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

No. 384, September 2005

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

Editorial Assistant: Allison Campbell Jensen, aac@umn.edu

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Medical School's response to New Orleans devastation

New Orleans, which has been devastated by Katrina and its aftermath, is home to two medical schools, at Tulane University and at Louisiana State University. Dean Deborah Powell, M.D., contacted the Association of American Medical Colleges last week to offer our assistance. Since then, the LSU School of Medicine has announced it will be setting up classes in the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge. The Medical School already has been contacted by a few students from these New Orleans-based schools seeking to take a course or elective here at the University of Minnesota. Kathleen Watson, M.D., and the rest of the staff in medical education are seeking ways to expedite medical student acceptance into our program. The current information on residents displaced by the disaster is that they will be managed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. For the latest information, go to the AAMC's Web site (www.aamc.org) for the ACGME's Web site (www.acgme.org) and click on the Katrina link.

Dean Powell to speak on medical student debt in D.C.

Dean Deborah Powell, M.D., is invited to speak on medical student debt by the American Medical Student Association at a Congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., on September 21. She plans to present and discuss the analysis and conclusions of the Working Group on Student Educational Costs and Debt that she headed for the Association of American Medical Colleges. Among the group's suggestions: Students ought to become better informed about financial management, including loan forgiveness programs; communities might sponsor students who would practice in them; and medical schools should consider making tuition and fees more predictable with cost of degree programs (such as Minnesota's). For the full report online, go to www.aamc.org/studentdebt.

Speaker on community health centers and health disparities September 7

Hal Streinick, M.D., director of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Institute for Community and Collaborative Health, speaks on the Impact of Community Health Centers on Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities at noon, September 7, in Coffman Union Theatre.

Community site visits launch expanded program

New medical students began to build relationships with communities on the second day of Twin Cities campus orientation last month. By visiting with community sites very early in their medical education, says Sara Axtell, Ph.D., students are introduced to the communities' assets and resources, their health needs, and their local context of health care. Axtell and John Song, M.D., organized the initiative. Small groups of first-year students visited one of sixteen community-based organizations for immigrant and underserved communities, including a Liberian group that introduced them to the challenges refugees face, and Stairstep, an economic development and community health project in north Minneapolis. The community members, says Axtell, seek partnership with the students, wanting to match their interests with community projects, and also wish to challenge the students to be aware and accountable about issues such as racism and equal treatment. This new initiative expands the aims of the existing community health project in the second year of Physician and Society into the first year program. It also aims to strengthen relationships between the Medical School and these communities.

Recruiting workshop for Native Americans

Native American medical students and residents from the University of Minnesota Medical School and other medical colleges will be attending a Workshop on Academic Medicine September 30 and October 1, 2005 on the Twin Cities campus. In its third year, the workshop seeks to recruit participants into academic medicine and prepare them for careers as researchers, teachers, and clinicians. Deans and department chairs from the Medical School will be discussing trends in their fields as well as responsibilities of faculty members. This event is hosted by Center of American Indian and Minority Health in collaboration with Anne Taylor, M.D., associate dean of Faculty Affairs.

Continuing Medical Education programs collaborate on disclosure of support

CME program directors from around Minnesota collaborated to create new disclosure forms for commercial support needed to meet national accreditation standards for their programs. "It was a very practical approach," says Ginny Jacobs, who manages CME programs for the University of Minnesota Medical School. The group agreed on a general form, so teaching faculty in all programs all will adhere to the same rules. Yet the form can be adapted by individual programs, too. The three largest changes to the disclosure process are: 1) disclosure forms must be completed before the course can be taught; 2) CME offices must manage conflicts of interest by ensuring that faculty do not speak in areas where they have a conflict of interest; and, 3) a formal policy must be instituted by each CME program.

Clinical skills exam: looking backward and forward to new deadline

As of mid-May 2005, the USMLE Step 2 - Clinical Skills (CS) test has been administered to 27,000 examinees. This figure includes approximately 95 percent of members of the 2005 graduating at U.S. medical schools. As of mid-May, the overall failure rate for all examinees on Step 2CS was 8 percent, which includes a 3 percent failure rate for students at LCME schools and a 17 percent failure rate for international medical graduates. The University of Minnesota Medical School is pleased to announce that all our May graduates have taken the exam and their failure rate (2.76 percent) was comparable to that of other LCME schools. All our students who failed the exam on the first attempt passed upon retaking the exam. Looking forward, 2006 graduates from LCME schools should take Step 2CS by December 31, 2005, in order to be assured that scores will be available by the rank order list deadline for the 2006 National Resident Matching Program. To ensure a test date by December 31, 2005, examinees should register and schedule an examination date by mid-September 2005.

