No. 360,
September 2003
Editor: Gregory Vercellotti, M.D., verce001@umn.edu
Editorial Assistant: Allison Campbell, aac@umn.edu
In memoriam:
G. Scott Giebink, M.D.
We were saddened to learn of Scott Giebink's sudden death
last weekend at 59 years of age. An internationally recognized expert in otitis
media and immunizations, he was head of the division of infectious disease for
the Department of Pediatrics. A talented clinician, Giebink was also a
passionate advocate for children and contributed to the creation of
MinnesotaCare at the State Capitol as well as support for medical students and
residents in primary care---family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics,
ob/gyn, and emergency medicine. He applied his legislative experience to the
successful push for tobacco-settlement funding a couple of years ago, also. A
dedicated educator, Giebink was vice chair for education and community affairs,
a position he relinquished recently when he become interim head of the
department. Services take place 10:30 a.m., Friday, Sept. 5 at Hennepin Avenue
United Methodist Church, 511 Groveland Ave., Minneapolis. A reception follows
the service. Memorials preferred to the G. Scott
Giebink, M.D., Memorial Fund at the University Pediatrics Foundation, c/o
Minnesota Medical Foundation, P.O. Box 64001, St. Paul, MN 55164-0001.
LCME retreat
Sept. 20
Deans Deborah
Powell, M.D., and Richard Ziegler, Ph.D., open the LCME retreat Sept. 20 at
9:30 a.m., setting the stage for presentations on our strengths and our
opportunities for improvement of the medical education program as revealed by
the self-study process. Medical school leadership, representatives of
affiliates, student council members, and other students will attend the
Saturday retreat, which will meet in Moos 2-650. Heads of the six subcommittees
from Duluth and the Twin Cities will report and, after lunchtime small-group
sessions, everyone will gather for final discussions. The retreat will take
place on the Twin Cities campus at a site to be announced. For more
information, contact Linda Reilly, (612) 624-9608. (See the final item in this
e-newsletter for a briefing on the LCME student survey.)
News
from one piloting the OSCE, Sept. 5
The Objective Structured Clinical Exam, soon to be required
of medical students, has been piloted at University of Arkansas for Medical
Sciences. Mary Cantrell, director of the Clinical Skills Center at Arkansas,
discusses "The Future of Performance-Based Assessment in the Health Sciences"
at 1 p.m., Sept. 5, fourth floor of Coffman, in the Campus Club Conference A.
Register by Sept. 3 by calling 612-624-9691
Classroom help
at hand
When the audio goes out, the PowerPoint won't go up, or the
classroom chair springs pop through, help is at hand. Four Twin Cities students
in years one and two---Jonathan Hovda, Andrew Calvin, Eric Kirksson, and Simon
Fenton---have been named curriculum liaisons to help faculty and students with AV
first aid, to operate the Lectures Online system, to provide information for
the curriculum database, and to communicate practical classroom concerns and
problems to the Medical Education office or others in the Academic Health
Center. They cannot solve every problem but they will get the word out to those
who can.
Westra takes
lead at Family Medicine in Duluth
Ruth Westra,
D.O., M.P.H., recently was appointed acting head of the Department of Family Medicine
at the School of Medicine-Duluth. Westra, certified by the American Osteopathic
Board of Family Practice, received her D.O. degree from Des Moines University
in 1976. She earned her M.P.H. from the Loma Linda University School of Public
Health in 1996. An active family physician for the past 25 years in Michigan
and with the Department of Veteran Affairs in Superior, Wis., Westra currently
practices in Moose Lake. She has been with the Department of Family Medicine as
an assistant professor since 2000.
Orientation
at Duluth
Dean Ziegler
officially welcomed the members of the entering class to Duluth's rural medical
education program during orientation activities Aug. 27. Sixty-eight percent of
the 53 new matriculants (all but one Minnesota residents) are from communities
of fewer than 20,000, with an additional 19 percent from communities between
20,000 and 50,000. On Sept. 3, students divide up into small vignette groups
and are presented with skits depicting challenges they may face as medical students.
These groups continue to meet informally during the year and act as support
groups for new students. Orientation activities culminate in an all-school
picnic at Park Point Beach House on Sept. 5.
Latino health
expert to speak Sept. 10
America Bracho, M.D., M.P.H., trains community health
workers as leaders of wellness and change at the Latino Health Access center in
Orange County, Calif. She comes to the Twin Cities campus Sept.10-11 to share
her expertise at using participatory approaches in community health education.
Her public speech is noon to 1 p.m., Sept. 10, in Coffman Memorial Union's
theater. She also has meetings scheduled with family practice faculty and
residents, as well as students in Physician and Society.
