so.

In the report, Puliafito is identified as a witness to the overdose and as a friend of the victim.The rest of the document is heavily redacted.

No arrests were made, and Warren told The Times that Pasadena police never interviewed her

A Pasadena councilman said Monday that the Police Department conducted an internal inquiry and determined that the officer handled the case inappropriately.

Councilman Victor Gordo said Police Chief Phillip Sanchez told him the officer might have prematurely determined the overdose was a medical incident, as opposed to a possible crime scene.

Gordo said Sanchez assured him the case was ultimately investigated fully and that appropriate actions have been taken in order to ensure that this does not occur again.

City government spokesman William Boyer said the officer had been disciplined. He declined to say how.

Sanchez did not return a call seeking comment.

Pasadena City Manager Steve Mermell on Monday sent a memo to council members saying that The Times account of the hotel incident reflects poorly on the city and the Pasadena Police Department.

As indicated in the article, initially there was no police report made of the incident, Mermell said. There should have been and that was a failure on the part of our responding officer. Once this came to light, [police] undertook an appropriate investigation and ultimately the involved officer was the subject of disciplinary action.

Still, Councilman Tyron Hampton said he wanted a written explanation for why a police report wasnt promptly prepared.

If that was my daughter or your daughter, youd want to make sure that the people who are here to protect and serve you are doing all they can to protect you, said Hampton, a member of the councils public safety committee. Ill make sure were transparent.

Puliafito did not return a phone call and email seeking comment.

Contact the reporters

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UPDATES:

8:40 p.m.: This article was updated with additional comments from USC and from Pasadenas city manager.

This article was first published at 7:45 p.m.

Excerpt from:

Former USC medical school dean no longer seeing patients; Pasadena police discipline officer - Los Angeles Times

Dr. Constantine George told UNLVs first class of medical school students that stethoscopes should be used as a reminder to keep patients at the center of what they do over the next four years and beyond.

Presenting the stethoscopes was more than a symbolic gesture.

Dr. Constantine George told UNLVs first class of medical school students that the instrument should be used as a reminder to keep patients at the center of what they do over the next four years and beyond.

Without patients, we have no doctors, we have no medical school, we have no clinics, we have no hospitals, said George, who donated and presented the stethoscopes to the students. Without a patient, we dont exist. You have to keep that in mind and that should be your motto starting today for the rest of your career.

Students received the stethoscopes along with a healthy dose of advice Monday in celebration of their first day of studies, and the opening of Southern Nevadas first allopathic school of medicine.

George, a local physician, encouraged students to uphold five core values throughout their medical careers: humility, hospitality, respect, integrity and accountability.

UNLV President Len Jessup called it an incredible moment.

It took a lot of hard work from a lot of people over a decade or more to get to this day, Jessup said. This is a great time for this university.

The students who are receiving full-ride scholarships shared his enthusiasm.

To have everybody finally in one area and to be able to talk with my classmates who have like-minded ideas about how we should practice medicine in Nevada is really exciting, said student Lauren Hollifield, 25, of Las Vegas.

Hollifield said she and her fellow classmates are already talking about the communities they want to help.

Were going to be out into neighborhoods starting Thursday, Hollifield said. So were already discussing what kind of populations we want to work with.

There was one noticeable absence from Mondays ceremony: Founding Dean Barbara Atkinson, who is recovering in the hospital from a major health scare. She suffered a ruptured intestine that triggered a serious infection.

Jessup said he spoke to Atkinson in the hospital Monday morning, who wanted to reassure students that they are in very good hands.

Barbara has built an excellent team and everything is running like clockwork as shes recuperating, Jessup said.

Following the ceremony, Jessup said although the university has no acting dean for the medical school, on-campus and off-campus community members have sent in about eight to 10 nominations to temporarily replace Atkinson. Jessup said soliciting nominations for an acting position is part of university bylaws.

Now were talking to each of the nominees, Jessup said, adding that it helps with accreditation if the dean has a medical doctor degree. We hope to have someone soon.

