Medical school students oppose university merger

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TRENTON, N.J. (AP) A proposal to change higher education in New Jersey has cleared another legislative hurdle, paving the way for final passage on Thursday.

The far-reaching plan combines Rowan University and Rutgers' Camden campus in a quasi-merger and breaks up the University of Medicine and Dentistry, allocating its medical/dental school to Rutgers and its South Jersey osteopathic school to Rowan. The bill makes Rowan a research university, a designation that allows for more funding and greater autonomy in awarding contracts and soliciting bids. UMDNJ's money-losing teaching hospital, University Hospital, would continue to operate as a nonprofit. University Hospital in Newark is the state's largest charity care provider.

The proposal has rocketed through the Legislature this month despite objections from the academic community, ongoing concerns about University Hospital's viability and unanswered questions about its costs. It was advanced unanimously Monday, though several of the legislators who approved it expressed reservations about the bill as it's currently drafted.

Gov. Chris Christie proposed a version of the higher ed restructuring in January, and it has the backing of powerful South Jersey Democrat George Norcross III. Christie imposed a June 30 deadline for the framework for the overhaul to be in place, but it's unclear whether the governor supports all the changes the bill has undergone.

The 100-page proposal morphed again Monday, as 50 pages of amendments were distributed. One allows the deal to be killed if it jeopardizes the osteopathic school's accreditation. Another requires the state to adequately fund University Hospital so it continues to provide safety-net health care. An amendment added Thursday requires Rutgers to accept all of the deal, or none of it. A change added Monday shields the university from medical malpractice claims initiated before the merger.

However, no one knows how much it will cost.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski described the costs as "one of the imponderables of this legislation." He said the figures would come within the year as groundwork for the merger is being laid.

The Assembly Budget Committee heard more than two hours of testimony mostly from opponents before recessing for six hours while the latest changes were drafted. The panel returned to session about 9:30 p.m. and voted a half hour later to forward the bill to the full Assembly. Both houses are set to take final tallies on the legislation Thursday.

Dudley Rivers, vice chairman of the Rutgers Board of Trustees, said the bill poses enormous opportunity and equally onerous risks, many of which could be mitigated if the bill were tweaked further.

For example, he said a provision transferring Rutgers-Camden's property to a new joint governing board would force Rutgers to refinance $950 million in debt at a cost of $155 million. That one-time cost could be eliminated, he said, if the clause transferring Rutgers-Camden's assets is removed from the bill.

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Cooper Medical School of Rowan University set to open

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CAMDEN Cooper Medical School of Rowan University will hold a grand opening July 24 and welcome its charter class on Aug. 13.

We move into the building in July, and we have our class of 50 set, said Dr. Paul Katz, founding dean of CMSRU on Wednesday. We have a really great group that matches our mission. We had 2,900 applicants and interviewed a little more than 300. We wanted to make sure we got the right 50 students, students who understand our school and what were about.

Katz said 72 percent of the students are residents of New Jersey, 28 are women, 22 are men and 24 percent are underrepresented in medicine, which is twice the national average.

Our mission has been diversity and inclusivity, said Katz. We also have a significant percentage of students who are disadvantaged. The typical metrics are comparable to all students admitted at MD-granting schools, so its a very competitive group. We also have a lot of students with interesting life experiences which will contribute to learning. A fair number of our students are not coming directly from college. Some are coming from other careers, others from graduate schools and others from a unique array of experiences.

Katz said CMSRU did not have any applicants from the city of Camden, though he believes that will change for next year.

The grand opening, he said, will mostly serve to thank everyone who has participated in the medical schools progress. The orientation for students will begin on their first day.

College to medical school is a big jump, said Katz. Youre taught differently, and there are different expectations. When they walk into the medical school, they will be considered professionals and will be judged on what they do and how they act 24/7.

During the orientation, Katz said CMSRU staff will talk to students about what it means to be a physician and the responsibility that comes with the position.

Physicians have the ability to enter peoples lives in ways most occupations do not, he said. We expect them to understand their patients needs, that they come from many different places and that they must be understood beyond the nature of their illness.

Katz said he and the staff have emphasized, and will continue to emphasize, to the students that there will only be one charter class.

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State Sen. Watson, UT's Powers make case for med school

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by MARK WIGGINS / KVUE News and photojournalist JUSTIN TERRY

kvue.com

Posted on June 22, 2012 at 8:54 PM

Updated yesterday at 10:02 PM

AUSTIN -- The project to create a new medical school and teaching hospital at the University of Texas has been championed by State Senator Kirk Watson (D-Austin) and UT president Bill Powers, both of whom sat down with KVUE Friday to explain their vision.

"The estimates indicate that it would be about 15,000 jobs and roughly $2 billion in economic activity," said State Sen. Watson, who has been spearheading the effort since 2011. "That's an enormous boom to our economy."

Both say the project would improve health care quality and access in Central Texas, and Powers believes such an improvement could provide added incentive for businesses and business leaders to move to Austin.

