A week or so ago, my wife and I drove from Santa Barbara to the University of California, Irvine, to attend a "White Coat" ceremony for the incoming class of medical students, including our son, at the UC Irvine Medical School.

It was a very impressive event and, as parents, we felt very proud of our son, as we were a couple of years earlier when our daughter graduated from law school. But what I also found impressive about the ceremony where these would-be doctors are initiated into their first step as doctors by receiving their white doctor's coat was how diverse the students were. Not only were more than half of the students women, but ethnically, the mix was likewise impressive.

As a scholar of Latinos in the United States, I paid particular attention to the number of new Latino medical students, including my son. Here again, I was impressed. A good percentage was Latinos. What is important here is that UC Irvine is ahead of the curve with respect to the number and percentage of Latinos in our medical schools. Nationally, only about 5 percent of all medical students in the country are Latinos, while the percentage of Latinos in the U.S. is about 16 percent. Many Latinos, especially immigrants, do not regularly see doctors, and some studies suggest this has to do with the lack of Latino physicians.

Latinos as a whole suffer from many illnesses, including an almost epidemic number of diabetic cases, and the lack of Latino doctors in Latino communities only compounds the problem. I recently received a small grant to begin oral histories with the few Latino physicians in the Santa Barbara area as a way of using their stories to encourage potential Latino medical students to apply and to go to medical schools. I am encouraged at the same time by the Irvine model, where clearly the medical school understands the importance of recruiting qualified Latinos to attend medical school and to challenge the national lack of Latino medical students. My hope is that other major medical schools will follow this model. Much of our nation's health could depend on this because by 2050, Latinos are project to represent one-third of the national population.

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A new model for medical schools

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

Becoming a doctor is hard work. Medical students spend three years studying symptoms, diseases, and treatments, endure long hours in residencies and fellowships, and then must pass a grueling series of board exams. But before any of that can happen, future M.D.'s need to get into medical school.

On average, fewer than 9 percent of medical school applications were accepted in 2011, according to data reported to U.S. News. In total, 500,900 applications were submitted in 2011 to the 111 medical schools reporting application and acceptance data to U.S. News in an annual survey. Prospective medical students often apply to multiple schools.

[Discover the top three reasons why med school applications are rejected.]

Grades, MCAT scores, letters of evaluation, and extracurricular activities all play a role in whether an application is accepted, but which programs students apply to can also impact their chances of getting into med school.

Among the 11 medical schools with the lowest acceptance rates, an average of 3.4 percent of applicants were accepted in 2011. (Due to ties, there are more than 10 schools on the list.) The Mayo Medical School in Minnesota accepted just 1.9 percent of applicants, the lowest acceptance rate among the medical schools that submitted acceptance data to U.S. News. George Washington University's School of Medicine and Health Sciences had the second lowest, sending acceptance letters to 2.5 percent of the 14,649 students who applied in 2011.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the University of North Dakota's School of Medicine and Health Sciences and Western University of Health Sciences's College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific in California each accepted more than 25 percent of its 2011 applicants.

Below are the 11 medical schools with the lowest acceptance rates, based on applicant and acceptance data reported by the institutions to U.S. News:

Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News Medical School Compass to find application and acceptance data for every school, residency statistics, and much more.

U.S. News surveyed more than 140 medical schools for our 2011 survey of research and primary care programs. Schools self-reported a myriad of data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News's data the most accurate and detailed collection of school facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Medical Schools rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News's rankings of Best Colleges or Best Graduate Schools.

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10 Medical Schools With the Lowest Acceptance Rates

In 2011, final-year University of Adelaide medical students Rachel Jones and Ben Rogers were looking forward to gaining rural practice experience. Now their uni is doubling the number of interviews with rural candidates. Picture: Calum Robertson Source: The Advertiser

THE University of Adelaide's medical school aims to double the number of rural students it interviews for places with changes to its entry process.

