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UW School of Medicine Online News 12-14-07
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University of Washington School of Medicine
Online News
Vol. 11, No. 48
Dec. 14, 2007
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To view an archived version of Online News on the UW
Medicine Web site, visit:
http://www.uwmedicine.org/Global/NewsAndEvents/somnews/index.htm
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MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN: Expansion at UW School of Medicine will help meet physician workforce needs throughout the five-state WWAMI region
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This week’s news:
* UW launching educational programs for biomedical regulatory affairs and biotech project management
* Alzheimer's Disease Research Center offering pilot study grants for basic and clinical research
* UW Medicine Clinical Directory 2008 for referring providers available in secured online site
* Bruce Ransom, chair of UW Department of Neurology, to serve as president of Association of University Professors of Neurology
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MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN
Dear Colleagues:
This year marks the 36th anniversary of the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) program, a world-renowned regional medical education program that is central to our educational and service missions. The WWAMI regional partnership conference, held on campus in November, brought together educators, administrators, and legislators from throughout the five-state region to celebrate the program, exchange ideas and concerns, and plan for the future. One particularly exciting activity was showcasing for our WWAMI partners the new ISIS simulation center, located in the Surgery Pavilion at UW Medical Center. Another was a tour highlighting recent changes at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center.
A key discussion topic throughout the conference was expansion of medical student training positions. Many leading medical organizations are predicting a future shortage in the physician workforce. To address the shortage, the Association of American Medical Colleges has called for a 30 percent increase in the number of medical students being trained.
In response, medical schools throughout the nation are expanding through a variety of means. In 2007, 11 of the 126 U.S. allopathic medical schools boosted their entering class size by more than 10 percent. First-year enrollment at the nation’s medical schools has increased more than 7 percent since 2003.
Even in the best of times, rural and urban underserved areas have a difficult time filling their needs for physicians and other healthcare professionals; thus, national physician workforce shortfalls hit rural and urban underserved regions especially hard. Other factors compound this challenge, including declining and unstable federal funding for programs like Title VII, Medicare, and Medicaid.
The UW School of Medicine is committed to meeting the need for physicians in the WWAMI states. This year’s medical school class is our largest ever, with 198 first-year medical students. This represents an increase of six spots in Wyoming since the program began, 10 in Alaska, and 2 in Idaho, with further increases under discussion. In addition, next year, Washington will add 20 spots by opening the new first-year WWAMI site in Spokane.
With those additions, the first-year class next year will expand to 216 students. It is likely that there will be further increases in future years as we respond to requests from our WWAMI partners.
Expansion of WWAMI medical student training introduces both opportunities and challenges. One opportunity has been the chance to upgrade teaching facilities in the T-wing of the Health Sciences Center. Construction is currently under way: seating capacity in one of the main lecture halls, T-439, will increase from 185 to 235; new distance education equipment has been installed in T-435, the first-year lecture hall; 14 new small-group classrooms on the 5th floor of the T-wing will complement lecture halls.
A major challenge will be maintaining and ensuring educational quality while accommodating growth. This encompasses standardizing educational experiences and evaluation across all sites, meeting physical site needs, providing adequate numbers and quality of teachers for our students, ensuring quality clinical experiences, and focusing on small-group experiences. Another challenge is matching expanding medical school slots with more residency and fellowship positions.
These are not easy challenges, and a combination of careful planning and teamwork is necessary to make growth work. We must also look to new teaching paradigms to facilitate and optimize the process of growth, including the use of simulation, web-based education and telemedicine to achieve standardization of teaching and economy of teachers.
As we expand, it is absolutely essential that we maintain a dialogue, discussing the pros and cons of expansion, how to meet the needs of underserved populations, how to optimize the educational experience, and other key questions. Expansion must be a careful and thoughtful process that takes everyone’s needs and concerns into consideration.
I welcome your comments and suggestions (pramsey@u.washington.edu), and I know that Tom Norris, vice dean for academic affairs (tnorris@u.washington.edu), is willing and available to talk with you and hear your suggestions as well.
Sincerely,
Paul G. Ramsey, M.D.
CEO, UW Medicine
Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, and
Dean of the School of Medicine
University of Washington
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UW LAUNCHING BIOTECH EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
UW Educational Outreach is developing two new education programs designed for working professionals in the biomedical industry -- a professional master's degree in biomedical regulatory affairs and a certificate program in biotech project management.
