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UA medical school in Phoenix a hub of growth

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Danzig

by Ken Alltucker - Jul. 21, 2012 03:37 PM The Republic | azcentral.com

With the arrival of 80 fresh-faced medical students for classes this week at University of Arizona's medical school in Phoenix, Arizona's grand experiment to create a medical and research hub in downtown Phoenix takes another step forward.

The 80 students represent the largest class since the UA College of Medicine established a downtown Phoenix campus five years ago. Those future doctors soon will share the newly opened health sciences education building with Northern Arizona University students who are studying to become physical therapists and physician assistants.

Beyond the new building, new programs and new students, the campus is scheduled to expand later this year with the groundbreakings of a 250,000-square-foot University of Arizona Cancer Center and a privately funded biotech lab next to the building anchored by the Translational Genomics Research Institute and International Genomics Consortium.

The downtown Phoenix campus also could receive renewed focus from the University of Arizona's new president, Ann Weaver Hart, and the Arizona Board of Regents' newly formed health committee.

Arizona leaders have high expectations that the Phoenix Biomedical Campus will sprout jobs, health-care professionals and medical discoveries that bolster Arizona's effort to grow its health-care and biotechnology sectors. And even though the biomedical campus has had challenges -- such as Arizona State University ending its partnership with UA's medical school and leadership changes -- university officials are optimistic about the biomedical campus' potential.

"It's important to show it is continuing forward progress," said Jay Heiler, who chairs the Arizona Board of Regents health committee. "It is critical not only for the universities. It is going to end up emerging as a very important piece of Arizona's economy."

Although the medical-school campus has classroom and lab space, it does not have clinical space where practitioners and health-care students can hone their craft and treat patients. The Arizona Cancer Center is slated to become the campus' first clinical presence with a scheduled groundbreaking later this year.

St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center and the University of Arizona are still negotiating lease terms for the $135 million cancer center even though the Phoenix wanted such details to be completed by the end of June. Both parties insist that they are on track to meet the most important goal established by Phoenix: starting construction by Dec. 22.

Plans call for St. Joseph's Hospital to operate the cancer center's clinic, and 70 percent of the building's area will be devoted to clinical space. But the exact amount of space that St. Joseph's will require is subject to ongoing talks between the two groups, said Dr. David Alberts, director of the Arizona Cancer Center.

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UA medical school in Phoenix a hub of growth

Cooper Medical School of Rowan University to host grand opening celebration

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Danzig

CAMDEN Cooper Medical School of Rowan University is hosting its long-awaited grand opening Tuesday, marking a monumental milestone for both the university and the hospital.

In June 2009, Rowan University and the Cooper Health System decided together to address the physician shortage locally and nationally, as well as to improve health care throughout the region.

They approached us and we said, Yeah, were in. Lets do it, Rowan University spokesman Joe Cardona said. We were ready and willing while other folks werent.

According to Cardona, Cooper had long been on the quest for its own four-year medical school for decades and turned to Rowan University when other entities didnt have the wherewithal to partner.

That same year, then-state Gov. Jon Corzine signed an executive reorganization order that would create a new allopathic medical school in Camden.

Three years later, the new six-story educational building will be the 135th medical school in the ground and the first new medical school in the state in more than 35 years.

With only a few finishing touches remaining before the opening this week, Dr. Paul Katz, founding dean of CMSRU, gave South Jersey Sunday a sneak-peak of the 200,000-square-foot, $139 million facility.

The 25 active learning rooms, a learning commons room and satellite medical library, the Clinical Simulation Center and laboratory and research space are all designed to breed hands-on healers of the future.

Our theme is hi-tech, hi-touch, Katz said, overlooking the 250-seat auditorium, which, like many of the learning spaces in the building, is fitted for audio and visual recording for future reference and review for students and alumni.

We wanted this to be an experience thats not sterile, Katz said.

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Cooper Medical School of Rowan University to host grand opening celebration

Mevion Medical Systems Delivers the MEVION S250 Superconducting Synchrocyclotron to Robert Wood Johnson University …

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Danzig

LITTLETON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Mevion Medical Systems announced today that it has delivered the superconducting synchrocyclotron for the MEVION S250 Proton Therapy System currently under installation at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ, the flagship cancer hospital of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey and the principal teaching hospital of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. This is the second MEVION S250 proton therapy system delivered in the past 6 months, both installed at NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers.

