Columbus Ledger-Enquirer | He wondered if he would ever be a father. Then this happened. Columbus Ledger-Enquirer He was struggling in medical school and had just learned he would have to retake a board exam. Adding to this stress was the fact that he and his wife Chelsey had been trying unsuccessfully for four years to have children. Now they were in church, ... |
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He wondered if he would ever be a father. Then this happened. - Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Patient-centered care is one watchword of American medicine these days. With health costs booming, and patients demanding a stronger say in treatment options, doctors are under pressure to adjust their practice from a top-down model to a more compassionate team-based partnership with their patients.
To stay ahead of the curve, medical schools also need to re-think the way they train their students to become doctors of the future, experts say.
In fact, its already happening. The Waukesha, WI-based Kern Family Foundation recently awarded a $37.8 million grant to the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) to overhaul its medical training program. The grant is intended to allow students to gain practical experience as medical professionals in their local communities as soon as they begin their studies. It also will help train medical students to work in teams, with the doctor or head nurse viewed as one vital component of a more collective treatment practice.
The new patient-centered medical education model supported by the Kern grant emphasizes the need for medical professionals to embrace compassion as a vital component of 21st-century health care alongside the traditional concern with medical expertise. Students that train to become doctors or nurses must invest in their patients and become knowledgeable about of their larger concerns as well as the actual settings in which they live.
The Kern-MCW partnership is hardly new. But its one of the largest such private grants awarded to fund training innovation at American medical schools.
Other examples include the University of South Carolina School of Medicine (USC-SOM) in Greenville where students undergo EMT training and certification even before they start the rest of their curriculum. Students also serve one shift per month as EMTs to the community for the first two years of their medical training.
At the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU) in Camden, New Jersey, students are required to see patients at a free community health clinic once a week under the supervision of resident and attending physicians.
CMSRUs visionary training ethos is apparent from the front page of its website. Are you interested in joining a mission-driven medical school that focuses on community service, early clinical exposure, and an innovative curriculum? the site asks.
Aside from instilling greater compassion for patients, the programs at both USCSOM-Greenville and CMSRU incorporate team-based learning.
It used to be that the physician was the captain of the team, CMSRUs founding dean, Dr. Paul Katz, said in an interview. Now the physician is a member of the team, along with other health professionals. When you see how care is developed, its becoming less hierarchical. Now its important to have a team approach to problem-solving.
In some ways schools like CMSRU have a distinct advantage. The school was founded just five years ago as a partnership between Cooper Hospital and Rowan University. Its the first new medical school established in New Jersey in more than 35 years.
Its also a public university funded with taxpayer money. Using his executive authority, then-New Jersey governor John Corzine simply ordered the creation of the school with the stroke of his pen.
Other more long-established schools like MCW founded in 1893 dont have the luxury of starting from scratch with a new training model. Their traditional training culture is still deeply ingrained.
And with government subsidies to health under siege in Republican-controlled Wisconsin, public funding of a new hospital is not a serious option, either.
The Kern program initiative is not focused on a single university but on seven different medical schools across the country that Kern is funding as part of a National Transformation Network.
Besides MCW, the network includes: the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
Cheryl Maurana, a founding director of MCWs new Kern Institute, says the idea is to apply different models of training throughout the entire network. Shes hoping the seven schools will compare notes and share lessons learned.
Shes also hoping to sponsor formal evaluations to demonstrate that new training approaches impact quality of patient care and might affect student achievement and medical professional morale and retention rates.
The total initial investment in the Kern Institute is $52.5 million, which includes the gift from the Kern Family and Kern Family Foundation, and contributions from MCW, National Transformation Network partner medical schools and other philanthropic support.
The opportunity to transform medical education is consistent with the systemic change focus of the Kern Family Foundation. The foundation disdains mere charity and seeks to fund broad impact, long-term programs. Key focus areas include entrepreneurship, the value of hard work, character building, and quality education
Maurana says she has high hopes for Kerns new program effort. This model could allow us to set the standard in medical education around the world, she told the Milwaukee Business Times.
Kern was founded in 1998 from a partial selloff of the electric power generator manufacturing company, Generac Power Systems. It enjoys strong ties to one of the nations leading conservative philanthropies, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, which IP profiled last month. Bradley President/CEO Rick Graber sits on Kerns seven-member board.
Excerpt from:
If This Foundation Has Its Way, Medical School Training May Never Be the Same - Inside Philanthropy
FSTAR fellows Donovan Valentin Torres, Kiara Norman and Lyse Louis in the HWCOM Immunology lab.
The latest group of students reporting for class at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM) looks a little too young to be in medical schooltheir average age is 19. But these young men and women are old enough to start preparing for a career in medicine, and thats why theyre on campus. They are the new cohort of the HWCOMs Florida Science Training and Research Fellowship (FSTAR) program.
Now in its sixth year, FSTAR was established by the colleges Office of Diversity and Inclusion to increase the number of highly qualified medical school applicants from minority groups underrepresented in medicine, particularly African-American and Latino students.
Theres no particular formula that were looking for in a student other than, what is your motivation? Why do you want to be a doctor? says Cheryl Brewster, associate dean of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Brewster founded the program in 2011 and expanded the program in 2015 with a $2.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The first year, the program only had one fellow. In 2016, 14students participated. This year, 13pre-med students are taking part in the full-time summer intensive at Modesto Maidique A. Campus.
The students come from FIU and three partnering institutions: Florida Memorial University in Miami, Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona and Louisianas Xavier University. Over the course of 8 weeks, they receive a variety of clinical, research and community-based experiences to try to help them decide which medical field to pursue.
Chloe Greene, a 19-year-old rising sophomore from Bethune-Cookman, says shes wanted to go into medicine since she was a little girl, and hopes FSTAR will help her focus her options.
I am excited to get experience, be put into the field and actually be hands-on to see what I have more of a passion for and am more drawn to, Greene says.
FSTAR is designed to follow students through their undergraduate degree, providing support until their acceptance into medical school. Although it is still relatively young, the program is already producing stars.
My first student is beginning her residency this year, says Brewster proudly.
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FSTAR program prepares minority students for medical school - FIU News
Fort Worth Star Telegram | A 'two-med-school' town is a step closer Fort Worth Star Telegram It's been years in the making (and has hurdles yet to clear), but the University of North Texas Health Science Center is one step closer to offering both osteopathic (D.O.) and allopathic (M.D.) medical degrees. We have state Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort ... |
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A 'two-med-school' town is a step closer - Fort Worth Star Telegram
YVONNE GONZALEZ
Gov. Brian Sandoval signs one of three bills benefiting higher education in front of a packed lobby at UNLVs Greenspun Hall on Thursday, June 15,2017.
By Yvonne Gonzalez (contact)
Friday, June 16, 2017 | 1:30 p.m.
Millions of dollars in funding are headed toward future engineering and medical school buildings at UNLV.
Gov. Brian Sandoval signed several bills in front of a packed Greenspun Hall lobby on Thursday. The new laws open up credits for certain military training, set up what Sandoval has called a Top Gun academy for teachers and appropriate funds for UNLV projects.
Senate Bill 553 sends $25 million toward construction of the School of Medicine, funding that matched a private donation, and puts $1.75 million toward planning for the universitys new building in the College of Engineering.
Sandoval said the state has invested millions in the medical schools development so far. With the arrival of the first class next month, Sandoval said its time to go from the theoretical to reality when it comes to building the facility.