The medical schools opening day is cause for celebration, but Jessup said university officials are eyeing their next goal: securing the remaining donor funds for a new medical education building.

The university recently received $25 million from the state Legislature, which an anonymous donor matched. He said officials are talking with about eight to 10 additional donors. Officials have estimated the building will cost at least $100 million to construct.

In the meantime, the university has made a temporary home for the students at its existing Shadow Lane campus.

I feel confident the community will step up for that project just as they did for the scholarships, he said.

Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Follow @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.

Did you know?

With 198 physicians per 100,000 residents in 2010, Nevada falls far below the U.S. average of 272 doctors, a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.

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Classes are in session as UNLV medical school opens - Las Vegas Review-Journal

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Vaughan Gething: 'No case' for north Wales medical school - BBC ... BBC News Proposals made for increased medical education by Cardiff, Swansea and Bangor universities working together. and more »

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Vaughan Gething: 'No case' for north Wales medical school - BBC ... - BBC News

USC Med School former dean, a Buffalo native, on leave following LA Times expose Buffalo Business First A Buffalo native who led the University of Southern California medical school for a decade has been put on leave following a blockbuster story in Monday's Los Angeles Times alleging he abused methamphetamine and affiliated with prostitutes. and more »

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USC Med School former dean, a Buffalo native, on leave following LA Times expose - Buffalo Business First

VERMILLION The University of South Dakotas medical school is taking a different path than the universitys law school and staying where it is due to a significantly high number of applications.

The universitys Sanford School of Medicine is seeing more applicants than it has available seats, the Press and Dakotan reported.

Medical school Dean Mary Nettleman said that more than 850 people apply for the school, but most of the applicants dont have South Dakota ties and arent considered.

Some students do meet our minimum standards for qualification (for acceptance), she said. But they need to brush up on their qualifications before they would be someone who is likely to enter the class. Not every one of those 200 would be a slam dunk to get into medical school. There is no doubt that there are some times where we would turn away good doctors.

The schools strict admission standards require medical students to have strong state ties, which include graduating from a South Dakota high school, having a parent living in the state or being a member of a Native American tribe in or bordering the state.

The school interviews about 200 students before each school to fill about 71 open seats. Of those seats, two are given to MD or PhD students and two are given to Native American students through a grant.

The school currently has no plans to expand but is looking into expanding opportunities for students.

In medical school, there is a lot of what we call experiential learning, Nettleman said. You have your classroom learning, but then you also go out and work with patients directly.

Unlike its medical school, the universitys law school is looking into the possibility of moving to Sioux Falls due to low enrollment.

Read more:

SD medical school sees more applicants than seats - The Capital Journal

A major health scare will keep the key leader and visionary behind the new UNLV School of Medicine from being on hand for a monumental moment Monday the first day of class for the first class of students.

Founding Dean Barbara Atkinson, who has ushered the school through countless deadlines and challenges to arrive at this point, recently suffered a ruptured intestine that triggered a serious infection. She remains hospitalized at University Medical Center in Las Vegas as UNLV officials weigh their options for an interim replacement to oversee the schools first weeks or months of operation.

Schools do face this on occasion, when the leader of the academic institution falls ill, or theres some sort of serious event that has occurred, and theyre no longer able to fulfill their duties, said Dr. John Prescott, chief academic officer for the Association of American Medical Colleges, who has reached out to school leadership to offer assistance. In most cases, theres been a succession plan that has been worked out. But since shes been with it since the founding, I dont know if thats happened.

Silence from UNLV

While university officials said this week that they are discussing the potential of hiring an acting dean to lead the fledgling school in Atkinsons absence, who that may be and when that person might step in are unclear. The university has communicated nothing to the Board of Regents, according to Regent Trevor Hayes, and has not responded to requests from the Review-Journal for interviews and information.

According to Prescott, its common in situations where a leader suddenly departs for university leaders to assess internal leaders to see if someone could temporarily step in.