Health Careers
Center opens Sept. 10
Those of us already in medical school---as students, staff, or
faculty---often are asked about getting into health careers. Now there's a new
University resource for potential doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists,
veterinarians, and public health professionals. With its open house 1:30-2:30
p.m., Sept. 10, the new Health Careers Center officially launches a U
initiative to reach students---high school, undergraduate, and
returning---considering careers in health care. The Academic Health Center, the College
of Biological Sciences, the College of Liberal Arts, the Institute of
Technology, and the College of Human Ecology have joined efforts to create this
new Health Careers Center in 2-565 Moos. The center offers a wealth of health
careers resources that can be accessed at www.healthcareers.umn.edu . This
includes Web-based tools and a schedule of classes helping prospective students
explore their interests in health careers.
Native
Americans into Medicine is a six-week introduction to health care fields for
college-age and college-bound students. This summer, 23 Native Americans took
advantage of the Duluth-based program to help prepare for the Medical College
Admissions Test and the Pharmacy College Admissions Test. Native Americans into
Medicine is run by the University of Minnesota Center of American Indian and
Minority Health (CAIMH), which strives to raise the health status of the Native
American population by educating Native American students in the field of
health care and Indian health. One of the three Native American Centers of
Excellence in the nation, CAIMH also runs a program for high-school students
that attracted 19 participants during summer of 2003. Currently, there are
three Native Americans enrolled in year one at Duluth and four in year two;
five recently came to the Twin Cities campus for year three.
Request from
the AAMC
Federal budget discussions have moved the Association of
American Medical Colleges to request help in contacting U.S. senators and
representatives. The AAMC recently joined nearly 600 patient groups, scientific
societies, and research institutions in calling on the Senate to add $2.5
billion to the NIH budget for FY 2004. The Senate was scheduled to begin
considerations on NIH funding Sept. 2. In addition, the AAMC is asking faculty
and students to advocate for continued Title VII program funding, which helps
recruit health care professionals for underserved areas. For details, see http://www.aamc.org/advocacy/start.htm
.
Oct. 4---White Coat Ceremony
on the Twin Cities campus for the Class of 2007 begins at 1 p.m., Northrop
Auditorium.
Oct. 11---White Coat Ceremony on the Duluth campus for the Class of 2007 begins at 2 p.m.
in the Kirby Ballroom and School of Medicine Atrium.
Oct. 15---State of the Academic Health Center speech by Frank B. Cerra, M.D., vice president for health
sciences, 3 p.m., at 2-650 Moos. Cerra's speech follows the AHC faculty
assembly, which begins at 2 p.m. in the same room.
Oct. 17-19---Closing the Gap, a conference to discuss health disparities and minority
representation in medicine, will bring more than 200 students to the Twin
Cities campus from schools around the region. Sponsored by the Twin Cities and
Mayo chapters of the Student National Medical Association, the conference is
also hosted by the Medical School's Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity.
For more information or to register, go to http://www.student.med.umn.edu/snma
.
Editor's note:
Work hours
Last month, the internal medicine residency program of Johns
Hopkins University was the first to lose its certification from the
Accreditation Council For Graduate Medical Education for violating the
80-hours-a-week rule that took effect July 1. The violation was reported by a
Hopkins resident, according to a Baltimore Sun report, and the ACGME has
at least five other complaints that it is investigating. While a third-year
resident interviewed by the Sun said the intensity is what attracted him
to the Hopkins program, I would argue that constant stress and sleep
deprivation does not lead to top-notch patient care. The ACGME work-hours rule
is serious business and it is related to the problem of stress management,
which affects everyone from medical students to practitioners. Our Graduate
Medical Education office has developed a system for tracking residents' work
hours and will be enforcing those hours. Of our entering class this fall, 53
attended a pre-orientation led by the Center for Spirituality and Healing on
handling stress and self-care---the kind of learning opportunity we all should
consider. Each of us needs to figure out ways to take better care of ourselves
so that in the long run we take better care of our patients.
LCME: Student Survey
Since the 1997 LCME accreditation visit, the Twin Cities
campus has added more small-group teaching in years one and two. The Medical
School also improved personal and career counseling for students since 1997 and
strengthened the evaluation system.
This year, students who responded to surveys in preparation
for the 2004 LCME visit reported that good relationships with faculty were
among the strengths of the both the Twin Cities and Duluth: "students are
treated as future colleagues." Students at both campuses, however, are
concerned about money matters: tuition, financial aid, and insurance coverage,
especially for families.
At Duluth,
students would like career counseling to be introduced earlier---and more space
for studying and relaxation. In the Twin Cities, they ask for more consistency
in grading during years three and four---and clarification on the relationship
between the pass-fail grading system and the deans' letters.