NEWSLINE_________________________________________________
School of Medicine Newsletter – January 2001 – Vol 4, No. 2
Produced by the Office of Faculty and Instructional Development
Medical College of Virginia Campus, Virginia Commonwealth University

Department Chair Search Update__________

An offer has been made for the position of Chair of Human Genetics, and the search committee expects to hear back sometime in January. Dr. David Wilkinson (Pathology) is chairing this committee.

The chair search for Orthopedic Surgery is in the early stages; Dr. Austin Mehrhof (Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery), is serving as Search Committee Chairman. Other faculty serving on the search committee are: Dr. Carlos Arancibia, Anesthesiology; Dr. Lenore Buckley, Internal Medicine; Dr. Mark Huang, PM&R; Dr. Kathryn Holloway, Surgery; Dr. Rao Ivatury, Surgery; Dr. James Carr, Orthopedic Surgery; Dr. William (Chris) Foster, Orthopedic Surgery; Dr. Wilhelm Zuelzer, Orthopedic Surgery.

The search committee for the Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, Dr. John Seeds (Ob-Gyn), Chair, is conducting initial interviews of internal and external applicants.

The Biochemistry Chair Search Committee is continuing to interview candidates; Dr. Phil Hylemon, Microbiology, is Search Committee Chairman. 

The Neurology Search Committee, Dr. John Ward (Neurosurgery), Chair, is in the early stages of work and has placed advertisements for the position.

SOM Well Represented in Grace Harris Institute Inaugural Class__________
Six SOM faculty have been selected for the inaugural class of the Grace Harris Institute Leadership Program. They are: Drs. Cheryl Al-Mateen (Psychiatry), Marcia Carney (Ophthalmology), Susan Kornstein (Psychiatry), Robert Higgins (Cardio-thoracic Surgery), John Ward (Neurosurgery), Elizabeth Waterhouse (Neurology). Another SOM faculty member who is an Institute participant is Dr. Ron Clark (Internal Medicine), who is representing the VCU Health System. By immersing 30 participants from throughout the University in real-world projects and giving them perspectives on how to motivate the university community toward achieving complex goals, the Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute is designed to prepare VCU’s current and emerging leaders for enhanced leadership and the next phases of their careers. Classes begin in January. Congratulations to these faculty! Dr. Dickie Newsome, Dr. Lisa Kaplowitz, and Donna Katen-Bahensky from the SOM and VCUHS will serve as leadership mentors.

New Helicopter Pad Installed at MCVH__________
As you may have heard, there is a new helicopter pad on the roof of the Main Hospital, with expedited elevator access to the Emergency Department. The new landing pad is a steel sub-structure with aluminum decking, heated from beneath to prevent icing. The new helipad was airlifted into place on October 7-8, 2000. It is expected that the new pad will be operational towards the end of January. “I” Lot will serve as a backup ground landing location for use in inclement weather or when the rooftop landing pad is occupied. MCVH usually receives about 350-400 flights per year, mostly from the State Police (MedFlight 1), but also from UVA (Pegasus), Sentara (Nightingale), Roanoke (Life-Guard 10), and occasionally from the military. It is expected that the number of flights to MCVH will grow now that the roof-top pad provides direct access to the ED and operating rooms. In the past the off-site landing pad required a second ambulance ride so many pre-hospital providers just sent patients by ambulance rather than move the patient twice. This project cut the time from landing to patient care materially. Moving the pad closer to the hospital was a recommendation from Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC). (Thanks to Trent Crable, Thomas York, and Thomas Young for providing this information).

SOM Welcomes New Financial Aid Director__________
We welcome Judith Cramer, M.Ed., the new Assistant Director of Financial Aid for the School of Medicine! Ms. Cramer has been a financial aid administrator since 1989, at the University of Massachusetts, the University of Nevada, and Broward Community College. She has been very involved in recruitment and retention issues at her prior institutions and active in education and public policy formulations through her professional associations. Ms. Cramer is very happy to be in Richmond because her son is working in DC and so she is closer to him now. Welcome to VCU/SOM! 

Congress approves final FY 2001 budgets for NIH and AHRQ__________
The American Federation for Medical Research National Council issued a press release thanking all AFMR members who called Congressional offices in response to an email alert sent out in December. At that time, there was great concern about a proposal by several Congressional leaders to freeze FY 2001 spending for the Department of Health and Human Services including the programs of the National Institutes of Health and the Agency for Healthcare Quality; and Research. Instead, a compromise was reached. Congress has approved a $2.5 (14%) increase for NIH and a $71 million (36%)increase for the AHRQ.


Department News____________________

Department of Emergency Medicine
S. Rutherfoord Rose, PharmD, FAACT, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Director Virginia Poison Center at the Medical College of VA (Virginia Commonwealth University Health System), has been re-elected to the Board of Directors (Treasurer) of the American Association of Poison Control Centers 2001-2002. Dr. Rose has been a member since 1985 and is being elected to his 4th term as treasurer, first elected in 1995.

Department of Pediatrics
Over recent months, the Division of General Pediatrics has added four new faculty to their roster: 

• Dr. Lori Trent joined the Division after completing her residency here at MCV. A native of Richmond and an alumna of the UVA School of Medicine, Lori is now the pediatrician at the Hayes E. Willis (formerly “Southside”) Health Center. The Center offers family medicine and obstetrics/gynecology as well as pediatrics.

• The Foundations of Clinical Medicine course makes up 10% of the curriculum during the first and second years of MCV’s curriculum. Dr. Indra Kancitis has taken over the role of coordinator for the first year and supervises the pediatric portion of the entire FCM curriculum. A graduate of the VCU SOM, she completed her pediatric residency in Rochester, NY, and served there as the ambulatory chief resident. She and Jason Golos, a high school teacher, were wed last summer, shortly before relocating to Richmond.

