Minutes of the Council Meetings >>

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
SPEAKER/DEAN’S MEETING
TUESDAY, MAY 18, 2004
S U M M A R Y

I. ANNOUNCEMENTS

Dr. Lisa Baumbach presided over the meeting. She announced that President Shalala was scheduled to visit the medical center on Friday, May 21 for a women faculty luncheon at the Lois Pope Life Center 7 th Floor Auditorium from noon to 1:00 PM. Interested female faculty were encouraged to attend and could RSVP by contacting Gail Haldeman.

Dr. Baumbach also announced that outside consultants were scheduled to meet and discuss the ongoing issues regarding the reorganization of the Basic Science departments. She noted that the consultants' expertise included the review of granting of research enterprise and the group was especially interested in reviewing the Research Task Force Report prepared by the Faculty Council. The consultants met with Drs. Baumbach, King and Whelan and were very impressed with the amount of effort, which went into the preparation of the Research Task Force Report. Dr. Markoe questioned whether the consultants were considering departmental organizational changes and Dr. Baumbach replied that that was definitely a part of their overview.

Upon Dr. Clarkson's request, Drs. Mark O'Connell, Camilo Ricordi, and Richard Bookman formed a working group to evaluate several issues related to the Basic Science departments. Dr. Bookman explained that the composition of the working group consisted of five department chairs, and five faculty representatives from each of the Basic Science departments. He noted that the key question to be addressed was whether the Basic Science faculty was properly organized for excellence in medical education, graduate education and research. The working group designed a 15-weeks project and Dr. Bookman offered to present periodic progress reports to the Faculty Council. The document generated by the working group was intended to provide the Dean with multiple models for organizational change as well as high level cross benefits analysis. Dr. Fishman expressed his concern that the working group did not include a representative from the Faculty Council. Dr. Bookman suggested that Dr. Awad, Council representative on the Basic Science Chairs Committee, be contacted regarding his participation on the working group.

II. COMBINED DEGREE PROGRAM

Three issues related to the M.D./Ph.D Program, which were previously raised by the Faculty Council, were further discussed. 1) The membership selection process of the current admissions committee had not followed the guidelines of the Standing Committees of the School Faculty Council, 2) The recent issue raised by Dr. Mark O'Connell regarding the poor quality of the students. It was pointed out that of four students in the class of 2001 who took Part I Board, two failed and others failed previous preliminary boards. 3) There was a perception that some students felt trapped once they enroll in the M.D./Ph.D Program. If students left the program they would encumber past tuition remission expenses previously granted to them.

Dr. Bookman explained that until this year a committee composed of the M.D./Ph.D. Program directors who participated in the program directed the M.D./Ph.D. Program. The admissions process for the M.D./Ph.D. Program ran parallel to the M.D. admissions process and students turned down by the M.D./Ph.D. Program could be admitted to the M.D. program. Dr. Bookman felt that this was an important point for the Council to consider. He also noted that he and Dr. Clarkson wanted to broaden the oversight of the program to include physician-scientists. Dr. Bookman described the process by which the new admissions committee was formed. All departmental chairs and center directors were contacted and solicited for names of individuals willing to serve on the admissions committee. Dr. Bookman recalled that approximately 20 to 30 nominations had been received and a final group of 12 members were selected to form a committee representative of the graduate program directors, physician scientists, and clinicians. It was Dr. Bookman's understanding that neither the prior admissions committee nor the new one had ever been identified as a Standing Committee of the Faculty Council. Dr. Awad recalled that past admissions committees had been selected by the Council according to the guidelines of the Standing Committee of the School Faculty Council. While members of the M.D. admissions committee continued to strain under heavy workloads, the M.D./Ph.D. admissions committee had many faculty interviewing candidates. Dr. Bookman suggested that if the Faculty Council constituted the M.D./Ph.D. admissions committee as a Standing Committee of the School Faculty Council that it grant the committee the right to admit a candidate into the M.D. Program thereby lessening the burden of the M.D. admissions committee.

Dr. Bookman reported that for the past 4 to 5 years there had been an increase in applications from 20 to 25. This year 53 applications were received, which was the largest amount ever, but the exact number of slots in the M.D./Ph.D. Programs was unclear. Of the 53 applications received, 22 candidates were interviewed and 18 offers were made. Dr. Bookman stated that historically 8 to 9 positions were usually allotted and 50% of the applicants received offers to attend the program but only 5 to 6 students actually matriculated. The competition for the really good students was rigid and sometimes depended on the benefits available to these students. The fully funded benefits offered by UM included full tuition support for medical and graduate school and stipend support during graduate school, which are the same benefits offered by many of the competitors. To address this problem, Dr. Bookman proposed to Dr. Clarkson the creation of a Dean's Fellowships, which would provide outstanding students additional support. The Dean's Fellowship was approved and has been implemented.

With regard to why some students are not performing well although the admissions criteria was valid, Dr. Bookman noted that under the old grading system good academic performance standard for Ph.D. required students to be in the upper high of class and this system was not unreasonable. Under the new grading system, academic performance was measured according to more rigid standard deviations. Dr. Bookman believed that the academic performance standard for the graduate program was simply to be in good academic standard and this measure should apply to the combined degree program. The mindset of a researcher was not always the mindset of a physician. Unlike the medical student that must memorized vast amounts of facts, the research student focus on precise and in-depth areas and are not as oriented in people. Dr. Markoe believed that these factors created a stumbling block after graduation. Dr. Awad pointed out the possibility of obtaining a medical student training grant from the NIH at which time past performance records would be reviewed and could be problematic.

Dr. Bookman explained that many students underwent a peak of anxiety during the transitional period between working in the laboratory and hospital. Several students met and consulted this issue with former combined degree program graduates and it was felt this was a period of normal anxiety. Dr. Baumbach suggested forming a subcommittee of the Council, possible headed by Dr. Richard Lee (former graduate of the M.D./Ph.D. Program) to review changes in the current combined degree program. Dr. Bookman offered to circulate the agenda of a meeting held in Washington DC which included several module institute directors who discussed how to train physician-scientists to do clinical research.