September
We are in the process of interviewing candidates for the Vice Dean position in Temple and it looks like we will have candidates on campus for interviews during the last week in September. I have been very impressed with the quality of the candidates, and am very optimistic that we will have the position filled by December.
Dr. Dickey will be here September 13 to address the faculty and staff. She will discuss the HSC Vision 2015 document and answer any questions you may have regarding the HSC agenda for the coming year(s).
Also, this is a reminder to everyone that our new logo (provided to us by the HSC) will be the official logo of the college beginning September 1. To view/download the new logos, visit: http://www.tamhsc.edu/marcomm/bg/downloads/logos/com/index.html. Please discontinue using all letterhead, business cards, etc. with the former college logo or seal and replace them with the new logo. HSC Communications will be strictly enforcing this policy.
LCME Update: The LCME Secretariats will be here for a site visit September 17-19. Those of you who will be involved in the site visit will be notified of your meeting times. This is a very important visit, as this will determine whether or not we will be approved to move ahead with class size expansion and dual campus implementation. They will spend a day on each campus to ascertain our readiness to proceed as planned.
Class Expansion Update: We have identified space for the gross anatomy lab and MDLs for the Temple campus, and will be moving ahead with renovation. These labs will be located on the first floor of the MRB. As soon as faculty and staff are relocated, we will begin the renovation process.
Charter Class Member Makes Scholarship Gift
Jay O. Franklin, M.D., a member of the College of Medicine Class of 1981, made a $20,000 gift to the Mary Elena Franklin – Class of 1981 Scholarship fund after attending the college’s 25 th Reunion in late July. The fund, which supplies tuition assistance to a medical student every year, was established in 1997 by Dr. Franklin’s classmates in memory of his daughter Elena.Colenda Appointed to National Board of Medical Examiners
Dean Christopher Colenda was recently nominated by the Association of American Medical Colleges to serve as one of their two representatives to the National Board of Examiners. His nomination was approved and he will serve in a four-year term.The National Board of Medical Examiners is an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides high-quality examinations for the health professions. Protection of the health of the public through state of the art assessment of health professionals is the mission of the NBME, along with a major commitment to research and development in evaluation and measurement.
Curriculum Committee Update
The newly constituted Curriculum Committee, chaired by Dr. Don Wilson, has been meeting on a weekly basis since mid-June. Deliberations have focused on finalizing a recommended structure for the new curriculum which will be phased in over the next several years. It is anticipated that the “new” curriculum will not be fully in place for Academic Year 2007-2008, but hoped for changes such as better integration of basic and clinical science, more reliance on student directed learning, and well articulated educational goals and objectives for all courses will be strongly recommended to the soon to be chosen phase and course directors.To facilitate communication about curriculum development with faculty and students, a website is being developed for posting deliberations and recommendations of the Curriculum Committee. Notification will soon be forthcoming with details regarding this resource.
Admissions Office Update
To date, the College of Medicine has received 1,656 applications for admission for the 2007-2008 academic year. The average overall GPA of these applicants is a 3.55 with an average total MCAT score of a 27. Interviews began on Thursday, August 3 and 129 prospective students have already visited our campus. Of that group, the average overall GPA is a 3.80 and the average total MCAT score is a 31.The Admissions Committee and faculty/staff interviewers are doing a great job. Keep up the good work!
Puschett Joins COM as Associate Dean for Program Development
Dr. Jules Puschett joined the College of Medicine in the role of Associate Dean for Program Development August 1 on the Temple campus. A native of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, Dr. Puschett is a magna cum laude graduate of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.Most recently, Dr. Puschett was employed by the Tulane University School of Medicine. He held the role of Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine from July 1990 until June 2005. In July 1996, Dr. Puschett was appointed an Assistant Dean for Network Affairs at the Tulane University School of Medicine. In November 1999, he was invested as the first occupant of The Harry B. Greenberg, M.D. Chair in Internal Medicine.
After serving as Chair of the Department of Medicine at the Tulane Medical School for fifteen years, Dr. Puschett stepped down and became the Associate Dean for North Shore Affairs. In that role, he was spearheading the establishment of a branch of the Tulane Medical School in the area north of Lake Pontchartrain, approximately 25 miles north of the main medical campus in downtown New Orleans. Unfortunately, hurricane Katrina effectively stopped that effort.
Dr. Puschett and his wife Diane have relocated to central Texas and we are glad to have them. Please welcome Dr. Puschett to the College of Medicine!