Powered by a TriNiobium Core, the MEVION S250 is a modern and first-of-its-kind proton therapy system that provides the same precise, non-invasive treatment capabilities and advantages of complex, large, and costly proton therapy systems but with a significantly reduced footprint, improved reliability, more advanced clinical systems, and lower implementation and operational costs. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital has a proud history of clinical innovation and a commitment to provide the highest quality and value of services to its patients and community, says Stephen K. Jones, FACHE, President and Chief Executive Officer, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Robert Wood Johnson Health System. We are excited to be the first in the northeast to receive this revolutionary technology and add this innovative proton therapy service to our comprehensive list of cancer services.

In addition to offering proton beam therapy and Gamma Knife Perfexion for the treatment of brain tumors, The Cancer Hospital at RWJUH is the flagship hospital of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ), the states only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and the hospitals cancer program has been accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. The partnership between RWJUH, UMDNJ-RWJMS and CINJ offers patients a unique opportunity to benefit from clinical research performed at CINJ while receiving expert care from faculty and community physicians in a state-of-the-art environment at RWJUH. RWJUHs cancer program was recently ranked among the top 50 programs in the United States by U.S.News & World Report as part of its 2012 ranking of Americas Best Hospitals.

Manufactured in Massachusetts, it took only one day for the MEVION S250 accelerator to travel to New Jersey and only a few hours to be brought inside the proton center. The proton therapy modernization and size reduction that we deliver today has redefined the economics and accessibility of proton therapy, says Joseph K. Jachinowski, Chief Executive Officer of Mevion Medical Systems. We are delighted to be entering this final installation phase of the MEVION S250 proton therapy system at another leading cancer hospital.

The MEVION S250 has recently received United States Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance and CE Certification enabling Mevion customers to treat patients. With four centers under installation or construction and more than a dozen under planning, Mevion has quickly established itself as a leading proton therapy supplier worldwide.

ABOUT MEVION MEDICAL SYSTEMS Mevion Medical Systems, Inc. is a radiation therapy company dedicated to advancing the treatment of cancer. As the pioneering developer of modern proton therapy systems, Mevion provides innovative, safe, and effective solutions by transforming advances in medical technology and science into practical clinical reality.

Mevions flagship product, the MEVION S250 Proton Therapy System, is designed to preserve all of the treatment benefits of traditional proton therapy systems while removing the obstacles of size, cost, and complexity. Realizing this vision, Mevion has forever changed the economics and accessibility of proton therapy worldwide.

Founded in 2004, Mevion is a privately held company headquartered in the Boston metropolitan area with international offices in the United Kingdom and Japan.

Visit us at: http://www.mevion.com

Colo. suspect is medical school dropout

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Danzig

James Holmes, the suspect in the Colorado shooting rampage, is described as a quiet, standoffish medical student from San Diego who recently dropped out of a doctoral program at the University of Colorado medical school.

A profile of the 24-year-old suspect is beginning to emerge hours after a gunman opened fire in a crowded movie theater showing the new Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, killing 12 people.

USA TODAY's Kevin Johnson quotes federal law enforcement officials as confirming the identity of the shooting suspect as Holmes, but he apparently did not have a record.

The Denver Post, citing "information provided" to the newspaper, reports that the suspect described himself last year in an apartment rental application as a student who was "quiet and easygoing."

Denver's Fox31 says police documents show he moved to Colorado from San Diego to pursue a Ph.D. in Denver.

The Associated Press reports that Holmes began a program in neurosciences at the University of Colorado in the fall of 2011 but withdrew last month.

University spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery confirms Holmes was a graduate student at the school of medicine until last month. On May 8, he was scheduled to present a paper on MicroRNA biomarkers for a class on psychiatric and neurological disorders.

The suspect, dressed in black and wearing a protective vest, was arrested by police near his car behind the movie theater during a midnight showing of the Batman film. They seized an assault rifle, shotgun and two pistols at the scene, the Associated Press reports.

"He did not resist. He did not put up a fight," says Aurora police spokesman Frank Fania.

New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, who was in touch with Colorado authorities, said the gunman had dyed his hair red and called himself "The Joker," referring to Batman's arch-nemesis.