• We also have U. of Rochester to thank for their residency graduate, Dr. Fanya Seagull. Fanya had remembered how positively impressed she was with the pediatric programs at MCV when she interviewed here for residency and contacted us early in her job search last spring. She has joined the staff at the Meadowdale Primary Care Center and teaches in the Pediatric Group Practice at Randolph Minor Hall. 

• Fanya is not the only newcomer to the Meadowdale staff. Dr. Darren Witte has joined the group there following completion of a medicine-pediatrics residency here at MCV. He, like his med-peds partner Dr. Teresa Benevich, enjoys the mixture of medical problems, socioeconomic status and age ranges that they care for at Meadowdale. Both Teri and Darren are primarily appointed in the Division of General Internal Medicine, but hold secondary appointments in the Pediatrics Department.

• Our most recent new recruit is Dr. George Beveridge. George graduated from Howard University and completed his residency training at Christ Hospital in Chicago. He was attracted here because of the proximity of Richmond to his parents and by the opportunity to serve the underserved. He shares attending duties in the Newborn Nursery with Drs. Meloy, Ragazzi and Lewis-Blackwell and teaching and patient care roles with the entire Division at Randolph Minor and Nelson Primary Care Pediatrics. George and his wife, Michelle, have a 2-year old son, Terrell.

Please join us in welcoming so many energetic new faculty to our roster in the Division of General Pediatrics!

Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Paul Wehman, Ph.D., was named to a list of the most influential individuals in the history of Special Education by the Journal of Remedial and Special Education. The list, which included approximately 50 people, included such notables as Helen Keller, John F. Kennedy, Jean Piaget, and B. F. Skinner. Congratulations on this remarkable testament to Dr. Wehman’s career!

Mark Huang, M.D., has been named as the December MCVH Employee of the Month. Mark is the first physician ever so honored. It makes a strong statement about how Mark's peers throughout the VCU Health System feel about his strong interdisciplinary teamwork and his energetic approach to work.

Jeffrey S. Kreutzer, Ph.D. has been named co-editor of Brain Injury, an international journal published by Taylor & Francis. Brain Injury publishes manuscripts relating to basic neurosciences, neurotrauma, and rehabilitation. 

Department of Psychiatry
Dr. James L. Levenson was awarded the SOM Teacher of the Year Award at the SOM Teaching Awards Ceremony on October 23, 2000. Dr. Joel Blum received the Whitby Award for Medical Student Education. Congratulations to these faculty for receiving such high honors, recognizing their own, and the Department’s strong commitment to medical education.

ScienceWatch ranked VCU’s Department of Psychiatry as 14th in terms of papers cited in psychiatry and interdisciplinary journals from 1990-98, and 5th in terms of the impact of these citations, among 25 institutions that fielded at least 10 high-impact papers during this period. Drs. Kenneth Kendler, Lindon Eaves, and Michael Neale were individually recognized for their contributions, with a total of over 251 citations in the papers reviewed among these outstanding researchers.

Dean's Office
On November 10, 2000, the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) awarded the School of Medicine full accreditation to provide continuing medical education with the maximum allowable term of six years. Much like the LCME process, the ACCME reaccrediation process is quite comprehensive and was led by the OCME management team, Paul Mazmanian, Ph.D., Associate Dean; Karen Sanders, M.D., Director, Extended Learning and Professional Development; John Boothby, MSW, Director, Conferences and Alternative Instruction; Donna Cantrell, M.Ed., Education Outreach Manager, and Jeanne McNeil, Business Manager. An integral part of the accreditation process involved the creation of the CME Review and Advisory Committee (CRAC) whose membership included representatives from the SOM, the Health System, and the community. The ACCME also awarded the OCME exemplary ratings in three categories: the use of needs assessment data in program planning, the use of evaluation tools in educational activities, and the use of innovative and creative mechanism(s) to measure the effectiveness of its overall CME program. Congratulations!

VAMC Appoints New Associate Chiefs of Staff__________
Sheldon Markowitz, M.D., M.S., Chief of Staff at the Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center, announced recent Associate Chief of Staff appointments at our sister institution: 

They join the following faculty in these Associate Chief of Staff leadership roles. 

Women in Medicine Pathways to Leadership Conference__________
This nationally recognized conference will be held Friday, March 2, 2001, Jefferson Hotel, Richmond. This year’s theme is “Changing the Culture” with our keynote speaker, Dr. Bernice Sandler, addressing the “Chilly Climate: How Men and Women are Treated Differently,” in the morning, with suggestions on “Warming Up the Chilly Climate” in the afternoon. Join our co-sponsors and colleagues from UVA, EVMS, Medical Society of Virginia and the Richmond Academy of Medicine at this day long event.

LCME Site Visit Sunday, March 4 - Thursday, March 8, 2001__________
Mark your calendars as you may be a faculty member called extemporaneously to answer some questions from the site visiting team. The Self-Study Report conducted in preparation will be sent hard-copy to everyone in mid-February but will be available on the SOM Website in late January.

Newsline is designed to better inform the faculty about activities and plans affecting the School of Medicine and to encourage open communication. So much that happens is a moving target, so we’ll do our best. Send comments and questions and we’ll try to find the folks who know the answers (if they’ll tell us…). You can also submit items for the newsletter to Kathy Kreutzer at Box 980565 or e-mail at KKREUTZER@vcu.edu.

Thanks to all those who have provided information for this newsletter

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