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

No. 392, May 2006

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

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

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Work groups' leaders take next steps in MED 2010, learner-centered education

 

MED 2010, learner-centered education for patient-centered care, is not simply a curriculum change, says Dean Deborah Powell, M.D.; it is a structural change in medical education. To help lead the next steps in MED 2010, heads of work groups have been named. The work group on Professionalism is headed by Jim Pacala, M.D., M.P.H., and Kathleen Watson, M.D. Mentoring is led by Wes Miller, M.D., and Colin Campbell, Ph.D. Outcome Assessment is headed by Linda Perkowski, Ph.D., and Kathleen Brooks, M.D., M.B.A., M.P.A. The overall effort on Global and Community Health is led by Dean Powell, Watson, and Perkowski. It includes three subgroups: Rural and Urban Health, headed by Gwen Halaas, M.D., M.B.A., and Scott Davies, M.D.; Global Health, headed by Cynthia Howard, M.D.; and, Disparities in Health, led by Kola Okuyemi, M.D., M.P.H., and Joy Dorscher, M.D.

 

MED 2010 addresses challenges and opportunities that arise from the explosion in knowledge and technology, the call for improved quality through teamwork in health care, the erosion of public trust, the increasingly empowered patient, the high cost of educating physicians, and the need to improve diversity.

 

Come to Commencement, May 5

 

Stepping across the bridge on Washington Avenue and into the next phase of their lives on May 5 are the members of the Class of 2006 of the University of Minnesota Medical School. Faculty are invited to don robes to join the students at about 1:30 p.m., in Coffman Union, to prepare for the procession to Northrop Auditorium. (In case of inclement weather, everyone gathers on the third floor of Northrop.) The commencement ceremony begins at 2:30 p.m. This year's speaker is Mark DePaolis, M.D., an alumnus of the school, humorist, and author, who practices in Brooklyn Park.

 

Meet the Minnesota Medical Foundation award winners

 

Students chose Patrick Schlievert, M.D., and John Day, M.D., to receive 2006 Distinguished Teaching Awards for year one and two courses in the Twin Cities from the Minnesota Medical Foundation, and the late George Adams, M.D., was named the recipient for the Leonard Tow Faculty Humanism in Medicine Award, presented by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. The MMF awards ceremony took place April 18. Along with the 19 faculty members and residents honored, nearly 70 medical students were honored with awards or scholarships, and 27 received travel awards from University of Minnesota Medical School funds sponsored by Cyrus P. and Anne R. Barnum, N.L. and Sarah J. Gault, Maynard and Elaine Jacobson, and Wesley W. Spink. For more, see the MMF Web site (www.mmf.umn.edu or www.mmf.umn.edu/services/story.cfm?id=457).

 

Saying fare-thee-well to Duluth students

 

The Farewell Banquet for sophomore students who are transitioning to the Twin Cities campus for their third and fourth years was held the evening of April 27 at the Greysolon Plaza Ballroom. Students who began their two years of basic science education on the Duluth campus were honored. Select students were recognized by their classmates for their leadership, contributions to the class and community, and for exhibiting the admirable qualities of a primary care physician. Academic awards from the departments also were awarded. Faculty were recognized by students for their exceptional teaching in the basic sciences and clinical sciences.  This wonderful event heralds the end of one chapter of the students' medical education and the beginning of another.

--Lil Repesh, Ph.D., associate dean for Admissions and Student Affairs, Medical School-Duluth campus

 

Center of American Indian and Minority Health Symposium draws experts

 

American Indian medical students, residents, and physicians from across the United States, including Minnesota, North Carolina, and North and South Dakota, came to the third annual Symposium on Academic Medicine and Research, March 31-April 1, hosted by the Center of American Indian and Minority Health. On Friday, they learned from Anne Taylor, M.D., Russell Luepker, M.D., and Kola Okuyemi, M.D., M.P.H., about the challenges and benefits of academic medicine. Saturday's session included William Freeman, M.D., M.P.H., of Northwest Indian College, a retired physician with the Indian Health Service, and Lawrence Agodoa, M.D., director of NIH's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Office of Minority Health Research Coordination. These nationally renowned experts in collaborative research with underserved communities trained participants in culturally sensitive techniques to utilize when working with American Indian communities.

