JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) With a June deadline quickly approaching, work on a Joplin campus of the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences is progressing smoothly, according to officials overseeing the work.

A ribbon-cutting for the new campus is scheduled for June and the first class of students is expected to begin classes on July 28, The Joplin Globe reported (http://bit.ly/2kr8Ju4 ).

"It's moving forward very quickly," said Paula Gregory, dean of the campus, which will be located at the site of the former temporary Mercy Hospital.

Hiring is continuing but faculty members who are already on board come from "all over" and are planning their classes, which will use the same curriculum as the Kansas City campus, Gregory said.

"They're a very experienced faculty," she said. "We're very fortunate that they're interested in coming to Joplin."

Gregory now is talking to local faculty and physicians to find people interested in teaching guest lectures or labs. And actors are being recruited to participate in simulations to give students experience in patient interactions.

Several staff positions, such as housekeeping, food services and the library remain open and Gregory hopes to find those employees in the Joplin area.

Enrollment also is progressing, Gregory said, with the first class of 150 students about half-filled. Gregory said applicants have come from across the country.

"The admissions team has made sure we look carefully at local applicants because we know local interest will keep people here over time," she said.

Pete Stobie, director of strategic initiatives, said about 150 people work at the KCU Joplin site every day and the project is "on time and budget."

The campus has been funded largely through an investment by the Regional Medical School Alliance, which had pledged $30 million toward the project.

At Missouri Southern State University, officials have interviewed 21 applicants to the Yours to Lose program, an advanced medical school acceptance program that guarantees up to 25 slots at KCU Joplin each year to Missouri Southern graduates. The program is designed to encourage high-performing students to obtain their pre-med bachelor's degree in three years, rather than the traditional four.

About two-thirds of program applicants are regional students, although some are from Chicago and Memphis, Tennessee, according to university officials.

Yours to Lose will begin in the fall, with its first graduates entering KCU Joplin program in 2020.

___

Information from: The Joplin (Mo.) Globe, http://www.joplinglobe.com

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Medical school in Joplin progressing toward June opening - Lebanon Daily Record

The Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will partner with the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, the Drexel University College of Medicine, the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia and the Childrens Hospital of Orange County.

Penns Perelman School of Medicine is partnering with the medical schools at Temple University, Drexel University, Thomas Jefferson University and Rowan University, as well as two pediatric hospitals, to form the Philadelphia Coalition for a Cure, a collaboration that will streamline brain tumor research and individualized treatment.

On Feb. 3, the neurosurgery departments of the cooperating universities announced their plans to work alongside the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia and the Childrens Hospital of Orange County to provide children and adults with GPS Cancer screenings personalized molecular profiling technology provided by NantHealth, Inc.that allows doctors at participating locations to skip the first line of general treatment and immediately diagnose the best plan of action for each patient.

CHOP served as the coordinating site of PC4C, with founding Directors Adam Resnick and Jay Storm, chief of the Division of Neurosurgery at CHOP, leading the cause.

It was their mission and their goal to create a coalition in Philadelphia which included each of the major medical institutions and create an atmosphere where we can bridge across these different academic and medical institutions to improve the treatment and care for patients here in Philadelphia, CHOPs Outreach Liaison Robert Moulder said. I think this is a unique, new opportunity to allow Philadelphia to be a test case for the way that precision medicine can work.

Independence Blue Cross will cover the charges of GPS Cancer tests for all insurance holders, and the members of PC4C hope to be able to offer the service to anybody in need.

Christina Maxwell, research director at the Drexel Neurosciences Institute and coordinator of PC4C research activities, said she feels members are taking the correct approach by working collectively.

Neurosurgery is such a small field in general that the only way to be successful for neurosurgery research is to collaborate, Maxwell said. I dont think that there is a competition among the regions neurosurgeons where they are against collaboration. I think its a very open and very collaborative environment because they all have the patients best interests in mind as their primary goal.

For Michael Weaver, chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at Temple Universitys Lewis Katz School of Medicine, the decision of whether to join the consortium did not take long to make.

Neurosurgery is a pretty small community, and we all get along pretty well, Weaver said. So when one of our colleagues comes to us and says, listen, Ive got this really interesting idea, I think we go out of our way to support that.

Though partnership increases the volume of data available to neurosurgeons and researchers, it poses its own challenges.

Its a difficult logistical project because youre getting tissue material from many different institutions, said Donald ORourke, neurosurgery professor at the Perelman School of Medicine.

Nonetheless, many PC4C leaders are hopeful for what the future will bring.

Im hoping that eventually [the coalition] will become commonplace. This is a huge deal that theyre using this testing, Maxwell said. Someday it wont be a big deal, it will just be what we do.

Brain tumors are the leading cause of disease-related death in children and more than 20,000 adults are diagnosed each year,Storm said in a press release. Together were embarking on an incredibly exciting journey toward revolutionizing cancer care.