From this year the university will consider rural applicants' Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test scores separately from metropolitan applicants in a bid to ensure more get through to the interview stage.

The university hopes to interview about 120 rural students, up from the 61 it saw for this year's cohort.

Faculty of Health Sciences executive dean Professor Justin Beilby acknowledged rural students were under-represented but hoped the changes would see growth.

University of Adelaide second-year medicine student Matt Watson, from Tooligie on the Eyre Peninsula, said: "Where I'm from, the only person I could talk to who'd got into medicine was the GP."

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Uni targets rural medical students

Free physicals being offered by the UR medical school assess the mental health and physical well-being of students.

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Students' mental health checked, too, at free physicals

August 9, 2012 Grant to benefit Columbia-Bassett Medical School student

Anonymous The Cooperstown Crier Thu Aug 09, 2012, 10:20 PM EDT

The Central New York KeyBank Foundation Committee has awarded Friends of Bassett Healthcare Network a four-year grant of $120,000 to provide scholarship support for one student over the course of their four year Columbia-Bassett Medical School experience beginning this fall, according to a media release from Bassett.

Innovative ways of attracting highly skilled physicians to practice in rural areas are crucial given the changing health care environment, Stephen D. Fournier, president of KeyBanks Central New York District said in the release. The Columbia-Bassett program goes well beyond that by also preparing medical school students to lead the health systems of the future, and thats why KeyBank felt it was important to demonstrate the Foundations support of the program in such a meaningful way.

Columbia-Bassett Assistant Dean for Education Dr. Henry Weil said in the release that the KeyBank grant will be life changing for the student who receives it.

Young physicians coming out of medical school face educational debts that can exceed $200,000, which forces them to make career decisions based upon maximizing their earning potential, Weil said. Our goal has been to make rural practice a more attractive and viable option by limiting future debt through substantial financial assistance, like the scholarship KeyBank will provide to one deserving medical school student.

The Columbia-Bassett Medical School Program is a collaborative endeavor of Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown and the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in New York City. The program annually recruits 10 exceptional students with an interest in providing care in underserved rural communities and learning how to manage health care systems that promote both quality and cost-effective delivery of care. Bassett Medical Center underwrites the cost of education for the students, providing $30,000 in scholarships per year per student. The students spend their first 18 months learning the basic science curriculum with the rest of their class in New York City, but their clinical training for the following two-and-one-half years is based at Bassett Medical Center.

According to the release, this unique program attracts more than 750 applicants each year for the 10 slots. Applicants are from across the country and are among the most qualified of those applying to medical school.

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Grant to benefit Columbia-Bassett Medical School student

Insults, threats, and even physical abuse are a part of life for many medical students, but a campaign led by one medical school aims to change the culture of mistreatment nationwide.

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The Bullying Culture of Medical School

Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek has cast doubt on a bid for a new medical school in WA, telling doctors there are no plans to increase the number of medical places in Australia.

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Doubt over new medical school

Insults, threats, and even physical abuse are a part of life for many medical students, but a campaign led by one medical school aims to change the culture of mistreatment nationwide.

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Doctor and Patient: Doctor and Patient: The Bullying Culture of Medical School

Dr. Craig Brater will retire in June next year as dean of the Indiana University School of Medicine, he announced Wednesday, and the school has formed a committee to find his replacement.

Brater, 66, has worked at the Indianapolis-based school for 26 years, including the past 12 as dean. The school is the second largest medical school in the nation and the only one in Indiana.

Brater oversees a massive operation that includes a main campus in Indianapolis and eight satellite campuses throughout the state.

The medical school brought in nearly $426 million in the last school year, up by 30 percent over the past five years. It employs 1,900 professors who oversee a total student body of 1,880 and also serve as doctors at two hospitals n downtown Indianapolis: Wishard Memorial Hospital and IU Healths University Hospital.