Two weeks before the 2017 legislative session ended, Sandoval said an anonymous donor reached out, willing to contribute $25 million for the medical school on the condition that the state would do the same. He said legislative leaders were immediately on board.
The medical school is going to develop the doctors of the future, Sandoval said, noting the states doctor shortage and the need to keep graduates in Nevada.
The state also has a growing need for engineers, he said.
Weve gone from a state that is producing engineers that most likely had to go out of state in order to get a position, and now the conversations that Im getting are, we dont have enough engineers, he said. We need to build a state-of-the-art engineering school here at UNLV and in Reno.
Sandoval also signed Senate Bill 548, establishing the Nevada Institute on Teaching Educator Preparation, and Senate Bill 457, which makes it possible for student veterans to use certain military experience to gain college credit.
Students and school officials said the bills will benefit UNLV programs and help Nevada retain graduating engineers, teachers and doctors.
UNLV President Len Jessup said the medical schools first class will have 60 students, with a goal of eventually training 120 future doctors. Community donations made it possible for those first students to all attend the medical school on scholarships.
Jessup said depending on plans and construction, this inaugural group of students may end up taking classes at the new facility.
Launching this medical school is a key component of our top-tier strategic plan, and its critical for the community, he said. The communitys desperately in need of more doctors, and so for us, for that reason, its the most important thing that were working on.
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Sandoval signs bills earmarking millions for UNLV, including med school - Las Vegas Sun
UPDATED: Thu., June 15, 2017, 10:30 p.m.
Washington State University, Spokane is looking for local residents willing to help the schools inaugural class of medical students get acquainted with the community.
Sixty students in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine will arrive in Spokane in August for their first two years of training.
WSU Spokane is looking for hosts who will periodically spend time with the students, introducing them to local leaders and helping them gain insights into the region, its culture, socioeconomic dynamics and medical needs.
The program is designed to help immerse students in the life of the Spokane community and give them a sense of what its like to live here, said Christina VerHeul, the medical schools director of communication and marketing.
The hosts will serve as an entry point to Spokane beyond the classroom walls, helping students become invested in an area where they might someday practice medicine.
The new medical schools mission is to train doctors for rural and family practices in underserved areas of the state.
To help further that goal, all of the medial students in the initial class are from Washington. New doctors often end up practicing in the cities, or the state, where they did their training, VerHeul said.
After the first two years in Spokane, the students will complete their medical training in either the Tri-Cities, Vancouver, Everett or Spokane. Fifteen students have been assigned to each of the four communities for the final piece of their training.
WSU Spokane is looking for 15 local host families in the Spokane area. So far, the program has received nine applications and needs at least six more.
If the host applicants arent selected this year, they could be considered in future years, VerHeul said.
Applicants must pass a federal background check. They also must be able to meet with students at least once during the six specified weeks over the two-year period and attend Wednesday night dinners with the students during those weeks.
The six weeks are spread out between September 2017 and March 2019. The first meeting is scheduled for the week of Sept. 3.
For students assigned to the Tri-Cities, Vancouver and Everett during the second half of their training, the hosts will also provide limited stays in their homes. The homestays will help those students get introduced to those communities before they move there for the last part of their med school training. However, overnight hosting is not needed in Spokane, VerHeul said.
People can apply for a host position on WSUs website: https://medicine.wsu.edu/community-hosting-and-homestay-program/
Link:
Hosts needed to introduce WSU med school students to Spokane - The Spokesman-Review
The University of Arizona now has two separately accredited medical schools.
UA officials announced Wednesday that the UA College of Medicine-Phoenix, which was originally a branch of the UAs Tucson medical school, was granted full accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME).
The LCME is the national accrediting authority for medical-education programs leading to M.D. degrees in the United States and Canada.
The accrediting authority completed its latest site visit earlier this spring. The LCME is expected to provide a comprehensive report within the next month detailing the site visit and the factors for granting full accreditation.
The full accreditation came earlier than expected. UA officials originally projected they would gain full accreditation in 2018.
The UA College of Medicine-Phoenix was created 10 years ago as a branch campus of the UA College of Medicine-Tucson, which opened in 1967.
In 2012, the UA College of Medicine-Phoenix received preliminary accreditation with the LCME. That marked the point when students first were accepted as part of the separate accreditation, and also the beginning of a five-year process to full accreditation.
The next step of provisional accreditation was granted in 2015. Full accreditation was the final step.
To date, the UA College of Medicine-Phoenix has graduated 354 physicians, with classes of about 80 students per year.
During the accreditation process, more than 100 performance elements are evaluated to establish whether a medical school is in good standing.
From my standpoint, its a wonderful signal that things are going well at the College of Medicine in Phoenix, said Chic Older, executive vice president of the Arizona Medical Association, a statewide group made up of doctors, residents and medical students.
Theyve got a terrific medical school and theyve certainly become more stabilized. ... Its a medical school students can be proud of graduating from.
One year ago this month, the Arizona Medical Association asked for an investigation after a half-dozen of the Phoenix medical schools top leaders left for positions out of state. Among those departures was the schools dean, Dr. Stuart D. Flynn.
The UA recently hired a new dean to lead the school, Tennessee cardiologist Dr. Guy Reed. The UA also has a new interim senior vice president of health sciences, Dr. Leigh Neumayer, who oversees both medical schools. Neumayer replaced Dr. Joe G. N. Skip Garcia, who stepped down in December.
Older said interim dean Dr. Kenneth Ramos did an excellent job after Flynns departure and helped lead the Phoenix medical school through the accreditation.
Dr. Leigh Neumayer is clearly stabilizing things as well, Older said. This is not some kind of miracle. This is a lot of hard work by a lot of people and is what we wanted, and it will only help the state.
Having another fully accredited medical school is a key part of ensuring quality health care in Arizona in the future and also in addressing a doctor shortage. However, Older said another key is having enough residency spots and that the current level in Arizona is not enough.
There are now five medical schools in Arizona the two UA medical schools; the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, which is opening its Arizona campus in Scottsdale this summer; and Midwestern University and A.T. Still University, which both operate osteopathic medical schools in the Phoenix area.
A sixth medical school Nebraska-based Creighton University School of Medicine has medical students doing third- and fourth-year rotations in Arizona.
Earning full accreditation is an important milestone, UA President Dr. Robert C. Robbins said in a prepared statement.
Full accreditation assures students that they are getting an outstanding education and it demonstrates to Arizona residents that the University of Arizona is graduating exceptional physicians, said Robbins, who is a cardiac surgeon.
Ramos, interim dean of the UA College of MedicinePhoenix, received a call Friday from the LCME, notifying him that the college would move from provisional accreditation status to full accreditation, UA officials said Wednesday.
This announcement acknowledges the strength and excellence of this college and our ability to transform todays students into tomorrows health-care leaders, said Neumayer.
Contact health reporter Stephanie Innes at 573-4134 or email sinnes@tucson.com. On Twitter: @stephanieinnes
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University of Arizona's Phoenix medical school receives full accreditation - Arizona Daily Star
With more health care data available than ever, physicians are being asked to think in broader terms. Population health management, which focuses on health outcomes for a group of individuals rather than a single patient, has become a point of emphasis as across-the-board quality health outcomes have become a more significant metric for success in medicine.
