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

No. 387, December 2005

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

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

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State of the Medical School address

Passages was the theme for the November 29 State of the Medical School address given by Dean Deborah Powell, M.D. Citing President Bruininks's vision that the University of Minnesota will be one of the top three public research institutions within 10 years, she said: "for the University to advance to the top levels, the Medical School's continued progress will be essential." Powell also told her listeners in the Twin Cities and, via telecommunications, in Duluth that: "This is a great time to be at Minnesota, to be making the passage together, working for a re-invigorated institution dedicated to excellence." For the entire address, go to http://www.med.umn.edu/about/stateof05 .

On Doctoring, December 6

The Weight of a Nation: The American obesity crisis is the topic of On Doctoring, an examination of medicine and the social fabric, starting at 12:45 p.m., Tuesday, December 6, in PWB 2-650. A patient, biochemist David Bernlohr, Ph.D., pediatric gastroenterologist Sarah Jane Schwarzenberg, M.D., urban planner Ann Forsyth, Ph.D., and surgeon Sayeed Ikramuddin, M.D., will be among the presenters on this growing threat to health.

The importance of choosing advisors

Second-year students will hear this month about how advisors can guide them in medical school and in their career choices from Theodore Thompson, M.D., director of clinical education, along with potential advisors. On December 7, Thompson and colleagues will visit the Duluth campus to talk about scheduling and choosing an advisor. On January 9, about noon, he will present the information to students on the Twin Cities campus of the Medical School. Advisor selection begins January 17, 2006; scheduling will start on March 2.

Applications running strong

Applications to the Twin Cities campus are up more than 10 percent compared with last year. There are 2,520 people who have applied, 654 of them from Minnesota. On the Duluth campus, 1,243 people have applied, 455 of whom are Minnesotans---and 16 applicants have made early decisions for the Medical School.

New members of Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society

Inducted into the Minnesota chapter of the AOA honor society November 30 were Shaquita Bell, Katherine Biebl, Laura Brunner, Jonathan Carlson, Manish Champaneria, Seth Consoer, Katherine Eichten, Jonathan Erickson, Jonathan Faust, Mitra Fautorechi, Krista Hagen, Ryan Harden, Melissa Hersey, Barton Iverson, Heather Johnson, Joseph Keenan, John Knapp, Louis Kohl, Deborah Kyes, Sabra Lofgren, Tara McMichael, Kelly Milkus, Rhonda Peters, Sarah Schram, Holly Schrupp, Sara Skrlin, Scott Thielen, Paul Tonkin, Julia Weinkauf, Andrew Wilson, and Susanna Winston. Congratulations to all! For additional information about AOA, please go to their Web site (www.meded.umn.edu/students/aoa/). David Leach, M.D., executive director of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, gave the keynote address to the Minnesota chapter on November 30. His talk was titled "The Internal Context for Scholarly Healthcare Improvement Work."

Things are hopping at CAIMH

Among the recent activities coordinated by the Center of American Indian and Minority Health, says its director Joy Dorscher, M.D., were a culture and language seminar coordinated with American Indian Projects/UMD Masters of Social Work Program during which American Indian elders presented integration of traditional and Western medicine in their native language, with interpreter support, to participants from the Medical School and social work program. Also, several campus and community integration days were held to orient medical school applicants to the medical school and local community. And, CAIMH obtained a grant to fund pedometers for the Wisdom Steps elders in the Minneapolis American Indian community. These elders will use the pedometers to learn how walking and other activities can improve their health, and then serve as community educators to promote healthy living.

MED 2010

The medical school's educational initiative is holding a retreat for more than 60 faculty, students, and staff January 6 and 7. This retreat is the third in a series that began in July 2005. The goals of the retreat are to finalize the vision for MED 2010 and to determine the first projects for the initiative. Stay tuned for more information that we will distribute following the retreat.

