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9. Genetic Risk Factors | Mini Med School – Video

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Danzig

08-02-2012 19:03 (November 29, 2011) Thomas Quertermous explores how genetics influence cardiovascular diseases and how much risk heritability presents as opposed to behavior. This course is a single-quarter, focused follow-up to the the yearlong Mini Med School that occurred in 2009-10. The course focuses on diseases of the heart and cardiovascular system. The course is sponsored by Stanford Continuing Studies and the Stanford Medical School. Stanford University http://www.stanford.edu Stanford Continuing Studies http:///continuingstudies.stanford.edu/ Stanford University School of Medicine med.stanford.edu Stanford University Channel on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com

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9. Genetic Risk Factors | Mini Med School - Video

Medical school architect's list pared to five

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Danzig

Five firms will compete to design and build the University at Buffalo’s new School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences proposed for Main and High streets at the edge of downtown.

The five firms were introduced Thursday at the Greatbatch Pavilion of the Darwin Martin House, where university officials described to architects what UB is looking for in a new $375 million medical school.

“This whole competition is an attempt to elevate the dialogue about the quality of the architecture,” said Robert Shibley, dean of UB’s School of Architecture and Planning, who is directing the competition. “We want to do this in the very best possible way.”

In describing the project, UB officials released a few new details about the targeted property at Main and High streets. The site currently includes an HSBC Bank branch, parking lot and the Allen- Medical Campus Metro Station.

UB is still working to acquire the land from property owners, Shibley said, but envisions a Phase I of the Medical School project to include 520,000 square feet of space within a 12-, nine-, or seven-story building at the site.

UB’s preference, Shibley said, would be a seven-story building that would incorporate a more grand Metro station at Allen Street, but that’s going to depend on the outcome of property negotiations. Plans also show a Phase II for the Medical School, but that would be another decade down the road.

“We want it to create a ‘front door’ to the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, emphasize its student-learning environment and emphasize the interdisciplinary collaboration between the school’s academic departments,” Shibley said.

A competition selection committee comprised of eight design and engineering professionals from the state and UB pared the 19 applicants down to a short list of five: Cannon Design; Diller Scofidio+ Renfro/Gensler; Grimshaw Architects; Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum; and Rafael Vinoly.

Interim UB Provost Bruce McCombe and Dr. John Canty, chief of the cardiovascular division, talked to the architects and got them up to speed on the university, its strategic plan and the relocation of the Medical School from the South Campus to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus with the help of $35 million in seed money from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

The competitors will take tours of the downtown and Main Street campuses today, then meet with the selection committee for a workshop.

The firms will present their proposals March 16 to 22. They will be publicly exhibited March 27 and 28. A final selection will be made March 29.

UB wants to begin construction of the new Medical School in September 2013 and complete the building by fall 2016.

jrey@buffnews.comnull

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Medical school architect's list pared to five

Medical school list pared to five

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Danzig

Five firms will compete to design and build the University at Buffalo’s new School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences proposed for Main and High streets at the edge of downtown.

The competitors will take tours of the downtown and Main Street campuses today, then meet with the selection committee for a workshop.

The firms will present their proposals March 16 to 22. They will be publicly exhibited March 27 and 28. A final selection will be made March 29.

UB wants to begin construction of the new Medical School in September 2013 and complete the building by fall 2016.

jrey@buffnews.comnull

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Medical school list pared to five

Dade Medical College Presents $10,000 to the American Cancer Society in Support of the Fight Against Breast Cancer

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Danzig

MIAMI, Feb. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Dade Medical College concluded the American Cancer Society's Miami-Dade fundraising efforts for the 2011 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer with a generous contribution of $10,000. Dade Medical College President and CEO Ernesto Perez noted that "supporting health-related organizations was a natural for the College," and added that "helping fight breast cancer was paramount as in today's world with education and early detection, the war could be won."

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120223/CG58946)

The check was presented at the college's Homestead Campus during a community health fair and School of Nursing Open House where the college offered free glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure screenings.

Funds raised through Making Strides Against Breast Cancer support breast cancer research, provides up-to-date breast cancer information, ensures everyone has access to breast cancer screening and treatments – regardless of income – and provides services that improve the quality of life for patients and their families.

The Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk supports the American Cancer Society's unique mission to fight cancer on all four fronts: research, education, advocacy and patient services. Over time, the Society has invested more in breast cancer research than any other voluntary public health organization. Since 1972, it has invested nearly $323 million in breast cancer research grants, resulting in many of today's breast cancer treatments.

The 2012 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk is scheduled for Sunday, October 13 at Tropical Park. For more information or to sign up for the 2012 American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer in Miami, please contact Arlene Hidalgo, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Manager at 305-779-2879 or Arlene.Hidalgo@cancer.org.

About Dade Medical College

With more than 400 academic, administrative and support professionals at four South Florida campuses and corporate office, Dade Medical College offers and provides quality, outcome-based education through professionally credentialed and certified faculty whose commitment to excellence in education is unparalleled by other colleges and institutions. Dade Medical College offers Associate and Bachelor of Science degrees in programs that include nursing, radiologic technology, cardiac sonography, diagnostic ultrasound, medical assistant, massage therapy and more. The School of Continuing Education offers non-credit courses for students and professionals in support of their professional development, advancement and licensing/registry attainment and/or renewal.

Classes start every four weeks. Online course and program offerings will be available soon. Dade Medical College is accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools, the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (Miami and Hollywood Campuses) and is licensed by the Florida Commission for Independent Education. Dade Medical College has also been approved by the Florida Board of Nursing and the Florida Board of Massage and is a member of the Florida Association of Postsecondary Schools and Colleges and the South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association.