With that, what is expected of a physician has changed from the era when doctors were principally responsible for the patient in front of them, said Paul George, MD, MPHE, assistant dean for medical education and associate professor of family medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. And now as a physician, to better health care systems, you are asked to be responsible for not only the patient in front of you, but also the population of patients.
A patients well-being is often significantly impacted by social and behavioral determinantssuch as access to transportation, nutritious food options and housing. Those factors cannot be treated during an office visit.
The topic is addressed in detail in the Population Health chapter in Health Systems Science, a 2016 textbook that is the first to explore the third pillar of medical education. (The chapter was written by Natalia Wilson, MD, MPH, with co-authors Dr. George and Jill M. Huber, MD)
This reality could be a bit of shock to medical students looking at the profession from a traditional standpoint.
This whole conceptthinking also about groups of patients, using data and considering the community and the social determinants of healthis not necessarily something students came to medical school thinking they were going to be doing or learning about, said Dr. Wilson, clinical associate professor at Arizona State Universitys School for the Science of Health Care Delivery.
Within the text of Health Systems Science, population health is defined as the health outcomes of a group of individuals, including the distribution of such outcomes within the group.
Making that definition stick is the first step of the population health curriculum Dr. Wilson teaches to her students.
Theres a lot of misunderstanding about what population health actually means and how it pertains to health care as well as the other areas we need to be thinking about in order to improve population health, Dr. Wilson said. Basic education is needed on key concepts and how things are changing in health care delivery for a population health focus.
In addressing a more rounded approach to her students, Dr. Wilson is trying to pass along the knowledge that traditionally siloed areas such as health care delivery, public health and community organizations, will need to learn to work together for better health of patients and populations.
The significance of the lessons learned in the classroom, Dr. Wilson believes, will reveal their value over time.
One of the challenges for medical students is they are starting their education, and so have not yet had significant patient care experiences and clinical training to fully understand the context and application of this new knowledge on population health, she said.
So we are planting the seeds for these important concepts we [physicians] need to know. My suspicion is that they will increasingly understand the importance of considering the social determinants of health, using data to provide knowledge about their patient populations, and collaborating with partners to support the health of their patients and populations as they progress in their education and clinical training.
Health Systems Science,which is already in use in medical schools across the country, was co-written by experts from the AMA and faculty from 11 of the 32 member schools in the AMAsAccelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium.
The book retails for $59.99 and can be ordered from theAMA Storeand the publisher,Elsevier, as well as fromAmazonand other online booksellers. AMA members may order it from the AMA Store for $54.99. Individual chapters are available from Elseviers Student Consult platform for $6.99 each.
Read more from the original source:
Population health management makes its way to med school - American Medical Association (blog)
Harvard Medical School, pictured here in October, launched its capital campaign, "The World Is Waiting: The Campaign for Harvard Medicine" in the fall of 2013. The medical school has raised $467 million as of October.
This was part of a nationwide movement protesting the AHCA, which is estimated to cut $834 billion in funding for Medicaid and leave an additional 23 million Americans uninsured by 2026, according to Congressional Budget Office, a nonpartisan government agency.
Last May, the House of Representatives narrowly voted to approve the AHCA. Many Republicans including President Donald Trump, support the effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
The event included Medical School students, faculty, physicians, and patients. Speakers shared brief remarks before the die-in demonstration.
Medical School instructor Michelle E. Morse described the current lack of moral and civic responsibility physician education as off track.
We as health professionals have to take responsibility for our political education, she said. Because if we dont, we will never achieve our goal of health for all. Health care is a human right, and why dont we learn that in medical school?
The participants held up cardboard signs resembling gravestone markers, some of which read Trumpcare is a Lethal Disease and Silence=Death.
Yuvaram N. V. Reddy, an internal medicine resident at Boston Medical Center, said his patients sometimes ignore his medical advice because it is too expensive.
The AHCA isnt just a step backwards, but its a harrowing step backwards into an elevator shaft 20 feet down, he said.
Event organizer and incoming Medical School student Tiantian White said that student activists are considering contacting senators from other states and reaching out to local communities about the potential harmful effects of the proposed bill.
It would be hard later to sleep at night as we think about the patients who were never going to see, wholl never make it to our clinic because they dont have the health insurance, she said. It would just be unconscionable.
Staff writer William L. Wang can be reached at william.wang@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @wlwang20.
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Medical School Affiliates Protest Republican Healthcare Bill - Harvard Crimson
Phoenix Business Journal | UA medical school in Phoenix granted full accreditation Phoenix Business Journal Earning full accreditation is an important milestone in the evolutionary history of the University of Arizona's College of Medicine Phoenix, said UA President Robert C. Robbins, who is also a cardiothoracic surgeon. Full accreditation assures ... |
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UA medical school in Phoenix granted full accreditation - Phoenix Business Journal
Fort Kent ~ Partnerships are not new to Northern Maine Medical Center (NMMC) however the most recent one is the first of its kind for the hospital. Peter Sirois, NMMC Chief Executive Officer and Sandra San Antonio, Director of Medical Practices have been communicating with Quinnipiac Universitys Frank H. Netter School of Medicine for the past several months. The dialogue began in the Fall of 2016 when administrative personnel from Quinnipiac contacted NMMC to entertain the idea of bringing on medical students for clinical experience in a rural hospital and outpatient setting.
Traci Marquis-Eydman, MD, Associate Professor of Medical Services and Director of the Medical Student Home at the Netter Medical School said the issue of the lack of rural primary care in the country became highly evident to her when she attended the 2016 national conference for medical educators. Marquis-Eydman said, The message I heard loud and clear was how critically important primary care is and how it has elevated the health of patients everywhere, except in rural America. I was disheartened to learn about the inequity of primary care resources in rural communities across the country. At that point, Marquis-Eydman saw an opportunity to begin exploring options with her peers at the Medical School. Born and raised in Fort Kent, she made contact with the administrative team at NMMC and began a dialogue about how patients could gain value from such a collaboration agreement the Netter Medical School could develop a rural track opportunity for students and NMMC could benefit from having students onsite as a recruiting tool. In addition, the NMMC Medical staff would have the opportunity to serve as faculty which supports job satisfaction and retention of physicians in the rural St. John Valley.
The result of the negotiations has resulted in a partnership with the School of Medicine which is being led by Dr. Kristin Hartt. Dr. Hartt, NMMC Medical Staff President and now Director of Medical Student Education said, It is a win-win situation. Having students onsite brings an infusion of new life and vigor to the staff and the organization which can only benefit our patients. It keeps what we do every day fun and fresh. As many as fourteen of NMMCs Medical Staff are participating, with more coming on board in the coming months, to serve as mentors, educators and coaches for students.
At the start of April, the first fourth year students from the Frank H. Netter School of Medicine arrived at NMMC to complete a one month rotation. Fourth year medical students have already completed in-depth clinical education experiences through required clerkships in third year in family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, and surgery, in both ambulatory and inpatient settings. While at NMMC, fourth year students will have the opportunity to experience all of these clinical rotations, in a longitudinal setting and in one location. They will be assigned to experienced physicians and exposed to outpatient practices in both Fort Kent and Madawaska. Their experiences will include patient rounding with hospitalists in the acute care hospital setting; opportunities in obstetrics for labor, delivery and post partum care; pediatrics; endoscopy; surgery and exposure in the Emergency Department. Every other month, two or three new students will come to NMMC for similar experiences which include daily patient rounding and didactic learning opportunities such as teaching grand rounds.