Other times, he said, a school will tap a recently retired dean who can assist in the time of transition. He said schools typically seek someone with the same skill set as the person they are replacing, in this case someone who understands academic medicine.

Dr. Mark Doubrava, a physician and a member of the Board of Regents, who also chairs the Health Sciences System Committee, agreed that will be a key consideration.

It should be an individual who is in the field of medicine, and preferably has experience in medical education, Doubrava said.

Regardless of who is chosen, he or she will have big shoes to fill.

Atkinson is an accomplished educational leader, clinician and researcher who, after being appointed as planning dean in 2014, created the vision and education program for the school, while also garnering regional and legislative support. Prior to arriving in Las Vegas, she was elected to the prestigious Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1997, and also served as dean of the University of Kansas School of Medicine, where she refocused the school to better serve regional needs.

Potential candidates in the ranks

The UNLV Medical Schools senior leadership includes several members who could potentially be tabbed to temporarily fill in, including:

Senior Associate Dean Dr. Parvesh Kumar, whose background includes experience as a researcher, clinician and academic. He has experience in building academic departments of radiation oncology and clinical research programs.

Vice Dean Dr. Ellen Cosgrove, an academic whose expertise lies in shaping and forming medical school programs.

Senior Associate Dean Dr. Samuel Parrish, whose background is primarily academic.

A clue on the succession could come as soon as Monday.

Since the dean usually greets medical students on their first day of classes, Prescott said UNLV will likely have someone step into Atkinsons place to provide reassurances to students.

But Regent Jason Geddes indicated that will not happen, saying he believes UNLV President Len Jessup will be on hand to greet the students.

At this time, student Sarah Grimley is feeling only excitement not nerves or concern about Atkinsons absence about the first day.

She set up everything perfectly for us, Grimley, 22, of Las Vegas said of Atkinson. Dr. Parrish and all of those people who worked right alongside her, they know everything that she wanted to happen.

They know what they have to do

Doubrava said that while Atkinson will miss the historic moment, UNLV supporters can take some comfort in the fact that she did not have teaching on her to-do list.

The curriculum, schedule has been set, he said. They know what they have to do on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

In addition to providing reassurances, the acting dean will have to help address any issues that come up with the new students coming on board; continue faculty recruitment and fundraising efforts; and handle day-to-day operations and budgeting.

Over and above those duties, however, Prescott said the replacement should understand the schools mission, and commit to following it.

I have great faith the right leader will be found soon to assist until Dean Atkinson comes back, he said.

Jannah Hodges, president and managing partner of Hodges Partners Executive Search in Dallas said it is critical that a school of medicine have a strong, permanent leader at the helm. In the event Atkinsons return is delayed for some reason, UNLV could be forced to quickly mount a search for a permanent successor.

While a search for a new dean often takes up to a year, Hodges holds the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas as a shining example of how the process can be accelerated. By establishing a search committee led by a strong chairman, seeking help from an executive search firm and following a strict timeline, she said the school was able to name a new president after a relatively quick five-month search in 2010.

It was do or die for Baylor, said Hodges, whose firm assisted the school in its search. They are where they are today because of the CEO and excellent departmental leadership. You have to have someone with a vision, who carries it forward into the future.

Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Follow @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.

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Leadership void hangs over first day of UNLV medical school - Las Vegas Review-Journal

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TRACY

Dr. Gerald Tracy joined his colleagues and stared into the yawning pit that was Scrantons sinking tech and medical sectors and resolved that they must close it.

The consortium of 18 area business and medical leaders, about 13 years ago, set out to build a medical school a sure-fire fix, they believed, for what the Pennsylvania Medical Society said in 2005 would be a severe physician shortage across Pennsylvania.

We really had to prove that we could deliver a product. That was the hardest thing I ever did, Tracy said.

In October, the cardiologist will receive the medical societys Distinguished Service Award, a prestigious honor first given to polio vaccine inventor Dr. Jonas Salk in 1956. The Lackawanna County Medical Society nominated Tracy mostly for his efforts to found the Commonwealth Medical College, now the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine.