For more information, visit http://www.DadeMedical.edu, like them on http://www.facebook.com/DadeMedicalCollege or call 305.644.1171.

Media Contact: Elizabeth Martinez of Dade Medical College, +1-786-374-4997, liz@dademedical.edu

News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com

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Dade Medical College Presents $10,000 to the American Cancer Society in Support of the Fight Against Breast Cancer

UMass Medical uses smart phones to treat drug abuse

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Danzig

Dr. Edward Boyer, professor of emergency medicine at UMass Medical School.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

By Lori Valigra

UMass Medical School researchers in Worcester used smartphone programming, artificial intelligence, biosensors, and wireless networks to develop a device to help treat drug abusers.

The device is designed to detect physiological stressors associated with drug cravings and respond with user-tailored behavioral interventions that prevent substance use, according to the researchers, who published preliminary data about the multi-media device, called iHeal, online recently in the Journal of Medical Toxicology. The device is still in experimental stages and needs some improvements in technical issues, such as privacy and design, before it’s ready for prime time, according to the researchers.

According to the study’s authors, many behavioral interventions used to treat patients are ineffective outside of the controlled clinical settings where they are taught. The failures stem from several factors, including a patient’s inability to recognize biological changes that indicate increased risk of relapse and an inability to change their behaviors to reduce health risk.

Dr. Edward Boyer, professor of emergency medicine at UMass Medical School and lead author of the study, worked with colleagues at UMMS and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to design a mobile device using enabling technologies to make substance abuse behavioral interventions more effective outside the clinic or office environments. The iHeal combines sensors to measure physiological changes and detect trigger points for risky health behaviors, such as substance use, with smartphone software tailored to respond with patient-specific interventions.

The researchers asked individuals with a history of substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder to wear an iHeal sensor band around their wrist to measures the electrical activity of the skin, body motion, skin temperature, and heart rate, which all can serve as stress indicators. The band wirelessly transmits information to a smartphone, where software applications monitor and process the user’s physiological data. When the software detects an increased stress level, it asks the user to input additional information about their perceived level of stress, drug cravings, and current activities. That information is then used to identify, in real-time, drug cravings and deliver personalized, multimedia drug prevention interventions at the moment of greatest physiological need, according to the researchers.

Boyer and his teams examined the iHeal system architecture, as well as preliminary feedback from initial users, to identify key attributes and assess the device’s viability. They found that there are a number of technical issues related to data security and the need for a more robust and less stigmatizing version before the device could be worn in public.

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UMass Medical uses smart phones to treat drug abuse

Medical practice: Michigan State University launches regional campus for medical school

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Danzig

Every doctor has to start somewhere. Now they can make it MidMichigan Health.

The health care system welcomed its first class of medical students from the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine last summer. Third- and fourth-year students at the MidMichigan are completing a core competency program and several clerkships in departments, gaining clinical experience as they train for full-time jobs as doctors.

So far, the experience has surpassed the expectations of the medical professionals and students involved.

‘Demanding in a great way’

John Evans, a Flint native who chose to come to the MSU College of Human Health Midland Regional Campus after a site visit, said the demanding schedule was expected, but the experiences he has had are beyond what he anticipated.

“Even when it’s demanding, it’s demanding in a great way,” he said. “What else would I be doing?”

On a typical day the students shadow an attending physician in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, surgery and psychiatry. MSU sets the curriculum and MidMichigan staff offers instruction, letting the students observe and participate in medical care.

Evans said the students start work early in the morning and most days could be done by 5 p.m., but they typically want to stay to continue patient care, follow up on something interesting that happened or study for tests that come after each clerkship ends.

“You want to be here, you want to have access,” Evans said.

Evans was in awe reflecting on the 10 babies that he was the first person to ever touch in the world. He said he got emotional about the first delivery because that’s a major milestone in a doctor’s life.

“I had been gearing up that, and there it was,” he said. “It was incredible.”

After medical school, the students will earn an M.D. and will complete a residency, during which they gain specialized knowledge in the area in which they will practice.

Delivering the babies put OBGYN into Evans’ top three options for his residency program, with general surgery at the top and the emergency room as the third option.

Evans said joining a new program means coming at a time when there is a lot of enthusiasm to teach and learn. Students at other campuses have told Evans that they haven’t had the same access to real-life experiences.

“The way we were embraced by the MidMichigan Health system is incredible and something we weren’t really expecting,” he said, describing support and encouragement from staff at every level. “You don’t feel like you’re bothering anybody. You feel like they want you there and they encourage you.”

Fresh skills, top recruits

Dr. Paula Klose, community assistant dean for the new campus, said the staff loves working with the students and feel like they’re helping set up the new campus for long-term success.

Klose said when physicians teach it can help to keep their skills up, meaning better care for patients. Having a teaching component also helps recruit physicians, some of whom only want to work at a medical center where they can teach. The local instructors were selected based on having an interest in teaching and qualifications for the job.

This year, students are spending most of their time at MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland, with some time also spent at MidMichigan Medical Center-Gratiot. Klose said as the program expands, students also could spend time in MidMichigan’s medical centers in Gladwin and Clare.

This year there are three third-year students and five fourth-year students at the Midland campus. Klose said next year, another six third-year students will be added to the program. It could build up to nine to 12 students each year as the program grows.

The program is expected to offer more electives as time goes on and could lead to the development of a simulation center, medical research and residency opportunities at the medical centers.

Klose hopes the students will find residencies to gain in-depth knowledge in a specific medical field and then choose to return to MidMichigan Health because of their experiences as students.

