Height of accomplishments

“The height of your accomplishments will equal the depth of your convictions.”
~ William F. Scholavino

August 19, 2011

Dear Colleagues and Friends:

We Are Very Proud … Alumnus Named as the Navy’s Surgeon General …

Please join us in congratulating Rear Admiral Matthew L. Nathan, commander of Navy Medicine for the National Capital Area and commander of the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD as the newly named 37th Surgeon General of the United States Navy. The Surgeon General of the United States Navy is the senior-most medical corps officer in the United States Navy. Rear Admiral Nathan is a distinguished alumnus of the Medical College of Georgia class of 1981. We are not only proud of Rear Admiral Nathan for the many accomplishments he’s made throughout his career, but we also want to thank him for his continued service and dedication to the medical community and to our country.

Community Awards … Advancing Important Research …

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Lesleyann Hawthorn, Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology on the recent grant award from Evans County CARES in support of the triple-negative breast cancer research she is involved in.

Federal Award … Collaboration Works! …

We also would like to congratulate Dr. Cheedy Jaja, Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing for receiving funding by NINR for his KO1 application. Dr. Jaja, last year received a Child Health Discovery Institute (CHDI) pilot award for his work on sickle cell in children. The collaboration between the CHDI and the College of Nursing, (Dr. Jaja, Dr. Martha Tingen and Dr. Abdullah Kutlar) is impressive and very much appreciated. This is a great success for all involved.

Scholarship Award … Recognizing Our Talent From Within …

Kudos to Scott Webster in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology for being selected as the recipient of the 2011 Darrell W. Brann Scholarship in Neuroscience. The scholarship is awarded annually to the most outstanding graduate student in Neuroscience at GHSU. We would like to thank Dr. Alvin Terry, as Scott’s mentor, for his leadership and support. We would also like to thank all of the high quality graduate students who applied.

Distinguished Lectureship … Our Talent is Recognized Internationally …

Congratulations also go to Dr. William Rainey, Regents Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Physiology on receiving the 2011 Gastone G. Nussdorfer Lecture Award from the Board of International PhD Program in Hypertension and Vascular Biology. Dr. Rainey is the second recipient of this prestigious award.

Our Newest Talent … Class of 2015 … By the Numbers …

We wanted to share some interesting facts and data on the MCG class of 2015. The freshman class was chosen from 2,187 applications with 523 interviews being completed. Our class comes from diverse educational backgrounds including biology, chemistry, anthropology, art, accounting, music and many others as well as 20 students who have Masters degrees, 6 have triple degrees, and 44 have double degrees. This year we have 230 students enrolled with 190 at the Augusta Campus and 40 at the GHSU-UGA Medical Partnership in Athens. Four of our students are enrolled in the MD/PhD program. Georgia residents (with 49 counties being represented) make up the majority of the class with 7 students coming from out of state. This year, our class is made up of 92 females and 138 males with the average grade point average of our class being 3.70 and with a Mean MCAT score of 30.3 … impressive numbers … but better than that … get to meet our newest colleagues … they are smart, engaging, and a fun group! We are excited to have our new students and wish them lots of success in their journey through medical school. Do please get to know our newest colleagues.

Promotions and New Appointments …

We want to thank Ms. Patti Levins for her dedication and service to the Department of Psychiatry as Department Manager. In the same breath we also want to congratulate her on her recent appointment as Department Manager for Pediatrics. Patti has done a tremendous job for Psychiatry and we look forward to her continued success in Pediatrics. With that same token, we want to congratulate Dr. Joe Ricci on his recent appointment as Department Manager for Psychiatry. Joe will lead the academic side of Psychiatry as well as continue as the director for Clinical Psychiatry. Please congratulate them next time you see them.

In the news …

GHSU-UGA Medical Partnership …. St. Mary’s Hospital and Athens Regional Medical Center welcomed our second year students from the GHSU-UGA Medical Partnership to an orientation through their hospitals. This year our students will begin putting some of their medical training to use taking patient histories, examining patients or simply talking with the patient … all of course under the umbrella of the physicians at the hospitals. Our many thanks to the Athens and community physicians support to provide the hospital and clinical settings that our students need to continue their training. Please see http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/081411/new_871215530.shtml for more on this exciting event for our students. Out thanks also to our faculty in our GHSU-UGA Medical Partnership for their leadership in making this happen.

Synchronicity … Week 8 …

We have just finished with week 8 of Synchronicity. We continue our collective efforts to improve functionality with a focus this week on refinement of medication and problem lists. The team is also concentrating on work-flow problems which we recognize are more burdensome now than the actual Synchronicity ‘mechanics’ and learning curve. Please let us know (post at http://ehr.georgiahealth.edu/) of any other concerns you may have. Emergency Medicine went live yesterday with FirstNet. It went well overall and a mini-command center in the Emergency Department will ‘triage’ issues. We thank all our ER colleagues for their continued support as they join this very important project.

Upcoming Dates and Events …

August 23, 2011 – President’s Lecture Series

The President’s Lecture Series begins at noon on August 23 in the Lee Auditorium with Dr. Azziz giving the inaugural lecture titled “Sculpting in Clay: Transformative Leadership in Shifting Times”. Distinguished, national leaders and scholars have been invited to speak in upcoming months on issues and trends affecting the academic community in general and academic health centers specifically. We encourage you to attend the inaugural lecture and place a hold on your calendar for the future dates (September 28, March 7, and April 24).

August 29, 2011 – Dr. Amy Blue, MUSC Assistant Provost – GHSU Faculty Senate

Dr. Blue will be speaking to the GHSU Faculty Senate on guidance on introducing inter-professional education programs at health sciences universities. She will share some of MUSC’s success stories. Please mark your calendars and plan to join us.

August 31, 2011 – Deadline for Gold Foundation Partial Scholarship Award –

The Gold Foundation is sponsoring partial scholarships for Gold Humansim Scholars at the Harvard Macy Institute 2012 program for Educators. The Gold Foundation supports medical educators working to develop and enhance educational projects focused on achieving humanistic patient care that can be replicated across a healthcare system. Please visit www.humanism-in-medicine.org for more information.

September 15, 2011 – Career Development 101 Program

Looking to jumpstart your career in medical education? Please contact Ms. Cora Harper (charper@georgiahealth.edu) for more information regarding this great program.

September 15, 2011 – New Faculty Reception

We are most grateful for the Richmond County Medical Society to be joining us as we welcome our new MCG faculty at the New Faculty Reception which will begin at 7:30 pm at the Enterprise Mill. Please mark your calendars and plan to join us on September 15. For more information contact Laurie Lane (llane@georgiahealth.edu)

September 24, 2011 – GHSU Family Day and MCG White Coat Ceremony

Family Day encompasses the entire GHSU Family. The MCG White Coat Ceremony will be held at 2:30 pm at Warren Baptist Church with a reception immediately following. We encourage you to place this on your calendar and plan to attend.

And Finally … Sincerest Thanks …

It is now 1 year since I joined (initially as interim) the Dean’s office team and of course the year has ‘flown by’. It has been a thoroughly invigorating year of professional and personal growth for both my wife Leonie and I. We have very much appreciated your support. It is a great pleasure and a privilege to serve you and our community.