 

CAIMH takes part in Cross-Cultural Medicine workshop

 

Nineteen Center of American Indian and Minority Health students and five staff members headed to Santa Fe for the annual Cross-Cultural Medicine Workshop at the end of April. This annual event is hosted by Association of American Indian Physicians and plays a vital role in training students in working with diverse American Indian communities. Workshop sessions are designed to help health care professionals and students learn traditional methods to improve health, and ways to incorporate traditional and Western medicine in their practice. The two-day workshop includes presentations by American Indian physicians and traditional Indian healers. This year, Anishinaabe healers from Minnesota are hosting two sessions.

 

Regional representation by our Student National Medical Association members

 

Three of our first-year medical students who are members of the Student National Medical Association will serve on the Region 2 Board for the 2006-2007 year. Michelle Encarnacion will serve as the regional Treasurer, Titilayo Adegboyega will serve as the regional MAPS Liaison Chair, and Marissa Lightbourne will serve as the regional Community Service Liaison Chair. They were among the 20 medical students from our Twin Cities SNMA chapter, two SNMA Minority Association of Premedical Students members, and staff from our Medical School Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity who attended the 2006 SNMA National Conference in Atlanta, April 13-16.

 

Transition to residency, May 1

 

Fourth-year students are encouraged to come to room B2-650, 4:30 p.m., May 1, to learn the nuts and bolts knowledge that will help ease their transition to residency.

 

CoursEval system rolling out end of May

 

Starting in late May, our undergraduate clinical courses will adopt the CoursEval system that is being used in basic science courses and in other Academic Health Center schools. The system thus offers familiarity to many users and is located on our servers, giving us control and flexibility. Information collected through the phased-out E*Valu system will, after July 1, be exported into a secured database and can be used for reporting purposes. If you have questions or concerns about this process, please contact Stuart Speedie (speed002@umn.edu or 612-624-4657).

 

Diehl Award winners announced; awards banquet is May 19

 

The late George Adams, M.D., head of the Department of Otolaryngology, has been awarded a Diehl Award, as have Ray Christensen, M.D., Ernest Ruiz, M.D., and Warren Warwick, M.D. The Harold S. Diehl Award is a prestigious lifetime award granted by the University of Minnesota Medical Alumni Society to individuals who have made outstanding professional contributions to the Medical School, the University, and the community. Distinguished Alumni Awards this year will be presented to William Jacott, M.D., and John E. Repine, M.D. Receiving the Early Distinguished Career Award for 2006 is Jon Hallberg, M.D. Kudos to all these deserving recipients. The awards banquet takes place May 19; for more information, contact Sue Clark at 612-626-0619 or s.clark@mmf.umn.edu.

 

Clinical trials, confusing messages: clinical research lecture series

 

Dr. Marvin Moser, Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine, will present a special lecture, "Clinical trials, confusing messages, and national guidelines" on Tuesday, May 23, at 12:10 p.m. The series is sponsored by the Academic Health Center's Office of Clinical Research. For more information, contact Sue Jackson at 612-626-6033 or sjackson@umn.edu . All are encouraged to attend. 

 

Our ACT 2006 team takes part in national forum May 4

 

"Improving patients' understanding of their medications," a quality improvement project by our local ACT 2006 team, will be presented at the plenary session for the national ACT 2006 forum May 4 in Boston. The interprofessional QI team of graduate-level learners includes Kara Conway, M.H.A., M.B.A., Casey Gallimore, Pharm.D., pharmacy resident, Jesse Hennum, M.D. (Med Peds resident), and Sahra Noor, R.N., second-year M.S. nursing student. This team developed a process to improve patients' self-reported understanding of the medications at Community-University Health Care Center. Another U of M graduate team, Dana Feld, second-year M.S. nursing, Cathryn Jennissen, pharmacy resident, Poornima Kamran, M.D., Pediatrics resident, will present their QI project: "Decreased time to first intravenous antibiotic administration in neutropenic pediatric patients." ACT 2006 is a joint project with University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview.

 

May 11-12 Best Practices Institute: Teaching in the Health Professions

 

Registrations will be accepted until May 5 for this free faculty development opportunity, spanning a day and a half, Thursday and Friday, May 11-12, 2006. To view a complete schedule of the institute and to register, please use the Control key and click on http://www.BPinstitute.umn.edu.

 

Kudos to Peterson

 

Bonnie Peterson, who coordinates clerkships for the Medical School Duluth campus through the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, received an Outstanding Service Award from the University of Minnesota Duluth on March 21, 2006. She was recognized by her co-workers as being worthy of exceptional notice and the Outstanding Service Award.

 

Literary inspiration

Where the Mind Is Without Fear

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;

Where knowledge is free;

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;

Where words come out from the depth of truth;

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;

Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action ---

Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake

-- Rabindranath Tagore