The Pennsylvania Medical Society has bestowed its highest award only 28 other times in the last 61 years.

At 75, Tracy, a 40-year medical society member, continues to work at the school with students as a clinical professor and in other administrative departments.

Dr. Tracy and other visionaries associated with bringing a medical college to northeastern Pennsylvania demonstrated an innovative way to increase access to care in an area of the state that needed a boost, PAMED President Dr. Charles Cutler

said in a statement.

Jerry Joyce, a Scranton developer and one of the original Northeast Pennsylvania Medical Education Development Consortium members, applauded Tracys award, and said the accolade shines a light on the advances taking place in the region.

Right in the incipient stages, he brought a real high energy and a great deal of commitment of his time, Joyce said of Tracy. Theres a period of time in the beginning where youre selling a story, and you have to get people to buy into that.

Tracy, who shunned the extra attention the service award has brought him, said by the time they were ready to start recruiting students, they had ironed out all the kinks in their pitch.

Im not bragging, I think we had our act together, he said.

They had area medical education heavyweights, like himself, Dr. Charles Bannon and Dr. Robert Wright, as founding consortium members who had been teaching for decades. They also had business leaders in Joyce and consortium president Robert Naismith, a local entrepreneur, among others

.

Then-Gov. Ed Rendell had reservations about Scrantons medical school, but another consortium member, former state Sen. Robert Mellow, had the governors ear.

The college subsequently received $35 million

in state funding, the first major cash infusion toward its initial $75 million

construction goal.

Mellow has been friends with Tracy for 40 years or more, he said. And the doctor cared diligently for Mellows daughter in 1992 after she was hit by a drunk driver, he said.

He deserves it for everything that he has done, for everything that he stands for and for everything that he will continue to do while the good Lord has him on this earth, he said, applauding Tracys award.

Despite his admiration for Tracy, Mellow, an enthusiastic New York Yankees fan, said he will forever needle the doctor, who likes the Boston Red Sox.

Contact the writer:

joconnell@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9131;

@jon_oc on Twitter

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One medical school architect to receive prestigious award - Scranton Times-Tribune

The Boston City Council has passed a resolution in honor of Harvard School of Dental Medicines (HSDM) 150th anniversary.

Councilors Ayanna Pressley and Josh Zakim presented the resolution to the Schools dean, R. Bruce Donoff, D.M.D. 67, M.D. 73, at a session in Bostons historic Faneuil Hall.

The Harvard School of Dental Medicine is a special place, said Donoff. As the first dental school of its kind, weve led the way in dental education, research, and patient care, and we are committed to integrating oral health and general health.

As we reflect on all that has been accomplished, we give thanks to our friends, alumni, faculty, students, and staff who continue to make the HSDM such an exceptional place, he said. We give a special thanks today to the Boston City Council for its ongoing support and for joining us in celebrating this momentous occasion.

HSDM was founded on July 17, 1867, and was the first dental school in the United States connected to a university and its medical school. It was also the first U.S. dental school to confer the Dentariae Medicinae Doctoris degree.

The Harvard School of Dental Medicine has long been a place of firsts, a place for pioneers who devote themselves to the deeply humane work of caring for people through the creation and application of knowledge, said Harvard President Drew Faust. That work is visible today in the education of students, in the work of clinicians and researchers, and in the impact of efforts to promote oral health in communities both down the street and around the world.

The School was an early advocate for diversity only four years after the Civil War, Robert Tanner Freeman, D.M.D. 1869, a son of former slaves, was in its inaugural class. He is widely believed to be the first black graduate in the United States to earn a degree in dentistry. George Franklin Grant, D.M.D. 1870, graduated from the School and went on to become the first black faculty member at Harvard University.

Its really something to be assembled here in this august venue, said Pressley, an at-large councilor. In this room today we see democracy that is truly representative of our city. And when we think about liberty and freedom, you certainly cant think about that without also thinking about equality.