Dean Powell and Watson visited Niigata, Japan

The medical school in Niigata, Japan, has developed a scholarship for our students to spend elective time there, as part of our ongoing affiliation. In November, Dean Powell and Kathleen Watson, M.D., visited the campus in Japan to express our appreciation for the exchange relationship and to share ideas about medical education in Japan and the United States. Scott Staynor, a current third-year medical student, will going to Niigata University Medical School to study next year.

You may have already won...

But first you must apply for the Herz Faculty Development Teaching Award or be nominated for the Thorne Stroke Award to encourage research on stroke. Watch your e-mail in box for nomination forms; Herz awards can go to faculty and Thorne awards can be given to faculty, staff, or students.

Dual M.D./M.P.H.; apply by January 15 for first priority

The Medical School partners with the School of Public Health, which is among the top ranks nationally and internationally, to offer a joint degree in medicine and public health. The program can be tailored to students' individual interests and current students are eligible to apply. For more information, go to www.php.umn.edu or e-mail php@amn.edu.

Clinical Research Conferences offer opportunities to learn

AHC Clinical Scholar Mark Kirstein, Pharm.D., speaks December 2 and Elizabeth Seaquist, M.D., talks about NIH Peer Review December 16 during the Twin Cities Clinical Research Conference, 8-9 a.m., the first and third Fridays of each month. The new conferences results from the combination of the VA CECR Clinical Research Conference and the GCRC K23 discussion group. Conference sites alternate in four-month blocks between the VA and the University; in December, they will be held in the VA conference room 3E-136. Parking is free at VA and will be provided at UMN. To get on the notification list, contact elizabeth.latts@med.va.gov

Save May 11 and 12, 2006, for a Free Educational Development Institute

The Medical School has invited the other Academic Health Center schools to participate in the Best Practices Institute: Teaching in the Health Professions, scheduled for Thursday and Friday, May 11 and 12, 2006. The institute will feature presentations by local and national leaders in education, opportunities for skill-building, and sharing of ideas among educators who teach in the health professions. The institute will focus on four themes: 1) Enhancing Key Teaching Skills; 2) Technology-Enhanced Teaching; 3) Teaching Ethics in the Classroom and in the Community; and, 4) Teaching about Self-care Health Professions Providers. Once the details have been finalized, medical and other health professions educators will be able to register for the complete institute or portions of it. Mark your calendars and watch for updates by clicking on the Faculty Workshops link on the Medical Education Web site, http://www.meded.umn.edu

Meet the course director: Holly Boyer, M.D.

Thirty percent of cases seen in primary care are ENT-related, which is why this rotation is so important for medical students, says otolaryngology course director Holly Boyer. During the two-week rotation, students see a broad spectrum of ear, nose, throat, and head and neck conditions in the outpatient and inpatient setting: from serious problems such as trauma, head and neck cancer, advanced ear surgery, and severe infections to more routine issues like ear infections, nasal obstruction, dizziness, and voice and swallowing disorders. Boyer tries to ensure students receive similar rotation experiences in otolaryngology whether they are at Regions Hospital, the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, VA Medical Center, or Hennepin County Medical Center. The students' log book outlines the various types of patient conditions they will see. "It's important that students are exposed to the types of problems they'll see as physicians," says Boyer. To supplement the students' experience, the rotation also offers lectures on a variety of topics from the residents and staff. There are plans to develop on-line lectures to increase coverage of important topics. Boyer, who has been course director for more than four years, tries to make the rotation "as friendly for the students as possible." She remembers what it's like being a student at the University, where she completed her undergraduate, medical school, and residency training. "I want the students to enjoy their experience while becoming well-prepared physicians."

Literary inspiration

The Violence of Modern Life

There is a pervasive form of modern violence to which the idealist...most easily succumbs: activism and over-work. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence.

To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence.

The frenzy of the activist neutralizes his (or her) work... It destroys the fruitfulness of his (or her)...work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.

--Thomas Merton