april 2008
Dean's Comments
In this, the first of my three remaining updates as dean, I want to highlight the transition plans for the School of Medicine as we join nursing, public health, social work, Center for the Application of Substance Abuse Technologies, and many of the other units previously organized under the College of Health and Human Sciences in the new division of health sciences.
As President Glick and I reviewed my new role and responsibilities, it became clear to both of us that I could no longer maintain the daily management of the School of Medicine while simultaneously providing the leadership for this new unit.
Several factors entered in to our decision to appoint an internal candidate as interim dean. First, a new Provost will be joining the University this June, Dr. Marc Johnson, presently dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at Colorado State University. Second, a number of the initiatives the medical school initiated over the past three and one half years are not complete. Restructuring the practice plan to maximize efficiency and patient satisfaction is a work in progress, as is growing our faculty to create a more complete School of Medicine. We are also in the first stages of creating a much needed budgeting and financial planning model that will better align our resources with our mission. Finally, we have entered a period of declining state support for the School of Medicine and the University. For all these reasons, we believed that selecting an internal candidate for dean was the most appropriate decision.
There are many desirable personal attributes for success leading our unique, two-campus, statewide school:
• Commitment to excellence in medical education spanning the continuum from undergraduate medical education through postgraduate and continuing medical education
• Experience balancing the needs of education, scholarship, research and clinical missions
• Understanding the critical role that the faculty practice plan plays in supporting and maintaining a learning environment while generating revenue to support education and growth
• Dealing with the unique opportunities our statewide presence affords is vital in maintaining healthy relationships with all of the school community.
Fortunately of many potential choices, Dr. Ole Thienhaus met all these criteria. In particular, Dr. Thienhaus, as do I, spends significant time on both campuses and maintains residences in both Las Vegas and Reno. Dr. Thienhaus, as the only statewide chair of a clinical department, even devotes one day a week to the practice of psychiatry in rural Nevada and Idaho. It is our intention that Dr. Thienhaus will serve for two years, during which time a formal external search process will be initiated for a new dean. In the interim, he will function with all of the authority and responsibilities of the dean. This will allow us to complete our accreditation visit with the Liaison Committee for Medical Education, tentatively scheduled for Oct. 2009, and to position us for future growth and success.
In the next two dean’s reports, I will highlight some of the progress we have made over the past four years, and what I see as the challenges ahead for the school. I hope to leave all of us with a shared sense of accomplishment and pride over what we have achieved, and what I believe is a bright future for the school.
--John A. McDonald, M.D., Ph.D.
Vice President Health Sciences and Dean
University of Nevada School of Medicine
Medical Education
Class of 2008 learns their 'match' results
The University of Nevada’s medical students continued their tradition of placing in some of the nation’s most competitive residency programs March 20 when the Class of 2008 learned the results of the National Resident Matching Program.
Forty-eight students matched with 29 different residency institutions across the nation and will enter specialties ranging from dermatology and orthopaedics to otolaryngology and anesthesiology. Seventeen graduates will stay in the state to enter into residency programs offered through the University of Nevada School of Medicine. Read more
Speaker to discuss communicating spiritual issues
Christina Puchalski, M.D., founder of the George Washington University Institute for Spirituality and Health (GWISH), will be a guest of Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center and present a discussion on “Why is Communicating with Patients about Spiritual Issues Important?” on April 9 at 3:15 p.m. in Pennington 16 (Las Vegas Dean’s Conference Room and Elko GRIS 31). This presentation is geared toward medical students and is a unique opportunity that you won’t want to miss.
Students selected for fellowship, internship
Two second-year students have been selected for prestigious learning experiences in the next year.
Second-year student Patrick Woodard has been accepted to the American Medical Association’s Government Relations Advocacy Fellowship. One fellow is selected each spring to work in Washington, D.C. as a full-time paid member of the AMA's federal advocacy team for one year and is responsible for working to advance the Association's legislative agenda and policies on behalf of physicians, patients and medical students.
Michael Knainock, another second-year student, was selected by the American Association of Thoracic Surgery for a summer internship experience in cardiothoracic surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Boston through the Harvard medical school.
Faculty
Governor appoints Neyland to state medical board
Governor Jim Gibbons appointed Beverly Neyland, M.D., a professor in the Las Vegas pediatrics department, as one of three temporary members to the state’s Board of Medical Examiners.