Evans said after spending time in the “fantastic community,” he can see how that hope could turn into reality.

“That’s a very high likelihood,” he said. “It’s growing on me and is such a nice community.”

‘This is our community now’

Medicine was the first thing to appeal to Evans. After an uninspiring education in the Flint school system, he moved to New York and earned a master of fine arts degree. Now, he wants a career where he can see results and know he is making a difference in people’s lives.

“There’s the traditional path, the non-traditional path and then there’s my path,” Evans said with a laugh.

His easy-going demeanor works well with patients, which is a skill doctors need in addition to medical knowledge.

Evans said most patients are fine with a student being with a physician during a medical exam, but some may want privacy.

He said the patients don’t benefit from a vast new source of medical knowledge when a student is present because they are still learning everything, but students can be up-to-date on new practices or research that can help a patient.

One benefit some patients experience from having a student present is the additional time the students can spend with them when the residents or physicians are required to move to the next patient.

“It increases face time, and patients really like that,” Klose said, noting the current group of students have been great at interacting with patients.

Evans said some patients have felt their care is more thorough, which is good for the patient and the Health System. He said the MSU College of Human Medicine stresses not just the medical care, but the human side of medicine.

“They get the medical care they want and the attention that they need,” he said of patients.

Being able to spend more time with a patient also allows Evans to better remember all the things that must be asked and checked. He said the more times people does something, the faster they become.

The students also hope to become more involved in community initiatives. Evans said MSU’s core competency program includes learning about health disparities in a community. Mike Krecek, director of the Midland County Health Department, spoke to the students about Midland County’s medical needs, including access to medical care for the county’s rural residents.

“We really want to be involved in outreach services,” Evans said. “This is our community now. We don’t just want to be at the hospital and then go to sleep. We want to be a part of the community.”

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Medical practice: Michigan State University launches regional campus for medical school

Preventing and treating drug use with smartphones

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Danzig

Public release date: 21-Feb-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

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

WORCESTER, Mass. ? Clinical researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) are combining an innovative constellation of technologies such as artificial intelligence, smartphone programming, biosensors and wireless connectivity to develop a device designed to detect physiological stressors associated with drug cravings and respond with user-tailored behavioral interventions that prevent substance use. Preliminary data about the multi-media device, called iHeal, was published online first in the Journal of Medical Toxicology.

According to the study's authors, many behavioral interventions used to treat patients are ineffective outside of the controlled clinical settings where they are taught. This failure can be attributed to several factors, including a patient's inability to recognize biological changes that indicate increased risk of relapse and an inability to change their behaviors to reduce health risk.

Edward Boyer, MD, PhD, professor of emergency medicine at UMass Medical School and lead author of the study, worked with colleagues at UMMS and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to design a mobile device using so-called "enabling technologies" that could be used to make behavioral interventions for substance abusers more effective outside the clinic or office environments. The result of their work, iHeal, combines sensors to measure physiological changes and detect trigger points for risky health behaviors, such as substance use, with smartphone software tailored to respond with patient-specific interventions.

Individuals with a history of substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder were asked to wear an iHeal sensor band around their wrist that measures the electrical activity of the skin, body motion, skin temperature and heart rate ? all indicators of stress. The band wirelessly transmits information to a smartphone, where software applications monitor and process the user's physiological data. When the software detects an increased stress level, it asks the user to annotate events by inputting information about their perceived level of stress, drug cravings, and current activities. This information is then used to identify, in real-time, drug cravings and deliver personalized, multimedia drug prevention interventions precisely at the moment of greatest physiological need.

Boyer and his teams examined the iHeal system architecture, as well as preliminary feedback from initial users, to identify key attributes and assess the device's viability. Their analyses suggest a number of technical issues related to data security, as well as the need for a more robust and less stigmatizing version before the device could be worn in public.

###

About the University of Massachusetts Medical School

The University of Massachusetts Medical School, one of the fastest growing academic health 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 $277 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 the commonwealth and the world through pioneering education, research, public service and health care delivery with its clinical partner, UMass Memorial Health Care. For more information, visit http://www.umassmed.edu.

[ | E-mail | Share ]

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

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Preventing and treating drug use with smartphones

Medical school entrance exam broadens scope

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Danzig

Prospective medical students will face an entrance examination that expands its focus beyond natural sciences starting in 2015.

The Medical College Admission Test will add a section covering the psychological, social and biological foundations of behavior, the American Association of Medical Colleges finalized Feb. 16 after three years of review.

Richard Riegelman, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics in the School of Public Health and Health Services, served on the association’s 21-person committee that conducted the review of the test and said the change will ensure students have a thorough medical background.

“The changes in the MCAT aim to prepare students for the changing world of medicine and clinical practice,” he said.

Riegelman added that aspiring doctors face an increased demand to be prepared for the job’s social and behavioral aspects.

Students will also be tested in social sciences and humanities in a new critical analysis and reasoning section, bringing the total number of sections to four.

The changes, which are the first alterations to the test since 1991, came in light of mounting evidence that shows how patient health can improve by weaving an understanding of people into scientific knowledge.

The revised MCAT, likely to be in place until 2030, will increase in length by about 1.5 hours, for a total testing time of about 6.5 hours. There will also no longer be a writing section, after admissions officers said it did not give them sufficient or accurate information about a student’s qualifications for medical school.

Senior Melissa Delgado, a pre-med student, said she supports the newly implemented changes to the MCAT, noting that the current test format “fails to capture the humanistic aspect of medicine.”

Medical school applications have been rising for a decade, reaching a record 43,919 applicants in 2011, according to the AAMC.