"They look at health care," said Powers. "They want to be in places that are on the cutting edge and have robust health care systems, and by improving the health of Central Texans, and really Texans, it will have an impact on the economy in that way too."

Proponents of the project say the need stems from a shortage of doctors and specialists in Austin, as well as an interest in expanding medical research already in place at UT.

"What we don't have are the clinical trials, the place to make that research translational, that can work with the medical community," explained Powers, who says the project will help tie together various research arms and university assets in a practical environment.

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China Medical Services Market Seen Hitting $500 Billion

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By Bloomberg News - 2012-06-24T16:00:00Z

China, where 260 million people suffer from cancer, diabetes and other diseases, is in a hurry to bolster its medical services. Investors are ready to help.

The latest is Carlyle Group LP-backed Concord Medical Services Holdings Ltd. (CCM), which last week completed a deal for a 52 percent stake in Changan Hospital, a 1,000-bed facility at the eastern end of the Silk Road. The acquisition comes three months after China announced it wants 20 percent of its hospital beds privately owned by 2015. Other investors in China include Kuala Lumpur-based IHH Healthcare Bhd. (IHH), Asias biggest hospital operator, which plans to build a hospital in Shanghai, to add to seven clinics it owns in Shanghai and one in Chengdu.

The push for private hospitals in China is part of a broader drive to improve care in a country where 95 percent of people had health insurance as of 2011. Chinas medical services market is growing 18 percent annually and projected to reach 3.16 trillion ($500 billion) in 2015, accountancy firm Deloitte China said.

Chinas gross domestic product has grown by leaps and bounds, but the quality of medical care has lagged far behind, said David Chow, chairman of Harvest Medical Investment and Operation Group, a Taiwanese private equity firm thats planning to buy stakes in mainland hospitals this year. The potential for Chinas hospitals to improve is massive, both in the overall number of beds and the fees charged for each bed.

As of last year, China had 3.7 million hospital beds, up 54 percent from 2005. Besides an increase in the proportion of beds run by private operators -- it was 12 percent last year -- the government wants at least one or two hospitals in each of its 2,853 counties by the end of 2015, according to an outline of the countrys health-care policies.

Annual revenue from private hospitals in China may reach 2.4 trillion yuan ($377 billion) by 2015, said Yvonne Wu, national life science and health care industry leader at Deloitte China in Shanghai.

The targets could translate to 400,000 new private hospital beds over the next few years, said Roberta Lipson, chief executive officer of hospital operator Chindex International Inc. (CHDX)

U.S- and European-owned companies previously had a hard time entering the Chinese hospital market and tended to invest instead in clinics and diagnostic centers. They have only been able to independently invest in hospitals since Jan. 30, when the government took the industry off a so-called restricted list that required non-Chinese investors to have a local partner and capped foreign ownership at 70 percent.

Chindex, based in Bethesda, Maryland, started Chinas first foreign-owned hospital in Beijing in 1997, six years after commencing negotiations with the government, Lipson said. It took only a year to obtain a license to operate Chindexs latest hospital, in the port city of Tianjin, she said.

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OSU-CHS named most popular medical school in the U.S.

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The Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences was named the most popular medical school in the country in a new ranking from U.S. News & World Report released today.

OSU Center for Health Sciences is dedicated to serving rural and underserved Oklahoma and our students embrace that mission, said Howard Barnett, president of OSU-Tulsa and OSU-CHS. As we work to combat the physician shortage in Oklahoma, it is a testament to our College of Osteopathic Medicine that students recognize the quality medical education they receive from OSU and the vast difference our physicians make in the communities.

OSU-CHS tied with the University of Kansas Medical Center for the top slot of the 10 Most Popular Medical Schools. The rankings are based on the percentage of students accepted by the school who make the decision to attend and enroll in classes. The percentage of students accepted to those who enrolled at OSU-CHS was 85.7 percent in 2011. CHS also experienced an increase in enrollment over the previous year.

Other schools rounding out the top 10 include the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, University of Washington School of Medicine, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine, University of Nevada-Reno School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School.

To view the complete ranking, visit http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/the-short-list-grad-school/articles/2012/06/19/10-most-popular-medical-schools-2.

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Downtown medical school tied to subway

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In only a few years, thousands of commuters headed to jobs and classes will arrive daily at a redesigned Metro Rail station serving as a hub for the new University at Buffalo medical school and a teeming Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

Thats the vision that officials from UB and the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority presented Thursday as they pledged cooperation toward integrating the current Allen/Medical Campus Metro Station into the new medical school complex.

This is a statement that we are committed to working together to come up with the best plan that meets the interests of transportation in Western New York and serves the interests of the medical school so we can make a determination of where we go, said Dennis R. Black, UBs vice president for university life and services.

The idea, the officials said, is to implement plans long on the drawing board to move the current medical school from the South Campus into a new building of at least seven stories over the Allen/Medical Campus Station.