Jeevan Hired as Assistant Professor Research
The Department of Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis is pleased to announce that Amminikutty Jeevan, M.Sc., Ph.D. has been hired on as an Assistant Professor Research. Dr. Jeevan joined the department in June 1997 as a Research Scientist with Dr. David McMurray.Dr. Jeevan obtained her Ph.D. degree from Bombay University, India in 1979 and completed post-doctoral training at the MRC Clinical Research Centre in England from 1985 to 1987 and at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston from 1988 to 1990. She worked as a pesticide toxicologist at Excel Industries in Bombay from 1979 to 1981 and was a scientific officer at the Cancer Research Institute at the Tata Memorial Centre in Bombay from 1981 to 1985. Dr. Jeevan was a research associate in the Department of Immunology at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston from 1990 to 1992 and an assistant professor (non-tenure track) in the department from 1992 to 1994.
Dr. Jeevan has been published 22 times in refereed journals, has four invited journal articles and book chapters and two manuscripts in preparation. She has also been invited to several scientific meetings as a symposium speaker and presented many seminars in response to invitations from other institutions. While at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, her research program was funded from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for four years.
For the past 25 years, Dr. Jeevan has been working on the immune responses to mycobacteria using both human and experimental systems. Her long-term goals are to establish an independent research program within the department that will address the interaction between ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and host immune responses in vaccine-induced resistance to Mycobacterium tuberculosis using the guinea pig model. The line of research she developed at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center on the mechanism of UVR-induced immunosuppression to Mycobacterium bovis BCG can be easily adapted to the guinea pig model of pulmonary tuberculosis. This model will be used to test whether UVR affects vaccine efficacy against infectious challenge.
Pool Awarded CFRE Credential
Director of Institutional Advancement Tom Pool was recently awarded the Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) credential, which is the only professional certification for fundraisers. Tom joins an elite group of 4,700 professionals all over the world who have achieved CFRE status. Additionally, he was one of only four fundraisers in Texas to be awarded the CFRE credential this summer.Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) International certifies fundraising professionals who demonstrate the knowledge, skills and commitment to the highest standards of ethical and professional practice in serving the philanthropic sector. CFRE International fulfills this mission by establishing and administering a voluntary certification process based on current and valid standards that measure competency in the practice of philanthropic fundraising.
Congratulations, Tom!
Sulak Named Distinguished Alumnus at UTHSCSA
Dr. Patricia Sulak, College of Medicine professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, has been selected as the 2006 Distinguished Alumnus from the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio’s School of Medicine. She received her M.D. degree from UTHSCSA in 1980. Dr. Sulak will receive her award at the Distinguished Alumnus and Reunion Gala to be held in October in San Antonio.Congratulations, Dr. Sulak!
Housewright Receives 2006 TMLT Scholarship
College of Medicine fourth-year student Chad D. Housewright was recently awarded the 2006 Texas Medical Liability Trust (TMLT) scholarship.
The $5,000 scholarships were awarded to one student at each Texas medical school. Scholarship recipients were chosen based on each student’s academic achievement, financial need, and written essay. Winning essays will be published on the TMLT web site (www.tmlt.org) and in TMLT’s bimonthly newsletter, the Reporter.
The TMLT Memorial Scholarships were created to recognize academically gifted Texas medical students who are interested in finding creative ways to enhance patient safety and who can communicate their ideas in a short essay.
Bhandari Recounts Memorable Life Experiences in Published Works
To say that Salil Bhandari is well-rounded is a bit of an understatement. In addition to being a second-year medical student at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, Bhandari is a world-traveler, speaks Hindi & Spanish, and is a magician (he performs locally every week).One of his most recent achievements, however, is having two pieces published in The Legible Script, an annual literary journal produced by the medical students at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. The mission of the journal is to showcase the creative works (fiction, poetry, personal essays and art) of medical students from across the country.
HUMANITIES IN MEDICINE
Medicine & Humanities Consultation
The Department of Humanities in Medicine and the Scott & White Hospital Ethics Committee is starting the 2006-2007 Medicine and Humanities Consultations. The first consultation will be on September 18, 2006 at the Halley House in Salado, Texas. This is a professional development conference which will be held from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. Dinner will be provided at the Stagecoach Inn. The facilitator for the day will be Eric J. Cassell, M.D. The afternoon will be spent in informal discussion led by Dr. Cassell with in-depth exposure to The Nature of Suffering.
Dr. Cassell has been a practicing internist for over forty years. He retired from his busy private practice in 1998 and presently sees patients in consultation. He is an attending physician at The New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and a Clinical Professor of Public Health at Weil Medical College of Cornell University. He also teaches Pain Fellows at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Cassell is a frequent guest lecturer and teacher throughout the world speaking about medical education, the care of sick patients, the dying patient and especially suffering.
If anyone has questions about the consultation or would like to attend the September 18 consultation, please contact Elaine Wright at eswright@medicine.tamhsc.edu
Future Consultations for 2006-2007:
October 23, 2006
Greg Pence, Ph.D.