Diane McQuail, assistant dean for admissions at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, said it is too soon to predict if the broader MCAT will encourage or discourage students from pursuing medical careers.

“These changes are being made to prepare medical students to become doctors that can address issues in health care in the years ahead,” she said, adding that medical schools nationwide have also adjusted their curricula in order to better train students.

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Medical school entrance exam broadens scope

Summer program to prepare students for medical school

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Danzig

Published: Thursday, April 18, 2002

Updated: Thursday, March 3, 2011 16:03

High school students wanting to enter into the medical field may have the reinforcement they need with the Pre-Health Reinforcement and Enrichment Program or PREP.
The Quillen College of Medicine Office of Student Affairs determined that the best way to aid their potential students with basic courses was to start early.
This year Yvonne Buford, PREP program coordinator, decided to invite high school to participate in the summer program and continue with the program throughout high school and college.
"After two summers of watching senior college students struggle through basic science classes, I thought I could be more helpful by going back to the high schools and working with counselors to help them understand what the students need before they get to this level," Buford said.
PREP is designed to strengthen students' academic skills and to increase the opportunity for students to get into the medical school of their choice. Students will live on campus and meals will be provided.
"We have workshops planned, speakers coming in and we'll be doing job shadowing," she said.
Buford said that this type of a program could have a great effect on the students' admissions to a medical school.
"The admissions has offered to put out information about the program," she said. "And during the school year we will have first-year med students as tutors."
Buford has received a lot of feedback from the students who have participated in the program and believes the program will be beneficial to all who attended.
So far 26 high school students and 45 college students have applied for the program.
"If all goes as planned we'll be working with the students for eight years each," Buford said. "We want to carry them through high school, bring to college and take them to the exam."
Call Buford at 439-5655 for more information about the program.

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Summer program to prepare students for medical school

Explore New Options to Repay Medical School Loans

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Danzig

Not so long ago, many medical school graduates entered residency burdened with large amounts of student loan debt. And just when you thought that was the worst of it, many residency-related student loan deferments for federal loan repayments were phased out in the early 1990s, leaving many residents with relatively large monthly loan payments while still in training.

The federal government has embarked upon programs aimed at attracting medical residents to work in HPSAs (Health Professional Shortage Areas) for three years after graduation, at which time they would receive tuition and stipend reimbursements for each year of HPSA service. The government recently expanded the program, after it announced that almost 20 percent of Americans live in underserved areas, ranging from isolated rural areas to areas many would be surprised are considered underserved, including the Venice Beach and West Hollywood/Hollywood areas of Los Angeles.

[Learn how to go to medical school for free.]

Students can apply for healthcare loan repayment programs through the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), which asks medical residents for a flexible commitment of working for at least two or three years in an underserved area of the United States in a primary care specialty. The government would then repay up to $120,000 in debt. From 2008 to 2011, the program has nearly tripled its enrollment from 3,600 physicians to more than 10,000. Additional loan repayment support is available if physicians choose to work longer.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius recently announced a newer initiative toward student loan repayment. This new loan repayment program, to which Sebelius committed $9.1 million, is targeted at recruiting current medical students, particularly those in their fourth year, who are dedicated to specifically designated specialties.

[Check out rankings of medical school primary care specialties.]

The announcement of this additional option makes the following federal scholarship and loan repayment avenues available:

• NHSC Scholarship: In this program, students entering medical school—or those who haven't yet completed their fourth year of medical school—receive tuition scholarships and monthly stipends. The students sign a commitment to spend one year working in an underserved area for each year of support received. There is a limit of four years of funding per student.

This program can sound tempting—after all, what is four years if your entire medical school tuition is paid in advance? But if you happen to change your mind after graduation and you don't enter or finish residency, the penalty can be steep. You must repay the government tuition costs plus penalties and interest within a specified period of time. In rare cases, the government has disciplined doctors who did not repay these costs in time.

• Students to Service Program: With the recently announced funding, this program allows fourth-year medical students who have solidified their career choice down to a primary care specialty (internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, geriatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, and general psychiatry) the opportunity for loan repayments.

[Find out which public medical schools award the most financial aid.]

• Commitment after residency: If you complete a residency in one of the primary care specialties above, you can work in a HPSA for as long or as little time as you desire. Each year you spend working 32 or more hours per week seeing patients, a certain percentage of your loans will be repaid.

A half-time work option is also available. After three full (or six half-time) years, these physicians have the option to continue on for more substantial support. Physicians who terminate the program without NHSC approval face substantial financial penalties (usually more than $100,000).

Keep in mind that these programs, as they're federally administered, do not tax funds given to these physicians for the purpose of loan repayment. Programs outside the NHSC that offer these benefits may report the repayment to the IRS, which then taxes the physician.

For those premeds who find current medical school tuition figures daunting, these programs offer a great way to become debt-free in a shorter amount of time than for most graduates. Premeds can still get a fairly competitive salary at the same time. Just be sure to read all the fine print, especially if you are committing early.

Ibrahim Busnaina, M.D. is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and coauthor of "Examkrackers' How to Get Into Medical School." He has been consulting with prospective medical school applicants, with a special focus on minority and other nontraditional candidates, since 2006.

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Explore New Options to Repay Medical School Loans

Upstate medical school put on probation because of problems with courses, administration

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Danzig

Syracuse, N.Y. -- An accrediting organization has put Upstate Medical University’s medical school on probation because of concerns over how the school is run, its curriculum and other issues.

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education — LCME for short — recommended last fall that Upstate be put on probation. Officials of the SUNY academic medical center formally appealed the recommendation last week.

Earlier coverage, comments

LCME made its final decision Thursday to go ahead with the sanction.