Over the next one to two years, NMMC and Quinnipiac are planning discussions about the probability of adding another component to the partnership, that of the third year medical student rotation. NMMC physicians, Dr. Kristin Hartt and Dr. Michael Sullivan, have agreed to work closely with the faculty at the Netter School of Medicine to develop a longitudinal curriculum which will provide third year students with an innovative, alternative rural track to supplement their educational goals in clinical medicine. The longitudinal curriculum seeks to more accurately mimic the actual practice of physicians, particularly primary care physicians in a rural setting. Previous studies at other institutions have demonstrated that students who participate in this type of rural track curriculum are more likely to choose a career in primary care and establish a practice in a rural setting. Peter Sirois, NMMC CEO, said, Over the years, we have lost physicians because they wanted to pursue teaching opportunities. Our goal with the Quinnipiac partnership supports physician retention as well as a component of recruitment for new physicians. In the longitudinal curriculum, third year students would be with the organization for a period of eight months and during that time would be required to complete clinical experiences which consist of an longitudinal exposure to primary care, surgical, emergency medicine, and inpatient specialties. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, a reliance on preventative and primary care improves the health outcomes of patients and lowers healthcare costs.
Established in 2010 following the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Quinnipiac was designed with an eye toward the future. Anticipating the nations aging population, an increasing demand for medical professionals and a commitment to primary care, the University was determined to provide students with inter-professional opportunities. The four year medicine program provides a solid foundation in the fundamentals of the basic sciences and clinical medicine with an emphasis on evidence-based care. The Frank H. Netter Medical Program graduated its first class of four year medical students this spring.
To learn more about NMMCs many services, to make a donation or to learn about volunteer opportunities, visit http://www.nmmc.org and Like us on Facebook!
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Many people in Jirayut Latthivongskorns position would not welcome the public recognition that he is receiving, including an award from the U.S. Public Health Service and a mention in Forbes magazines 2017 30 Under 30 list.
That is because Latthivongskorn lives in the United States illegally, having overstayed his visa soon after moving with his parents at the age of 9. Many with Latthivongskorns legal status fear that any news about them, even good news, might be all that is needed to deport them or their loved ones.
Latthivongskorn, who goes by the name New, has an entirely different take on news. A rising fourth-year student at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, the Thai immigrant embraces publicitynot for himself, but to raise awareness about the plight he shares with other so-called dreamers who entered the U.S. illegally as children and want to contribute to American society in meaningful ways.
To that end, Latthivongskorn several years ago co-founded an advocacy group, Pre-Health Dreamers (PHD), to provide support, information and resources to peers with tenuous immigration status who are interested in pursuing careers in the health care field. Now more than 750 strong, PHD members throughout the country are raising awareness about their individual and collective challenges, talking with state legislators and higher-education leaders.
Latthivongskorn said there is a need for more informed admissions processes, more robust student services, and equitable financial support such as federal loans, loan repayment options and even many private scholarship and fellowship opportunities that people living in the U.S. illegally are barred from receiving. He said PHD has worked closely with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), resulting in changes to the medical school and residency application systems, and an expansion of the Fee Assistance Program to low-income students living in the U.S. illegaly.
It keeps me grounded, Latthivongskorn said of his work with PHD. Many of the members are in the same place I was many years ago. I see how hard theyre working. It takes a huge amount of resilience for them to pursue their educational and career goals. They are the ones who inspire and rejuvenate me.
The U.S. Public Health Service recognized Latthivongskorns medical student activities as being in line with the agencys mission to protect, promote, and advance the health and safety of our nation. In addition to co-founding Pre-Health Dreamers, Latthivongskorn also advises University of California system President Janet Napolitano on the Presidents Advisory Council on Undocumented Students. He also serves on the board of directors at Asian Health Services, working to expand health care options for Asians and Pacific Islanders in the Bay Area.
Struggling to make ends meet after arriving from Thailand, Latthivongskorns parents worked in restaurants in Northern California to support Latthivongskorn and his two older siblings. Health care was never an option for them, he said. That was not because the family lacked access or insurance, but because we were never fully educated about what benefits, albeit limited, were available to them as people who live in the country illegally.
I went to the doctor four times growing up, said Latthivongskorn, who suffered from significant eczema as a youth. There were no annual or preventative health visits. We didnt know we had any coverage.
It was after his mother sustained a medical emergency and hemorrhaged significantly that Latthivongskorn decided that he wanted to become a physician and address, as both a clinician and an advocate, health care disparities.
As an undergraduate at the University of California, Berkeleywhich he was able to attend mostly by working part-time and earning private scholarshipsLatthivongskorn balanced his studies with student-led activism on behalf of immigrants rights and participation in community activities to help the less fortunate. For example, he ran a foot-washing clinic at Suitcase Clinic, the student-run campus organization serving homeless people. He also got involved in community, organizing with Educators for Fair Consideration and Aspire, which advocates on behalf of Asian Pacific Islanders living in the U.S. illegally
Latthivongskorn learned early on, he said, that sharing personal narratives is the most effective approach to opening peoples hearts and minds to policy changes. He and other PHD members often talk about their immigration storiesthe reasons they uprooted themselves from impoverished, often war-torn countries and put themselves and their loved ones on the line to come to the United States.
In the case of Latthivongskorns family, he and his parents and siblings left Bangkok after the collapse of Thailands economy in the 1990s. In an interview published on the website of the Evelyn & Walter Haas Jr. Fund, he recounted his familys early days in the United States:
It was difficult to make a new start. My parents had been successful business people in Thailand, running their own business, and suddenly they were cleaning toilets, mopping floors. Managers would yell at them. And all of it was for my brother, my sister and myself. Coming here meant we could be part of Americas public education system. I still cant believe how much my parents sacrificed to make sure we got a good education.
As the first dreamer to matriculate at UCSF, Latthivongskorn attends medical school as part of the institutions Program in Medical Education for the Urban Underserved, which provides additional training and support for those who plan to work in underserved communities. This fall, he will take a year off from medical school to pursue a masters degree in public health at Harvard University.
Latthivongskorn said he aspires to combine a primary care practice in an urban setting, where he can treat patients from underserved communities, with continued efforts as an advocate and public-policy specialist who can work toward reducing health care disparities.
Of the doors that continue to open for himthanks to his perseverance and academic successesLatthivongskorn said, Im happy, but I dont think I will feel fully liberated until many others in similar circumstances have the opportunity to pursue their dreams.
The AMA has expressed support for people who have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, colloquially known as dreamers after the Congressional legislation that failed to secure passage. In February, AMA Executive Vice President and CEO James L. Madara, MD, wrote to Congress, urging that DACA and DACA-eligible individuals be granted a three-year legal status until a permanent solution on lawful immigration for DACA recipients can be implemented.
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Med school dreamer honored for advocacy, volunteer work - American Medical Association (blog)
Patch.com | Verdict in NYC Medical School Controversy That Turned Violent ... Patch.com Chappaqua-Mount Kisco, NY - The disgraced assistant professor's shotgun attack in Chappaqua was in revenge for being fired from a medical school in ... Man Convicted in Shooting of Ex-Boss Outside NY Deli | New York ... Hengjun Chao guilty of attempted murder in Chappaqua deli shooting |
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Verdict in NYC Medical School Controversy That Turned Violent ... - Patch.com
Defense attorney Stewart Orden delivers his closing remarks in his client's attempted murder trial Monday.