Moulder shared his own hopes for the future.

Ideally the goal is to not have any patients, to prevent these things from happening, he said.

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Penn partners with medical schools and hospitals for brain tumor research and treatment - The Daily Pennsylvanian

Over the last two decades, about 2 million people in the U.S. became addicted to opioids after being prescribed pain killers following an injury or illness. The National Institute on Drug Abuse and other studies say an increased emphasis on pain-management two decades ago contributed to an increased reliance on prescribing opioids. In this installment of our series, Opioids: Turning the Tide in the Crisis, WKSUs Kevin Niedermier looks at what role this has played in the deadly epidemic and how it is changing the way medical students are being taught.

Training doctors on alternatives to addiction

An estimated 76 million Americans suffer from chronic pain.

One new doctor who's learned better ways to treat that pain is Elliott Schwartz. He graduated from the Case Western Reserve medical school and is doing his residency at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in Cleveland. He says looking for a past history of addiction in patients is one key, be it opioids, alcohol or other substances. And, he says that means convincing patients there are alternatives.

Medical students hope changes will help I think as people realize there are ways to manage pain without these strongest pain killers, without these opioid medications, well probably see a shift away from this chronic use of opioid meds.

Schwartz took a relatively new, but optional fourth-year class at Case on responsibly prescribing pain medication, a reaction to the epidemic. It's taught by Dr. Ted Parran who specializes in addiction medicine. Parran says about 20 years ago, leaders in the medical profession decided that serious pain -- including long-term pain -- should be aggressively treated. And, they agreed that opiates seemed to be one good way to do that.

He says this war on pain coincided with other factors to help create todays opioid problem.

Making pain treatment a priority Health-care organizations were being told to screen for pain, and if its there, assess it, and if its serious, treat it. Not necessarily with opiates, but treat it.

"And then, finally, patients satisfaction surveys started coming out routinely at exactly the same time, and it really was the perfect storm. If you want patients to be satisfied treat their pain, the quickest way to treat their pain and the simplest is to just give them opiates.

Parran says the roughly 1-in-10 patients who are most likely to become addicted due to their brain chemistry dont begin showing the signs for one to two years. It's a time during which they are building up a tolerance to the drugs. But initially, studies on patients being treated with opiates were nonexistent after three-to-six months, and it seemed like everything was working fine.

Opioidsseemed like a safe, effective answer After people had been on these meds for a year, year and a half or two years -- and now were chewing them and selling them and buying them on the street and switching to heroin and doing all these awful things and having all these terrible overdoses -- the cat was out of the bag already.

NEOMED, the Northeastern Ohio Medical University, also offers a course on pain management and de-emphasizing the use ofopioids. It was established about four years ago in response to the epidemic. Dr. Bill Smucker, who teaches the course, says there are better alternatives to opioids for chronic pain.

Mind control and other methods The approaches that work include you doing mind- control things, and by that I mean deep breathing, relaxation, doing physical therapy and exercise, perhaps doing cognitive behavioral therapy with a psychologist or a behavioral -health consultant.

But, Smucker says patients are resistant to that approach.

I think the most important thing were teaching right now is to begin to teach physicians to begin to teach patients that were going to begin to make a shift from, Im giving you pain medication while you have your broken bone, but the pain is going to be your responsibility, it is going to shift be more your responsibility. Of course Ill help you, but opioids are not the single, simple fix for it.

A tough doctor-patient discussion Nakle Singh is a third-year student at the Case medical school. He recently attended a lecture by Parran on addiction; the class focused on addiction and prescribing pain killers will come in Singhs fourth year. He says hes aware of the opioid crisis, and during hospital rounds hes seen how difficult it can be to reduce dependence on pills.

Those conversations come up with attending physicians, and theyre usually very awkward encounters to witness because there really is a struggle between provider and patient."

But med schools across the country have recognized that that conversation needs to change.

The Association of American Medical Colleges says almost all of the approximately 140 medical schools in the U.S. now offer courses de-emphasizing the prescribing of opioids and other powerful pain killers.

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Medical Schools React to the Opioid Crisis With Curriculum Changes - WKSU News

Dozens of protesters assembled in front of Harvard Medical Schools Gordon Hall Saturday called on the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to relocate a Feb. 18 fundraiser at President Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort.

Dana-Farber, a Medical School teaching hospital, announced Thursday that it will keep this years annual fundraiser at Trumps Palm Beach resort but vowed to avoid controversial venues in the future. In January, thousands of Medical School affiliates signed a petition supporting the relocation of the event after Trump signed an executive order barring immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Brandishing signs and wearing warm clothes on a chilly afternoon, the protesters cheered on patients, doctors, and students who spoke at the rally. Many discussed their immigrant backgrounds and thoughts on how Trumps immigration executive order has negatively affected the medical field.