Dr. David Duggan, interim dean of the medical school, said Friday the school remains fully accredited and is well on its way to addressing the accrediting group’s concerns.

“We obviously wish we weren’t in this position,” Duggan said. “But we are going to take very opportunity to use this as a positive experience and learn and grow from it and become a better place in the end.”

Upstate will have two years to fix problems identified by the LCME. Upstate joins five other medical schools on probation. LCME accredits 136 U.S. medical schools.

The loss of accreditation would be a death penalty for Upstate’s medical school, which would no longer be able to offer medical degrees. Duggan said the chances of that happening are “infinitesimally small.”

“I do not think they (LCME) see themselves as being in the business of putting medical schools out of business,” he said.

The San Juan Bautista School of Medicine in San Juan, Puerto Rico became the first medical school to lose its accreditation in June. Its accreditation was reinstated in November at an appeals hearing ordered by a federal court. The school remains on probation.

The LCME is the nationally recognized accrediting authority for medical education programs leading to a medical degree in U.S. and Canadian schools. The group is sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association.

Accreditation is important because it shows a medical school meets national standards. Graduating from an LCME-accredited school is a condition for a medical license in most states.

One of the LCME’s major criticisms was Upstate’s lack of a central committee with the authority to make changes in the school’s courses.

The LCME also was concerned over a cheating scandal that occurred last year involving fourth-year medical students who helped each other on online quizzes in a required medical literature course. Many students had complained about the course. In the wake of the cheating incident, Upstate suspended the course for at least one year in order to improve it.

LCME also was troubled by lack of consistency in some courses offered at Upstate’s Syracuse and Binghamton campuses.

Duggan said the sanction against Upstate was not based on any shortcomings in the quality of its medical students or their accomplishments.

The LCME has become stricter in recent years and is taking more serious actions against schools it believes are not meeting standards.

From 1996 to 2000 only three schools were recommended for probation, according to a recent report published by the American Medical Association. Between 2004 and 2009, 10 schools were recommended for probation and the number of schools facing sanctions has continued to increase since then, the report said.

Sanctions have increased since LCME clarified its standards in 2002, said Dr. Dan Hunt, LCME co-secretary. Prior to that time the standards were vague.

Once the standards were revised, survey teams started going into medical schools with a much sharper focus, he said. Many medical schools have not kept up with the revised standards, he said.

The clearer standards allow the LCME “ ... to see where there are core problems that can lead to decisions like probation,” Hunt said.

Upstate’s medical school has 640 students.

The sanction will probably not have much of an effect on Upstate, said David Petersam, president of Admissions Consultants, a Virginia company that advises students applying to medical schools.

Petersam said Upstate has a good reputation, even though it’s not considered a top tier medical school like Harvard, Johns Hopkins or Duke.

“Students are still going to apply because there are so many applicants who want to attend a U.S. medical school and don’t want to be forced to go to a Caribbean medical school where your chances of coming back and practicing are much lower,” Petersam said.

The probation issue could prompt some of the most highly qualified applicants to take Upstate off their list, he said. “But it’s not going to make a huge difference,” he added.

Upstate has alerted all prospective medical school applicants to the probation issue, Duggan said. So far it has had no effect on the number or quality of students who have applied, he said. It also has not affected faculty recruitment, he said.

When LCME recommended probation last fall, the medical schools’s dean, Dr. Steven J. Scheinman, resigned and Duggan was named interim dean.

Upstate is conducting a national search and expects to have a new dean in place later this year, Duggan said.

Letter by Upstate Medical University to medical school faculty, staff, students

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Upstate medical school put on probation because of problems with courses, administration

A prospective KU med school student speaks from the heart

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Danzig

It was an exercise on how to interview for admission to medical school.

Not even Darcie Spresser, a 24-year-old undergraduate at Wichita State University who volunteered to be interviewed in front of others, knew how real and how emotional it would be. It was just an exercise, but Spresser nailed it.

It happened Saturday during a day-long program in Wichita that brought about 340 undergraduate students and advisers from Kansas and surrounding states. The program, co-hosted by KU School of Medicine-Wichita and Wichita State University, was designed to help them know what to expect about medical school and help them prepare for the challenges.

James Kallail, professor and associate chairman for research in the Department of Internal Medicine at KU School of Medicine-Wichita, conducted the interview exercise in an amphitheater at the Wichita medical campus as about 35 students watched. Kallail, a member of the admission committee for the medical school system, told Spresser he wanted her to be as open and honest as possible.

“Tell me why you want to be a physician,” he asked in a calm, clear voice.

“My heart lies there,” she said, explaining that she had tried another career but realized that caring for others as a doctor is what she decided she had to do. She now works as a phlebotomist, drawing patients’ blood at Via Christi Hospital on St. Francis, so she sees all kinds of patients. A defining moment came one day when she walked into a cancer patient’s room to take a blood sample from her.

Sunshine from a window was hitting the ill woman in the face.

“Oh, honey, let me close that blind down for you; the sun is in your eyes,” Spresser told the woman.

“That’s OK,” the patient said. “I’m just glad God gave me another day to see the sun rise.”

Spresser’s voice caught, and she teared up as she recounted it to Kallail. She apologized for getting emotional. He said it was OK, to continue. The other students listened intently.

Spresser, a native of Selden in northwest Kansas, also talked about donating a kidney to a relative two years ago. Kallail said it was quite a sacrifice.

She said that because of her Christian faith, it is important for her to help people, that it is who she is.

As Kallail and the students critiqued the interview afterward, Spresser conceded she was nervous and emotional, that it “just came out.”