Westchester assistant district attorney Christine O'Connor shows the jury the shotgun used to shoot a prominent doctor from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai outside a deli in Chappaqua.(Photo: Screen Grab from Pool Video)
Jurors will start deciding Tuesday whether the shooting of a medical school dean in Chappaqua last year was an act of violent revenge or a fired researcher's bid to publicize what he thought was the dean's medical fraud.
Hengjun Chao insists he did not try to kill, hurt or even hit Dr. Dennis Charney, aiming instead at the cup of iced coffee in his hand, when he fired a shotgun blast outsideLange's Little Store & Delicatessen last summer.
He didn't want revenge against Charney, who had fired him as a researcher at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Chao insisted as he testified Monday as the final - and only defense - witness at his attempted-murder trial in Westchester County Court.
"Because I hate him doesn't mean I want to kill him or injure him," Chao told Assistant District Attorney Christine O'Connor. "I want to expose him."
DEFENDANT: Chao takes stand at attempted murder trial
CHAPPAQUA: Man shot doctor to expose fraud, lawyer says.
DELI SHOOTING: Man targets former boss, cops say.
The prosecutor countered later that the planning, type of ammunition and Charney's injuries belied Chao's claims.
"You use that instrument of death ... you are going to kill," O'Connor told the jury, adding that only luck prevented this from being a murder trial. This is not a spur of the moment (act). This is a product of calculation. This is a product of hate."
Westchester Assistant District Attorney Christine O'Connor delivers closing arguments in the attempted murder trial of Hengjun Chao.
Chao hit Charney with buckshot pellets from less than 15 feet away on themorning of Aug. 29. The 50-year-old Tuckahoe resident is charged with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault and first-degree criminal use of a firearm.
He could go to prison for as long as 25 years. But his lawyer, Stewart Orden, askedjurors to acquit him because he had no intent to commit any crime when he fired that gun.
Chao claimed it wasn't until hours later, when a detective told him, that he learned Charney had been shot - even though he told the first New Castle police officer who arrived on the scene "Ijust shot an (expletive)."
"I didn't see any blood," he told Orden. "He looked at me. I looked at him. He stood there steadily."
Charney was bleeding from the shoulder. He was hospitalized for five days and testified that hehad pain and limited range of motion in his right arm for a lengthy period after that.
Chao was fired in 2010 for research fraud after three years of inquiry, investigation and appeals, all while he was able to continue working. After leaving Mount Sinai, he briefly held other, less significant lab jobs. He insisted he never doctored data and was retaliated against for making a similar claim against one of his researchers. He unsuccessfully sued the school in federal court, lost his federal appeal and the U.S. Supreme Court would not hear his case.
His civil lawyer brought medical journal articles to his attention that suggested Charney was not the esteemed psychiatrist people thought he was.
Chao insisted he had gotten over losing his job and for a few years was content to let things go as his wife had suggested. But in the summer of 2015 he was cleaning out his basement he picked up some of the journal articles and blogs.
He was particularly incensed because he was convinced Charney was in cahoots with the maker of the anti-depressant Plaxil, encouraging doctors to prescribe it even though it was known to increase the likelihood of teen suicide.
"I started having nightmares," he said.
Defense lawyer Stewart Orden demonstrates how his client's shotgun blast came out in a cone-shaped pattern.(Photo: Screen Grab from Pool Video)
In his closing arguments, Orden called those impressions "devastating" to Charney's reputation, at least in his client's mind.
"It doesn't have to be true," Orden said. "What I suggest it must be was it affected my client."
O'Connor argued that Chao, who had spent more than $200,000 in legal fees "and got nothing," could notget over the realization that he'd never again reach the pinnacle he'd attained at Mount Sinai and held Charney responsible for that.
She said Chao was "obsessed with hatred for Charney" and denounced his accusations against the dean.
"It was a clear campaign of character assassination," O'Connor said of Chao's testimony. "And I submit it had nothing to do with why he shot him."
Chao said he decided he would get himself arrested so that he would have the opportunity to speak out. He figured the best way would be to use a gun, considering the public's sensitivity to gun violence.
Hengjun Chao listens as his defense attorney attempts to acquit him for the attempted murder of his former boss, who he shot outside a Chappaqua deli.(Photo: Screen Grab from Pool Video)
He staked out Charney's home in Chappaqua, but grew worried that firing at him there could injure children if any were nearby. Once he learned the dean's routine, he settled on Lange's Little Store & Delicatessen.
Chao conceded it was him in the black Lexus SUV and the red Toyota Corrolla captured on videotape in the days leading up to the shooting.
"Every morning when I left my home I was hesitating should I do this or not. I'm begging for criminal charges against myself," he said, concluding that it was worth the risk.
He said he loaded the shotgun in his basement, but never intended to fire more than once. He figured he could make clear his intention afterward by pointing to the extra rounds in the gun and say that if he wanted to hit anyone he could have fired all the shots.
He insisted he did not fire at Charney's chest. And Orden argued that the evidence of where the pellets scattered - to Charney's right side and beyond him, and not to his left side or his car to his left - proved he wasn't aiming for center mass and could have been trying to avoid hitting him altogether.
But O'Connor suggested Charney's survival could be chalked up to luck and not Chao's careful marksmanship.
O'Connor asked Chao why he didn't simply run into the deli and grab Charney, or fire the gun in the air or into the ground.
Chao suggested the first option wouldn't have interested anyone. The second could have injured people.
Why didn't he just accost Charney at gunpoint days earlier when two New Castle police cars were at the deli the same time Charney was, O'Connor wondered. The cops would have shot him, Chao said.
"And you didn't want THAT to happen?" O'Connor asked.
"If I dead, who will tell the story?" he answered.
O'Connor also asked him why he didn't try to shoot the authors of the study that sought to legitimize Paxil. Regarding one of them, Chao said it was because he had already been exposed and fined.
O'Connor in her summation offered an alternative reason.
"Because they (the authors) didn't fire (Chao)," she told the jury. "He went to kill Charney because Charney took his life away."
The jury will begin deliberating Tuesday morning after getting legal instructions from Westchester County Judge Barry Warhit.
Twitter: @jonbandler
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Charlie Sorce's insulation and coatings business has done $3 million of contracted work on the University at Buffalo's new medical school, doing insulation and fireproofing over the last two years.
But he says his company, Insulation Coatings & Consultants, still is owed nearly $1.06 million from the State University Construction Fund for additional work he says was completed more than a year ago.
"They owe me a lot of money, and it's hurting me terribly," said Sorce, noting that he has 40 unionized employees working for his Sherman-based company. "I'm robbing Peter to pay Paul constantly. It's out of my pocket. My line of credit is gone. This has ruined me."
The $375 million project to build a new medical school on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is overseen bythe State University Construction Fund. The money Sorce is seeking appears to be delayed as the state construction fund reviews changeorders on the construction project,which is being managed by general contractor LPCiminelli.
Sorce says he is not getting clear answers about the holdup but has been told the amount owed to him is among other change orders on the projectthat have been held up by state review.
A change order is work done or deleted outside the scopeof the original contract.
Neither representatives from the State University Construction Fund nor UB wouldanswer specific questions about the outstanding payments owed to Insulation Coatings & Consultants other than to acknowledge a review of the matter is ongoing.