Celeste Royce, a doctor from Dorchester, said some immigrants have been deterred from seeking medical attention due to fear of prosecution after the presidential order. She urged audience members to advocate for vulnerable patients.

If we do not speak out against the discriminatory policies, then who will? Royce said.

Senan Ebrahim, a fourth year M.D./Ph.D. student whose parents are Muslim Syrian refugees, said he was concerned that many patients abroadincluding his own grandmothercannot seek quality medical care in the United States because of the executive order.

Today, we are complicit in a grave and growing injustice, Ebrahim said.

In a statement Thursday, top Dana-Farber administrators thanked patients, faculty, and staff for their respectful and constructive concern, but wrote that cancelling the fundraiser would also be seen as a political statement. Dana-Farber has paid Mar-a-Lago $150,000 every year since 2011 to hold its annual Discovery Celebration fundraiser.

Our decision last year to continue to rent that facility for this long-standing fundraiser was never meant to be, and does not now intend to be, any type of political statement or endorsement of any political figure or policy position, President of Dana-Farber Laurie H. Glimcher and Board of Trustees Chairman Joshua Bekenstein wrote.

At the protest, student activists challenged Glimcher and Bekensteins statement, which Medical School student Omar Bayomy said focused on appeasement rather than the issues at hand.

Bayomy said he respected for Dana-Farber for the medical services it offers but challenged the hospitals statement that the decision to hold the fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago was not intended to be a political endorsement.

In my opinion, these issues are not political, Bayomy said. We are speaking about human life and the respect and dignity we uphold for such lifethis is not politics, this is humanity. Wearing stethoscopes to indicate their medical backgrounds, student organizers thanked the crowd for braving the cold temperatures.

We will be cold and be uncomfortable because this matters that much, said student organizer Colleen M. Farrell to the crowd, which cheered in response.

Several Dana-Farber faculty members made closing remarks and said they were concerned about the Mar-a-Lago controversy.

When many of us heard about the issue, we thought it would go away, said Julie-Aurore Losman, a Medical School assistant professor who said many at Dana-Farber were deeply troubled by the Mar-a-Lago decision. We have a moral imperative to not only stand up for our colleagues and families, but our patients.

Dana B. Sarvey, a Medical School assistant professor who participated in the protest, described herself as uncomfortable with sitting at home and doing nothing.

More physicians need to be involved in healthcare policy, Sarvey said. At times in the past, individuals in the medical profession havent always spoken up for patient interests for a variety of reasons, but now is the time to speak up.

At the conclusion of the event, Farrell encouraged the audience to keep standing up for all the people in our community. She described herself as heartened and energized by the support from not only students, but also faculty members for whom protesting is more delicate. Organizers will schedule a town hall meeting in the near future about the Mar-a-Lago event.

Thank you and this is just the beginning, Farrell said to the crowd.

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Medical School Affiliates Protest Trump Resort Fundraiser | News ... - Harvard Crimson

Crain's Detroit Business

Medical schools steadily improve clinical care with research Crain's Detroit Business Clinical trials research at the University of Michigan and Wayne State University, which operate the two largest medical schools in Southeast Michigan, offers a wide array of basic science, clinical trials, specialty medicine and patient-centered ...

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Medical schools steadily improve clinical care with research - Crain's Detroit Business

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) Medical education is booming in Spokane.

A new medical school by Washington State University plus a dramatic expansion of a modest medical training program operated by the University of Washington mean hundreds of future doctors will soon be training in the eastern Washington city.

It's the culmination of years of efforts by civic leaders to expand education offerings that have the potential to grow the economy.

Story continues below video

The most high-profile development is Washington State University's creation of the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, the nation's newest med school.

Named for the late WSU president who pushed for its creation, the Floyd College received preliminary accreditation in October and has started accepting applications for its first class. The school plans to enroll 60 students per class, with the first class starting in August.

WSU President Kirk Schulz said the accreditation news "puts us one step closer to educating physicians who will practice in Washington's underserved communities and furthers the university's land-grant mission to serve the needs of the state."

Getting less attention but just as significant is the University of Washington's decision to expand its medical training in Spokane.

The university has long operated the state's only public medical school. For years, it placed about 20 medical students per year in Spokane as part of its WWAMI program that trains doctors for the states of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho.

But the University of Washington last fall expanded that program to 60 first-year students in Spokane.

Now the UW is asking the Legislature for more than $9 million, so it can train a total of 80 medical students per class in Spokane.

"We have created something very special in Spokane for Spokane," said Mari Clack, of the Friends of WWAMI, a group of community leaders formed to support UW students in Spokane. "This region needs more doctors to serve our aging population."

The UW School of Medicine partners with Gonzaga University to provide the medical training in the Lilac City.

The goal is to reduce the shortage of doctors, particularly in rural and underserved areas. Half the state's doctors work in the Seattle region, while many parts of the state do not have enough physicians.