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Colo. suspect is medical school dropout

Pierce candidate's presidency at medical school ended in lawsuits

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Danzig

Congressional candidate Stan Flemming, a Pierce County councilman, touts numerous public and civic accomplishments to underline his leadership skills. They include his tenure from 2007 to 2009 as president of the Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, a medical school in Yakima.

However, Flemming doesnt mention that his stint ended in a flurry of lawsuits and acrimony.

Court records tell two stories of Flemmings term as president. Both revolve around money.

Version A:

In 2007, Flemming reluctantly takes charge of Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, a new nonprofit college built on shaky financial footing and a dubious business model.

Flemming steers the place to long-term viability. He departs in November 2009 after local powers usurp his authority, offend his ethics and violate his contract. He sues the university for his severance pay: $708,000.

Version B:

University leaders sue Flemming, saying he doesnt deserve his severance pay. They contend he verbally resigned his position on Nov. 10, 2009, after a period of escalating misconduct, fiduciary and contractual breaches that would have otherwise led to his termination.

The stories ended at the same moment in May 2010: a settlement agreement with strict confidentiality provisions, noted at the end of the case file in Yakima County Superior Court.

Attorneys for both sides say they cant discuss terms of the settlement. Flemming says he never resigned. He says the university agreed to pay him in full, 100 percent.

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Pierce candidate's presidency at medical school ended in lawsuits

Richard Hyatt: A medical school comes to Columbus

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Danzig

Columbus Regional and St. Francis have wasted a lot of time fussing when they should have been caring for the sick, but this week the dueling hospitals embarked on a project that has inspired them to put down their scalpels.

The presence of a medical school in Columbus is something the two facilities can celebrate, and over the past five months, they've joined forces to prepare for the arrival of 14 third-year students from the Mercer University School of Medicine.

For years the hospitals have engaged in turf wars that never made sense to anyone outside the upper echelons of the medical community. Proponents of the medical school somehow crossed bridges that no one thought were there.

Dr. David Mathis, an assistant dean and 1986 Mercer Medical School graduate, said leaders of the hospitals have openly acknowledged that they haven't always worked together and that the alliances formed by this project are a positive step.

Though progress has been made, students are spending this week filling out mounds of repetitive paperwork required to do business at the two facilities. "If there are duplications, we've advised the students to be patient," Mathis said.

Since 1982, Mercer has prepared physicians to practice medicine in underserved areas of Georgia on their traditional campus in Macon. Four years ago, an auxiliary campus opened in Savannah and plans to expand into Columbus were announced in February.

For now, the school is housed at the Bradley Center. A student coordinator will be hired and distant-learning facilities are being installed. Mathis will be based in Macon but will spend a lot of time here.

"The hospitals and the doctors in Columbus have been so welcoming," Mathis said. "Each hospital appointed a lead physician, and they've been extremely helpful."

Dr. John Bucholtz, a family-practice physician, represents the Medical Center. Dr. Luther Wolff III, an orthopedic surgeon, is the St. Francis appointee. A team of local doctors will serve as mentors.

Mercer's mission is unique. It accepts only students from Georgia and encourages graduates to practice in the state. After 30 years, two out of every three graduates are practicing in Georgia. This is crucial around Columbus, where 25 percent of the physicians are age 55 or older.

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Richard Hyatt: A medical school comes to Columbus

Oregon school for osteopathy has strong start

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Danzig

Three days a week, Dr. Robin Richardson practices urgent care for Providence Health, while the other two days he spends on a passion far less profitable: primary care for more than 2,000 people.

I have one family where I take care of four generations. Its just a good feeling, he said of his family practice in Southeast Portland.

Richardson is one of dozens of Oregon osteopathic physicians who rallied to help a new medical school get its footing in Lebanon. Called the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest, the new school has completed its first year.

Its the states second mainstream medical school after Oregon Health & Science University, and could help fill a wave of demand for primary care physicians caused by federal health reform.

The college has helped revitalize the former lumber town of 15,000 by leasing a 54,000-square-foot brick building from Samaritan Health Services, just across from Lebanon Community Hospital. COMPs main branch, in Pomona, Calif., has sent graduates for residencies at the hospital for years.

Now Richardson and other local doctors give occasional lectures, oversee students during their residencies and interview prospective new students once a month.