While serving on the board, Neyland will deliberate issues relating to the Hepatitis C outbreak at an ambulatory surgery center in Las Vegas. Read more
Murphy named microbiology/immunology chair
William Murphy, Ph.D., was named chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Nevada School of Medicine. Murphy, who is one of Nevada’s leading cancer research scientists, assumed his new role on April 1.
Murphy has been a faculty member of the University of Nevada School of Medicine since 2002. Working with numerous graduate and undergraduate students in his laboratory, Murphy’s work focuses on immunotherapy and bone marrow transplantation for cancer patients. Read more
Faculty presentations accepted for regional conference
Several faculty members have had their presentations accepted for the 2008 Western Group on Educational Affairs/Western Group on Student Affairs Regional Conference this month in Monterey, Calif.
Jennifer Kimmel, M.D., and Robbyn Tolles will present a poster entitled “The Critical Role of Teams in Curricular Review” emphasizing the value to the review process of participation by a variety of team members. They will also present a poster titled “Teamwork in the Development of Evidence-Based Medicine Curriculum” highlighting the utilization of an email Delphi process for pre-meeting activities and use of diverse groups for developing this curriculum.
Gwen Shonkwiler, Ph.D., is participating in a panel discussion on "Integrating Simulation into the Medical Curriculum" covering a broad spectrum of issues related to planning and design considerations for a simulation teaching facility, the application of simulation to meet specific curricular objectives, and the use of simulation in the assessment of medical students.
Peggy Dupey, Ph.D., Shonkwiler, Kimmel, and Cheryl Hug-English, M.D., will present a poster titled “Crystallizing Chaos through Collaboration” which highlights the results of one school’s collaboration among the Offices of Admissions, Student Affairs, and Medical Education to more effectively and efficiently educate students and collect data.
Melissa Piasecki, M.D.; Marin Gillis, Ph.D.; Dupey, Nicole Jacobs, Huy Truong and Hug-English will offer a workshop on "Finding the Right Words: Helping Faculty Evaluate Professionalism."
Resident's paper accepted for publication
Paul Stumpf, M.D., professor and chair of the school's obstetrics and gynecology department, announces that Ming Zhou, M.D., chief resident in the department, has an abstract entitled “Perinatal outcomes in IVF patients with vanishing twin syndrome” that has been accepted for presentation at the 14th Annual Conference of the International Society for Prenatal Diagnosis this June in Vancouver, Canada. This will be the second abstract Zhou presents this academic year.
Faculty members published
Thomas Hunt, M.D., Ole Thienhaus, M.D. and Amy Ellwood, MSW, LCSW will publish “The Mirror Lies: Body Dysmorphic Disorder” in the April 15, 2008 edition of American Family Physician.
Participants needed for new task force
The Office of Medical Education is joining the Chief Financial Officer in convening a task force to develop a system for documenting faculty teaching efforts (clinical and basic science) to ensure that the School appropriately supports departments with state dollars for the educational mission. This task force will help “put meat on the skeleton” of this compensation policy for clinical faculty.
Faculty members are asked to consider participating in the development of this system. The task force will meet for 2-4 hours a month with additional outside work for 6-12 months. Since this is a significant time commitment please discuss with your chair if you are interested in participating and then email Jennifer Kimmel. M.D., with a carbon copy to your chair.
VA offers safety conference in May
A Patient Safety Curriculum (GME) Workshop and Patient Safety Conference will be held May 19 through 21 in Pittsburg, PA. Presented by the VA National Center for Patient Safety, attendees can choose to attend the workshop (May 19-20) or the conference (May 20-21) or both.
The conference offers the Patient Safety Curriculum for Residents (GME) faculty development workshop in conjunction with a patient safety conference featuring all six Patient Safety Centers of Inquiry and presentations by the first class of patient safety fellows.
The target audience for these faculty development (graduate medical education) workshops is anyone who teaches/trains/mentors/advises residents and medical students.
There are no tuition or fees and the workshop is ACCME accredited, 12 hours, category 1. Click here for workshop syllabus.
For more information, email Linda Williams at the VA in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Faculty development workshops in April
The Office of Faculty Affairs and Development is offering two workshops this month to assist with professional development.
A brown bag lunch CV workshop will be held April 15 from noon to 2 p.m. in the Dean’s conference room in Las Vegas.
A promotion and tenure workshop, also in brown bag lunch format, will be held on April 18 and 22 from noon to 2 p.m. both days via pictel in the Las Vegas pediatrics conference room and Reno in the Jones conference room.