"The first step toward addressing a physician shortage is to educate more medical students, and especially those students who are interested in practicing rural medicine," said Dr. Suzanne Allen, vice dean for Academic, Rural and Regional Affairs for UW.

"Our program has yielded very good results: 52 percent of our graduates have returned to Washington to practice, compared to the national average of 39 percent," she said.

Medical students tend to practice where they train, Allen said.

"From our standpoint, the more time people spend here, the more they'll want to work here," Allen said.

Local leaders are excited about the economic benefits of medical training in the city of 210,000 residents.

Scott Morris, chief executive officer of Avista, the Spokane-based utility company, has estimated that medical education and related research has the potential for a $1.7 billion annual economic benefit to the city.

"With two medical schools, the jobs that underpin the research, teaching and professional services will revitalize and diversify our economy," Morris said.

But, "there is still much work to do to assure the success of both schools," he said.

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New med school and big expansion of existing medical program set in Spokane - Idaho State Journal

As Hippocrates, the founder of modern medicine, spoke, Let food be thy medicine. However, most medical schools in the United States do not adequately teach nutrition. Several programs, including at Tulane University, are addressing this shortcoming by including cooking classes in their curriculum. The hope is that by teaching future doctors how to cook delicious and healthy meals, they will pass that knowledge on to their patients, improving long-term health.

The rates of obesity and obesity-related diseases are increasing throughout the world according to Prediabetes: A Worldwide Epidemic. The Center for Disease Control reports that nearly half of all deaths in the United States are due to heart attacks, strokes, and diabetes. Entire scientific journals, such as Nutrition and Health, Diabetes, and the Journal of Nutrition, are devoted to examining the relationships between nutrition and health. Research has shown that nutrition is one of the leading causes of and significantly affects the management of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and aging-related diseases.

There is no clear correlation between policy recommendations and nutrition choices. For example, a study that provided nutrition information to adults at fast-food chains found that simply providing information did not alter consumer choices. Coaching has consistently proven effective at changing eating habits, especially when tailored to an individuals lifestyle and medical history. Many see using doctors as nutrition coaches as a natural extension of a physicians duties and a valuable opportunity for one-on-one intervention. However, a National Institute of Health survey revealed that a majority of primary care physicians do not give diet advice. According to polls reported by the Washington Post, less than 25 percent of doctors feel they are informed enough regarding nutrition to discuss it knowledgeably.

Tulanes program was developed in 2014 to better instruct medical students in nutrition. According to their website, Through hands-on cooking classes, medical students and physicians learn the practical aspects of lifestyle change necessary to help them guide their patients to healthier choices.

The National Academy of Sciences recommends 25 hours of nutrition instruction for medical students, whereas the Tulane course requires 53 hours of culinary classes, 53 hours clinical care teaching, and 53 hours learning nutritional counseling strategies in lifestyle modification. Researchers at Tulane examined the effectiveness of the program and found improvements to the lifestyle of medical participants and significant health benefits to diabetic patients, including improved HbA1c, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.

To date, 28 other medical schools, two residency programs, and two nursing schools have adapted the Tulane curriculum. Dartmouth, the University of Chicago, the University of Massachusetts, and others have started similar programs within their medical schools. Harvard University partnered with the Culinary Institute of America to offer week-long workshops that have demonstrated improvements in attendees ability to advise patients as well as ameliorating their lifestyle, including cooking more at home, making healthier food choices like whole grains and nuts, and heightened awareness of calorie consumption.

Personally taking culinary classes can improve peoples diets without making a trip to the doctor. Programs in Chicago improve nutrition knowledge and vegetable consumption in children. Community kitchens in Peru taught adolescents and improved their diets. Similar kitchens in Canada have had a similar effect of improving lifestyles and education within several communities. In general, public health researchers find that cooking at home can significantly improve health when the knowledge of good nutrition is applied. For some of the Tulane programs recipes, click here.

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The New ABCs of Medical School: Anatomy, Biochemistry, and Cooking - Food Tank (blog)

Courtesy: THE PROPOSED IDAHO COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE

Courtesy: THE PROPOSED IDAHO COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE

MERIDIAN, Idaho - (KIFI/KIDK) Efforts are still underway in opening the Proposed Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine. ICOM will be a privately owned medical school. The school will be funded through tuition, instead of taxes.

While the college is still in the accreditation phase, they do plan on opening their doors in 2018.

"So we are planning for August 2018 to be our opening for the first class, assuming all goes well with construction and accreditation. And we are going to take a 150 medical students in the first class, even with these 150 medical students, we know that there is still going to be a tremendous need for physicians in the region," said Dr. Robert Hasty, the founding dean and chief academic officer atICOM.

Representatives from the college said they will be partnering with Idaho State University.