The move aims to provide a viable transportation alternative that will mitigate the need to park even more cars on a burgeoning medical campus, while adding a touch of the urban vitality common to subway corridors in bigger cities like New York or Toronto.

The $350 million project is vital to moving workers, students, patients and visitors in and out of a neighborhood expected to become one of the citys major employment centers, UB officials said.

Its an urban setting, and it has to allow for patient and visitor access, Black said. If everybody who came there brought their own car, wed have to have a structure almost as tall as the HSBC building.

Thats not real, its not environmentally friendly, and it would be incredibly costly, he added. And we have alternatives.

Black and a contingent of UB officials, including Robert G. Shibley, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning, presented their ideas to NFTA commissioners Thursday. They noted the Allen/Medical Campus Station will remain essentially unchanged below the surface and along the rail line when the project is completed in 2016.

But the surface portion will serve as the cornerstone of the new medical school building, leading to a glass atrium covering an extended Allen Street for pedestrian traffic into the rest of the medical campus. Black said planners also will study the potential for shops and restaurants as part of the atrium.

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Oxley Foundation makes $30 million commitment to Tulsa medical school

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The foundation will give $7.5 million for start-up costs and a $7.5 million dollar-for-dollar endowment challenge grant to each of the medical school's two partners - the University of Tulsa and the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa.

This gift is not only the largest in the history of the foundation but also equal to about half of the total donations in the foundation's history, said Trustee R.H. Harbaugh.

Mary K. and John T. Oxley, who established the foundation in 1985, were Tulsans "through and through" and would be "very proud today to hear of this new commitment," Harbaugh said. "We look forward to working with you to make Tulsa a more healthy, happy and productive community."

TU President Steadman Upham, OU President David Boren and OU-Tulsa President Gerard Clancy presented Harbaugh and Oxley Foundation Program Officer Konnie Boulter with white lab coats as symbolic gifts to mark the commitment.

The announcement at the Wayman Tisdale Specialty Health Clinic attracted a large crowd of local leaders, including Mayor Dewey Bartlett, Tulsa Metro Chamber President Mike Neal, state Rep. Jabar Shumate, regents and trustees from OU and TU, and several Tulsa physicians.

Boren said the gift marks a "transformational moment" for the area.

The new school will train primary-care physicians to treat underserved areas, especially poor parts of Tulsa.

Forty percent of the city's population live in an area with only 4 percent of the city's physicians, and north Tulsans on average have a life expectancy seven years shorter than their south Tulsa neighbors, Boren said.

"We really felt a moral imperative ... to do something about it, and that's what we celebrate today because we're going to create a future far different from our present course," he said.

For decades, OU has been graduating physicians at its Tulsa school. The students spent their first two years of medical school studying pure science at Oklahoma City's OU Health Sciences Center and the second two years in clinical instructions in Tulsa.

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Editorial: Davis medical school was way out of bounds

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University of California, Davis, medical school professor Michael Wilkes doesn't shy from controversial positions, or criticism of the university where he teaches.

That's how how First Amendment free speech rights work.

That's also how academic freedom works, a bedrock principle that criticism and open competition among ideas are the "surest safeguard of truth," wrote the American Association of Universities in 1953.

But First Amendment and academic freedom principles are under challenge at the medical school.

When Wilkes penned an op-ed column in 2010, he received a document on letterhead from legal counsel, requested by UC Davis School of Medicine Dean Claire Pomeroy, saying the university could potentially sue him for defamation for hurting the reputation of the university.

That is outrageous and calls for action by Chancellor Linda Katehi.

Just what drew that overwrought response from the medical school?

Wilkes, a recognized expert on prostate cancer, co-authored an op-ed piece with a USC professor. Published in the San Francisco Chronicle, it said prostate screening not only may do no good, it may be harmful and lambasted a UC Davis men's health seminar advertising "Prostate Defense Begins at 40."

The authors labeled the seminar an "infomercial endorsement" of prostate screening: "We can't say why UC Davis offers this course that ignores scientific evidence, but we wonder whether it just might have to do with money."

Wilkes has been outspoken in questioning marketing by medical industries in Bee columns, too.

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Editorial: Davis medical school was way out of bounds

Our View: UC medical school goes out of bounds

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University of California at Davis medical school Professor Michael Wilkes doesn't shy from controversial positions, or criticism of the university where he teaches. That's how free speech rights work.

That's also how academic freedom works, a bedrock principle that criticism and open competition among ideas are the "surest safeguard of truth," in the words of the American Association of Universities in 1953.

But First Amendment and academic freedom principles are under challenge at the UC Davis medical school.

When Wilkes wrote an op-ed column in 2010, he received a document on letterhead from legal counsel saying the university could potentially sue him for defamation for hurting the reputation of the university. The dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine, Claire Pomeroy, had requested that the letter be sent to him.