The school has energized Oregons osteopathic physicians who lacked a place to connect after Portlands Eastmoreland Hospital, with its focus on osteopathic medicine, shut down nearly a decade ago, says John Pham, an osteopathic physician from Portland who serves on the colleges faculty. Its like any small culture. We all help each other and we want to see each other succeed. I think its different from the MDs there are so many of them.

Osteopathic medicine started as a holistic offshoot of traditional medicine, but gained acceptance by the U.S. medical establishment long ago. Yet doctors of osteopathy, or DOs, remain a minority about 625 in Oregon versus 10,000 MDs.

The college hopes to start changing that and, along the way, provide new doctors where theyre most needed. My goal is 80 percent of our grads going into primary care, Richardson said.

About 107 students, 56 of them male, signed up for the schools inaugural class. Only two students took a leave of absence and didnt finish the year. It was due to personal reasons, not performance, says Paula Crone, the schools associate executive dean. Theyve already selected the class that starts in August.

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Oregon school for osteopathy has strong start

CSU medical school support snowballing

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Danzig

AN online campaign supporting Charles Sturt Universitys push for a medical school is closing in on its target of 25,000 supporters on its Facebook page.

Almost 17,000 people have now liked CSUs Doctors For The Bush page, supporting a campaign to bring more general practitioners to country areas and establishing a new medical school.

Thousands have also signed an online petition that states: I call on the Federal and NSW Governments to back CSUs plan to establish a Health and Medical Education Precinct in rural NSW and commit to providing $98 million in funding and 80 medical student places to make this a reality.

The online campaign is the latest plank in CSUs bid to pressure state and federal MPs to back CSUs ongoing push for an integrated medical school across the Bathurst and Orange campuses.

It would be a huge boost to both the reputation of the university and to regional health services, with figures showing that doctors who train in the bush are more likely to remain working in the bush after they graduate.

CSU has already submitted a detailed funding proposal to the Federal Government but though Coalition MPs at a state and federal level have been happy to pledge their support, the university has so far been unable to convince Regional Australia Minister Simon Crean of the plans benefits.

CSU last week confirmed NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner had formally invited the university to start negotiations with the government on the student numbers, medical training requirements and infrastructure for a new medical school at CSU.

This is fantastic news, a post on the Facebook page said.

However, this is just a first step as final approval for a new school must be granted by the Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek.

Help us to show the government what rural people want. Today we start a campaign to get 25,000 signatures on our petition and 25,000 supporters on Facebook.

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CSU medical school support snowballing

UMass Medical School is Awarded Multi-Million Dollar Contract to Manage Health Care at Federal Correctional Health …

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Danzig

WORCESTER, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Federal Bureau of Prisons has awarded the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) a contract to manage comprehensive medical services to approximately 4,900 inmates at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) located in Butner, North Carolina.

The agreement, valued at $24.7 million for the first year, represents the UMMSs largest federal correctional health contract to date. The contract also has options for four additional years that could increase the overall award to more than $136 million through 2016.

UMMSs Health and Criminal Justice Program, part of its Commonwealth Medicine division, will manage the contract. The Medical Schools work at FMC Butner will begin later this month.

We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to share our health and management expertise at the Butner facility, said Joyce A. Murphy, Executive Vice Chancellor for UMMS/Commonwealth Medicine. This builds on our impressive correctional health experience at the state and federal levels, and will allow us to extend that work and specialized knowledge to the FMC Butner population. We cant wait to get started.

The contract calls for UMMS to coordinate both inpatient and outpatient physician and hospital services. The Medical School will manage care at the correctional facility and in community settings, through a partnership with Duke University Health System, which will provide most of the direct care services.

UMMS, a leader in correctional health, has also provided comprehensive health services for the past 12 years at the Federal Bureau of Prisons medical facility located in Devens, Mass. In addition, the Medical School has a long track record of providing care at 17 state-run prisons in Massachusetts, serving the health needs of approximately 11,500 inmates.

About the University of Massachusetts Medical School

The University of Massachusetts Medical School, one of the fastest-growing academic health sciences centers in the country, has built a reputation as a world-class research institution, consistently producing noteworthy advances in clinical and basic research. The Medical School attracts more than $255 million in research funding annually, 80 percent of which comes from federal funding sources. The mission of the Medical School is to advance the health and well-being of the people of Massachusetts and the world, through pioneering education, research, public service and health care delivery. Commonwealth Medicine, the Medical Schools health care consulting and operations division, provides a wide range of care management and consulting services to government agencies and health care organizations. For more information, visit commed.umassmed.edu.