"ICOM is a wonderful example of a public, private partnership between Idaho State University and the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine," commented Dr. Tracy Farnsworth, the president ofICOM. "We expect to have a lot of shared teaching and research collaborations that will not only benefit the medical students but all the allied health professions at Idaho State University."

Dr. Hasty said that the new college will also be good for Idaho's economy.

"So we have commissioned an independent organization and they done an economic feasibility package for us. It looks like we are going to make over 500 million dollar economic impact in the first ten years of ICOM. Over 50 million dollars a year for the region," said Dr. Hasty.

ICOM has not decided on their tuition for students yet. However, they did say it will be less than the national average for U.S. private osteopathic medical schools.

The state of Idaho awarded the school with a tax reimbursement incentive. ICOM's website said the money will go towards scholarships for Idaho residents. ICOM said they will give preference to ISU graduates.

If you are interested in learning more about the Proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine, click here.

The college will be located in Meridian, Idaho.

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Efforts continue in opening new medical school in Idaho - LocalNews8.com

With new school opening, medical education surges in Spokane Wichita Eagle A new medical school by Washington State University plus a dramatic expansion of a modest medical training program operated by the University of Washington mean hundreds of future doctors will soon be training in the eastern Washington city. and more »

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With new school opening, medical education surges in Spokane - Wichita Eagle

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Michele Mariscalco is the outgoing regional dean of the Urbana-Champaign campus of the Chicago-based University of Illinois College of Medicine.

Image

URBANA Beginning Feb. 16, Janet Jokela will become acting regional dean of the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Urbana-Champaign, pending approval from trustees.

She is replacing Michele Mariscalco, who has been the Urbana regional dean for the past three years and is beginning a new position in UI health executive leadership in Chicago.

Jokela, who joined the faculty in 2000, has served in several different roles, including director for the first-year course "Introduction to Human Disease," director of the internal-medicine residency program and director of Continuing Medical Education.

Jokela graduated from the University of Minnesota, worked at Massachusetts General Hospital and served on the faculty of Harvard Medical School.

In her time as Urbana regional dean, Mariscalco achieved much, a UI news release said, including guiding the Chicago-based College of Medicine's consolidation of campuses. The Urbana-Champaign regional campus is being phased out as the UI is in the process of establishing the independent Carle Illinois College of Medicine.

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New regional dean named for UI med school's Urbana campus ... - Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette

Dr. Neil Haycocks twists and turns the 3-D image to review the head and neck CT scan from a variety of angles.

Even without being a doctor, its easy to tell from the clear, virtual image that the man has suffered a serious injury.

I dont know exactly what happened to this person, but my guess is that they were struck with some sort of blunt object, Haycocks said as he pointed out a fractured mandible and a depressed bone.

As he sliced through the patients skull to further examine his injuries, Haycocks demonstrated a crucial benefit to the virtual anatomy tables at UNLVs new School of Medicine the ability to examine a patient without destroying vital organs.

With a touch of a button, the skull was whole again.

The touchscreen tables, which replace cadavers that would be found in a traditional anatomy lab, are just one example of the innovative curriculum the first class of 60 students will encounter when they set foot in the school on July 17.

THE BACKBONE

UNLV wont be the first school to use anatomy tables.

But its the schools commitment to teaching the subject that sets it apart, according to Dr. Ellen Cosgrove, vice dean for academic affairs and education.

Weve decided to make the virtual anatomy the backbone and the framework of our anatomy instruction, she said.

Haycocks, who learned human anatomy in a traditional lab, said cadaver dissection is limited in its educational benefits.

You spend hours cutting through tissues, trying to find this or that, Haycocks said. Sometimes its well preserved, and sometimes it isnt. Sometimes you accidentally destroy whatever it is youre looking for, and sometimes youre just lost you never find out whats going on. Its a very lengthy and time consuming process.

Haycocks previously taught at a college where he oversaw a cadaver lab. He said that he loved working with the students and seeing their reactions as they cut open a human body.

Thats enjoyable for me at least, but its really inefficient, he said.

The technology can display images of the body from a variety of perspectives and angles, including 2-D cross-section and 3-D rotation.

With a slight tap, Haycocks lit up the screen with millions of tiny blue channels, illustrating a patients veins.

And in terms of instruction, virtual anatomy is beneficial because everyone gets the same information. Its also less time consuming and costs much less than a traditional cadaver lab, which runs upward of $10 million.

If you talk to most people who teach anatomy nowadays, they would agree, perhaps grudgingly, that in well under 100 years, nobody is going to cadaver dissection anymore, Haycocks said.

COMBATING INERTIA

Haycocks sees several benefits from a curriculum standpoint, but he also points out a few flaws to the system.

For me, the main disadvantage is that you dont have that first patient experience with a real human body, he said.

Given that a first patient often resonates with students, others in the medical community might also question the virtual anatomy approach.