"I understand you may have questions, but the review is not complete, and I will have no further comment until it is," said Holly Liapis, a spokeswoman for the State University of New York, wrote in response toquestions about the change orders. Liapis did notanswer a detailed list of follow-up questions.
[Gallery:UB's downtown medical school nears completion]
Sorce provided The Newswith a copy of anemail dated Feb. 22 in which a Construction Fund official acknowledged the delay.
"I came on last summer and am moving the issues as best we can. We have folks dedicated to this project alone and staff solely dedicated to reviewing and processing change orders," wrote Anne L. Garrity, regional director of design at the Construction Fund, in a Feb. 22 email that was copied to LPCiminelli Vice President William J. Mahoney. "The backlog, thanks to all involved in the process, has significantly reduced. We have changed some of our processes to enable field orders to move quicker. We will keep plugging away and ask for your continued patience."
The $375 million medical school, designed by architecture firm HOK, is slated to open later this year. The building will includestate-of-the-art research laboratories, classrooms and advanced simulation centers for patient care and surgical training.
Sorce has contacted LPCiminelli, the Construction Fund, the Empire State Development Corp. and state Sen. Catharine Young, R-Olean, who represents his district. His company has logged more than 6,000 emails on the entire project.
Young said the situation "gives the state a black eye."
"It is unfortunate when a subcontractor fails to get paid due to a dispute between the state and the main contractor," she said. "I am very concerned about Mr. Sorce's business and his employees, and we need a positive outcome."
Young on Wednesday said she had her staff reached out to the "proper entities" multiple times to rectify the matter. "We've just advocated that this guy needs to get paid. We don't want him to go out of business."
LPCiminelli and UB officials also declined to answer specific questionsabout delayed payments.
"As the State University Construction Fund continues its review, LPCiminelli has been working closely with state officials to ensure all appropriate documentation is in place and help move the project forward to completion," the company said in a prepared statement.
LPCiminelli has been at the center of controversy during the last year as three of its top executives resigned to fight charges in a federal corruptionprobe regarding its contract on an unrelated Buffalo Billion project to build the SolarCity plant in South Buffalo.
UB released a one-line prepared statement when contacted by The News. "We have contacted the State University Construction Fund about this issue and we understand that they are in the process of reviewing it," UB's statement said.
Sorce, whose firm did insulation and fireproofing work on the medical school construction site, said the lack of timely payment could cost him his 40-year-old business.
"I can't get supplies for other jobs because my line of credit is gone to buy supplies. That job ate it all up," Sorce said.
Sorce said a delay in starting construction on the medical school project drove up subcontractor costs, requiring some of the change orders.
Sorce has talked with Sam Hoyt, regional president of Empire State Development Corp., about the problem. "This is clearly a matter between the SUCF, the general contractor and the subcontractor. That said, when I heard from Mr. Sorce, I spoke with colleagues in Albany who immediately contacted the SUCF to encourage them to resolve this matter as soon as possible," Hoyt said.
The State University Construction Fund a public benefit corporation that addresses the construction and capital planning needs of the State University of New York and affiliated institutions is overseen by a three-person Board of Trustees, one selected by the SUNY Board of Trustees and the other two nominated by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate.
Sorce remains frustrated.
"I'm 66 years old and I don't need this," he said. "I wake at 2 a.m. because I cannot sleep. They wanted the job done quickly, and we worked long hours and overtime and did all this stuff for them to get the job done fast, so they can open the school on time. And now, they don't want to pay us quick."
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Medical school subcontractor: Late $1 million payment 'ruined' him - Buffalo News
The School of Medicine and Health Sciences is getting $3.9 million this fiscal year to upgrade labs and classrooms in Ross Hall.
The medical school is getting $3.9 million in the coming fiscal year to step up its labs, classrooms and facilities.
The project will include upgrades to labs and classrooms in Ross Hall and the schools information technology infrastructure, Walter Harris, senior associate dean for administration and operations of the medical school, said. The renovations will allow the medical school to keep up with modern technology and stay competitive with other universities, faculty said.
The updates are standard and will simply enable work to continue and improve support for our faculty and students, Harris said in an email. These renovations enable our students, faculty and staff to continue the work they are doing in medical research and education.
Harris said the renovations and upgrades will be implemented throughout the coming fiscal year, which begins this summer. The renovation process will have minimal impacts on students and faculty, he said.
The renovations will be funded by the roughly $67 million capital budget, which the Board of Trustees approved last month.
Harris declined to say what the renovations will specifically entail and how classrooms and labs will be updated. Harris declined to provide a timeline of the renovations and how officials decided which improvements to make to the schools facilities.
In recent years, the medical school has sought funding to upgrade its facilities outside the capital budget, looking to collect $25 million for building renovations during the Universitys $1 billion capital fundraising campaign, which will officially end later this month.
Julia Cruz, a clinical instructor of medicine, said with the fast pace of technology in the medical field, frequent upgrades are necessary to prepare future doctors who will require high-grade equipment for their work.
I think even within a short period of time I think technology has changed so much, we do have to have those things to be able to share with students, Cruz said.
Cruz said that using the money to provide medical students with standardized patients, or actors who pretend to be patients with specified medical conditions, would be helpful for training students on how to conduct medical consultations.
I think that anytime that we can spend money using as close a model to a real patient as we can, and use the students to play the role that they are eventually going to play, that is money very well spent, Cruz said.
Daniel Ein, a clinical professor of medicine, said he has been lobbying to have an allergy fellowship funded for several years, which could allow for more specialized training for his students.
I would love to see a little tiny bit of that money go into helping us develop an allergy fellowship, he said. I think we provide a lot of value in terms of patient care.
He added that every other department in the medical school has this type of fellowship and that his department would benefit from such a program.
Patricia Berg, a professor of biochemistry and molecular medicine, said upgrading equipment in the medical school allows scientists and researchers to be competitive with their work. Advanced equipment will allow for innovative discoveries, she said.
If youre working on something and somebody else at another institution is working on the same question and they have modern equipment and you dont, you can forget it, Berg said. You wont get grants, you wont publish, you might as well just forget science so its crucial to keep up.
She added that putting money towards cores, or designated labs with common equipment to help with investigations, can make a university attractive to prospective scientists and researchers.
They do look to see what cores might be available if they were to come to that place, Berg said. This means they dont have to duplicate the equipment and pay for it and maintain it.
This article appeared in the June 12, 2017 issue of the Hatchet.
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Medical school facilities to receive $3.9 million facelift - GW Hatchet (subscription)
Liz Groesbeck is following her one true love the brain to medical school. But shes open to developing a new relationship.
I dont have much experience with things that arent brains, said Groesbeck, who graduated in May from the University of Nevada, Reno, with a masters degree in neuroscience. But I might fall in love with another organ system.
Groesbeck, 24, of Henderson, is one of 60 students who will be part of the first class at UNLVs new medical school. Like her classmates, she was selected both for academic excellence and the fact that she has close ties to Nevada.
Administrators boast about the first classs competitive Medical College Admission Test scores (508, compared with the national average of 500) and impressive GPAs (3.6 for premed coursework).
But they are equally proud of its diversity: 20 percent of the first class are Latino and 8 percent are African-American both groups considered underrepresented in the field of medicine.
Its an incredible class of diversity, said Maureen Schafer, the medical schools chief of staff. There werent special accommodations given for anyone. These kids performed.
Medical School Dean Barbara Atkinson said other schools work hard to achieve a target of 10 percent underrepresented students.