That is outrageous and calls for action by Chancellor Linda Katehi.

So what drew that overwrought response from the medical school?

Wilkes, a recognized expert on prostate cancer, co-authored an op-ed piece with a USC professor. Published in the San Francisco Chronicle, it said prostate screening not only might do no good, it might actually be harmful -- and lambasted a UC Davis men's health seminar advertising "Prostate Defense Begins at 40."

The authors labeled the seminar an "infomercial endorsement" of prostate screening: "We can't say why UC Davis offers this course that ignores scientific evidence, but we wonder whether it just might have to do with money."

The proper response by supporters of screening would be to write their own columns -- or write a letter rebutting the claims.

An investigation by a committee of the UC Davis Academic Senate found that the medical school's letter on potential legal action -- before any "full and fair assessment" of the facts -- was a "blatant threat" and aimed "to stifle legitimate public debate."

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Our View: UC medical school goes out of bounds

10 Most Popular Medical Schools

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

Medical schools are aiming to increase enrollment by 30 percent by 2015 to combat projected physician shortages. For schools to reach this goal, they must entice prospective students not only to apply, but to enroll once accepted.

[See photos of the most popular medical schools.]

And if medical school enrollment was a popularity contest, the Center for Health Sciences at Oklahoma State University and the University of Kansas Medical Center would split the top prize. Both schools achieved a yieldthe percentage of accepted students who opt to enrollof 85.7 percent in 2011 and increased their enrollments over the previous year.

A total of 110 ranked medical schools provided acceptance and enrollment data for the 2011-2012 school year. The 10 most popular medical schools posted yields of 74 percent or greater.

[Learn about alternate routes to a medical education.]

While Oklahoma State and Harvard Medical School are new to the most popular medical schools list, the other schools on the list trumpeted high yields last year. Six of the schools increased their yields from the 2010-2011 school year, but only four of the 10 most popular medical schools increased the number of students they enrolled.

Budget concerns could be behind the stagnant enrollment. Fifty-two percent of medical schools surveyed by the Association of American Medical Colleges said the economy could inhibit their ability to maintain enrollment levels, much less increase them, according to a May 2012 survey.

[Find information on paying for medical school.]

The University of Washington School of Medicinethe highest ranked primary care program among the most popular medical schoolsonly enrolled three more students in 2011 than in 2010, despite sending out more acceptance letters, dropping its yield from 79.4 percent to 76.8 percent. Harvard Medical School upped its yield in 2011, but enrollment stayed steady at 165 new students. The UW School of Medicine earned the top spot in U.S. News's 2013 ranking of best primary care programs and Harvard was the No. 1 ranked medical school for research.

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Medical school extension will help building up primary care in Greater Cleveland: editorial

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The Cleveland Clinic's plans to join forces with Ohio University's Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine is good news for both institutions, and should be a worthwhile step toward increasing the number of primary care physicians in Northeast Ohio.

The philosophical underpinnings of osteopathy -- treating the whole body rather than focusing on specific symptoms of illnesses -- lend themselves particularly well to practice in such primary care categories as family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics.

And the need for primary care doctors is expected to become acute within a decade. Some trackers of medical trends say the nation eventually will have 45,000 fewer primary care doctors than it needs.

Plain Dealer editorials express the view of The Plain Dealer's editorial board -- the publisher, editor and editorial-writing staff. As is traditional, editorials are unsigned and intended to be seen as the voice of the newspaper.

Talk about the topic of this editorial in the comments below.

Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication.

Email general questions or comments about the editorial board to Elizabeth Sullivan, editor of the editorial page.

The medical school extension campus that OU and the Clinic are establishing at Southpointe Hospital in Warrensville Heights is expected to enroll its first 32-student class in 2015.

Maybe that sounds like a drop in a bucket and still 45,000 jobs shy of what the country will need, but the hope is that the experience and connections that the students develop in this region during medical school will make them more likely to stay and help keep Northeast Ohio from becoming one of those dreaded "underserved areas."

Benefits will accrue much sooner to city and state coffers, to the tune of more than $700,000 a year in additional tax revenues. Mayor Brad Sellers is understandably enthusiastic.

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UMMS researcher Victor Ambros, Ph.D., named co-recipient of 2012 Janssen Award for Biomedical Research

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Public release date: 19-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jim Fessenden james.fessenden@umassmed.edu 508-856-2000 University of Massachusetts Medical School

WORCESTER, MA Longtime collaborators Victor R. Ambros, PhD, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and Gary B. Ruvkun, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, were awarded the 2012 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research today by Johnson & Johnson for their co-discovery of microRNA, tiny molecules that are now understood to play a powerful role in gene expression and regulation. The award was announced during an event at the Biotechnology Industry Organization International Convention in Boston.