Undergraduate Focus: Indian medical expertise benefits students

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Danzig

17 July 2012 | last updated at 11:08AM

MSUs involvement in the medical sciences areas is an initiative towards complementing the nations need for qualified medical personnel.

Specialising in Bachelor of Surgery and Bachelor of Medicine (MBBS) programmes, MSU also offers bachelors and diploma programmes in the area of medical sciences. These programmes are offered at the main campus in Shah Alam and its overseas campus in Bangalore, India, the first foreign medical school to receive five year accreditation from the Malaysian Medical Council.

Other than studying under the supervision of experienced medical experts in MSUs International Medical School (IMS) in Bangalore, students will also benefit from practical experiences at its teaching hospitals, M.S. Ramaiah Memorial Hospital and the Bangalore Baptist Hospital.

Housed in a 65 acre campus, IMS is adjacent to the M.S. Ramaiah Memorial Hospital, a multi-specialty world-class hospital with 1,050 beds. The hospital offers the commitment of ace doctors, highly qualified medical experts and competent paramedics working diligently towards the pursuit of quality healthcare.

The wealth of experience and development in medical field that India has to offer is unique and meets the expectations of many medical authorities all over the world. Through the setting up of the medical school, MSU envisages that Malaysias target doctor-patient ratio of 1:600 by the year 2020 is achieveable.

The Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at MSU is a five-year programme that is divided into three phases. Among the subject areas that students will be exposed to are human anatomy, human physiology, biochemistry, pathology, pharmacology, forensics, microbiology and ophthalmology.

The clinical session begins in phase two along with para-clinical subjects, and the housemanship session commences in phase three. During this session students are required to perform a rotational training of three months each at all the relevant medical departments.

The academic terms begin in April and October and qualified students are required to take the Medical Entrance Test (MET) to determine their aptitude for the MBBS programme.

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Undergraduate Focus: Indian medical expertise benefits students

Fijai Senior High School celebrates Diamond Jubilee

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Danzig

Regional News of Sunday, 15 July 2012

Source: GNA

The Dean of the Medical School of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Professor Yaw Edu Sarkodie, has advocated the need for educational institutions in the country to establish partnership with small scale industries to train students in vocational and technical skills.

This, according to him, would enable students who are not academically inclined to learn meaningful skills that would make them useful and productive in order to contribute their quota towards national development.

Professor Sarkodie, an alumnus of Fijai Senior High School, gave the advice when delivering a keynote address at a durbar to climax the 60th Anniversary of the school on Saturday.

He observed that countries such as Malaysia and Singapore that took the middle manpower training of their peoples seriously in areas of vocational and technical skills had catapulted their economies and called on educational institutions in the country to learn a cue from them.

The Diamond Jubilee Celebration, which was under the theme: 60 years of Co-Education - The Vision and Mission of the Founding Fathers attracted high profile personalities, old students, traditional rulers and government functionaries to the school premises.

Prof. Sarkodie, a fellow of the West African College of Physicians, appealed to the governments to refrain from playing politics with the duration of the Senior High School.

He said the four-year and three-year experimentation of the duration of the secondary education by successive governments would not help the cause of development of this country and called on authorities concerned to take concrete steps to stop such politics in the education sector.

The Dean of the Medical School of the KNUST admonished the youth to show resilience, dedication, discipline and fear of God in all their endeavours, adding that success could not be achieved on a silver platter but hard work.

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Fijai Senior High School celebrates Diamond Jubilee

Harvard Medical School, MGH researcher honored for Alzheimer’s studies

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Danzig

Photo by David W. Johnson, courtesy of the Alzheimers Association

Dr. Bradley T. Hyman, director of the Massachusetts Alzheimers Disease Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, received the Henry Wisniewski Lifetime Achievement Award Sunday from Kristine Yaffe, a University of California, San Francisco professor at the Alzheimers Association International Conference in Vancouver, Canada.

By Gal Tziperman Lotan, Globe Correspondent

A Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School neurologist received a lifetime achievement award at an Alzheimers Association conference in Vancouver, Canada Sunday.