Craig Brater has done a superb job leading the IU School of Medicine for the past 12 years and working in close partnership with IU Health and our other clinical partners," said IU President Michael McRobbie in a prepared statement announcing the launch of a national search for Braters replacement. "He has effectively and skillfully positioned the school as a research and clinical leader.

IU has formed a 20-member search committee, which will be led by John Williams, dean of the IU School of Dentistry. Other members of the committee include Dan Evans, CEO of the IU Health hospital system; Dr. Lisa Harris, CEO of Wishard Health Services; and Marion Broome, dean of the IU School of Nursing.

That committee will identify and screen prospective candidates, then recommend a group of finalists to McRobbie and to Charles Bantz, the chancellor of the IUPUI campus, where the medical school is based.

The search committee will be helped by an outside advisory committee, which will be chaired by Chuck Schalliol, a life sciences attorney at Faegre Baker & Daniels LLP, who is a former manager at Eli Lilly and Co. and the former CEO of BioCrossroads, an Indianapolis-based life sciences development group.

Brater is a native of Oak Ridge, Tenn. He attended undergraduate and medical school at Duke University. Before IU, he was part of the faculty at the University of California at San Francisco and worked for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Brater and his wife Stephanie have one grown daughter who lives in Florida.

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Brater to retire as dean of IU medical school

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Council Member Mike Martinez suggested increasing the package to $400 million, while trying to work around Mayor Lee Leffingwell's reluctance to raise taxes.

Leffingwell says he is hesitant to increase the size of the bond package because the council has already approved rate increases for electricity, water and natural gas service, among others.

The mayor also supports State Sen. Kirk Watson's push to establish a medical school at the University of Texas, and to build a new, state-of-the-art research hospital.

"Realizing that it is such a high priority for our city and for our region, I think it's very appropriate for other jurisdictions to keep in mind that we have to respect that request too," Leffingwell said.

Sen. Watson says his law firm is not at all involved in the efforts to bring a medical school to the University of Texas, but voters need to be educated about the benefits higher taxes will bring.

"They are going to want to create 15,000 jobs and $2 billion in economic activity, Sen. Watson said. They are going to want to take care of the indigent population, so they save money because people aren't at the emergency room."

However, it all still comes with a price tag. Travis County voters would pick up about 10 percent of the tab, or $35 million a year. That would cost the average Austin area homeowner about $88 more a year in property taxes.

"For every dollar of local money we put up, the federal government will match it with $1.46," Watson said.

Leffingwell expects Austin's bond package to be broken up into about seven partsincluding transportation, affordable housing and parks.

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City weighs taxpayer burden of medical school, bond package

Public release date: 7-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Mark L. Shelton mark.shelton@umassmed.edu 508-856-2000 University of Massachusetts Medical School

BOSTON, Mass. A pivotal clinical trial for an anti-rabies human monoclonal antibody (RMAb) being developed through a collaborative partnership between MassBiologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the Serum Institute of India, Ltd., is starting to enroll patients. The study, sponsored by the Serum Institute, will evaluate the efficacy of post-exposure prophylaxis following rabies exposure with RMAb and vaccine compared to standard treatment of human rabies immune globulin (hRIG) and vaccine. Post-exposure prophylaxis for rabies that includes a monoclonal antibody should provide a more affordable, safer alternative to prevent the disease, which is a world-wide public health problem impacting 10 million people a year and resulting in some 55,000 deaths.

"We are extremely pleased that this potentially life-saving product has moved forward to the pivotal clinical trial phase," said Deborah Molrine, MD, deputy director of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at MassBiologics and an associate professor of pediatrics at UMass Medical School. "Rabies is a major public health problem in Asia and Africa, and we are hopeful that the findings of this study may result in a treatment option readily available in those areas where it is needed most."

The randomized, comparator-controlled study being conducted in India will enroll 200 patients who have had a high-risk (category III as defined by the World Health Organization) exposure to a suspected rabid animal. Study participants will receive proper wound care followed by injections of either the investigational RMAb or standard hRIG treatment in combination with a five-dose rabies vaccine series.