The award was created by Johnson & Johnson to honor the legacy of one of the most passionate, creative and productive scientists of the 20th century, Dr. Paul Janssen (1926-2003). The legacy of Dr. Paul as he was known in the scientific community continues to inspire the company's commitment to developing innovative solutions for unmet medical needs. Dr. Paul's work led to breakthroughs in several fields, including pain management, psychiatry, infectious disease and gastroenterology. Four of the drugs discovered by Dr. Paul and his team remain on the World Health Organization's list of essential medicines.

This is the second time in six years that a UMass Medical School scientist has been recognized by the Janssen Award selection committee. UMass Medical School professor Craig C. Mello won the inaugural Janssen Award in 2006.

"Victor is one of the great pioneers of microRNAi and an integral member of an exceptional community of RNA researchers here at UMass Medical School. Together, these faculty are advancing the world's understanding of fundamental biological mechanisms and furthering the field of biomedical sciences," said Chancellor Michael F. Collins, MD. "We are delighted to see Victor recognized with this remarkable award from his colleagues and fellow scientists."

"Victor's pioneering discovery of microRNA occurred at a time when the field was not mentally prepared to understand its full significance. We now know that microRNAs have key functions in a variety of human diseases, ranging from hyperlipidemia (high blood cholesterol) to cancer," said Terence R. Flotte, MD, executive deputy chancellor, provost, and dean of the School of Medicine.

Since the discovery of microRNAs in 1993, these regulatory molecules have been implicated in a wide range of both normal and pathological activities including embryonic development, blood-cell specialization, muscle function, heart disease and viral infections. Their discovery has opened new fields of research and has implications for the development of new therapeutic treatments and diagnostic tools.

Working independently, Dr. Ambros and Dr. Ruvkun led the groups that identified the first microRNA and the first microRNA target. Dr. Ambros' lab yielded the discovery of the first microRNA and Dr. Ruvkun's lab identified how that microRNA regulates its target messenger. Working together, they demonstrated that the microRNA inactivates its target through direct, base-pairing interactions. MicroRNAs have been linked to cancer and identified as regulators of numerous other developmental events in both plants and animals. As a result of this discovery, researchers are now exploring microRNAs for use in diagnosis and prognosis as well as potential therapies.

"We are honored to join the distinguished list of past awardees of the Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research," said Ambros, the Silverman Chair in Natural Sciences and professor in the Program in Molecular Medicine at UMass Medical School in Worcester, MA. "It is a testament to the wisdom of private and government patrons that fundamental research such as ours was supported over the years, and that it is paying off in new understanding of disease processesand possibly in cures for patients."

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UMMS researcher Victor Ambros, Ph.D., named co-recipient of 2012 Janssen Award for Biomedical Research

Medical Marijuana Inc. Advisory Committee and Board of Directors Update

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SAN DIEGO, June 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Medical Marijuana Inc. (MJNA) a leading cannabis and hemp industry innovator, is pleased to announce the appointment of the CanCHEW Bio-technologies executive team Dr. George Anastassov, Dr. Philip A. Van Damme and Lekhram Changoer to its Board of Directors and Medical Advisory Committee.

Dr. George E. Anastassov, Director

George E. Anastassov, MD, DDS, graduated with BA Degree, Fine Arts School, Sofia, Bulgaria in 1981, followed by MD Degree, Medical Academy, Higher Medical Institute Sofia, Bulgaria, and a DDS Degree, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, New York In 1990.

Between 1988 and 1991 held Clinical Extern positions at the, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Bellevue Hospital Centre, New York. Clinical Assistant, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Microsurgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre, New York, and Clinical Extern, at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Bellevue Hospital Centre, New York.

Operating in private practice between 1990 1993 and with a longer term private practice role between 1991 1999 at East Village Dental Group. New York, N.Y. Dr Anastassov additionally executed various post doctoral education positions notably; A Fellowship in Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery. (Professor H.P.M. Freihofer), The Catholic University, St. Radboud Hospital, Nijmegen, the Netherlands 1994. Chief Resident, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Montefiore Medical Centre, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York between June 1995 and June 1996. Followed by a further Fellowship in Craniofacial and Base of Skull Surgery, at the department of Cranio-Maxillofacial and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Wilhelms University, Munster, Germany between June 1996 and June 1997.

Eventually returning to a variety of Hospital appointments in the US between 1997 - 2007: including Associate Director, Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Elmhurst Hospital Centre, Queens, N.Y. Assistant-Attending, Department of Dentistry, The Mount Sinai Hospital. New York. Consultant in Maxillofacial Surgery, Bronx VA Hospital Centre, Bronx, N.Y. 1997 - present, and three additional ongoing roles, Attending, Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Elmhurst Hospital Centre, Queens, N.Y. Attending, Department of Dentistry, the Mount Sinai Hospital. New York, N.Y. Attending Surgeon, Department of Otolaryngology/ Head and Neck Surgery, Beth Israel Medical Centre, New York. Visiting Professor, Department of Crania-Maxillofacial Surgery and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Wilhelm's University, Munster, Germany. Associate Clinical Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. The Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Editorially, Dr. Anastassov is presently active as Editorial Consultant 'The Journal of Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Radiology'. Editorial Board Member 'International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery' Since 2000. And also Editorial Board Member 'Folia Medica' and Editorial Consultant - 'Head and Face Medicine'.