A lot of education in general, and medical education in particular, theres a lot of inertia, Haycocks said. Things have been done a certain way for the last 150 years, and by God, the faculty had to do it a certain way so theyre going to make the students do it a certain way.

Haycocks said a fourth-year elective is in the works that would give students the opportunity to learn at a month-long boot camp to become an autopsy technician.

If you want to practice cutting human tissue without any of the rules of surgery, its hard to beat someone who died the day before, Haycocks said.

Cosgrove said it might take a student in a traditional lab an hour of dissection to view a particular nerve and what path it takes.

At UNLV, students will be able to go through several virtual anatomy stations that have specific learning objectives with problems for them to solve.

At the end of the two hours, you emerge from that experience with a wealth of information, she said.

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

Continue reading here:

UNLV medical school brings a virtual touch to anatomy studies - Las Vegas Review-Journal

Editors note: This article was originally published January 22, 2014

The appointment of the first dean of a medical school is always a big deal. And so it was Tuesday when the University of Texas named Clay Johnston the founding dean of the Dell Medical School. This story details the appointment.

For those involved in the years-long effort to establish the medical school, the news conference in the Main Buildings ornate Room 212 was an occasion for hugs, smiles and reflection. UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa was a case in point.

Cigarroas father, Joaquin Cigarroa Jr., graduated from UT and went on to Harvard Medical School. The chancellor said the realization that the Austin campus would finally have a medical school brought tears of joy to his father, who, by the way, still practices medicine in Laredo at the age of 89.

Cigarroa noted that discussions regarding a medical school began in 2003, involving James Huffines, then chairman of the regents, and Kenneth Shine, then executive vice chancellor for health affairs. But it was state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, who carried the plan across the goal line among other things, helping to persuade Travis County voters during bumpy economic times to approve a property tax increase to help fund the medical school.

Senator Kirk Watson has been that quarterback, Cigarroa said, and he can certainly throw a pass.

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UT chancellor reflects on long effort to establish a medical school - Austin American-Statesman

The Wayne State University School of Medicines American Medical Association chapter hosted a discussion panel including five local medical leaders and their thoughts about the current state of health care and its future.

The five speakers included, Dean of the School of Medicine, Dr. Jack Sobel, Plum Health Direct Primary Care founder, Dr. Paul Thomas, Senator of Michigans seventh district, Patrick Colbeck, Health Officer for the City of Detroit and Executive Director of the Detroit Health Department, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and Michigan Urgent Care founder in 1998, Dr. Mohammed Aiswala.

Each panelist discussed their concerns with our countries healthcare system where the typical issue of cost arose. The panelists agreed that, generally, every citizen is concerned with the high price of healthcare which sometimes leaves part of our population living without a healthcare plan, simply because they can not afford it.

Senator Colbeck proposed that a free market system would reconstruct healthcare and contribute to its availability becoming cheaper because companies could then personally determine how much money to charge for specific healthcare plans without government and insurance company middle-men. He explained that there would be an increased interaction between those providing healthcare and those needing healthcare, which would help clarify the price.

On the opposing side Dr. El-Sayed said that a free market healthcare system is not the route we should take. He said that all markets fail because there is a lack of control and the actual issue with healthcare is deeper. He described that no amount of healthcare given to a patient can change the environment they live in.

He specifically pointed to residents in Detroit, saying that you can tell a patient to eat healthier, exercise better and pay more attention to their health, but that will not change the fact that they live in an environment so close to emissions of industrial pollution.

El-Sayed said he believes the solution is to promote and create healthy lifestyles and environments as acts of healthcare throughout life, not just when its called upon.

Addressing the price issue, Dr. Thomas explained his efforts to combat expensive healthcare with his direct primary care services and said that a major issue is there is no transparency within prices in medicine.

We cant compare quality and we cant compare prices, he said.

He described how there is no fixed rate for medicine and medical treatment. Within his practice he tries to keep healthcare affordable by only using whole sale medications and at-cost labs with no additional fees as a small solution to the greater problem.

Bringing a whole new perspective to the table, Dr. Sobel said that a major issue with healthcare today is the lack of primary care physicians. He described that although many medical students have intentions to be primary care physicians, the student debt they endure can not fairly be paid with that salary. As a reaction, students become specialists instead, so they can afford to pay their school debt.

Sobel explained that a specialist can make $500,000 or more annually, where primary care physicians make only $100-$200,000 and their help is both cheaper and more immediate, but it is now scarce.

The healthcare system is not meeting our needs, Sobel said, and he explained that the solution is not an impossible one. He said universal healthcare could be made possible, but we will have to pay higher taxes, which is a low price for the betterment of society.

Among these different points, each panelist agreed that a clear solution is hard to see amongst all of these insurance companies, deductibles and co-pays, but the first step is to spread information and awareness about the aspects of our public healthcare, so we can build a stronger plan for the future.