The primary endpoint of the study is to demonstrate that the level of neutralizing antibody to rabies virus in the blood of participants who received RMAb and vaccine is at least as much as the level of anti-rabies neutralizing antibody in the blood of those who received hRIG and vaccine.

While deaths from rabies in the United States are rare, rabies remains a significant problem with approximately 95 percent of human deaths from rabies occurring in Asia and Africa. Death from rabies is preventable with timely post-exposure prophylaxis consisting of wound hygiene, administration of rabies immune globulin, and active immunization with rabies vaccine. In persons wounded by a suspected rabid animal, the vaccine works to stimulate the immune system to fight the rabies virus, while the rabies immune globulin provides immediate protection with neutralizing antibodies before the immune system begins making its own antibodies.

Human rabies immune globulin, derived from human blood, is an expensive product and carries a potential risk of contamination with blood-borne pathogens. Equine immune globulin (eRIG), derived from horse serum, is used in many parts of the world, but its use is associated with significant adverse effects such as anaphylaxis or serum sickness. Both products are often in short supply and costly for inhabitants of areas of the world where rabies is endemic. In India alone, it is estimated only 2 percent of patients whose wounds require the rabies immune globulin receive appropriate post-exposure treatment.

To address the supply and adverse effects issues, MassBiologics and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed an anti- rabies monoclonal antibody with the goal that it might be used in place of hRIG or eRIG. MassBiologics then partnered with the Serum Institute to develop and manufacture the monoclonal antibody in India. "A monoclonal antibody for rabies has the advantage of being able to be produced in large quantities, at much lower costs than blood products," said Prasad Kulkarni, MD, medical director at the Serum Institute of India, Ltd. "And since they are not derived from blood serum, they have none of the safety issues associated with human blood products. If the primary endpoint from this pivotal trial is met, a new therapy could become available to thousands of patients each year to prevent the too-often fatal outcome of this infection."

In a phase 1 trial at the King Edward Memorial Hospital (KEM) in Mumbai, India, 74 healthy volunteers were randomized into several groups that either received RMAb or of hRIG combined with vaccine. Results showed that the RMAb was well tolerated by all subjects, with no serious side-effects. A dose of RMAb was selected from this study that produced comparable levels of rabies virus neutralizing antibodies in the blood from volunteers who received RMAb and vaccine compared to those who received the standard regimen of hRIG and vaccine.

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Clinical trial for rabies monoclonal antibody

A chemical spill prompted firefighters to evacuated a Harvard Medical School building for several hours Tuesday afternoon after a doctor working in a lab spilled several large bottles of acids, according to firefighters.

The doctor went to get a bottle off a shelf in a 10th floor lab on Avenue Louis Pasteur at about 3 p.m. and inadvertantly knocked three bottles containing acids, which rolled off the shelf and smashed, said Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald.

The doctor, who was dressed in protective lab clothing, followed protocol and immediately jumped under a lab shower to decontaminate herself, said MacDonald, who told the Herald no one was injured in the spill.

MacDonald said Harvard hired a cleanup company to clean up the spilled bottles, which were about two liters each and contained acetic and hydrochloric acids.

Acetic acid is flammable and both acids are irritants. They can cause burns if you come in contact with them and they can cause some distress if you inhale the chemicals, said MacDonald.

Boston firefighters, who sealed off the street during the incident, also conducted air quality readings to ensure the 10-story medical school building was safe, according to MacDonald.

Harvard Medical School issued a statement saying the chemical spill on the buildings top floor happened in the Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology and confirmed the top three floors of the building would remain evacuated until further notice.

A Harvard Medical spokeswoman declined to say whether the incident would prompt a review of chemical storage practices in the labs.