Dr. Anastassov was granted Fellowship to the American College of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons in 2000 and Fellowship to the American College of Dentistry in 2005, and with Chairman appointments during the First International Congress of the Cleft Lip and Palate Foundation "Cleft 2000", Chairman, Facial Aesthetics Section. XV Congress of the European Association for Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery. Edinburgh, UK, September 5-9, 2000 and Chairman, Aesthetic Surgery. XVI Confidential Executive Summary_Sanammad_25102010 14 Congress of the European Association for Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery. Munster, Germany, September 3-7, 2002.

Dr. Anastassov holds 9 US & European Professional Society Membership: including a certified member of American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, additionally with 43 journal publications and 75 international guest lecture's to his credit.

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Hudson author Jacqueline Marino details CWRU medical school life in 'White Coats'

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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Every doctor has gone through it -- the stamina-testing, information-overload experience that is medical school.

It's a trial by fire for students who up until then have had an easy time with academics but who quickly face physical and intellectual demands so intense they have been known to trigger depression, or worse, in some students.

A new book by Hudson author Jacqueline Marino gives an insider's look at what getting through medical school really takes in this case, by creating a portrait of students at Case Western Reserve University Medical School.

"You have to be a brainiac, and hard-working, and even then it's very difficult," says Marino, 39, an assistant professor of journalismat Kent State University. "It's a huge commitment and sacrifice, and I wanted to see what that was like."

So she followed three students at Case's medical school over their four-year sojourn. Marino takes readers through nights of students cramming for daunting bio-chemistry exams, days when they first faced the cadavers they'd dissect, and hours caring for patients -- checking pulses, performing CPR on a dying woman, assisting in a birth.

"White Coats: Three Journeys Through An American Medical School," started as a single magazine story by Marino, then a Cleveland magazine staffer, in 2005. Based on reader reaction to that story, and her own interest in the student's challenges, Marino decided to follow the three students beyond the day they received the short white coats bestowed upon medical students, through theiryears of school and training.

The students she chose -- based on their candor and willingness to open their lives to her examination -- were wildly different in background, and in their views toward medical school:

Mike Norton, a Mormon from Utah whose wife was pregnant during his first year of med school and whose father would face a dire diagnosis;

Marleny Franco, born in the Dominican Republic and motivated to be a doctor by the health care disparities she'd seen that were based on language, race and culture;

Millie Gentry, a statuesque half-Taiwanese young woman, who entered medical school with determination to simultaneously have a balanced life that involved part-time modeling, shopping, cooking and friends outside school.

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Hudson author Jacqueline Marino details CWRU medical school life in 'White Coats'

Medical students examine business side

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By MARY SHEDDEN | The Tampa Tribune Published: June 18, 2012 Updated: June 18, 2012 - 7:00 AM

A University of South Florida medical school program highlighting leadership, empathy and business wherewithal will nearly triple its number of students this fall.

In August, 48 first-year Morsani College of Medicine students will join the 18 original participants in SELECT. The program targets students with strong self-awareness and self-management skills, as well as those showing an enhanced empathy toward patients and community.

A warning for new students: The five extra hours a week of discussions and self-reflection about communication, healthcare systems and management are intense, said first-year SELECT veteran Chris Pothering.

But these opportunities to meet with healthcare executives and other leaders make the commitment worth it, he said.

"It's almost like you forget you're in medical school when you sit down and have these interactions with people who are professionals in communication or in leadership," said Pothering, 28.

SELECT, or Scholarly Excellence, Leadership Experiences and Collaborative Training, has been brewing within the college for years. Positive feedback from the inaugural group of students and faculty mentors led to its sudden growth, said Alicia Monroe, the college's vice dean for educational affairs.

Eventually, the college will admit 56 SELECT students a year, in addition to a core medical class of 120 students. It highlights the importance in training new doctors to care for patients beyond the physical symptoms, Monroe said.

"We always have to be mindful of tasks, but also how it affects others," she said.

SELECT students often don't fall within the traditional medical admissions profile. Some of the students have other professional experience. Others have spent time in the military.

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Medical Student Malini Daniel Elected to AMA Board of Trustees

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CHICAGO, June 18, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Malini Daniel, a medical student at the Stanford School of Medicine in Palo Alto, Calif., today became a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Medical Association (AMA), the nation's largest physician organization. Ms. Daniel was installed as a trustee at the AMA's Annual Meeting in Chicago.

"I am very honored to represent future physicians in this position on the AMA Board of Trustees," said Ms. Daniel. "As a medical student, I'm excited to share my experiences in the rapidly changing field of medicine and I look forward to working with the board to help shape the future of health care."