Today we are honoring an institution that is celebrating 150 years of commitment to equality, she said. We thank them for their earliest commitment to diversity and inclusion, and their continued efforts to ensure access to preventative dental care and treatment, because we know that that equal access to health care is so critical to every other outcome in life.

HSDM leads research in skeletal biology, where it is at the forefront of research seeking cures for diseases of bone and craniofacial tissues, with a focus on discoveries with implications that reach far beyond dentistry. A large component of the Schools mission is to expand access to oral health care to underserved populations. The Harvard Dental Center, which is part of HSDM, provides comprehensive care to thousands of residents throughout the Greater Boston region every year.

The Harvard Dental Center Teaching Practices offers the community a range of dental care at an on-site clinic and through a wide variety of community-based affiliation agreements. Services are provided at a cost that is significantly lower than that charged at a private dental practice. Some services may even be free as a result of several on-going community based efforts. Over the past five years the Harvard Dental Center Teaching Practices has provided more than $3 million in care each year for the community in and around the Longwood Medical Area.

Providing access to care and reducing disparities has been and will continue to be an important part of our work, continued Donoff.

The School was originally in downtown Boston, close to Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1909, it moved to 188 Longwood Ave., and today is part of the Longwood Medical Area a hub of teaching hospitals, medical education, patient care, and research.

We are extremely fortunate to have the Harvard School of Dental Medicine right here in Boston, said Zakim, who represents the district that includes the medical area. The School offers a wide range of programs for the community, including free clinics for both adults and children, free mouth guards for athletes through community programs, and free educational programs to promote oral health. We couldnt be more grateful for their continued commitment to the people of Boston, and we wish them the very best on the 150th anniversary.

HSDM is hosting a Founding Day Celebration and Open House today from 3 to 5 p.m. at 190 Longwood Ave., Boston. All are invited to attend.

Continued here:

Harvard School of Dental Medicine to fte 150 years - Harvard Gazette

A major health scare will keep the key leader and visionary behind the new UNLV School of Medicine from being on hand for a monumental moment Monday the first day of class for the first class of students.

Founding Dean Barbara Atkinson, who has ushered the school through countless deadlines and challenges to arrive at this point, recently suffered a ruptured intestine that triggered a serious infection. She remains hospitalized at University Medical Center in Las Vegas as UNLV officials weigh their options for an interim replacement to oversee the schools first weeks or months of operation.

Schools do face this on occasion, when the leader of the academic institution falls ill, or theres some sort of serious event that has occurred, and theyre no longer able to fulfill their duties, said Dr. John Prescott, chief academic officer for the Association of American Medical Colleges, who has reached out to school leadership to offer assistance. In most cases, theres been a succession plan that has been worked out. But since shes been with it since the founding, I dont know if thats happened.

Silence from UNLV

While university officials said this week that they are discussing the potential of hiring an acting dean to lead the fledgling school in Atkinsons absence, who that may be and when that person might step in are unclear. The university has communicated nothing to the Board of Regents, according to Regent Trevor Hayes, and has not responded to requests from the Review-Journal for interviews and information.

According to Prescott, its common in situations where a leader suddenly departs for university leaders to assess internal leaders to see if someone could temporarily step in.

Other times, he said, a school will tap a recently retired dean who can assist in the time of transition. He said schools typically seek someone with the same skill set as the person they are replacing, in this case someone who understands academic medicine.

Dr. Mark Doubrava, a physician and a member of the Board of Regents, who also chairs the Health Sciences System Committee, agreed that will be a key consideration.

It should be an individual who is in the field of medicine, and preferably has experience in medical education, Doubrava said.

Regardless of who is chosen, he or she will have big shoes to fill.

Atkinson is an accomplished educational leader, clinician and researcher who, after being appointed as planning dean in 2014, created the vision and education program for the school, while also garnering regional and legislative support. Prior to arriving in Las Vegas, she was elected to the prestigious Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1997, and also served as dean of the University of Kansas School of Medicine, where she refocused the school to better serve regional needs.