It’s natural to be a little nervous during an interview, Kallail said. “It’s an anxiety-provoking situation.”

But Kallail told her she came across as genuine, that the emotion came as part of her credible, compelling story.

The students discussed whether her mention of religion could be controversial in the context of a medical school interview. But Kallail said he didn’t take it that way, that it’s OK to bring up faith if it is relevant during an interview.

The test, he said, is if religious belief gets in the way of treating a patient.

A score of 6 is the top interview score, he said. “I’d give her a 6. This was a star interview. I don’t see interviews like this very often.”

In another session – a panel discussion in which current medical students shared what it takes to get into medical school and succeed there – one of the panel members told the undergrads to make sure they know how they will answer the question interviewers always ask: “Tell me about yourself.” It’s not always easy to answer.

Whatever you say, you have to be yourself and be genuine, the med students said.

As for what classes to take, the message was: Get a degree in what really interests you, not what you think will look good on paper. Still, some specific course areas, like biochemistry and anatomy, are especially important.

Many of the med students exposed themselves to the profession by shadowing doctors – learning what is really involved, by seeing surgeries and other procedures first-hand.

Someone asked if it’s doable to start families while attending medical school. The answer: Some med students do have small children, but it forces them to closely budget their time.

Med school, they said, is a full-time job.

Reach Tim Potter at 316-268-6684 or tpotter@wichitaeagle.com.

Upstate Medical University placed on probation

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Danzig

Upstate Medical University's medical school was placed on probation Thursday by an accrediting organization after concerns were raised about the school's curriculum.

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education recommended Upstate be placed on probation last fall, but State University of New York academic medical center officials appealed the recommendation last week, according to an article published in The Post-Standard on Saturday.

The committee made its final decision to follow through with the sanction Thursday, according to the article.

Upstate joins five other schools placed on probation by the LCME and will have two years to fix all problems identified by the organization, according to the article. The committee accredits a total of 136 U.S. medical schools.

Losing accreditation may be detrimental to the school, as it would no longer be allowed to distribute medical degrees. David Duggan, interim dean of the medical school, told The Post-Standard the chances of this happening were extremely slim.

Duggan said the school remains fully accredited and is working to address the committee's concerns, according to the article.

Duggan could not be immediately reached for comment.

The LCME acts as the nationally recognized accrediting authority for medical education programs leading to a degree in the medical field in the United States and Canada. The organization is sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association, according to the article.

Accreditation shows that a medical school is meeting national standards, and graduating from an LCME-accredited school is required for a medical license in most states, according to the article.

LCME's largest criticism against Upstate was the lack of a central committee with the authority to make changes to the school's curriculum, according the article.

The organization was also bothered by a cheating incident that occurred last year involving fourth-year medical students who assisted each other on online quizzes in a medical literature course, according to the article. Upstate suspended the course for at least one year to try and improve it.

Duggan told The Post-Standard that Upstate's sanction was not "based on any shortcomings in the quality of its medical students or their accomplishments." Upstate has alerted all prospective applicants about the school's probation, Duggan said, but so far it has had no effect on the applicant pool.

In recent years, the LCME became stricter and is taking more severe actions against medical schools it does not believe to be meeting standards, according to the article.

The medical school exists within Upstate Medical University Hospital. The hospital was placed on a "watch list" for the hospital's high frequency of safety concerns, complications and patient deaths in September.

The Niagara Health Quality Coalition, a hospital performance research group, included University Hospital along with 20 other New York state hospitals on the list as part of an annual report card. The report stated statistics of patient deaths, patient dissatisfaction and complications.

egsawyer@syr.edu

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Upstate Medical University placed on probation

Upstate Medical University's medical school put on probation

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Danzig

Syracuse, N.Y. -- An accrediting organization has put Upstate Medical University’s medical school on probation because of concerns over the school’s governance, curriculum and other issues.

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education — LCME for short — had recommended last fall that Upstate be put on probation. Officials of the SUNY academic medical center formally appealed the recommendation last week.

LCME made its final decision Thursday to go ahead with the sanction.

In a letter posted today on Upstate’s website, Dr. David Duggan, interim dean of the medical school, said the school remains fully accredited and is well on its way to addressing the accrediting group’s concerns.

“The LCME decision was not based on any shortcomings in the quality of our medical students or their accomplishments,” Duggan said in the letter. “Our students score at or above the national average on licensure examinations and are much sought after for residency programs across the country.”

Accreditation is important because it shows a medical school meets national standards. Graduating from an LCME-accredited school is a condition for a medical license in most states.

The LCME has become stricter in recent years and is taking more serious actions against schools it believes are not meeting standards. Five other medical schools are currently on probation. From 1996 to 2000 only three schools out of 108 schools reviewed were recommended for probation, according to a recent report published by the American Medical Association. Between 2004 and 2009, 10 schools were recommended for probation and the number of schools facing sanctions has continued to increase since then, the report said.

Schools placed on probation typically get two years to correct problems.

Upstate’s medical school has 640 students.

Letter by Upstate Medical University to medical school faculty, staff, students

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Upstate Medical University's medical school put on probation

Upstate Medical University on probation

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Danzig

Read more: Local, Education, News, Upstate Medical University, Probation, School Put on Probation, LCME, Liaison Committee on Medical Education, Syracuse

SYRACUSE -- Upstate Medical University's medical school has been placed on probation.

Last fall, an accrediting organization, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, or LCME recommended putting the school on probation. The school, has formally appealed that recommendation, but the LCME went ahead with the probation.

The action only impacts the undergraduate medical education program. The college itself, is still accredited.