Ms. Daniel will complete her medical degree with a concentration in health services research and policy in 2013. She was elected by her fellow medical students to serve a one-year term on the AMA Board of Trustees.

Ms. Daniel is dedicated to supporting global health initiatives. She has done extensive policy work and research for various programs including the World Health Organization, Joint United Nations Program for HIV/AIDS and the National AIDS Control Organization for the government of India.

Malini Daniel graduated with honors in 2006 from Harvard University with a Bachelors of Arts degree in biology and international policy, later receiving a Masters of Science degree in global health science from Oxford University. She currently resides in Palo Alto.

Media Contact: Liz Magsig AMA Media Relations Office: (202) 789-7419 Newsroom: (312) 239-4991 elizabeth.magsig@ama-assn.org

About the American Medical Association (AMA) The American Medical Association helps doctors help patients by uniting physicians nationwide to work on the most important professional, public health and health policy issues. The nation's largest physician organization plays a leading role in shaping the future of medicine. For more information on the AMA, please visit http://www.ama-assn.org.

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Medical Student Malini Daniel Elected to AMA Board of Trustees

Braun: Rutgers-Camden medical school situation is personal, as well as political

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Add yet another factor to the emotional politics behind the drive to strip Rutgers University of control over its Camden campus, politics described by one state senator as "the beginning of a new civil war": The personal. The rejection that the powerful Norcross family of South Jersey felt at the refusal of the universitys president to take over the new Cooper Medical School in Camden.

"Rutgers could have had the medical school some years ago," said State Sen. Donald Norcross (D-Camden), the prime sponsor of the bill that aims to "reorganize" higher education in the state but also results in the first real threat to the autonomy and structural integrity of Rutgers University in its 56-year history as it is called under the law, "The State University of New Jersey."

"For whatever reason, they decided not to," said Norcross, whose brother George is political boss of South Jersey.

Through the efforts of Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and the demands of Gov. Chris Christie, the bill is racing through the Legislature without so much as a pause to think of its price tag. The other day, the five senators on the Senate Higher Education committee voted for the bill, although the three Democrats and two Republicans admitted like Donald Norcross did they had no clue how much money it would cost. Critics have put the price at a quarter-billion dollars, maybe more.

Donald Norcross blamed the Rutgers "bureaucracy" for rejecting Cooper Medical School, but that bureaucracy is headed at least until the end of the month by outgoing president Richard McCormick.

McCormick, despite the reluctance of his governing boards and the opposition of faculty and many students, has pushed hard for the part of the bill that permits the universitys takeover of the Central Jersey operations of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) even at the price of losing the Camden campus. Rutgers briefly had a medical school until 1971 when the state took it over as part of UMDNJ; regaining it would be McCormicks legacy.

The bill, as written by Sweeney, adds another sweetener the Rutgers takeover of UMDNJs Newark assets, giving Rutgers two medical school campuses. That part of the bill led to the comment about "civil war" when state Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Essex) implored the committee to hold the bill.

But the unanswered question hanging over the legislative hearings and the entire proposal is this: If it is good state policy for New Jerseys state university to take over medical education in Newark and Piscataway, why not in Camden?

Donald Norcross, in an interview after he testified before the Senate Higher Education Committee, answered: "Why would we want to empower Rutgers to take over an asset of Rowan University?"

Rowan University, a former state teachers college whose biggest major is still teacher education, had agreed to take in the medical school after McCormick declined. "Rowan has done a good job," Norcross said.

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Braun: Rutgers-Camden medical school situation is personal, as well as political

U of M researchers find natural antioxidant can protect against cardiovascular disease

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Public release date: 15-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Matt DePoint mdepoint@umn.edu 612-625-4110 University of Minnesota Academic Health Center

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (06/15/2012) University of Minnesota Medical School researchers have collaborated with the School of Public Health and discovered an enzyme that, when found at high levels and alongside low levels of HDL (good cholesterol), can dramatically reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

The enzyme glutathione peroxidase, or GPx3 is a natural antioxidant that helps protect organisms from oxidant injury and helps the body naturally repair itself. Researchers have found that patients with high levels of good cholesterol, the GPx3 enzyme does not make a significant difference. However, those patients with low levels of good cholesterol, the GPx3 enzyme could potentially be a big benefit. The enzyme's link to cardiovascular disease may also help determine cardiovascular risk in patients with low levels of good cholesterol and low levels of the protective GPx3.

The new research, published today by PLoS One, supports the view that natural antioxidants may offer the human body profound benefits.

"In our study, we found that people with high levels of the GPx3 enzyme and low levels of good cholesterol were six times less likely to develop cardiovascular disease than people with low levels of both," said lead author Jordan L. Holtzman, M.D., Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and medicine within the University of Minnesota Medical School. "This GPx3 enzyme gives us a good reason to believe that natural antioxidants like GPx3 are good for heart health."

