med ed
A newsletter for faculty, staff, and students of the University of Minnesota Medical School

No. 373, October 2004

Editor: Kathleen Watson, M.D., drwatson@umn.edu

Editorial Assistant: Allison Campbell, aac@umn.edu

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Required emergency medicine clerkship approved by Education Council

At its Sept. 21 meeting, the Education Council of the Medical School approved a motion that emergency medicine becomes one of the required clerkships for medical students entering years three and four in May-June 2005. More than 70 percent of students in the year four class take emergency medicine, noted Joseph Clinton, M.D., chair of the emergency medicine department. "It's a great environment for evaluating assessment skills and synthesis of knowledge," he added. The number of total and required year-three and -four course credits will stay the same, said Theodore Thompson, M.D., director of clinical education, with four credits being shifted from hands-on experience. The proposal now goes to Dean Deborah Powell, M.D., who is expected to approve the new required clerkship.

Ravdin to head Education Council

Jonathan Ravdin, who has been Nesbitt Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine in the Medical School since 1996, takes the helm of the Education Council in October. Along with his distinguished record as a researcher in tropical infectious diseases and leader in academic internal medicine, Ravdin led innovative, sustained curriculum reform in his previous positions at University of Virginia and Case Western Reserve University. He looks forward to working together with Dean Powell and Interim Senior Associate Dean Watson, who have similar visions and goals for curriculum development here at the University of Minnesota.

Advancing education through technology

Ensuring comparability of learning experiences for medical students wherever they learn and facilitating vertical integration of education are among the goals of a new task force on technology-enhanced learning for the Medical School. The school is striving to create a "more flexible, more efficient, more effective educational experience for students," says Stuart Speedie, who will lead the task force. The task force will consist of faculty members from the basic and clinical sciences and from both campuses of the Medical School, residents, residency directors, students, representatives from the Office of Medical Education, Biomedical Library, Digital Medical Center, and Academic Health Center. The final report is due to Dean Deborah Powell, M.D., by January 7, 2005.

Gold Humanism Honor Society launches

On Oct. 22, Dean Powell will welcome the first group of University of Minnesota medical students to enter the Gold Humanism Honor Society. This group was chosen by their peers as exemplifying compassion, humanity, dignity, community service, and respect towards patients and their colleagues. The first members are: Carrie Alme, Paul Anderson, Lisa Barroilhet, Jori Carter, LeeAnn Decker, Megan Dell, Aaron Douglas, Celia Garner, Sraddha Helfrich, Joan Jasien, Gary Josephsen, Sean Kempke, Paul Kietzmann, Paul Kleinschmidt, Ann Knapp, Andrew Kopperud, Brad Kuzel, Jaime McPadden, JoyLynn Miller, Laura Neuman, Joseph Novik, Jeanne Nugent, Sachin Patel, Thomas Pulling, David Quale, Elizabeth Roberts, Aaron Rutzick, Theodore Ruzanic, Stephanie Stanton, Kari Thompson, and Kevin Wergeland. Please join in congratulating these outstanding soon-to-be physicians who are exemplars of humanism in medicine.

Students: Are you the next Williams Carlos Williams?

Medical students are invited to submit poetry to Baylor College of Medicine's second-annual Michael E. DeBakey Medical Student Poetry Award. The contest honors pioneering surgeon Michael DeBakey, M.D., who has long advocated for the humanities to play a role in medical education. The first-place recipient will receive $1,000. Deadline is Dec. 31, 2004, with winners announced May 15, 2005. For more information, contact Kimberlee Barbour, Baylor College of Medicine, kbarbour@bcm.tmc.edu, or go to http://www.bcm.edu/pa/debakeypoetry.htm.

Students: Are you the next Rita Charon?

Medical students, put your heart in your hand and write an essay or story for the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Contest. The piece of one thousand words or fewer should be on the theme of "a medical experience that taught me about humanism in medicine." The first prize is $1,000; the deadline is Nov. 15, 2004. Get the details at www.humanism-in-medicine.org.

White Coat Ceremonies Oct. 2 and 23

The White Coat ceremony celebrates the medical profession; everyone is invited to join in welcoming first-year students to the community. Join your Medical School community Oct. 2 on the Twin Cities campus and Oct. 23 on the Duluth campus. The Oct. 2 event starts at 1 p.m. in Northrop Auditorium; the ceremony will be followed by a reception. The Oct. 23 event starts at 2 p.m. in Weber Music Hall, with a reception following in the atrium of the Medical School. In the Twin Cities, speakers include Ron Matross, a senior analyst in the office of the University's senior vice president for academic affairs, who received a liver transplant in 1995 and will speak on "Baby Boomers as Patients"; Kelli Bullard, M.D., whose talk is titled "Physician, Know Thyself"; and Christian Capitini, pediatrics resident who won the Gold Award for Humanism, on "Forever in Debt." In Duluth, the guest speaker is community physician David Hutchinson, M.D.