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Acid spill at Harvard Med School prompts evacuation

By Travis Andersen, Globe Staff

A Harvard Medical School building was evacuated this afternoon after chemicals spilled on the 10th floor, the Boston Fire Department said.

Steve MacDonald, a Fire Department spokesman, said three two-liter bottles containing acetic and hydrochloric acid broke and the substances spilled about 3 p.m. inside a lab at the building at 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur in Boston.

MacDonald said the spill was contained to the 10th floor, and no one was injured. A doctor who was in the area of the spill was wearing the proper protective gear and followed procedure for self-decontamination, MacDonald said.

She was allowed to go home after paramedics examined her at the scene, he said. There were no injuries.

MacDonald said at the scene at about 5 p.m. that a hazardous materials cleanup team was en route and it was not clear when the building would reopen.

My experiments ruined, said Russell Griffin, 28, a research technician who was working on the 6th floor when the spill occurred.

MacDonald said both acetic and hydrochloric acids are irritants and can cause burns, and that acetic acid is flammable.

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Hazmat crews respond to Harvard Medical School after acid spills in 10th-floor lab

A Harvard Medical School building was evacuated on Tuesday afternoon after two types of acid spilled on the 10th floor, a fire official said. Steve MacDonald, a Boston Fire Department spokesman, said three 2-liter bottles containing acetic and hydrochloric acid broke and the fluids spilled at about 3 p.m. inside a lab in the building at 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur. MacDonald said that the spill was contained to the 10th floor and that no one was injured. He said firefighters evacuated the building for about 3 hours while they took chemical readings and a crew cleaned up the spillage area. MacDonald said both acids can cause burns.

Travis Andersen can be reached at tandersen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe.

Copyright 2012 Globe Newspaper Company.

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Hazmat crews at Harvard Medical School spill

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla.

The largest class so far at University of Central Florida's medical school began its first year on Monday.

Fifty-five men and 45 women make up the graduating class of 2016, and while it took substantial work to be able to earn admission into the school, the real work has yet to begin.

The class size is seven times larger than UCF's inaugural class four years ago.

Every one of the incoming medical students will train at UCF using medical simulation tools, which essentially are just video games.

The school is already one of the top universities in the nation for game design, which is poised to create a massive job boom in the metro area, and medical simulation could make it one of the top spots in the nation.

Many of the simulations will be built by graduates of the school's video game design school, which according to the Princeton Review, is ranked fourth in the nation after Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"Being able to simply hold up a device like this iPad and focus on the poster and have it come to life," said David Metcalf, of the UCF Institute for Simulation and Training.

And future employment for game designers is booming.

The VA is set to open a major medical simulation center in late 2013, which will train thousands of VA technicians across the nation.

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UCF's largest medical class to train on video game simulation tools

ABINGDON, Va. --

The Abingdon Town Council is scheduled to hear a presentation tonight from Tariq Zaidi, interim president and CEO for the proposed King School of Medicine, tonight.

Nearly two weeks ago, Zaidi spoke before the Washington County Board of Supervisors and got a mixed reaction of optimism and uncertainty.

Zaidi said the project, which is backed by the county, the town and the Virginia Tobacco Commission, could be shifting focus to a less expensive and more comprehensive health care education center.

Abingdon Mayor Ed Morgan said he is optimistic about the medical school projects future.

Im pleased with the progress Mr. Zaidi is making; hes building on the work of [King College President] Dr. Jordan did and bringing a lot of leadership and technical skills, Morgan said. Im optimistic he can bring the project to fruition.

The council is scheduled to meet for a work session at 5:30 p.m. today and a regular meeting, at 7:30. Zaidi is scheduled to speak during the regular meeting. The agenda and information packet are available online at http://www.abingdon-va.gov/.

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Medical school update to come tonight

The Commonwealth Medical College has named a new leader.

Steven J. Scheinman, M.D., professor of medicine and pharmacology at SUNY Upstate Medical University, will become the second permanent president and dean of the region's only medical school.