The combination of low HDL and low GPx3 affects an estimated 50 million people one in four adults in the U.S. This condition can lead to fatal heart attacks and strokes. Researchers continue to look for new ways to better predict who is at risk for these diseases and how patients can limit the impact of the disease once it's diagnosed.

"It's important to point out that people should not rush out to their doctors and demand testing for the GPx3 enzyme," said Holtzman. "But in time, we hope that measuring this enzyme will be a common blood test when determining whether a patient is at risk for cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks and strokes."

To arrive at his results, Holtzman and his colleagues studied the three major risk factors for cardiovascular disease: hypertension, smoking and high cholesterol. Data suggests that those with low levels of HDL and GPx3 were six times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease, including heart attack or stroke, than those with low levels of HDL and high levels of GPx3.

The study examined 130 stored samples from the Minnesota Heart Survey from participants who died of cardiovascular disease after 5-12 years of follow-up care. The ages of patients studied ranged from 26-85 years old. Their data was compared to 240 control samples.

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Professor's academic freedom was violated, UC Davis faculty leaders say

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UC Davis faculty leaders have declared that medical school administrators there violated the academic freedom of a professor who published a 2010 opinion article criticizing a campus event promoting prostate cancer screening.

In a unanimous vote, the faculty Senate's Representative Assembly admonished administrators for threatening cuts in title and funding and possible legal action against medical professor Michael Wilkes after his piece appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. The faculty governing panel last week also called for medical school leaders to apologize and "take concrete steps to prevent future violations of rights of academic freedom."

Although disciplinary action was not carried out against Wilkes, raising that possibility violated his rights, according to microbiologist Linda Bisson, who chairs the UC Davis faculty Senate. "It's not a gray area or even a little cloudy. This is a textbook example of what is protected in academic freedom," Bisson said Wednesday.

The next step is up to campus Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph Hexter, who in consultation with Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi is expected to decide by fall whether to impose any discipline on the medical school executives, campus officials said.

In their co-written newspaper article, Wilkes and USC emergency medicine professor Jerome Hoffman wrote about research showing that PSA blood tests for prostate cancer may lead to unnecessary treatments that cause negative side effects. They suggested that a UC Davis public seminar that promoted such screening "just might have to do with money" and that doctors involved could have a conflict of interest.

In an email soon after, the medical school's executive associate dean stated that Wilkes might be removed from his post as director of global health and from some training responsibilities, according to a recent report by a faculty committee. Then, a campus health center attorney wrote to Wilkes about what he alleged were factual mistakes in the article that hurt UC's reputation and were "potentially actionable under the law of defamation."

In an telephone interview Wednesday, Wilkes said he regretted some of the "edgier" language in his article and wished the matter could have been resolved long before it came to a formal investigation.

"All I want is an apology and a road map to show that, if this happens against other faculty, there are ways to deal with this that do not involve intimidation. And that they rely on the foundation of academics, which is debate and discussion," said Wilkes, a prostate cancer expert who moved from UCLA to UC Davis eight years ago.

Administrators contended that discussions about Wilkes' job titles were not related to the article and resulted from previous performance reviews. The campus attorney said the letter about defamation was not meant as a threat but just "a statement of fact," the faculty report said.

Two medical school leaders involved said in an email Wednesday that it would be inappropriate to comment in detail on the issue, which was previously reported by the online publication Inside Higher Ed.

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Medical school not only way Rutgers could improve

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NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) New Jersey state officials are working on rearranging the state's higher education system to give Rutgers control of a medical university in hopes that would help move the university, as former Gov. Tom Kean put it, from good to great.

Education experts see it as a step likely to help but hardly the only one the state's 246-year-old flagship university needs to take to become one of the nation's elite public universities.

They say the school needs to prioritize which departments will be targeted to try to attract top faculty; find ways to cut bureaucracy for undergraduates; and find ways to sell itself to the state's top high school students as a place they'll want to spend the next four years.

"Rutgers is a traditional, proud school that has the opportunity to become great," said Greg Brown, the chairman of Motorola Solutions and a Rutgers trustee.

Rutgers is known as a strong university. Two surveys that college officials follow by The Times of London and the Center for World-Class Universities at Shanghai Jiao Tong University both place it in the top 100 universities in the world. And several of Rutgers' graduate programs particularly in the humanities and social sciences were ranked highly by the latest U.S. News and World Report survey.

But several U.S. public universities rank ahead of Rutgers on those surveys. A handful, including the Universities of California-Berkeley, Washington and Michigan, consistently rank among the top 20 in the world.

It's that list that Rutgers officials seek to join.

"What you're going to see is a limited number of places around the country and around the globe will have critical mass to accomplish cutting-edge research," said Richard Edwards, the Rutgers vice president who is slated to be the university's interim president in July and August. "The whole point is not to be rated highly but what happens because of that research," Edwards said.

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Those highest-ranked public universities in the U.S. all have medical schools.

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Medical school not only way Rutgers could improve