Interim dean, Dr. David Duggan, told students in a letter that the school is making progress to fix the issues that lead to the probation. In October, the LCME made the original probation recommendation because of concerns in three main areas, including the governance of the curriculum, the management of the clinical clerkships, and communication regarding specific policies.

Dr. Steven Scheinman, the former dean of the College of Medicine, resigned after the LCME made the recommendation.

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Upstate Medical University on probation

Med school admission tests change to reflect new care realities

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Danzig

Proficiency in organic chemistry may still be a necessary condition for getting into medical school. But starting in 2015, it will no longer be sufficient. In an effort to create a cadre of future physicians with improved bedside manners, the Assn. of American Medical Colleges has announced changes to the Medical College Admission Test (MCATs) that would plumb applicants' knowledge of psychology, sociology and biology, as well as their ethical and scientific reasoning skills.

"Being a good doctor isn't just about understanding science: it's about understanding people," said Dr. Darrell G. Kirch, president and chief executive of the Assn. of American Medical Colleges in a news conference Thursday. A philosophy major in his undergraduate days, Kirch said Thursday that the forthcoming changes "feel very momentous," paving the way for students from a wide range of backgrounds to the medical profession.

Starting in 2015, aspiring doctors will sit down for a six-and-a-half-hour test that will go beyond plumbing their knowledge of physics, general and organic chemistry and biochemistry. Two new sections will be added: one titled "Psychological, Sociological and Biological Foundations of Behavior," and another, "Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills." Those will require students to have a broad background in the social sciences and an ability to analyze, evaluate and apply information from subjects as diverse as philosophy and ethics, population health and cross-cultural studies.

Kirch said the changes are being announced well ahead of their implementation so that high school and college students considering a medical career can start diversifying their course loads now.

While Kirch said American patients have access to the best medical care in the world, they consistently rate physicians' "people skills" less highly. As research demonstrates the powerful influence that a person's mind, background and social networks have on his or her health, Kirch said that future physicians need to have a broad understanding of these fields if they are to be effective physicians.

And with a patient population growing older and more ethnically diverse than at any time in history, he said, tomorrow's doctors must have some academic exposure to fields beyond science.

The new MCATs, he said, "will help us move toward greater diversity" in the physician workforce and in the academic backgrounds from which they come. Those who majored in English literature, economics and history need not rule out the possibility of a career in medicine, he said. At the same time, the MCATs will continue to test students' grounding in college-level science, as well as their "scientific inquiry and reasoning skills."

The MCATs, currently a four-to-five-hour ordeal, now will take about six-and-a-half hours. In the process of overhauling the test, Kirch said that medical school admission directors urged the organization to drop the written portion of the test, which they said added no information on applicants that could not be gleaned by their course grades and other application material.

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Med school admission tests change to reflect new care realities

Medical School Exam Gets New Sections

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Danzig

POSTED: 4:28 pm EST February 16, 2012
UPDATED: 12:29 am EST February 17, 2012

(CNN) -- The exam all medical school applicants take will have new sections requiring a broader knowledge of psychology, sociology, and the social components of health starting in 2015.The changes are the first made since 1991 for the Medical College Admission Test, known as the MCAT.Patients tend to have great confidence in the scientific knowledge in their doctors, but less confidence in their bedside manners, said Dr. Darrell Kirch, the president and CEO of the American Association of Medical Colleges.The exam is "designed to help students prepare for a rapidly changing health care system and an evolving body of medical knowledge while addressing the needs of a growing, aging, and increasingly diverse population," according to a press release from the AAMC, which represents all 136 accredited U.S. medical schools.The exam is "a key tool that we have used and will continue to use to select the people who will be our doctors in the future," Kirsch said. "This is an important component in the gateway to the profession of medicine."The MCATs will now take six and a half hours (instead of the current four and a half hours), with a total of four sections.A new segment of the exam called the "Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior" will test understanding of human behavior, cultural and social differences and other factors. Another new section called "Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills" will test students' ability to reason through passages pertaining to social sciences, ethics philosophy and cross-cultural studies and population health."Being a good doctor isn't just about understanding science," Kirch said. "It's about understanding people - it must go hand in hand."The two new sections replace a writing portion, which surveys showed was not useful in evaluating prospective medical students. The test will continue to have two sections testing science, such as biology, chemistry, biochemistry and physics."One of the best preparations for the test is to read broadly, to be knowledgeable about the world at large," Kirch said.The changes to the MCATs come after three years of outreach events and surveys.The MCATs play a crucial role in medical school admissions. Critics have long said that the exam was unfair because statistics indicate that students from disadvantaged backgrounds tend to score lower on MCATs.Diversity has also been a concern. Of nearly 80,000 medical students in the U.S, about 7% are African American and 8% are of Hispanic descent in a country that is increasingly more diverse. Asians and whites comprise nearly 80%.

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Medical School Exam Gets New Sections

King med school gets initial OK

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Danzig

BRISTOL, Tenn. --

King College drew one step closer to opening a medical college when its proposed School of Medicine & Health Sciences Center won initial approval from a major accreditation panel.

“It’s a significant step forward in developing a medical school,” King College President Greg Jordan said Thursday of winning “applicant school” status from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which oversees accrediting for all medical-education programs – across North America – that lead to M.D. degrees.

By gaining that status, King’s proposed school has met the first round of requirements that must be met to be an eligible institution.

King College is seeking to open its school in 2014 at a site off Interstate 81’s Exit 14 in Abingdon, Va. Upon completion, the school is expected to have 60 to 75 students during its first year. One of the objectives for the school is to graduate trained physicians who will practice in rural areas and help reverse a worsening physician shortage, according to a news release from King.

