Dartmouth Student-Run Clinic Wins AAMC Grant

A free health clinic founded and run by Dartmouth medical students has won a grant from the American Association of Medical Colleges to expand its operations.

Dartmouth students used funding from the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship program to establish the Mascoma Valley Free Health Clinic in 2003. Almost half of DMS' Class of 2008 volunteered at the clinic during their second year.

The AAMC grant will be used to expand primary care services at the Clinic, to increase health education programming, and to add essential pharmaceutical resources.

Dartmouth is one of eight medical schools to receive an AAMC Caring for Community Grant this year. The grants, which the AAMC awards to medical student community service programs, are also going to Emory; SUNY Downstate; Texas A&M; the University of Colorado; the University of Mississippi; the University of Wisconsin; and Cornell University's Weill Medical College.

Source: "Dartmouth Medical Students Awarded for Community Service Program," press release, Dartmouth Medical School (Hanover, NH), July 19, 2006

Penn Vice Dean Honored for Leadership in Medical Education

Dr. Gail Morrison, Vice Dean for Education and Director of the Office of Academic Programs at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has been awarded the 2006 Daniel C. Tosteson Award for Leadership in Medical Education from the Carl J. Shapiro Institute for Education and Research.

The Testeson Award honors educators who have brought about important improvements and innovations in medical education.

Dr. Morrison has led curriculum innovations at Penn's medical school for over 20 years. She designed and instituted Curriculum 2000® and Virtual Curriculum 2000®, an innovative approach to medical education meant to prepare physicians to practice medicine in changing technological, social, and institutional settings. Curriculum 2000® was introduced at Penn in 1998 and has led to marked gains in student performance. Other medical schools across the U.S. have since looked to Penn's program as a model of successful curriculum reform.

Dr. Morrison has also been a proponent for medical education improvement at the national level. She was one of the founding members of the Clerkship Directors of Internal Medicine and was recently made Chair of the AAMC's Medical Student Performance Evaluation Advisory Committee.

Source: "Dr. Gail Morrison Receives Award for Leadership in Medical Education" - news release, PENN Medicine, July 5, 2006

FSU Puts More Focus On Geriatrics Care

The Florida State University College of Medicine will use a $2 million grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation to expand its principles of geriatric care curriculum.

Dr. Lisa Granville, associate chair and professor in the college's department of geriatrics, told the Orlando Business Journal that the curriculum is valuable for all medical students, even those who do not plan to specialize in geriatrics. "The principals of care that we believe in are not unique or only supposed to be applied in older populations," she said. FSU's principles of geriatrics care curriculum, which starts from a student's first day of class, prepares doctors to work effectively with patients of any age.

Other educators have described geriatrics care as requiring a more holistic view of the patient's health than allopathic medical students are usually taught. Physicians have to consider potential drug interactions and broader quality of life issues in making decisions about patient care. They also have to consider familial, social, and economic factors that can affect the efficacy of a prescribed course of treatment. (For more information, see our March 28 post, ' Med Schools Focus on Geriatrics Training.')

Source: "FSU Medical School to Expand Geriatric Program" - the Orlando Business Journal, June 22, 2006