Im so pleased and so excited, Atkinson said. Theyre a really outstanding group. It was really hard picking them.
Lauren Hollifield, 26, of Las Vegas, said UNLVs reputation for having a diverse undergraduate class motivated her to apply to be part of the inaugural medical class.
To be surrounded by other people who are diverse, not only in ethnicity, but religion, viewpoints, everything I was excited to apply because of that, said Hollifield, who is African-American.
She also said she hopes to work with underserved populations after graduation, a desire fueled by a medical internship in Nicaragua.
There are parts of Las Vegas that arent getting the health care they need right now, she said.
A blind process
According to Schafer, the school employed a blind admissions process, where a number was assigned to each of the 909 applications that administrators received. After winnowing the list, they zeroed in on students who are Nevada residents or those with close ties to the state.
Our strategy is to educate and train students who will become future Nevada doctors, she said. If a future trained physician feels embedded in our community, and they want to stay and practice here, weve accomplished our goal.
According to the 2015 State Physician Workforce Data Book by the Association of American Medical Colleges, Nevada ranks No. 47 in the number of active physicians per 100,000 population, with only Wyoming, Idaho and Mississippi trailing behind in the bottom three.
Groesbeck, whose father Robert Groesbeck served as mayor of Henderson from 1993 to 1997, said her fathers strong ties to Henderson influenced her loyalty to Southern Nevada.
He has always wanted to help the area, and that inspired the passion inside me to help the area, just in a different way, she said.
Sarah Grimley, who is originally from Kenosha, Wisconsin, but is currently living in Las Vegas with her grandparents, said she thinks its incredibly important to stay in Nevada so she can help address the states physician shortage.
I love it out here, she said. Its an amazing place full of amazing people.
However, Grimley is also keeping an eye on 2021, and the possibility that she might need to live and practice where her residency program is.
Theres no question we need to expand our residency opportunities, Schafer said of Nevada. Its a conversation we need to have with physicians. We need to listen to our current partners. We need to understand what their ideas are.
Multiple acceptances
William Fang of Las Vegas a graduate of Johns Hopkins University, who spent two years in the Teach for America program turned down offers from two other medical schools to attend UNLV. Schafer said another student chose UNLV over Duke University.
Johns Hopkins is a fully developed hospital system, Fang said. Its world-renowned. There, what I see, is a developed community where health is prevalent.
Fang, however, said he was inspired to choose UNLV to provide a solution for his mother, who also lives in Las Vegas and suffers from an unknown autoimmune disorder.
I wanted to stay close to her to promote a health care system that she can rely on in her time of need, he said. Theres so much potential, so much optimism here. Its about jumping in to see what you can grow, create and change thats what Im all about.
Others accepted to multiple schools might have been swayed to come to UNLV because of the full-ride scholarship given to each student in the initial class.
Of course that played a role, said Monica Arebalos, a first-generation college student and a 2016 graduate of UNR. But in a way that makes you more motivated. It makes you want to make those donors proud and see where their money went.
Arebalos said she is already is facing $40,000 in undergraduate student loans.
For private donors to invest their own money into future physicians and us is humbling, she said. Its incredible.
Calculated risk
Although bolstered with their full-ride scholarships, the students are entering into a double dose of uncharted territory. Medical school is not only a new venture for them, but its a new undertaking for UNLV, which earned preliminary accreditation just eight months ago.
It takes a special student, Atkinson acknowledged, someone whos willing to take a chance on building a better curriculum to help students that follow them have a better curriculum than theirs.
Most students interviewed by the Las Vegas Review-Journal said they were concerned whether a UNLV degree would be seen as second-rate, but said those worries largely evaporated after early interactions with the schools leaders.
Hollifield called it a calculated risk.
That was a big concern for me, she said. But after seeing all the faculty and their past experiences with other medical schools that are accredited, it makes me think that UNLV will be successful.
Schafer said administrators will be looking for constant feedback from the students.
You have to constantly ask the customer, What did you think? How did we do? And the students are our customers, she said.
The charter class seems up for the challenge.
Arebalos, for example, is in the process of establishing a UNLV chapter of Phi Delta Epsilon, a medical fraternity.
The administration has always portrayed to us that well have the power, and that well be actively making the decisions, she said. Our opinions will matter, our voices will matter.
Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Follow @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.
How does Nevada rank?
There are 5,604 active physicians in Nevada, ranking the state No. 47 in physicians per 100,000 population, according to the 2015 State Physician Workforce Data Book by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Nevada ranks even lower No. 49 in the number of active general surgeons per 100,000 population.
Creating a medical school
July 1: Faculty physicians, residents officially transfer to UNLV School of Medicine from UNRs Southern Nevada practice plan.
July 17: First day of school. Students will begin with a six-week EMT certification class.
Aug. 25: White coat ceremony for charter class.
Spring 2018: UNLV to submit self-study to Liaison Committee on Medical Education as part of ongoing accreditation process.
December 2018: LCME determines if sufficient progress has made toward program implementation and compliance with standards, according to UNLV.
February 2019: LCME makes a provisional accreditation decision.
Early 2020: UNLV submits another self-study.
Fall 2020: The LCME makes a site visit.
Spring 2021: Charter class graduates. LCME evaluates all submitted information in advance of decision on full accreditation, which is renewed every eight years.
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First UNLV medical school class full of enthusiasm - Las Vegas Review-Journal
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When the University of Missouri faced a decision of whether to impose immediate, deep cuts or tap reserves for $20 million when Gov. Eric Greitens announced mid-year restrictions on state support, the School of Medicine chipped in $3.1 million for use by other campus divisions.
MU Health Care, the university-owned hospital and clinic system, alsoprovided $3 million. MU Health Care shows a healthy bottom line and patient fees pay the salaries of clinical faculty in the school.
And as MU undergoes changesbecause ofcontinued funding deficits and directives to find money for reallocation, the School of Medicine will be one of the major beneficiaries of those reallocated dollars. To meet the required cuts in general fund spending, the school cut 7.2 faculty positions, saving $773,825, and six staff positions, saving $455,514.
On the addition side, the hiring plan includes 59 new faculty, at a cost of $13.3 million, and another $1.25 million for tools and support to put those faculty to work. Many of the new faculty will be clinical appointments without tenure, but a significant number will be researchers.
Along with closing deficits, the budget plan announced June 2 by UM System President Mun Choi sets aside $47 million for investments in research and academics on the four system campuses. The Columbia campus will have $22.9 million as its share.
One priority building project is the planned Translational Precision Medicine Complex, a lab for interdisciplinary work conducted by 44 teams of researchers. Interdisciplinary work under the umbrella of the One Health/One Medicine initiative is already occurring but the school sees the building as a way to enhance the campus reputation with a space designed for the purpose. When first proposed in 2015, the building had a $120 million price tag.
The medical school increased its National Institutes of Health grant funding 18 percent in fiscal year 2016, Dean Patrice Delafontaine said. Finding money to build the lab is in the early stages, he said, but he wants to complete it within five years.
It is the wave of the future, he said. It is the assembly of research teams from complementary schools to tackle the big health problems. I think having a new facility like that really helps attract top level researchers. Top level researchers generally come with grant funding already and are in an optimal position.
