February 2008, Issue 413
Editor: Kathleen Watson, M.D., drwatson@umn.edu
Editorial Assistant: Allison Campbell Jensen, aac@umn.edu
News | Students | Faculty | Events/Notices | Poem
NEWS
Thanks for a decade of service to Curriculum Committee chairs
Theodore Thompson, M.D., and Douglas Wangensteen, Ph.D., were honored recently for their 10 years of service leading the Medical School Curriculum Committee. "I think we made incredible strides in the students' educational experiences," says Thompson. He and Wangensteen both cited the engagement and ideas of the course and clerkship directors as key to their success. "It’s due to them that we have been able to offer the best educational experiences," says Thompson. Wangensteen adds that education is important, rewarding work; "It is very satisfying to have been involved in the planning and implementation of changes (in individual courses and the curriculum overall)." Please join me in expressing appreciation for their dedication over the years.
New co-chairs for Curriculum Committee named
“We need to preserve what is best in the curriculum and somehow manage better the enormous volume of information that is overwhelming students and is extremely stressful,” says Catherine Niewoehner, M.D., Department of Medicine. That’s the primary task for her and Cullen Hegarty, M.D., Department of Emergency Medicine, who were recently named to co-chair the Curriculum Committee. Each has been deeply involved in medical education, Niewoehner as course director for the Pathophysiology course in year two and Cullen as clerkship director for Emergency Medicine as well as assistant residency director at Regions Hospital. Niewoehner wants to improve flexibility, focus, communications, and a core of common resources for course and clerkship directors. Hegarty has a particular interest in integrating simulation with experiential learning. Both are excited about the changes brought about by the Flexible M.D. and the potential offered by other aspects of MED 2010. Please join me in welcoming them to the medical education team.
Pre-Medical Forum: In the Spirit of Healing
More than 100 people considering medical school were welcomed Jan. 26 at the U of M Student National Medical Association's second annual Pre-Medical Forum: In the Spirit of Healing. The forum aims to inspire minorities and underprivileged students to pursue careers in medicine. It offers participants an opportunity to learn more about medicine and the application process from University faculty, staff, medical students, community physicians, and researchers. The first Pre-Medical Forum last year yielded at least four current medical school interviewees and three medical students, including U of M Medical School Year 1 class president and SNMA member Noelle Ekwochi. At the forum, Liz Medina Alm, second-year medical student and SNMA chapter president welcomed students, followed by a presentation by Paul T. White, J.D., assistant dean of admissions. An activities fair and small group recruitment lunches offered participating organizations an interactive opportunity to speak to students about their programs. Participants then attended break-out sessions: strategizing for the MCATs, selecting dual degree programs, and tackling the AMCAS application. The afternoon featured interactive workshops: some students took an anatomy practical under the tutelage of Anthony Weinhaus, Ph.D.; others learned the basics of infectious disease from James Johnson, M.D., and his team. The complete cranial nerve exam also was taught by second-year medical students Gretchen Dougherty and Sancia Ferguson, while others were given pulmonary function tests in the workshop led by second-year medical student Jon Silva. Workshops in orthopedic surgery, holistic medicine and surgical suturing rounded out the series. Those who attended the optional dinner heard a keynote speech by Charles Crutchfield, M.D. Participants were very positive about the Pre-Medical Forum, which is supported by our Medical School's education offices and the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity. —Liz Medina Alm
Partnership with Liberia
"In November 2007, the University of Minnesota Medical School partnered with a Liberian medical school to provide some basic science lectures and training to desperate Liberian medical students," writes medical student Katie Pastorius in a Lancet article about the One Laptop Per Child project. Pete Melchert, M.D., in Liberia to do service work, developed this unique partnership between a U.S. and a Liberian medical school. Currently the physiology course director has given permission for that coursework to be shared. Our students have copied all the Note Co-op notes onto DVDs and are writing grants to purchase laptops for the Liberian medical students as well. Via e-mail, Pastorius writes: "This is a work in progress and we hope to give them our entire year 1 and 2 curriculum by next year."
STUDENTS
Student Council: Lecture series, Winter Ball, and more
Student Council continues move forward. Upcoming events for February include the Medical School Winter Ball scheduled for 8 p.m., Feb. 8, at the Radisson. Buy your tickets online! We will also be kicking off a lecture series with the deans. Look for more information to come. Other big projects include continuing to improve the Web site and building relationships with alumni. Please e-mail sayl0039@umn.edu with any other issues that you would like your Medical School Student Council to address.