Potential candidates in the ranks

The UNLV Medical Schools senior leadership includes several members who could potentially be tabbed to temporarily fill in, including:

Senior Associate Dean Dr. Parvesh Kumar, whose background includes experience as a researcher, clinician and academic. He has experience in building academic departments of radiation oncology and clinical research programs.

Vice Dean Dr. Ellen Cosgrove, an academic whose expertise lies in shaping and forming medical school programs.

Senior Associate Dean Dr. Samuel Parrish, whose background is primarily academic.

A clue on the succession could come as soon as Monday.

Since the dean usually greets medical students on their first day of classes, Prescott said UNLV will likely have someone step into Atkinsons place to provide reassurances to students.

But Regent Jason Geddes indicated that will not happen, saying he believes UNLV President Len Jessup will be on hand to greet the students.

At this time, student Sarah Grimley is feeling only excitement not nerves or concern about Atkinsons absence about the first day.

She set up everything perfectly for us, Grimley, 22, of Las Vegas said of Atkinson. Dr. Parrish and all of those people who worked right alongside her, they know everything that she wanted to happen.

They know what they have to do

Doubrava said that while Atkinson will miss the historic moment, UNLV supporters can take some comfort in the fact that she did not have teaching on her to-do list.

The curriculum, schedule has been set, he said. They know what they have to do on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

In addition to providing reassurances, the acting dean will have to help address any issues that come up with the new students coming on board; continue faculty recruitment and fundraising efforts; and handle day-to-day operations and budgeting.

Over and above those duties, however, Prescott said the replacement should understand the schools mission, and commit to following it.

I have great faith the right leader will be found soon to assist until Dean Atkinson comes back, he said.

Jannah Hodges, president and managing partner of Hodges Partners Executive Search in Dallas said it is critical that a school of medicine have a strong, permanent leader at the helm. In the event Atkinsons return is delayed for some reason, UNLV could be forced to quickly mount a search for a permanent successor.

While a search for a new dean often takes up to a year, Hodges holds the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas as a shining example of how the process can be accelerated. By establishing a search committee led by a strong chairman, seeking help from an executive search firm and following a strict timeline, she said the school was able to name a new president after a relatively quick five-month search in 2010.

It was do or die for Baylor, said Hodges, whose firm assisted the school in its search. They are where they are today because of the CEO and excellent departmental leadership. You have to have someone with a vision, who carries it forward into the future.

Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Follow @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.

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Leadership void hangs over first day of class for UNLV Medical School - Las Vegas Review-Journal

Over the course of 10 days, Josh Adamczak, a 2017 Tomah High School graduate, got to experience what it would be like to attend medical school.

Adamczak was part of the National Youth Leadership Forum in Advanced Medicine & Health Care at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

It was a busy 10 days, Adamczak said, but worth it.

It was really a really cool experience, but also kind of like intense, he said. It was non-stop from eight in the morning until about 10 at night, every night for 10 days. I got the schedule beforehand, and I realized it was a packed schedule, but I didnt really realize how in-depth or how much we would really be doing.

The program, which ran from July 2-11, is for students seriously considering a career in the medical field. They got to visit a medical training facility, take part in a simulated patient encounter, created a public awareness campaign and a social media campaign centered around a current topic in public health.

Participants got to attend lectures and speaking events, apprentice doctor workshops, real-life simulations and virtual reality surgery. They also went behind the scenes at medical institutions to interact with university faculty and professionals in the medical field.

It was like being enrolled in a mini medical school, Adamczak said. Participants received a considerable amount of information and learned a lot from a variety of sources.

We had lectures often about a variety of topics. We learned suturing, we did a thing about orthopedic surgery, he said. We did a virtual reality surgery, and we visited the shock-trauma center in Baltimore, which is like one of the biggest and most widely used. We visited the medical school in Marylands School of Medicine just tons of things.