Next month, the UW School of Pharmacy, in partnership with Educational Outreach, is launching the master's program in biomedical regulatory affairs, which will be an evening/weekend degree program. The curriculum has been developed with input from an advisory board including representatives from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Sonus Pharmaceuticals, Medtronic Physio-Control, and the FDA's Pacific Regional Laboratory Northwest.
For more information, visit the Biomedical Regulatory Affairs program Web site:
http://outreach.washington.edu/biomedreg/
The UW and the University of California, San Diego have joined to create an online certificate program in biotech project management. This nine-month program features instruction from professionals in the biotech industry, and includes courses in project planning, execution, and monitoring, as well as the application of project management principles in a biotech environment.
For more information or to apply for the program, visit:
http://outreach.washington.edu/ext/certificates/bpm/bpm_gen.asp
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ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCH CENTER FUNDING PILOT RESEARCH PROJECTS
The UW Alzheimer's Disease Research Center is accepting applications now for pilot study grant awards to support research on the neurodegenerative disease. The center has a total of $70,000 available for 2008, with a one-year maximum of $35,000 for a particular project. Applications are due by 4 p.m., Jan. 4, 2008.
The grants are designed for junior faculty members up to the rank of assistant professor; senior fellows and acting faculty are allowed to apply. Researchers should be investigating pilot research projects on basic or clinical questions in Alzheimer's disease.
The project requires an abbreviated NIH-style application, including a face page, abstract, biographical sketch, and a 6-page maximum of narrative. A cover letter should address how the research relates to Alzheimer's, why existing resources do not allow the work do be done, and how the pilot project will facilitate future independent funding. Applicants should also list three or more possible reviewers for the application, as well as people who should be excluded as reviewers.
The original application and two copies, plus the electronic files for the application, should be submitted to Molly Chinn, VA Puget Sound Health Care System (116-6E), 1660 S. Columbian Way, Seattle, WA, 98108, or to UW Campus Mail, Box 258280 (116-6E). Electronic files should be sent to wamble@u.washington.edu.
For more information or more detailed application instructions, contact Molly Chinn at wamble@u.washington.edu or 206-277-3281.
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UW MEDICINE CLINICAL DIRECTORY ONLINE FOR REFERRING PROVIDERS
The UW Medicine Clinical Directory gives referring providers contact information for physicians and other health-care providers on the UW medical school faculty. As in the past, the directory for 2008 is being mailed to community physicians in the WWAMI region as part of the MEDCON outreach effort.
MEDCON is a toll-free telephone service that links community physicians with UW medical experts for advice, and that assists with referrals to the UW Medicine health-care system. This year the directory is also online in a secured link from the referring health-care professional page of the UW Medicine Web site:
http://www.uwmedicine.org/PatientCare/InformationforHealthcareProfessionals/
UW Medicine physicians and UW clinical faculty who would like access to the electronic directory, available as a searchable PDF, can contact physician liaison Steve Jennings at 206-744-8846.
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RANSOM STARTING TERM AS PRESIDENT OF NEUROLOGY ASSOCIATION
Bruce Ransom, the Warren Magnuson Professor and Chair of Neurology at the UW, is beginning a two-year term next month as the president of the Association of University Professors of Neurology, one of the top neurology organizations in the United States.
The association promotes excellence in clinical care for neurology patients by providing top-notch education to neurology residents and fellows, and by supporting rigorous research on neurological diseases. For more information, visit: http://www.aupn.org/
Ransom, who has served as chair of the Department of Neurology since 1995, has also been honored by being invited to give two named lectures this year: the Rogowski Lecture at Yale University Department of Neurology, and the Fran and Louis Blumkin Distinguished Neuroscience Lecture at the University of Nebraska. Ransom was also recognized recently for his work as founder and editor-in-chief of GLIA, a scientific journal devoted to the biology and function of glial cells, the most numerous cells in the brain. The 20th anniversary of the founding of GLIA was celebrated last month at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.
Ransom may be reached at bransom@u.washington.edu
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Justin Reedy, editor:
206-685-0382, jreedy@u.washington.edu
Online News is copyright 2007. All rights, including electronic
redistribution, are reserved.
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