White Coat ceremonies, October 1 and 15

Next month, our medical students don their white coats for the first time in a ceremony that honors professionalism's values of care of, communication with, and compassion for the patient. On the Twin Cities campus, Kristen Steiner from KSTP-TV speaks about her experience with ovarian cancer at the White Coat ceremony 1 p.m., October 1 in Northrop Auditorium. On the Duluth campus, Regent Anthony Baraga, M.D., is expected to join Dean Powell, and Duluth Dean Richard Ziegler, Ph.D., for the White Coat ceremony, 2 p.m., October 15, in Weber Music Hall.

Intro to residency interviewing

A panel of residents from several specialties and residency program directors present a workshop on interviewing for residencies, 4 p.m., September 26 in Moos 2-650. Fourth-year students are invited to attend and bring their questions.

New and returning faculty development workshops posted

The 2005-06 faculty development opportunities are now being posted on the Medical Education Web site (www.meded.umn.edu). For a listing or to register, click on Faculty Workshops. The program will continue workshops in the "Help! There's a Medical Student in My Office" series, various other workshops, and short courses on popular topics. New this year is a half-day resident educator train-the-trainer session for faculty, chief residents, and others who teach residents (see next item for details). Another important change this year, the faculty development program has replaced the monthly "Best Practices in Medical Teaching" offerings with a two-day Best Practices in Medical Teaching Institute on May 11 and 12. The institute will include three themes: 1) enhancing key teaching skills; 2) teaching ethics in the classroom and the clinic; and, 3) teaching about physician self-care. Faculty on the Twin Cities campus, at affiliated sites and in Duluth are encouraged to participate. Faculty can attend the entire two-day institute or selected sessions.

Resident Educator Development (R.E.D.) program update

R.E.D learning modules now part of the graduate medical education core curriculum include How to Teach at the Bedside and The Microskills Model: Teaching During Oral Presentations. A module on How to Give a 10-minute Talk on Anything was presented at the June and July orientation sessions for incoming residents and fellows, and a session on Team Leadership was held in July. The next R.E.D. program offering will be a half-day Train-the-Trainer session designed for chief residents, program directors, academic faculty, and others who work with residents, as well as residents with a special interest in education. It is scheduled for the afternoon of Wednesday, November 4, and will focus on key teaching skills for the clinical setting, presented in four learning modules: Team Leadership, The 10-minute Talk, How to Teach at the Bedside, and Effective Feedback. After learning these educational skills, participants should be able to present modules to interested parties in their own programs and departments. Training materials, including a facilitators CD, will be distributed upon completion of the training session. This educational opportunity is free to participants. To register, go to the medical education Web site and click on the Faculty Workshops link, Category: Other, or if you are a resident wishing to train residents, please click on the Resident Workshops link.

Student writing contest on preventive medicine

The American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) is offering an award for the best paper on preventive medicine written by a medical student. The winning paper will be published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The author will receive a $1,000 prize and will be honored at the ACPM's annual meeting. All prevention-related topics will be considered. Submissions must be received by September 20. For more information, contact Erica Frank, M.D., M.P.H., Emory University School of Medicine, efrank@emory.edu .

Submit comments as part of the University of Minnesota's accreditation

The University of Minnesota invites written comments from the public regarding the Twin Cities campus for evaluation by its regional accrediting agency. These comments will be used by an evaluation team from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools in its comprehensive accreditation review of the Twin Cities campus from October 31 to November 2, 2005. The team will review the institution's ongoing ability to meet the commission's criteria. Comments may be submitted via letter, electronic comment form, or e-mail to the commission:

Public Comment on the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

The Higher Learning Commission

30 North LaSalle Street, Suite 2400

Chicago, IL 60602-2504

Comment form: www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org/thirdparty

E-mail: info@hlcommission.org

Comments must address substantive matters related to the quality of the institution or its academic programs. Comments must be signed and in writing and cannot be treated as confidential. All comments must be received by October 1, 2005. Further questions about the accreditation review may be directed to: John Ziegenhagen, Director, University Accountability, Office of Planning and Academic Affairs, ziege006@umn.edu, 612-626-8711.

Literary inspiration

What Fifty Said

When I was young my teachers were the old.

I gave up fire for form till I was cold.

I suffered like a metal being cast.

I went to school to age to learn the past.

Now I am old my teachers are the young.

What can't be molded must be cracked and sprung.

I strain at lessons fit to start a suture.

I go to school to youth to learn the future.

--Robert Frost