The 59 new faculty in the medical school are the largest for any school of the 161 new faculty positions included in the budget plan. The campus total includes 58 faculty who will contribute to priority research fields and 34 will fill other tenured positions. The medical schools hires will be about 80 percent non-tenured faculty for clinical positions, Delafontaine said.
The new faculty will staff expanding clinical programs and earn their salary through patient fees, he said.
Clinical faculty play a key academic role because they are training the next generation of medical students, Delafontaine said. They train the students in the residency program and train more advance residents in fellowships. They also contribute to the research mission both through clinical research as well as collaboration with basic researchers.
The university calls its priority research areas the Mizzou Advantage and for the School of Medicine, that is the One Health/One Medicine initiative. The university is looking for 29 faculty for the program.
Today we are interviewing a candidate for our faculty and this candidate happens to be a bio-engineer, Edward Yeh, chair of the schools Department of Medicine said Friday. He is interviewing with us in the medical school but also interviewing in the school of engineering. We use engineering concepts in using biological materials to help cardiologists rebuild a heart after heart attack or nanotechnology to deliver cancer drug. This is a very valuable interaction between disciplines.
Yeh took his post in December after 16 years with M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. His specialty is onco-cardiology, itself an interdisciplinary field of medicine concerned with the effect of cancer treatment on heart function.
An example, he said, is the drug sold under the brand name Herceptin. It helps women with late-stage breast cancer live longer and helps prevent the return of cancer after surgery in early stage cases. But in clinical trials, Yeh said, up to 28 percent of patients developed heart failure and died.
It had become quite alarming and the initial clinical trial was almost stopped, he said. They worked with cardiologists to monitor patients, find out what went wrong, and now it is widely used to help breast cancer patients.
Yeh has an aggressive goal of tripling grant awards to School of Medicine researchers over the next two years.
I think we are actively trying to build this program, he said. I am very positive good results will come.
The future of medicine is technology that seems like science fiction.
If you want to develop a new kidney, you can print it using biomaterials and different cells, Yeh said.
The interdisciplinary lab will have the equipment, such as 3-D printers, that can tap that potential, he said. The recruiting efforts are designed to bring people to turn potential into reality, he said.
To have a vision is not enough, Yeh said. We need to have the right people. I believe our leaders are putting together teams of visionary scientist who can make that happen.
While the campus overall suffers from enrollment woes, the School of Medicine isnt having any difficulty filling its 128 annual slots for medical degree candidates and the other slots for academic students, Delafontaine said.
We are in a good situation to progress, he said. We have made some administrative changes that are increasing efficiencies and we are working smarter. We are very much on track to achieve continued growth in education, research and clinical programs.
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MU medical school growing clinical, research programs amid cuts - Columbia Daily Tribune
Seton Healthcare Family and Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin have started research into Alzheimers disease to try to figure out why some people develop it and why some do not.
They received a state-funded grant from the Texas Council on Alzheimers Disease and Related Disorders to participate in a multisite research program called the Texas Alzheimers Research and Care Consortium.
UT Austins Dell Medical School joins six other state medical research institutes in the consortium: Baylor College of Medicine; Texas A&M Universitys Health Science Center; Texas Tech Universitys Health Sciences Center; University of North Texas Health Science Center; UT Health Science Center in San Antonio; and UT Southwest Medical Center.
The consortium approached the medical school to become part of the group as it was being put together. They were waiting for the medical school to be launched, says Dr. David Paydarfar, neurology chair at Dell Medical School, who is the studys lead investigator at the school. The general mood at UT Austin is we have the tools, we have the people with the talent, lets get going.
The consortium started in 1999, and this research program began in 2006. Theres nothing quite like it in the country, Paydarfar said. Texas is way ahead in some aspects of the rest of the country.
The grant to Dell Medical School and Seton, which is $800,000 for the first year and a yet-to-be-determined amount for the potential of another four years, will allow Dell Medical School and Seton to enroll 100 people in the study by August and another 100 people after that.
While the medical school has the researchers, Seton provides the clinics and the ability to find people to enroll in the study. This is one of the first big grants that is a collaboration between the medical school and Seton.
One of the biggest goals of the study is early diagnosis and prevention. Researchers are looking for three types of people: people with no known memory issues, people with mild cognitive impairments and people with beginning stages of Alzheimers. In general, they are looking for people in their 60s.
They also are looking for Hispanic participants because of the higher rates of Alzheimers in the population and because Texas, unlike other parts of the country where research is being done, has a larger Hispanic population.
Each person enrolled has to have a care partner and will receive yearly medical exams and cognitive tests. During those exams, doctors take blood to look for biomarkers that might be an indicator of Alzheimers.
People in the study receive a small stipend but are volunteering their time for the extra blood tests and consent to participate in the process.
One motivation to participate is the possibility for early diagnosis through the testing being done in the study, says Dr. John Bertelson, a neurologist at Seton Brain and Spine Institute and the co-investigator.
All the data is being collected by the consortium. Researchers from across the country can then apply to see the data for their studies.
Alzheimers has proven a difficult disease for researchers to crack. The thought is that there might be multiple causes and risk factors.
Its a bit of a mirage, Paydarfar said. When we think we have a breakthrough, it turns out its not the answer.
Bertelson said he remembers being a resident in the late 1990s and thinking that a cure for Alzheimers might be five or 10 years away.
So frequently we think were so close, he said, but I do not see cure in immediate future.
To enroll in the study, contact Alyssa Aguirre at 512-495-5236 or email Alyssa.Aguirre@austin.utexas.edu.
Original post:
Dell Medical School, Seton receive research grant to study Alzheimer's - MyStatesman.com
The UW School of Medicine and Public Health is joining the Medical College of Wisconsin and five other medical schools in a new effort to transform medical education, as health care focuses more on population groups as well as individual patients.
In addition to teaching students biomedical knowledge and clinical skills, they need to have the skills of professionalism, a societal perspective and be able to address the science of heath care delivery and public health issues, said Dr. Elizabeth Petty, senior associate dean of academic affairs at the UW medical school.
The newly formed National Transformation Network, announced Thursday, is part of the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Institute for the Transformation of Medical Education, based at the Medical College in Milwaukee.
The network also includes: the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire; Mayo Clinic School of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota; University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine; University of Texas-Austin Dell Medical School; and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee.
The UW medical school has made changes in recent years to focus more on public health, which includes social determinants of health, such as poverty, nutrition and employment.
In 2005, the school added public health to its name, integrating community approaches to health with clinical and research efforts.
The Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine, or WARM, started in 2007, bringing in students from rural areas or with an interest in rural practice and training them in rural settings, with the hope that theyll work in similar locales after medical school.
Training in Urban Medicine and Public Health, or TRIUMPH, based in Milwaukee, began the next year.
Other programs have worked on increasing diversity among students and serving diverse populations of patients, including the Native American Center for Health Professions, created in 2012.
Despite those efforts, the school could do better at preparing doctors for todays health care challenges, Petty said. We need to improve health outcomes and better address health disparities and inequities, she said.
The network will promote a Triple Aim for Medical Education: character, competence and caring. The idea springs from a well-known Triple Aim for Health Care, which focuses on enhancing the patient experience, improving the health of populations and reducing the cost of care.
Through the network, UW could exchange curriculum with other schools or set up faculty workshops or student exchanges with them, Petty said.
The collaboration will also teach medical students to work alongside nurses, pharmacists and other health professionals, as doctors are increasingly doing, she said.
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UW medical school joins other schools to transform medical ... - Madison.com