No. 350,
November 2002
Editor: Gregory Vercellotti,
M.D., verce001@umn.edu
Editorial Assistant: Allison
Campbell, aac@umn.edu
The
Advanced Clinical Teaching I (ACT I) course, offered last month by the Medical
School Office of Education - Educational Development and Research (EDR),
received rave reviews from participants representing six departments. Among the
highlights of this four half-day practical teaching course was videotaping of
participants' teaching, followed by helpful critiques. The course, co-directed
by Ilene Harris, Ph.D. (professor and director of EDR), and Karyn Baum, M.D.
(Department of Medicine), will be offered again in March 2003. Best practices
in writing board-type questions, conducting rounds, evaluating students'
clinical performance, and technology-enhanced learning (using PowerPoint and
Web applications) are among the workshops offered by EDR. Members of the
Medical School's "Academy of Educators" are among the instructors. To
see the wealth of offerings---and to sign up for programs---see the Web site, www.meded.umn.edu/edr/workshops.htm.
For more information or to create an individualized workshop for your
department or group, contact Ewa Ushio, 625-4114, ushio001@umn.edu or Dr.
Harris, 625-9497, harri001@umn.edu
LuBrant
now director of Mortuary Science
After
more than a year as acting director, Michael LuBrant has been named director of
the Program of Mortuary Science. He was the outstanding candidate chosen from a
national search process to lead this undergraduate-degree program, one of the
Allied Health Programs under the Medical School. Along with introducing
curricular innovations, such as the on-site clinical education program at local
funeral homes, LuBrant has increased his program's involvement with alumni, professional
organizations, and the Minnesota Department of Health. He was also instrumental
in establishing continuing education days for funeral directors; the first,
"Funeral Service Concerns at a Time of War," was held in fall 2001 and drew 100
paid attendees from five states. In addition, LuBrant acted with admirable
clear headedness when forced to cope with the calamity of having one of our
students murdered during spring semester 2002. Before coming to the U in 1998,
he was an instructor at the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science; he also
has served as a funeral director. LuBrant is currently enrolled in the
University of Minnesota's doctoral program in adult education. He earned his
master's degree in theology and counseling from St. Bernard's Institute in
Rochester, New York, and has a B.A. in interdisciplinary religious studies from
SUNY-Albany.
It is
with regret that we announce Bart Galle, Ph.D., plans to step down as director
of the Office of Continuing Medical Education next summer. He has been an
outstanding head for the program, which hosted more than 25,000 physicians and
other health professionals in more than a hundred events last year. We are
grateful for his 20 years in CME as director. The CME leadership change comes
in conjunction with the launch of a Medical School-wide strategic planning
process for CME, to address what are the design, delivery, and process of
continuing education for life-long learning for physicians in the future.
"On-call
is great; all the great things happen in the middle of the night," Erin Krebs, a
current medical resident told some 300 students, faculty, and staff at "Asleep
with a Stethoscope," 14th in our series On Doctoring: Science,
Medicine, and the Social Fabric. Her remark elicited nods and smiles from
fellow panelists Frank Cerra, M.D., senior vice president for health sciences,
Anne Taylor, M.D., associate dean for faculty affairs, David Dunn, M.D., chair
of the surgery department, Jon Pryor, M.D., chair of the urology department,
Rosemary Kelly, M.D., cardiovascular surgery faculty, Paul Koh, M.D., surgery
fellow, and Bob Zajac, M.D., resident in pediatrics. The Oct. 23 examination of
sleep, stress, the new ACGME work rules, and related topics, emceed by Greg
Vercellotti, M.D., associate dean for medical education, also included
presentations by Mark Mahowald, M.D., of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders
Clinic at Hennepin County Medical Center, Tom Mackenzie, M.D., of the
psychiatry department, Robert Howe, M.D., senior associate dean for graduate
medical education, and Robert Goodale, Jr., M.D., of the surgery department.
The next, don't-miss On Doctoring is Jan. 15, discussing performance-enhancing
drugs.
Medical
residents from Hennepin County Medical Center were among those presenting
clinical research at the September annual meeting of the Midwest Region of the
Society of General Internal Medicine in Chicago. Steven D. Hillson, M.D., of
HCMC and past-president of MWSGIM, deserves kudos for encouraging residents to
do research. In addition, Peter Weissmann, M.D., of HCMC and assistant
professor in our medical school, was awarded Clinical Educator of the Year for
the Midwest Region of SGIM.
The
anatomy students at the University of Minnesota have invited more than 400
family members to a service honoring those who donated their bodies to the
Medical School. To commemorate the invaluable gifts they have received from
these donors, the students host a memorial service Tuesday, Nov. 5, at Ted Mann
Concert Hall, 7 p.m.
During
Dr. Cerra's State of the AHC address last month, he outlined five priorities
for the coming year. Highlights for educators and students included improving
classrooms and implementing interdisciplinary education through community
partnerships. Want to know more about where we've been and where we're heading?
Read the entire
address online.
Editor's
note: Dean's Letter transformed
The Dean's Letter has been transformed and renamed the Medical School Performance Evaluation (MSPE). The MSPE focuses on the unique characteristics of applicants, provides a summative evaluation of performance, and includes comparative data about applicants in relation to their peers. The fourth-year students are grouped into four categories based upon their clinical grades, pre-clinical performance and their USMLE Step 1 scores. The new MSPE is the result of recommendations from a Dean's Letter Advisory Committee that included representatives from GME, medical educators, student affairs representatives, and medical students. The objectives of the new MSPE are to promote a more consistent letter from school to school, to increase the importance of the letter as a factor in the selection of residents, and to reflect the significant changes that have resulted from the introduction of the Electronic Residency Application Service. The MSPE will continue to evolve so that by 2006 it will include a systematic performance-based assessment of professional attributes across third-year clerkships as a component of the academic evaluation of students. This has implications for our educational program that we must carefully monitor.