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WSU Med School hosts state of healthcare panel - The South End

Two prospective UMass Medical School hires have been caught in the immigration ban.

Two post-doctorate hires at the UMass Medical School who were expected to start work within the next month are among those caught in the limbo of the federal immigration ban.

The prospective research lab workers, both now in Iran, have applied for visas but are caught in a process that has been put on hold for 90 days, said Jennifer Berryman, the school's vice chancellor for communications.

President Trump's immigration ban seeks to bar entry to the United States by those from seven countries in the Middle East and Africa. UMass Medical School has 15 employees from each of the seven countries listed in the ban: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Berryman said there isn't much the school can do while legal challenges to the ban play out. The school has an immigration services office to help coordinate any necessary paperwork for employees, she said.

The medical school isn't the first in Worcester to have someone affected by the ban.

A Worcester Polytechnic Institute student from Iran, Benham Partopour, was briefly unable to get into Massachusetts until finally getting a flight into Boston, MassLive reported earlier this month. WPI has 35 students from the immigration ban's seven affected countries.

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Two UMass Medical School hires caught in immigration limbo - Worcester Business Journal

Students and faculty at the University at Buffalo's new medical school building will be able to eat in a sunlit bistro on the second floor overlooking Washington Street.

Itwon't be a full-course cafeteria, and UB wants it that way.

The hope is that theJacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences serves as a catalyst for private-sector development in the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus area, and that faculty and students filter into the surrounding neighborhoods to eat.That's been the idea since the $375 million medical school building was conceived to be a gateway to the medical campus and a bridge to the nearby community.

But the university also recognized it needed more than the "grab 'n go" option that was first envisioned for the new building. The university now is planning what's described as a bistro cafe that could seat up to nearly 50 people in a roughly 250-square-foot area.

"This is a convenience cafe for people who are working in the building, students and faculty. We wanted something a bit more appealing than just a grab 'n go," said Suzanne G. Laychock, senior associate dean for facilities and faculty affairs. "It's also not intended to be a luxury environment."

The new UB Medical School on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus towers over Allen Street, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017. (Derek Gee/Buffalo News)

It also will be located where the majority of teaching is taking place and where students will be spending a lot of time. A 200-person classroom and a 400-person classroom will be located nearby. Breakfast and lunch items will be available.

"We thought if we had a decent cafe it would be a good addition to the school," Laychock said."It is very central to where the students will be."

The cafe is not intended for the general public, she noted.

A full-scale cafeteria was never part of the plan especially since designers wanted students and staff to leave the building and walk to nearby restaurants.

"We are encouraging everyone to use the restaurants in the downtown area that will compete well with what's offered at the medical school," Laychock said. "We're not offering exotic fare."

But the university also is aware that students may not have a lot of down time to do that all the time, so the in-house bistro idea evolved.

Meanwhile, food service is being planned by Ciminelli Real Estate Corp. in its Conventus medical research and office building at Main and High streets, next to the UB medical school.

"We are exploring options, but nothing is finalized as yet," said Anne E. Duggan, company spokeswoman, on Wednesday.

The Medical School cafe is expected to offer soups and sandwiches, among other items, but not likely grilled items, such as burgers, since no exhaust system is planned, Laychock said.

UB officials have not yet chosen a vendor to run the cafe.

The cafe would open either in late fall or early next year. The building, now under construction at Main and Allen streets, is slated to be completed this fall, when faculty will begin moving in; students will begin classes there next January.

A faculty lounge will be located near the cafe with seating for about 15 to 20, while a student lounge would be located on the south end of the building but still on the second floor.

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UB adds bistro to medical school, but fare will be light - Buffalo News

Updated: 8:04 p.m. Wednesday, February 08, 2017| Posted: 4:42 p.m. Wednesday, February 08, 2017

Former state Sen. Barrientos and two lawyers say health care funds are being used for administrative expenses.

UT, Central Health say spending is lawful and boosts health care for poor patients and the broader community.

The University of Texas Dell Medical School has spent millions of dollars on administrative and educational expenses using local tax dollars that are supposed to go only for indigent care, two activists and a former state senator charged Wednesday in remarks before UTs governing board.

The allegations echo previous complaints, but were delivered Wednesday with a stronger assertion of misspending and more detail. They were leveled by former state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos of Austin and two local lawyers, Fred Lewis and Bob Ozer.

Regent Steve Hicks, chairman of the UT System Board of Regents Finance and Planning Committee, said he took exception to the allegations, noting that Travis County voters agreed in 2012 to raise property taxes so that Central Health, the countys health care district, can transfer $35 million a year to the Dell school.

Lewis, citing records he obtained from UT under the Texas Public Information Act, said nearly 84 percent of the medical schools personnel compensation and benefits have been paid for with funds from Central Health. Moreover, he said, about two-thirds of the spending on personnel has gone for dozens of administrative and operational employees as opposed to health care providers.