Abstract deadline coming up for Alfred F. Michael Medical Student Research Colloquium March 10
Medical student researchers submitting an abstract for Student Research Colloquium March 10 have a deadline of 4 p.m., Feb. 29. The poster session will run from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m., Monday, March 10, 2008, outside Mayo Auditorium. A reception for student researchers, their faculty mentors, and guests takes place 2-3 p.m. "Eureka: The Joy of Discovery," a talk by Richard Hodin, M.D., chief of endocrine surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital Division of General Surgery, will begin at 3 p.m. Hodin studies the molecular mechanisms of intestinal epithelial growth and differentiation. For more information, contact the Medical School Dean's Office at 612-626-3287 or rsrchday@umn.edu .
Preparing for summer experiences
Duluth Campus first-year students recently gathered to hear the 2007 summer interns tell about their experiences in communities around the state. The event included leaders from the Area Health Education Centers, St. Luke’s Hospital, and St. Mary’s Duluth Clinic who support efforts to provide medical students clinical and/or research opportunities during the summer session. In addition, representatives from the Minnesota Medical Association Foundation and the Minnesota Medical Foundation attended. Nine of the 67 students who participated last summer gave lively descriptions of their experiences in small community hospital and clinics where they observed rural patient care and routine medical office visits. Many also were involved in interdisciplinary experiences in the community including working with pharmacists, home care services, morticians, veterinarians, and other health professionals. These summer internships are organized by Ray Christensen, M.D., and Lori Isaacson in Duluth and are open to Duluth and Twin Cities first-year students.
Success in Chicago
Three medical students presented posters at the Triological Meeting in Chicago: Opeyemi Daramola, Joe Rohrer, and Justin Wudel. Rohrer, working with Department of Otolaryngology faculty Frank Ondrey, M.D., and scientist Beverly Wuertz, won an award for his poster, "Cigarette smoke carcinogens induce NFκB activity in precancerous aerodigestive cells." Congratulations to all who participated.
FACULTY
Medical educator development opportunities
Free registration is still open for two Medical Educator Development and Scholarship (MEDS) workshops this academic year. Enhancing Large Group Teaching with Active Learning takes place 7:30-9:00 a.m., Friday, February 15, B-646 Mayo. Presenter is Janet Shanedling, Ph.D., Academic Health Center Office of Education. Make It Count Twice: Clinical Scholarship = Clinical Practice takes place 7:30-9:00 a.m., Wednesday, March 26, Radisson University Hotel, Regents Room. The presenter is Craig Roth, M.D., Department of Medicine, Veterans Affairs Medical Center. For further details and to register, please visit http://www.meded.umn.edu/med/
Best Practices Institute, May 20-21, 2008
The Medical School, in collaboration with the five other schools of the Academic Health Center—the School of Dentistry, School of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, School of Public Health, and the College of Veterinary Medicine—are pleased to provide (free of charge) the third annual Best Practices Institute: Advancing Critical Thinking in Health Professions Education on May 20- 21, 2008, on the Minneapolis campus of the University. A committee consisting of representatives of the six health professions schools and the Health Sciences Library are planning a wide range of plenary and workshop offerings that will benefit faculty across the disciplines. Registration and course details will be available in early March at www.bpinstitute.umn.edu. If you have not already done so, be sure to mark your calendars with this unique inter-professional education opportunity.
National Board of Medical Examiners thanks committee members
University of Minnesota Medical School personnel who served on NBME and U.S. Medical Licensing Examination committees during 2007 include: Marilyn Becker, Ph.D., Doris C.A. Brooker, M.D., Linda Perkowski, Ph.D., Peter Ragusa (medical student), Janet West, M.D., and Seth Wolpert, M.D. Thanks to all for their service to this important organization.
EVENTS & NOTICES
Feb. 29: Neurogenomics conference
An all-day conference on emerging issues in neurogenomics features experts from around the country in medicine, law, bioengineering, and genetics. U of M professors Harry Orr, Ph.D., and Susan Wolf, J.D., will be the moderators. Registration is $10, $5 for students.
Family Medicine Grand Rounds
Nearly every month, the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health hosts Grand Rounds on topics from back pain (Feb. 27) to compulsive sexual behavior to ethical issues in pay for performance. Check the Web for exact titles and site.
POEM
October 1st
You ask about my day—
I should have taken a Polaroid:
lime curtains, black sheets,
yellow man, your age,
rusted nails on restless fingers,
pregnant belly with twisted purple veins
afraid to ask for directions.
Said he drank to escape the loneliness.
That down escalator, no basement floor.
I hold his hand, breathe through my mouth,
discuss the facts from yesterday’s
'spill’
a new liver, perhaps.
You ask about my day—
I tell you it was fine;
my side of the bed grows farther.
—by Mairi Leining, in Body Language: Poems of the Medical Training Experience