Jordan said the approval will now “give [King] access to resources” across the North American medical community, including valuable input from consultants and experts on preparing the medical school for future operations. “It’s a critically important dimension of the planning process,” Jordan said.

King was one of seven proposed medical schools nationwide to earn “applicant school” status.

Jordan said King College has already won active, consistent support for its planned School of Medicine from Wellmont Health System. But he added that King is continuing efforts to establish a similar medical partnership with Mountain States Health Alliance, the other major health system in the region.

“It’s critically important that there be a collaborative effort between [King] and the two major health systems,” Jordan said.

Tripp Umbach, a Pennsylvania-based medical-education consulting firm, has projected that King’s medical college could have a “business volume impact” of $50 million during its first year – and that number could rise to $70 million by the seventh year.

Recently, a separate governing body for the proposed medical school has been set up, the news release states.

“The King School of Medicine Inc. is the newly formed Virginia entity that will guide the development and progress of the King School of Medicine,” Jordan said. “With the assistance of the firm of McGuire Woods of Richmond, Va., the corporation has established articles, bylaws and governance structure under which to operate.”

rbrown@bristolnews.com
(276) 645-2512

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King med school gets initial OK

South Jersey Family of Pediatricians Supports Cooper Medical School of Rowan University

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Danzig

Newswise — Four members of the South Jersey-based Schlitt family of physicians, who have dedicated their careers to caring for children in the region, have committed $300,000 to assist students and faculty at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU).

The gift by Dr. Ludwig Schlitt and his children¬–Drs. Michael, Stephanie and Mark, all of Advocare Haddon Pediatric Group in Haddon Heights¬–will be used to establish The Schlitt Family Student Lounge and The Schlitt Family Dean’s Executive Conference Room in CMSRU’s new medical school building in Camden. The building will open this summer when CMSRU welcomes its charter class of 50 students.

The medical school is the first four-year allopathic medical school in three decades in New Jersey and the first one ever in South Jersey.

“Our family has a proud, 50-year history of caring for children in South Jersey,” said Dr. Ludwig Schlitt. “We feel fortunate to help play a role in expanding health care in our state by supporting the medical school.”

“We’re excited about the partnership between Rowan and Cooper and believe in the medical school’s mission to promote the education of primary care physicians in the region,” added Dr. Michael Schlitt.

Given their connection to Cooper Health System, choosing CMSRU as the beneficiary of their generosity was a natural fit for the Schlitt family. Dr. Ludwig Schlitt, a resident of Haddonfield, began his career at Cooper University Hospital in 1960 and some of his five children were born there.

He opened Haddon Pediatrics in 1970, and, in 1998, the practice joined Children’s Health Association. In 2008, the name was changed to Advocare Haddon Pediatric Group. While based in Haddon Heights, the group has a satellite office in Mullica Hill.

Dr. Michael Schlitt joined the practice in 1990. Dr. Stephanie Schlitt joined in 1997 and Dr. Mark Schlitt joined the practice in 2002.

The gift from the Schlitts is the latest for CMSRU as it continues to attract private support from individuals who believe in the medical school’s mission to provide a humanistic education for medical school students in which inclusivity, excellence in patient care, innovative teaching, research and service to the community are valued.

“It is gratifying to see the Schlitts—a family of southern New Jersey physicians—take a leadership role in supporting CMSRU and higher education in the region,” said Paul Katz, MD, Founding Dean of CMSRU. “With our first class of students scheduled to arrive in August, we expect that more people will show their support for the medical school.”

Gifts to CMSRU give donors the chance make a difference in the future of medicine and healthcare in South Jersey and the region, according to R.J. Tallarida, assistant vice president for development and acting executive director of the Rowan University Foundation.

Among previous gifts to the Medical School are a generous contribution from Haddonfield physician Dr. Michael Renzi and his family in 2011 to establish the Renzi Family Clinical Simulation Rooms at CMRSU and a $100,000 pledge from Rowan University alumnus Dr. Marque Allen, a podiatrist in Texas, and his wife, Yvette, to establish the Dr. Richard Meagher Medical Scholarship for CMSRU students.

For information about giving to CMSRU, visit http://www.rufoundation.org and the CMSRU website at http://www.rowan.edu/coopermed.

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South Jersey Family of Pediatricians Supports Cooper Medical School of Rowan University

FAU med school gets surge in applications

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Danzig

If student interest is any indication, Florida Atlantic University's new medical school won't suffer a sophomore slump.

FAU's College of Medicine opened on FAU's Boca Raton campus this August, and received an impressive 1,500 applications for 64 slots. This year, applications have doubled to nearly 3,000 for the same number of seats.

The increase is a "testament to the popularity and desirability of the innovative educational program we have put in place at the College of Medicine," said Robert Hinkley associate dean for admissions for the medical school. "The academic credentials and personal accomplishments of the members of our first class admitted in 2011 were competitive with those of classes admitted to older, more established medical schools and our second class promises to exceed our first class."

FAU also boasts a diverse pool of applicants, with 43 percent from out of state, 46 percent are women, 21 percent Asian, 16 percent Hispanic and 13 percent black.

The medical school has a partnership with The Scripps Research Institute, allowing some students the chance to pursue a PhD from the Scripps Kellogg School of Science at the same time they're working on their medical degree.

Medical education has greatly expanded in Florida in the past few years, with Florida International University and the University of Central Florida both opening medical schools in 2009. The University of Miami has expanded its medical offerings in recent years. And a for-profit college called Palm Beach Medical College hopes to open in the next few years.

Based on FAU's applications, it looks like there's plenty of room for more expansion.

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FAU med school gets surge in applications

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