Click here to RSVP via email.
New hires and promotions
New controller hired for school
Kimberli Quinn, director of accounting for the School's northern practice plan, has joined the budget and finance group as controller for the School of Medicine. Quinn joined the practice plan in April 2007 and has been responsible for overseeing the daily fiscal operations of the practice plan. She has been instrumental in identifying opportunities for increasing revenues, streamlining costs and effectively presenting the financial status of the practice plan.
Prior to joining the practice plan, Quinn was the plant controller at Quad Graphics, Inc. where she was responsible for best practices implementation, process improvements and control variances. She also has experience in identifying ways to achieve peak performance while reducing costs.
Her new office is located on the second floor of the Pennington building near conference room 250.
University Health System hires staff in Reno
University Health System, the clinical practice of the School of Medicine, has hired several new staff members for its Reno offices. Brenda Brown will serve as a medical assistant in the internal medicine office of Doctors Goring, Lorenzen and Kulick. Jessica Bucio will serve in the same position for the oncology office while Bryan Modene will be a vascular technician for internal medicine. The pediatrics office gains the professional services of Sara Stevens, medical assistant, and Mallory Goodrich, office specialist.
School Notes
Fundraiser this weekend for students' clinical trip to Nicaragua
All are invited to this weekend’s fundraising benefit and silent auction to help subsidize the cost of a student trip to work in a free rural medical clinic in Nicaragua this spring. The event is this Saturday, April 12 starting at 5:30 p.m. in the Pennington Foyer in Reno. Read more
Annual golf tournament for graduating class on May 14
The annual golf tournament in celebration of this year's graduating class will be held May 14 at D'Andrea Golf Club. The tournament begins at 8 a.m. with a four-person scramble format.
The cost of $50 per person, $20 for medical students or free for graduating medical students includes 18-holes of golf, a cart, access to the driving range, lunch, prizes and a chance to win a Toyota vehicle with a hole-in-one.
Everyone is welcome to play. Please email Brandi Taylor, Office of Admissions and Student Affairs, by April 23 to register as space is limited.
Academic awards ceremony is May 15
The annual student awards ceremony will be held May 15 at 2 p.m. in the Silver and Blue Room at Lawlor Events Center with a reception to follow.
Hooding ceremony planned for May 16
This year’s Academic Hooding Ceremony will take place May 16 at 1 p.m. at Lawlor Events Center (main arena) with a reception to follow. This final ceremony marks a time to recognize the accomplishments of fourth-year students and to acknowledge the part that faculty have played in their success. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend.
New resource for history of medicine available
Harvard University's Open Collections Program (OCP) launched “Contagion: Historical Views of Diseases and Epidemics” a new, web-accessible collection which includes more than 500,000 pages of digitized books, serials, pamphlets, incunabula and manuscripts. The goal is to contribute to the understanding of the global, social-history, and public-policy
implications of disease and to offer important historical perspectives on the
science and the public policy of epidemiology today.
For more information on this collection click here
or contact Peter Kosewsky, director, publications and communications, Harvard University Library at (617)495-7793.
Talent show entertains staff, students
Several talented students and faculty members participated in the annual talent show held in Manville auditorium on March 19. Singers and musicians dominated the show with music renditions ranging from opera to Bob Dylan and Billy Joel. First-year student Jamie Cichon had the crowd gasping at her contortions as she demonstrated her skill at yoga. The event finished off with a student pie-eating contest.
In This Edition
Medical Education
Class of 2008 learns their 'match' results
Speaker to discuss communicating spiritual issues
Students selected for fellowship, internship
Faculty
Neyland assigned to state medical board
Murphy named microbiology/immunology chair
Faculty presentations accepted for regional conference
Resident's paper accepted for publication
Participants needed for new task force
VA offers safety conference in May
Faculty development workshops in April
New hires, promotions
New controller hired for school
University Health System hires staff in Reno
School Notes
Fundraiser this weekend for students' medical trip to Nicaragua
Annual golf tournament for graduating class on May 14
New resource for history of medicine available
Talent show entertains staff, students
Past Editions 2008
Inside Nevada Medicine is a service of the Health Science Communications Office, University of Nevada School of Medicine and is published monthly. Faculty, staff, residents and students are encouraged to submit items of School-wide interest to Editor Anne McMillin for publication. Deadline is the 20th of the month prior to publication. Copyright 2008 University of Nevada School of Medicine.