Accountants, fundraisers, and administrative assistants do not provide health care, Lewis said. He called on the UT board to commission a third-party investigation and to stop using Central Health tax dollars unless the money is spent only on care for poor people.

UT and Central Health officials have long defended the legality and benefits of their partnership. The officials say the medical school is permitted to spend Central Health tax dollars not only on direct health care services but also on a variety of operational and administrative expenses that guide and support efforts to advance health care for the community.

The school strives in everything it does and especially in its use of public money to provide a return on the investment of Travis County voters and meet Central Healths requirements to help mold a model healthy community, said Clay Johnston, the schools dean. The people of Travis County voted to fund a medical school. We are delivering that medical school on time and already with substantial community benefits, and were still in the earliest years.

At a public forum last month at the Carver Branch public library, medical school officials delivered a progress report noting that they have launched or made plans to start about two dozen programs to improve health in the area. Johnston cited the example of an orthopedic pilot program that he said has dramatically reduced waiting times for low-income and uninsured patients needing to see a specialist for such problems as knee and hip pain. For patients in severe pain, the wait to see a specialist has been cut from more than a year to less than a month.

By helping fund the medical school, were giving more people access to quality health care and transforming the way that care is delivered, said Christie Garbe, Central Healths vice president and chief strategy officer. Central Healths investment in the medical school is legal and appropriate. Travis County commissioners approve Central Healths annual budget, and last fall an attorney with the county told commissioners the funding arrangement between Central Health and the medical school complies with state law.

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Critics accuse UT medical school of misspending local tax dollars - MyStatesman.com

The State

Another way USC can get its new medical school facilities The State So why not franchise USC's valuable asset the medical school to raise the capital it needs to replace the old, inadequate facilities at the VA and anchor a new job-generating health and biological science complex at the Bull Street development?

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Another way USC can get its new medical school facilities - The State

Gov. Eric Greitens' budget proposal for the state's 2018 fiscal year won't fund the new expansions for the University of Missouri Medical School in Columbia and Springfield.

The information came on the heels of the governor's January announcement to withhold $4 million of the MU Cooperative Medicine Program's $10 million appropriation for the current fiscal year, the Columbia Missourian reported.

The Columbia facility and the new Springfield Clinical Campus, which opened in June, could face tight operating budgets and increased difficulty hiring faculty if state funding is halted, said Weldon Webb, the university's associate dean for Springfield Clinical Campus Implementation. Webb said the medical school's expansions will proceed as planned for now and that the funding loss won't affect construction of the university's Patient-Centered Care Learning Center. The $42.5 million facility is expected to be complete this summer and is expected to have classrooms, an anatomy lab, a simulation center, patient-based learning labs and educational services.

Springfield Chamber of Commerce President Matt Morrow said getting funding into the budget for the next fiscal year is priority. "What I hope that we as a community are able to do is have productive conversations with the governor and the legislature," he said.

He said giving students the opportunity to fill Missouri's physician shortage, especially in rural areas, will help grow the economy. The university is expected to admit 32 additional medical students each year because of the expansion, with the hopes that all 64 third- and fourth-year students will do clinical training in Springfield. Currently, the Springfield campus only has nine third-year students.

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Greitens' budget plan won't fund MU Medical School - Columbia Daily Tribune

The Week at Duke in 60 Seconds: New Medical School Dean and Faculty Books Duke Today The Duke School of Medicine has a new dean: Dr. Mary Klotman. Klotman has chaired Duke's Department of Medicine for seven years and she will succeed Nancy Andrews, the first female dean of a nationally acclaimed medical school. Duke Kunshan ... and more »

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The Week at Duke in 60 Seconds: New Medical School Dean and Faculty Books - Duke Today

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - High school students are getting a chance to be med students for the day at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. Its staff says it's great timing because applications for med school are skyrocketing, with the demand for health professionals being high.

Participantsare high school students from Northeast, Southeast and East high schools in Kansas City.

They're not treating actual people, but these simulators that mimic human reaction like breath and pulse. They are voice activated by medical students.

The reason Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences offers this is to expose high school students to careers in medicine. But it's something med students and high schoolers enjoy.

"Really inspire some people. Help them make goals to go to college and medical school and pursue a career in medicine," explained Nathan Kmetzsch, second year medical student.

Julie Tran, a sophomore at Northeast High School, said she became interested in medicine after watching her sister work in pharmaceuticals. Tran said she had a lot of fun on this visit to KCU.

"It was a lot of hands on stuff which is really really fun because you don't get that in high school. Really fun to be able to touch and know what it's like to be a medical student. I really enjoyed that," said Tran.

The university is opening a second campus in Joplin. It will admit 150 students and they plan to start in summer 2017.

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Belinda Post can be reached at belinda.post@kshb.com.

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High school students go to medical school - KSHB