Its an extremely nice recognition, especially because the award is named after one of the giants of neuropathology, Hyman said in a phone interview from Vancouver Sunday.

Hyman has studied changes in patients brains and nervous systems, as well as genetic changes that underlie dementia, the statement said.

His research helps describe brain lesions in Alzheimer's patients, the statement said.

Hyman recently worked on imaging amyloid protein fragments that are broken down in healthy brains but accumulate and form amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's patients; and tau tangles, created when tau proteins that keep the brains cell transport system in working order die and collapse the system.

At its international conference, the Alzheimers Association also gave a lifetime achievement award to Lennart Mucke of the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and the University of California, San Francisco, Monique M.B. Breteler of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and the University of Bonn in Germany, and Ronald Petersen of the Mayo Alzheimers Disease Research Center in Rochester, Minn.

New dean for NTU's Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Danzig

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Published on Jul 16, 2012

By Kezia Toh

More:
New dean for NTU's Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine

Health minister in talks over CSU medical school

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Danzig

APPROVAL for a medical school at Charles Sturt University could be just months away, according to the universitys advisor, Professor John Dwyer.

Advocates for the medical school, designed to boost doctor numbers in the bush, have welcomed a meeting planned with NSW health minister Jillian Skinner as the next step towards making the training facility a reality.

In a formal letter to CSU, Ms Skinner invited the university to start negotiations with the government on student numbers, medical training requirements and infrastructure for the medical school.

While final approval for the school rests with federal health minister Tanya Plibersek, the letter from Ms Skinner was fantastic news, according to Professor Dwyer.

Both the university and I went and spoke to the government and we got a very warm reception, he said.

Its obviously an important move for the NSW Government to be supporting it.

CSUs director of corporate affairs Mark Burdack said the Federal Government had made it clear State Government support for the school was essential.

Because medical training is undertaken in hospitals [the NSW Government] plays a critical role in making available training spaces, he said.

He said the university would now develop a curriculum model for the school and take the plans to the NSW health minister. Professor Dwyer again reiterated the importance of community support to get the medical school off the ground after a two-year campaign.

With 25,000 supporters and growing ... the Central West community is putting the pressure on the government, he said.

Continued here:
Health minister in talks over CSU medical school

Doctor shortage leading GHSU to increase class size over time

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Danzig

News 12 This Morning at 6 o'clock // Thursday, July 12, 2012

AUGUSTA, GA -- The state of Georgia is facing a critical shortage in the number of doctors. This, despite Georgia Health Sciences seeing an increase in the number of applicants wanting to attend the medical school. An aging population, more people moving to the state, and the health care law could flood the market with even more patients.

The only public medical school in Georgia saw a record number of students applying. Yet, the state ranks number 41 in the entire nation, when it comes to the number of doctors per capita. "We are under producing number of doctors to meet the health care needs of Georgians," said Dr. Peter F. Buckley, the dean of the Medical College of Georgia at GHSU.

The problem is worse for patients in rural parts of the state. That's why the school is ramping up efforts to train and keep more doctors inside Georgia's borders. "We've been engaged in an effort to create new residency position, particularly in general medicine," Dr. Buckley added.

He says doctors who train in the state are more likely to stay here. The school is also reaching out to students state-wide, through education at clinical training sites and regional clinical campuses. "We currently train 190 top students per class here in Augusta, and we have forty outstanding students in partnership with the University of Georgia in our Athens program."

Through the support of state lawmakers they're planning to partner with more hospitals to open up residency slots. "Bring new hospitals into the residency program development that haven't been involved before," Buckley said.

The school is also preparing to unveil a new Education Commons in 2014. "This will allow us to ultimately teach a class size of 300 medical students per class in what will be state of the art facilities," he added.

Responding to the national need of more doctors by increasing the number of medical students that train and practice in the state. The Medical College of Georgia is the tenth in the nation in terms of number of medical students they train. They saw a 10% increase in people applying to the school. A significant increase, considering across the county it was a 2.5% increase.

The campus in Athens which opened a couple of years ago helped increased overall class size. The students that enrolled at the Athens campus all started their clinical rotation through northeast Georgia this summer.

Have information or an opinion about this story? Click here to contact the newsroom.

