2005 in the School of Medicine

Changing the face of medical education in Oregon

As 2005 comes to a close, we look back on an eventful year within the SOM, a year marked by changes, challenges and achievements.

This year the SOM responded to the looming physician workforce shortage by increasing the Oregon-resident enrollment. With more than 3,600 applicants for the 2005-entering medical class, we matriculated 112 students (108 in 2004) including 68 Oregonians (46 in 2004). Next fall we plan to matriculate 120 students, the maximum we can train at this campus. We also have a record number of students in our graduate programs, with more than 500 students participating in master’s-level and Ph.D. programs.

We are making headway toward our goal of regionalization. A SOM campus in Eugene, in partnership with the University of Oregon and PeaceHealth, is planned to open fall 2007. In addition, we are in serious conversation with Oregon State University about opening a regional campus in Corvallis.

Regionalization will help us realize numerous goals including increasing the number of physicians we educate, extending care to underserved areas, creating more diverse clinical training experiences, improving our pipeline for greater diversity and rural heritage, offering greater interaction with AHECs, extending our base for philanthropic efforts, and expanding opportunities for graduate studies.

Moving toward the top 20

OHSU School of Medicine moved from 32 to 23 in the NIH Rankings. Ten of our departments were in the top twenty: Anesthesiology (15), Biostatistics (8), Emergency Medicine (7), Microbiology (11), Neuroscience (2), Obstetrics-Gynecology (10), Ophthalmology (14), Other basic sciences (2), Otolaryngology (4), and Physiology (8).

Funding medical education

The 2005 State appropriation to the SOM was unchanged from the 2003 level of State support. State funding to the School of Medicine reflects at 38% decrease since 2001. Increasing State support for the SOM is one of the five goals established in the SOM strategic plan, which identifies the need for a stable financial basis for the School. In the AAMC 2004 report on funding, Oregon ranked in the bottom five of the 74 publicly supported medical colleges.

NIH roadmap

Institutional Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) is the NIH’s specific challenge to academic medical centers to develop a new research format. This challenge will provide new opportunities for both SOM clinical and basic science departments to participate in additional research efforts emphasizing translating discoveries from bench to bedside to community.

Translational spaces

2005 was the year of construction; 2006 will see the opening of the BRB, the new patient care facility, and the near completion of the Center for Health and Healing at the South Waterfront campus and the aerial tram. The BRBliterally and figuratively bridging the clinical and basic science arenaswill be the first new space to be occupied.

Establish your identity

Please remember the new SOM policy regarding ID badges is "no badge/no business." Please wear your badge whenever you are on campus.

Best wishes for the holidays and 2006!

Faculty Achievements

• Sanjiv Kaul, M.D., a pioneer in cardiovascular imaging, was recruited to be Distinguished Professor of Cardiology, Professor of Medicine, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine.


• Marc Gosselin, M.D., Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Interventional Radiology, was awarded the Alan J. Hill, Jr. award for excellence in teaching in clinical sciences.


• Within the Department of Physiology & Pharmacology Dr. David K. Grandy's dopamine research study findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Martin Kelly, Ph.D., and Oline Ronnekleiv, Ph.D., received funding from the Bioscience Innovation Fund (BSIF) to further evaluate the efficacy of a synthetic estrogen compound (STX).


• US News & World Report ranked OHSU's Department of Family Medicine #3 in the nation. The Department received a $2 million Kaiser Endowment to establish an endowed professorship in research and facilitated opening of a Federally Qualified Health Center at Richmond. In addition, OHSU Family Medicine at Scappoose achieved Rural Health Center status.


• Frederick S. Keller, M.D., chairman of the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Dotter Institute Director, had an endowed chair established in his name after the Cook Group,Inc. donated $2.5 million to create the Frederick S. Keller Chair of Interventional Radiology Endowment Fund. Dr. Keller is also only the second American to be named a distinguished fellow at the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe (CIRSE). In April 2005, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Society of Interventional Radiology. John A. Kaufman, M.D., professor of interventional radiology and chief of vascular and interventional radiology, Dotter Institute, was chosen as the first Frederick S. Keller Professor of Interventional Radiology.


• In the Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Tamara Phillips, Ph.D., received the 2005 John Resko Research and Mentoring Award, School of Medicine. John Crabbe, Ph.D., was awarded the 2004 William S. Middleton Award for outstanding achievement in biomedical and behavioral research, Veterans Health Administration & Office on Research and Development (presented '05).


• Pat Kenney-Moore, M.S., PA-C, Associate Director & Academic Coordinator of the P.A. Program, was the Oregon Society of Physician Assistants' "Physician Assistant of the Year."


• Richard H. Goodman, M.D., Ph.D., director and senior scientist at OHSU's Vollum Institute, was elected to the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Goodman also holds appointments in the OHSU School of Medicine as Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology; Professor of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Clinical Nutrition; and Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.


• Hatfield Research Center scholar, David J. P. Barker, M.D., Ph.D., was awarded the 5th edition of the Danone International Prize for Nutrition.


• In the Department of Anesthesiology and Peri-Operative Medicine, Dr. Patricia Hurn, Vice Chair for Research, has established OHSU as a center of excellence for gender biology related to brain injury. Dr. Michael Seropian, co-director of the OHSU Simulation Center, along with Bonnie Driggers, has established OHSU as a leader in the area of medical simulation.


• Craig Warden, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of Emergency Medicine and principal investigator for the Injury Free Coalition for Kids in Portland, obtained a $70,000 grant from the Allstate Foundation for a new playground constructed at N. Portland's Beach Elementary School. Robert Hendrickson, M.D., was recognized for his emergency preparedness activities by OHSU Professional Board. Drs. Jon Jui, Terri Schmidt, Helen Miller, Rob Cloutier, Jo Su and several emergency nurses who are members of the Oregon Disaster Medical Assistance Team (OR-2 DMAT) were deployed as part of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) to Louisiana and Mississippi after Hurricanes Katrina & Rita.


• Tom Becker, M.D., Professor and Chairman of the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, was elected to the American Epidemiological Society. Katherine Riley, Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, was elected to the position of President-Elect of the Oregon Public Health Association and will serve as President during the 2006-07 term. Dr. Riley was presented the 2005 Faculty Excellence in Service Award by the Dean's Oversight Council of the Oregon MPH Program. Merwyn (Mitch) Greenlick, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, was awarded the Oregon Public Health Association's Lifetime Achievement Award.


• Norwood Knight-Richardson, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, was asked by President Bush to coordinate the mental health response to Katrina and recently spent several weeks in New Orleans. Kathryn Zerbe, M.D., received the Alexandra Symonds Award for contributions to women's mental health from the APA. Robert Sack, M.D., received the 2005 Distinguished Alumni Scientist award from the SOM.


• Dr. Karen Deveney, M.D., Professor in the Department of Surgery, was awarded the ACGME Parker J. Palmer "Courage to Teach" award.


• Ross Ungerleider, M.D., Division Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, was elected President for the Southern Thoracic Surgical Association. Irving Shen, M.D., was elected to membership in the Congenital Heart Surgeon's Society.