The most memorable activity, Adamczak said, was a simulated patient encounter in which the patients are professional actors and actresses.

Its like a routine doctor visit, and you have so many questions and stuff that you have to ask, he said. Its one of the tests to become board certified like if you dont wash your hands youll fail, but with us they made it where it was a case study. (It) was really cool, because ... theyre trained to help teach med students. Then we used it in our groups to try to figure out, to diagnose what they had.

The experience that left the biggest impression on Adamczak was a lecture about medical ethics.

We spent like an entire afternoon talking about ethics, and I thought it was really interesting because we basically got different scenarios, and we had to argue our point of why, he said.

I found it really interesting because with medical ethics, if a patient has the decision-making capabilities, they can refuse whatever treatment they want and you can do nothing about it.

The lecture made Adamczak, who first became interested in a medical career after taking anatomy in high school, think about changing his career path.

I went to this camp, kind of hesitant if I really wanted to do medicine or not. But before I really wanted to do it, then I started to kind of doubt it, like, do I really want to do medicine? Do I really understand what it is that I would be doing? he said. This actually made me think more toward medical law, because we did a thing on ethics, it was really interesting. So Im thinking about possibly pursuing that instead.

Overall, it was a fun trip, Adamczak said, especially meeting new people.

The best parts was, other than just getting to be able to do all of those things that a majority of kids my age dont get to do, is that I made amazing friends from across the nation, he said. I had a group of probably like five friends that were in my group, and we were inseparable doing all this stuff together. ... I now have friends all over the place.

Starting this fall, Adamczak will attend Roosevelt University in Chicago, where he will major in bio-chemistry.

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Prestigious medical school hosts Tomah High School grad - La Crosse Tribune

The Rocky Vista students, of which half are from Utah, will begin their four-year medical education later this month at the 32-acres Ivins campus.

Their two-story, 104,000 square-foot school building includes two, 200-seat lecture halls, 36 study rooms, a simulation center, standardized patient rooms and a 9,000 square-foot library. The campus also has two student housing buildings.

Utah health officials hope the new medical school will alleviate a physician shortage now plaguing the state. And though concerns about for-profit medical education persist in the industry, experts who have worked with students from Rocky Vista's first location opened in 2008 in Parker, Colo., said the concerns are unfounded.

"We really measure the student, not the school that they came from," said Shane Robinson, administrative director of graduate medical education at Idaho's Bingham Memorial Hospital. Students must obtain the same certifications "whether the school is for-profit or not, [so] you're comparing apples to apples, and the folks that join us are right on par, if not a hair better, than the national average."

More options The U. has been training medical students for over 100 years, but Rocky Vista officials felt Utah needed more medical training opportunities to meet the state's needs.

There is a lack of health care access in Utah, particularly in rural and southern portions of the state, said Tom Told, dean and chief academic officer of Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

With 207.5 physicians per 100,000 population, the Beehive State ranks 43rd in the nation, according to 2015 Association of American Medical Colleges data.

Top-notch medical students are graduating from the U., but experts say there simply aren't enough. This is particularly problematic because research shows that individuals tend to stay in the state where they are trained.

"As our state's population continues to grow, the need for physicians continues to grow [with it]," Gov. Gary Herbert said Friday via video message. "And starting today, more Utah students will be able to stay in their home state while pursuing their medical education."

Told, who completed his undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University, said Friday he was not accepted into the U.'s medical school and was forced to leave the state in the 1970s to study.

He did not return to practice medicine in Utah after graduating medical school. "Where students train makes a big difference," Told said.

It became clear that this was still a problem, Told said, when he joined Rocky Vista in 2009, and realized how many Utah students came to study at the Colorado campus, the first for-profit medical school to open in the country.

So officials began to formulate a plan to bring a school to those students, one focused on osteopathic medicine, which promotes the body's own ability to heal.

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New Utah medical school opens in Ivins, doubling state's ability to ... - Salt Lake Tribune