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Volume 5 - Number 2
- Spring 2006
We hope
that you'll enjoy these quick highlights from the MCV Campus.
Please forward
this newsletter to friends who might like to learn more
about the
School of Medicine! In this issue...
Match Day!
According to the National Resident Matching
Program, 26,715 applicants participated in this year's
"Match" - including 172 of our own fourth-year students.
As the clock struck noon on March 16, students all
across the country received the envelopes containing the
name of the institution where they will spend their
years of residency training. The most popular residency
match for our students was internal medicine, with
family medicine and pediatrics next in line. See
pictures from Match Day, read
a story about the celebration or review
a list of the students' residency destinations.
First
Open House for Prospective Medical Students
"The overall goal was to
highlight some of our combined programs and to show
students what VCU is all about," said Agnes Mack,
director of admissions in the School of Medicine. "We
don't always get out to some of the smaller schools, so
we invited them to take a tour and meet some of our
students and professors." Read
more about the school's first open house.
Kukreja Receives NIH MERIT Award for
Research in Heart Protection
Dr. Rakesh C. Kukreja's research has
been honored with a MERIT award totaling nearly $4
million from the National Institutes of Health. Read
more about Dr. Kukreja's work to protect the heart
muscle from serious damage.
New Method for Measuring Oxygen
Level in Tissues
For trauma patients, inadequate oxygenation can
lead to organ failure and death. Now researchers in
VCU's Reanimation Engineering Shock Center have modified
a decades-old technology to track changes in hemoglobin
oxygen saturation in tissues. Read more about their patented
innovation that provides a key barometer to how well
the body is functioning.
Designing New Skin Cancer
Prevention Programs
In a search for more effective skin cancer
prevention programs, the Department of Psychiatry's Dr.
Carolyn Heckman will look at young adults' skin care
habits and attitudes toward tanning. Read more about her
Skin
Savvy study, targeting a disease that affects more
than 1 million Americans each year.
Total Artificial Heart Implant is First
on East Coast
A
cardiac surgery team at the Pauley Heart Center has
performed the first artificial heart implant on the East
Coast. A Virginia man received the implant -- the only
total artificial heart approved by the FDA. Read
more about the surgery and watch video clips with
the physicians involved.
Precise Treatment for
Tumors
By
combining two state-of-the-art systems for advanced
precision image-guided radiosurgery, doctors are able to
visualize and target tumors within 0.4 millimeters of
accuracy. Read more about one of the most
precise systems in the world to treat both cancerous
and non-malignant tumors, making operable many that once
were not.
Web-Based Course Trains in Standards for
Children's Care
Experts in the medical school played a key role
in the development of an online course that teaches
health care providers Virginia's guidelines for
children's health care. Over 400 health professionals
have already registered and begun participating in the
online course. Read more about the online
training that is designed to be convenient, from
work, home or even the public library.
Alum Appointed as Associate Dean of
Admissions
Dr.
Michelle Whitehurst-Cook has been appointed Associate
Dean of Admissions for the medical school, effective in
June 2006. A member of the Department of Family
Medicine's faculty since 1993, she has served as Chair
of the Admissions Committee and director of Family
Medicine's Pre-doctoral Programs. A 1979 graduate of the
medical school, she also directs the Inner City/Rural
Preceptorship Program, which provides educational
experiences for medical students interested in providing
care to the underserved. Dr. Whitehurst-Cook will
replace Cynthia Heldberg, Ph.D., who retires June 30
after a 16-year career in the School of Medicine.
US
Surgeon General on Campus
Using his life as the springboard into
public health lessons, Vice Adm. Richard H. Carmona,
M.D., U.S. Surgeon General, spoke to a packed auditorium
in early April. He was the keynote speaker during the
university's weeklong observance of National Public
Health Week. The week was coordinated by the VCU School
of Public Health -- Virginia's first and only school of
public health, established in 2005. Read local
news coverage of the Surgeon General's talk.
Public
Health Program Participating in Kellogg Foundation
Initiative
Two
departments from the medical school - Biostatistics and
Epidemiology and Community Health - are the School of
Public Health's founding academic units. Recently, the
graduate program in public health was one of 12 in the
U.S. selected to participate in the W.K. Kellogg
Foundation's Engaged Institutions initiative. Read more
about the initiative that will focus on eliminating
racial and ethnic health disparities.
VCU Takes National
Wear Red Day to Heart
More than 400 faculty, staff and students kicked
off American Heart Month by participating in National
Wear Red Day. Dressed in red to show their support for
women's heart disease awareness, they gathered in the
shape of a heart in the Egyptian Building's courtyard in
February. See
a picture of the valentine.
 Reunion 2006
Hundreds of alumni are headed back to the MCV
Campus for Reunion Weekend! The celebrations will kick
off on Friday April 21. Look for pictures of familiar
faces in the Summer issue of this email
newsletter.
Mark Your Calendar
Newly appointed Dean Dr. Jerry Strauss will host
two receptions for alumni this Spring. Alumni in the
Washington D.C. area will soon receive invitations to an
afternoon reception on Sunday May 21. And Thursday June
6 is the date for an evening reception honoring alumni
of the Baltimore region. Make sure that your contact
info is up-to-date so that you'll receive your
invitation.
 State Honors Medical
Faculty
Dr. John T. Povlishock, Ph.D., chair of the
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, is
internationally known for his work in identifying how
the brain responds to injury and translating that work
into promising clinical trials for brain injured
patients. For his contributions, Dr. Povlishock was
named Virginia's Outstanding Scientist of 2006. Read
more and watch video clips of an interview with Dr.
Povlishock.
Two medical school faculty
members were awarded the state's highest honor for
teaching excellence: Drs. Joann N. Bodurtha and Alpha A.
"Berry" Fowler III. Read more about the Outstanding
Faculty Awards.
Alum Appointed Chair of
Radiation Oncology
Dr. Mitchell S.
Anscher has been named chair of the Department of
Radiation Oncology. The 1981 graduate of the School of
Medicine and prostate cancer expert will join the
medical school in June from Duke University Medical
Center. Read more about Dr.
Anscher's career.
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Past issues of SOM eNews are online.
Check out the upcoming CME offerings from the medical
school's Office of Continuing Physician Professional
Development & Evaluation Studies including
conferences in neurophysiology and pediatric primary
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