Empowering seminar begins

Undergraduates of color from the University of Minnesota, area private colleges, and local community colleges will meet eight times from Sept. 28 to Nov. 16 for the seminar, Empowering Multicultural Students for Careers in Medicine. In this, its sixth year, the seminar presents 25 students with strategies for success in applying to medical school. They also will hear from physicians of color about their experiences in medical school and as practitioners. There are currently 10 Empowering Seminar alumni enrolled in the University of Minnesota Medical School. The Medical School's Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity arranges the empowering seminar with help from the National Medical Student Association.

The Gathering Oct. 21

The University of Minnesota Medical School Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity and the Twin Cities Student National Medical Association Chapter cordially invite you to attend the Gathering, a welcome reception celebrating our tradition of unity and service to be held 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., on Thursday, October 21, 2004, in the Mississippi Room of Coffman Union. Students, staff, faculty, and community physicians are invited to the Gathering, which includes a program at 6 p.m., and light refreshments. The favor of a reply is requested to (612) 626-2173, (612) 625-1494, minaff@umn.edu or tatex001@umn.edu.

Duluth all-class reunion, Oct. 1-3

Duluth hosts an all-class reunion Oct. 1-3. As of press time, about 90 alumni, 60 spouses, and 60 children had signed up to attend. Activities include a family picnic and barbecue, a continuing medical education segment, a tour of the harbor on the Vista Fleet, a sock hop to celebrate the 50th birthday of rock and roll, and a Sunday brunch. Says Jim Boulger, Ph.D.," We expect to have a great time."

Course director close-up: Kelli Bullard, M.D.

As a medical student, Kelli Bullard never expected to enjoy surgery. "I swore I'd never be a surgeon. I asked for my rotation first to get it over with. After September first, I wanted to never have to see an operating room again," she says now. "And I loved it." Now Bullard is the course director for medical students' surgery clerkships, along with her teaching, research, clinical, and service to the Medical School.

"I think that's where my passion for teaching this course comes from, because my third-year clerkship dramatically changed my life---my direction, my career choice." A graduate of Stanford who earned her M.D. at Harvard, Bullard was a resident in general surgery at University of California-San Francisco before coming to the University of Minnesota Medical School as a fellow in colon and rectal surgery in 2000. Currently, she is an assistant professor in both surgery and laboratory medicine and pathology.

As a course director, Bullard wants to help students figure out where they fit. Those who belong in surgery---not everyone does---have what she calls a "surgical personality." This is not the macho stereotype, she says. "What I mean by a surgical personality is somebody who really enjoys both diagnosing and actively treating patients in an interventional way; somebody who enjoys procedures; somebody who finds him- or herself very happy in an extremely challenging physical and intellectual environment...

"I have residents who are phenomenal who are incredibly soft-spoken people but they have surgical personalities. They really like that very exciting, stimulating environment in which your technical skills and intellectual knowledge are all crucial to a positive outcome for the patient."

Seeing more R.E.D. (Resident Educator Development)

In last month's issue, we introduced the Resident Educator Development (R.E.D.) program, a set of "residents-as-teachers" training sessions. The program covers eight core topics: team leadership; how to give effective feedback; how to construct a 10-minute teaching session; professionalism; case-based teaching; how to teach evidence-based medicine; patient safety and medical errors; and, how to teach at the bedside. Currently, sessions are scheduled every third Friday of the month from 7 to 8 a.m. in B-646 Mayo. Breakfast is provided and parking is validated. We plan to offer these training sessions on an ongoing basis, rotating the weekday and time after each set of eight modules, to accommodate as many residents as possible. All residents who are involved in teaching are encouraged to participate in this program. To find out more, please e-mail EDRmed@umn.edu.

Introducing Deb Nielsen

A new liaison between the Medical School's Graduate Medical Education program and Fairview-University Medical Center is Deb Nielsen. "I'll help to make their experiences good ones," says Nielsen. Her new job entails everything from call rooms to strategic vision, she adds. Nielsen can be reached at 612-273-7485 or dnielse3@fairview.org.

Minnesota Alliance for Patient Safety hosts conference Nov. 15-16

Improving safety through patient empowerment, dealing with diversity issues, and educating the next generation of health professionals will be discussed at the Minnesota Alliance for Patient Safety annual conference Nov. 15-16 in Brooklyn Park. For details, see the Web site www.mnpatientsafety.org. Students can register at the rate of $50 a day. In addition, there are a few opportunities for students to work for free admittance; if interested, contact Tania Daniels by Oct. 18 at (651) 641-1121 or tdaniels@mnhospitals.org.

Medical student McBean proves stamina

Third-year medical student Duncan McBean finished the Ironman Wisconsin on Sept. 12, in 226th place overall, out of 2,185 entrants. He took 11 hours, 18 minutes, and 37 seconds to swim 2.4 miles, ride a bicycle 112 miles, and run a 26.2 mile marathon. "I could not have done it without the help and support of my wife (and training partner), my parents, and my classmates," says McBean.