Dr. Scheinman's appointment comes less than two months after the school received provisional accreditation and as the college continues to seek an affiliation with a hospital or another college to ease financial difficulties. He will also be charged with seeing the school's first class of students through their fourth year, with the college's first medical-degree graduation this spring.

He begins Sept. 10.

After the school's founding dean and president Robert D'Alessandri, M.D., abruptly resigned in April 2011, Lois Margaret Nora, M.D., served as interim president for one year. Robert Wright, M.D., has served in the interim role since the end of June.

Dr. Scheinman previously served as SUNY Upstate Medical University's senior vice president and dean of the College of Medicine. He earned international prominence for his research into the genetics of inherited kidney diseases and kidney stones, according to TCMC. He has been on the faculty at Upstate for nearly 30 years, during which he served as chief of the nephrology division in the department of medicine for 10 years where he doubled the size of the faculty and grew the dialysis program.

He received his medical degree with honors from Yale University and is board-certified in internal medicine and nephrology.

"After an extensive national search, Dr. Scheinman emerged as an exceptional leader with a strong and broad vision to advance the college's educational, administrative, and research activities in exciting new ways," Louis DeNaples, chairman of the college's board of trustees said in a statement from the school. "TCMC is extremely fortunate to have recruited a leader with Dr. Scheinman's outstanding talents and breadth of experience in medical education. His character is consonant with TCMC's mission and values."

Check back for updates.

Contact the writer: shofius@timesshamrock.com

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Commonwealth Medical college names new leader

Published: Aug. 2, 2012 at 12:01 PM

NEW YORK, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- A New York family's lawsuit against a hospital alleges a medical school rejected a man's corpse for being too large.

The family of George Cardel filed a lawsuit after the 59-year-old man, who weighed about 300 pounds, was pronounced dead at Long Island Jewish Medical Center after suffering a heart attack Dec. 29, 2011, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.

The lawsuit alleges Cardel's last request was for his body to be donated to science, but the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine at Hofstra University rejected the corpse for being too large and the hospital took 13 days to return the body, resulting in heavy decomposition that led to the body needing to be cremated.

"We thought everything was taken care of until 13 days later," said Cardel's sister, Maryann O'Donnell.

Officials at the hospital said they attempted to donate the corpse to multiple medical schools, but there were no takers.

The lawsuit alleges "grave humiliation."

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Lawsuit: Corpse was too fat for med school

Two Marion County natives are among 14 students being admitted to the University of Kansas Medical School this year under a program designed to encourage rural students interested in working as physicians in underserved areas.

Benjamin Heyen from Hillsboro and JuliAnne (Chisholm) Rathbun from Durham were formally welcomed into medical school at a white coat ceremony Friday in Kansas City.

Students in the Scholars in Rural Health program learn about the rewards and challenges of rural practice by working alongside a physician mentor during their junior and senior years as undergraduates.

Heyen, a recent graduate of Tabor College, was mentored by Jon Casimir, M.D., of Newton.

Rathbun, a recent graduate of Kansas State University, was mentored by Douglas Hinkin, M.D., of Manhattan.

The program provides a pathway that ensures the students admission to med school.

Heyen attends the Kansas City campus. Rathbun attends the Salina campus. Both will be members of the Class of 2016.

No more than 16 candidates are accepted each year. Candidates must be Kansas residents with significant experience living in rural communities and ACT or SAT scores at or above the 75th percentile.

Students apply while they still have two years of undergraduate education remaining, after they have completed a year that includes both general biology and general inorganic chemistry.

In their application and interviews, students must declare their intention to practice medicine in rural Kansas and show evidence of dedication and compassion necessary to become competent and caring physicians.

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2 from county begin medical school

Today an estimated 7,000 junior doctors arrive at hospitals to start their new jobs, fresh out of medical school.

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Doctor Scheme To Cut 'Black Wednesday' Deaths