Continued here:
Doctor shortage leading GHSU to increase class size over time

Is FIU health program falling short in its pledge?

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Danzig

More than six years ago, when Florida International University secured the green light to create a new medical school at its West Miami-Dade main campus, the affirmative vote by the states Board of Governors was hailed as perhaps the most important in the universitys history.

Leading up to that yes vote, FIU leaders presented a finely tuned sales pitch that highlighted the expected benefits of a new med school: significant economic impact, increased numbers of minority physicians and increased access to healthcare among the regions underserved populations.

We have the largest concentration in the state of underserved citizens, then-FIU President Modesto Mitch Maidique told the Board of Governors in a formal presentation prior to the key vote.

But now that FIUs medical school is up and running with a clinic that began seeing public patients in April the school has been placed on the defensive because of the limited access it provides to a key segment of the medically underserved: Medicaid patients.

The universitys on-campus Faculty Group Practice, comprising a handful of full-time FIU faculty physicians, does not accept Medicaid patients, and does not expect to do so for about six months. The clinic includes two family-practice physicians, an internist, four gynecologists and several other doctors, with plans to add specialists in areas such as neurology and cardiology.

The clinic is under an umbrella group known as FIU Health, which encompasses 119 full-time medical faculty members and more than 800 part-time volunteer faculty. A patient who calls the FIU Health main hotline seeking a doctor could be referred to any physician within the umbrella group, regardless of whether they are full- or part-time faculty.

Over time, FIU pledges that all its full-time faculty will honor all forms of insurance. Currently, the doctors at FIUs modest 6,000-square-foot Faculty Group Practice accept Medicare, AvMed and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, among others.

The university did confirm that its Faculty Group Practice does not currently accept Medicaid, but said it does not track what insurances are accepted by the 800-plus volunteer doctors under the network.

FIU provided the names of all volunteer faculty to The Miami Herald. That list was compared with the states database of local Medicaid providers, and revealed that almost one-third of those doctors do not accept Medicaid.

I was very disappointed, said Dr. Francisco Pita, a general practice doctor with an office a few blocks from the FIU campus.

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Construction begins on QU med school

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Danzig

NORTH HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- Construction is underway on the state's third medical school at Quinnipiac University in North Haven.

While the Frank H. Netter School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University doesn't look like much now, much like its namesake, a renowned medical illustrator, school officials view it as a palette for change.

"We will train medical students with nursing students, physician assistant students because healthcare more and more is a team activity," said Dr. Bruce Koeppen, Dean, Frank H. Netter School of Medicine.

And more and more in need of primary care doctors.

"If you look at the needs of CT and in fact, the country, there is a physician shortage in general," said Koeppen, "but a severe shortage for primary care physicians."

That's where the medical school, which will be the third medical school in the state, sees its role in the future of healthcare. Its focus will be on training medical students to enter the primary care field.

"Right now if you look at the national statistics about 15 percent of current medical students are planning a career in primary care," said Koeppen. "We hope that 50 percent or more of our graduates will go into primary care."

Studies in the medical field indicate lower salaries and less control over work hours in primary care practice play a role in steering med students to specialized fields.

Yet, Koeppen says there is no better time to grow the field of primary care than now, especially since the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, which supports more preventative health care.

"Absolutely, you've got the uninsured who will have insurance," Koeppen said. "Estimates are 30 plus million. You also have the baby boomers that are entering the Medicare system and there you've got 80 million plus, so there will be a huge influx of patients into the health care system."

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Newton rower Gevvie Stone on her way to London Olympics

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Danzig

Gevvie Stone has promised herself that the next phase of her life begins on Aug. 27 when she returns to Tufts Medical School for her third-year residency.

That gives her about six more weeks to immerse herself in the dream of nearly every young athlete in America as the Newton rower represents the United States in the 2012 London Summer Games.

For the past decade, Stone has done her best to alternate between the two spectacular parts of her life. She won an NCAA championship while a student at Princeton University and then moved back to the Boston area to begin medical school while she trained daily on the Charles River.

It was a workload and time-management puzzle that would have crushed many a twenty-something who lacked the focus and discipline of someone like Stone. But it was one she felt she managed well in all but a few of the most extreme cases.