University of Alabama
“The Terri Schiavo Case: The Triumph of Emotions and the Media over Rationality”
November 13, 2006
Robert Truog, M.D.
Harvard University
“Brain Death Revisited”
January 22, 2007
Douglas Diekema, M.D.
University of Washington
“Creating Designer Children”
March 19, 2007
Tom Mayo, J.D.
Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of Law
“Current Issues in Advance Directives”
May 7, 2007
Herbert Fred, M.D.
University of Texas Medical School in Houston
“Dishonesty in Medicine”
OFFICE OF EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The College of Medicine has again been selected by the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) to be a pilot school for testing of their new “customized” basic science subject exam program. The customized exams are a means for faculty in a particular course or instruction block to construct their own NBME subject exam as opposed to using the standardized subject (shelf) exams.Questions on a customized exam are selected from the NBME question bank of questions that have previously been used on subject exams and/or USMLE Step 1 exams. Moreover, the exam is given by computer as opposed to the regular shelf exams which are paper and pencil. Last year, our institution was one of twelve schools selected for the pilot program and a customized exam was designed by our faculty and used as the final exam in the first year Structure and Function of Human Organ Systems course. This year, all four of our first year basic science courses have expressed an interest in using a customized exam as their course final exam. At this time, the NBME plans to go public with the program this coming January and possibly have available a customized exam program in the clinical subjects in 2008.
The College of Medicine is in the process of purchasing an audience response system, iClicker, for use in teaching in the various classrooms including the lecture halls. This interactive teaching mechanism allows faculty to ask the class multiple-choice or Yes/No questions during lecture. The system then provides a display of the class’ answers to the questions. The lecturer then decides whether they want to devote time to a resolution of the issues raised by the students' responses. We hope to have all the equipment for this system purchased very soon and faculty training scheduled for the end of this month (September). The students will purchase their individual iClicker units through the TAMU Bookstore.
Later this fall, there will be another medical education Webcast series from the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE). The subject will be “Learner Centered Strategies for the Lecture Hall”. Our faculty should find this particularly attractive since faculty development in student centered education was highly ranked on the most recent OED Needs Assessment. Dates and specific titles for the various sessions will be announced later.
Dr. Thomas Peterson, Co-Director of the Office of Educational Development, has been selected by the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) to participate in a panel of physicians and educators to review standards for the USMLE Step 1 examination. This standard setting exercise takes place every three or four years. Participants will review question items that appear on the Step 1 exam. Results of this review will then be provided to the Step 1 Committee when they meet to review the minimum passing score requirements for the exam.
Dr. Peterson has also been selected to the Membership Committee of the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE).
FACULTY
Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis
Dr. David McMurray traveled to Kagoshima, Japan, from July 17-22 to attend the annual U.S.-Japan Tuberculosis and Leprosy Conference. As Chair of the U.S. Panel, he participated in various functions, including the annual meeting of the joint U.S. and Japan Panels. He made a research presentation “Influence of recombinant guinea pig IFN and TNF on macrophage and lymphocyte activation”.Dr. Van Wilson attended the DNA Tumor Virus Meeting in San Diego and presented “Nuclear Import and Export of the BPV E1 Protein”. His lab gave the following presentations at American Society for Virology Annual Meeting in Madison, Wisconsin: “Gam1 Effects on Keratinocyte Differentiation”, “Nuclear Import of Bpv1 E1 Protein Is Mediated by Importin Alphas 3, 4, and 5 and Is Regulated by Phosphorylation near a Nuclear Localization Signal” and “Identification of Sequences in the BPV1 E1 Protein That Mediate its CRM1-dependent Nuclear Export”.
Dr. Jeffrey Cirillo also attended the U.S.-Japan Tuberculosis/Leprosy meeting and presented “Illuminating a new path: Bioluminescence-related pathways and resistance to reactive oxygen and nitrogen species”. Dr. Cirillo presented a seminar at Indonesian Ministry of Health and US-NAMRU in Jakarta, Indonesia, entitled “Molecular approaches to tuberculosis prevention”.
Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics
Dr. Ursula Winzer-Serhan attended and presented at the biannual meeting of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies in Vienna, Austria in July.Obstetrics and Gynecology
Dr. Jose Pliego was invited as a visiting Professor for the Akron General Medical Center's Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology 12th Annual William Cook Lectureship on July 21, 2006. Dr. Pliego presented the following three topics: "The Shifting Paradigm: How Simulation is Transforming Medical Education", "Employing Simulation Modeling to Improve Patient Outcome" and "Toolbox for a Surgical Curriculum".Office of Medical Education
Dr. Jose Pliego attended the 2006 San Antonio Uniform Services Health Education Consortium Offsite Training: Implementing an Effective Simulation Curriculum, held August 17, 2006 at Brook Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston. Dr. Pliego gave an oral presentation entitled: "High Fidelity Simulation as an Integral Part of the Curriculum: The 5 W's" as well as a workshop demonstrating how to perform high-risk obstetrical simulation using high-fidelity simulators.At the 2nd Annual Educational Management Solutions (EMS) User Meeting held during the Association of Standardized Patient Educators 5th Annual Conference in Tucson, Arizona, held August 19-23, 2006, Dr. Pliego gave an oral presentation entitled: "Why Should Clinical Simulation be an Integral Component of Your Standardized Patient Program" as well as a workshop entitled, "How to Develop Complex and Realistic Scenarios Using Clinical Simulation and Standardized Patients"
At the AAMC annual meeting, slated for October 27-November 1 in Seattle, Dr. Pliego and James Littlejohn, MS IV, will be giving an interactive workshop entitled, "The Shifting Paradigm: How Simulation is Transforming Medical Education".
At the 2007 APGO Faculty Development Seminar, "Educational Resources: Yours, Mine and Ours" to be held January 6-9, 2007 in Amelia Island, Florida, Dr. Pliego and Dr. Russell Fothergill will be presenting an interactive workshop entitled, "High-Fidelity Simulation as an Integral Part of the Ob/Gyn Clerkship: The 5 W's".
Systems Biology and Translational Medicine
Eric Bridenbaugh, Dr. David Zawieja and Dr. Wei Wang presented “ The role of brain and c-type natriuretic peptide in rat mesenteric lymphatics” at the 24th European Conference on Microcirculation in Amsterdam, The Netherlands in August 2006.Dr. Wayne Sampson, Alaina Dearman and Dr. Warren Zimmer presented “Runx2 modifications following Nkx3.2 knockout” and “The effect of Nkx3.2 knockout on the murine appendicular growth plate” at the 28 th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research in Philadelphia in July 2006.
Dr. Tom Peterson and Dr. Doug Dohrman presented “Experience with an integrated course in histology and physiology: emphasis on integrated organization, delivery of content and student assessment” at the International Association of Medical Science Educators Annual Meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico in July 2006.
Dr. Andreea Trache, Dr. Jerome Trzeciakowski, Dr. Warren Zimmer and Dr. Gerry Meininger presented “Atomic force microscopy integrated with optical imaging: mechanotransduction studies in live cells” to 'Signaling by adhesion receptors', Gordon conference held in Mt. Holyoke, Massachusetts in June 2006.
RESEARCH
Systems Biology and Translational Medicine
Dr. Emily Wilson received a $15,000 Texas A&M University Health Science Center Research Development Grant entitled “Changes in lymphatic muscle phenotype in response to altered lymph dynamics” for the period 09/01/06-08/31/07.RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics
Parnell, SE, West, JR and Chen, WJA. Nicotine decreases blood alcohol concentrations in adult rats: A phenomenon potentially related to gastric function, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 30:1408-1413 (2006).Winzer-Serhan, UH and Schmitt, HF. Acute nicotine activates cFos mRNA expression in limbic brain areas involved in anxiety-like behavior during a period of hyporesponsiveness to stress in rat pups. Federation of European Neuroscience Societies, Abstr., Vol.3, A077.20 (2006).
Systems Biology and Translational Medicine
Gaffin, RD, Gokulan, K, Sacchettini, JC, Hewett, TE, Klevitsky, R, Robbins, J, Sarin, V, Zawieja, DC, Meininger, GA and Muthuchamy, M. Changes in end-to-end interactions of tropomyosin affect mouse cardiac muscle dynamics. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, 291: H552 - H563 (2006).
Gasheva, OY, Zawieja, DC and Gashev, AA. Contraction-initiated NO-dependent lymphatic relaxation: A self-regulatory mechanism in rat thoracic duct. J Physiol, 10.1113/jphysiol.2006.115212 (2006).
DATES TO REMEMBER
September 13: President’s Forum; Sam Black Lecture Hall 2; 12 p.m.
September 17-19: LCME site visit
October 5: George C.Y. Chiou Lectureship in Pharmacology; Sam Black Lecture Hall 2; 11 a.m.
October 19-20: Second Annual CVRI Research Retreat; College Station Hilton; 8 a.m. (registration begins)
Christopher C. Colenda, M.D., M.P.H.
Dean, College of Medicine
The Texas A&M Health Science Center
147 Joe H. Reynolds Medical Building
College Station, TX 77843-1114
Phone: 979-845-3431
Fax: 979-847-8663
Email: colenda@medicine.tamhsc.edu