The one time that was really tricky was the spring of my second year when I was studying for board exams, she said. At the same time, I had won the National Selection Regatta, so I was already defined as the U.S. single scull for the World Cup. So I felt more pressure on myself to train more seriously because I wanted to perform at the World Cup, while at the same time I was supposed to be spending 12 hours a day in the library studying for my board exams.

That was the only time where I was full-time training and full-time studying, and I was probably not at 100 percent for either. I probably didnt get anywhere near enough sleep.

Once Stone got through her boards June 15, 2010, she remembers - she knew the better part of the next two years would be dedicated to rowing as she attempted to follow in the footsteps of her mother, Lisa, who rowed in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, and her father and coach, Gregg, who was likely headed to the 1980 Moscow Games until the U.S. boycott.

It was tremendous challenge of training on the water and in the weight room that saw its share of achievements and its share of setbacks. It all came down this spring when she competed in the single sculls at the 2012 Non-Qualified Small Boat Olympic Trials and won. That earned her a spot at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta where she would need to finish top four to make the Olympic team in the only window of opportunity her school and impending medical career would likely allow.

She finished third. She was going to London.

She was fulfilling that dream she said every little girl athlete has at one moment of her life.

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Newton rower Gevvie Stone on her way to London Olympics

Conn. family selling Lou Gehrig's home run ball

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Danzig

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- The 84-year-old baseball has been sitting in Elizabeth Gott's drawer for years, but now she's hoping it will pay off her son's medical school debt.

New York Yankees slugger Lou Gehrig smashed the ball into the bleachers for a home run during the 1928 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Gehrig hit the homer off Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander while teammate Babe Ruth was on base and called it his most significant homerun at the time, according to a newspaper account.

Hunt Auctions plans to sell the ball Tuesday at the All-Star FanFest in Kansas City, Mo., and predicts it could fetch $100,000 to $200,000. Online bidding has already begun, with the top bid at about $37,000 as of Thursday.

Gott, a 57-year-old Stamford resident, said she's selling the ball on behalf of her 30-year-old son, Michael.

''I'm just sort of floored by the whole thing,'' she said. ''It has a lot of history. It's a lot about America. To think that it's possible the team that we rooted for could actually help my son pay off some of his medical school debt, any amount would be fine.''

Michael Gott, who is in his last year of residency, said he was surprised at the potential value of the ball. He said his medical school debt was nearly $200,000.

''I'm extremely fortunate that this occurred and definitely I'm extremely thankful that something so lucky would happen to me,'' Gott said. ''I'm ... very appreciative that someone in my family was able to contribute to something I worked so hard for.''

Gott said the ball was a gift to him from his uncle, who received it from other relatives of Buddy Kurland, who is Elizabeth Gott's great-uncle.

Kurland, who lived in Manchester, had gone to the game with his friend Scotty Stevenson. Kurland nearly caught Gehrig's three-run homer, but a fan knocked his cap over his eyes and he dropped the ball, according to a newspaper account. Stevenson picked up the ball and gave it to Kurland.

''There she goes right into the bleachers in center field,'' broadcaster Graham McNamee said, according to the account. ''He's got it. No, he hasn't. It's his error, the first error of the day. It has fallen from his hands and everybody else is trying to find it.''

University submits medical school study to province

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Danzig

Brandon Universitys medical school recommendation report has been submitted to the province.

President Deborah Poff, along with representatives from BU, the University of Manitoba and other committee members, met Tuesday to discuss the feasibility study that had been completed by two consultants.

Poff submitted the report Thursday and will be meeting with the Council on Post-Secondary Education on July 13.

Poff wouldnt discuss the recommendations, but said she was pleased to see it moving forward.

Itll feel better when we know what people are going to do with it, she said.

Last spring, the Manitoba government provided $350,000 to conduct the feasibility study to determine how enhancing medical education in Brandon can help to increase the number of doctors across the province.

The study is looking at a variety of options, including a stand-alone medical school in Brandon, a satellite program expansion from the University of Manitoba in partnership with BU and a continuation or expansion of existing models of rotational and educational experiences.

Earlier this year, Poff said she would like to see the university involved in medical education either stand-alone or partnered.

The recommendation report was originally supposed to be submitted to the Council on Post-Secondary Education on March 31, but was given two extensions.

jaustin@brandonsun.com

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University submits medical school study to province

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