October SOM News

Message from the Dean

Greetings from the Dean's Office and welcome to the SOM October "Dean's Update."

October was an exciting month for the School of Medicine. The announcement that OHSU, in partnership with Kaiser Permanente Northwest, received a $55 million Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the NIH resounded throughout the School of Medicine and will have enormous implications in our efforts to translate our basic science discoveries into clinical trials and finally into improvements in community health care. The award is a testimony to the power of community partnerships and will fund the Clinical Science and Translational Research Institute.

This month several SOM departments began moving some of their clinical, surgical and research operations into the Center for Health and Healing. The importance of the CHH opening goes far beyond providing all of us much needed growth room, both through the new facility and the backfill that will happen on Marquam Hill. This new dimension in care, and OHSU's new front door, is a one-time opportunity to redefine our commitment to service excellence.

Finally, the SOM Strategic Planning Retreat on October 25 set the course for all we hope to, and can, accomplish. All participants in this year's retreat read "Good to Great and the Social Sectors," written by Jim Collins, before coming to the retreat. Collins observes that "greatness. . .is largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline." The recent faculty survey offered guidelines to assessing choices within the SOM. Full details of the survey will be reported to everyone at a later date.

After long hours of discussion, focused on what we do best and what needs improvement, participants agreed that translational integration across the missions and throughout the School is the overarching theme for our strategic planning. We need to improve communication, faculty development and commitment to process. To realize our potential, we must invest in all learners and the full spectrum of the educational process. Research, clinical care and training are the foundations for our school of medicine; it is the intersection of these foundations where our greatest opportunities exist and where the greatest satisfaction is provided to our faculty.

The SOM strategic plan will reflect our choices for the SOM's future and, working together, we will apply the discipline needed to implement our strategies and realize our collective vision.

Next month's newsletter will include an update on SOM strategic planning. I welcome your e-mails and input as we all work to ensure excellence in the School of Medicine.

Best wishes,

Regionalization of Medical Education

Plans continue to develop for the SOM's university-based regional sites in Eugene and Corvallis, reflecting collaboration among the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, PeaceHealth, the Samaritan system and community physicians. Third- and fourth-year OHSU medical student are currently completing clerkships in Eugene, and plans are in place to increase the number of students there and to begin a regional program in Corvallis.

Predicted shortages in Oregon's physician workforce are driving regionalization efforts. The entering class size has been incrementally increased from 101 in 2001 to 120 in 2006, the maximum number that can be accommodated in the current basic science laboratory facility and in clinical sites on the OHSU campus and in the Portland metropolitan area.

Numerous meetings between SOM officials, state universities and health systems have moved regionalization efforts forward. In October, Oregon State University officially joined the collaborative, and plans to have an entering class of OHSU medical school students in Corvallis by fall 2008 are under serious consideration.

• The Eugene campus (or any future regional campus) is not a second medical school. Rather, it is a SOM university-based regional site.
• Medical school course work at the University of Oregon or Oregon State University will be offered under OHSU School of Medicine's accredited status with the LCME. Curriculum and admissions program oversight will remain the responsibility of the School of Medicine.
• No resources will be diverted from the current program to support the regional program. In fact, the Marquam Hill program is being enhanced and medical student enrollment increased. No SOM courses are being outsourced.
• A first-year class will not be matriculated in Eugene or Corvallis unless state support is appropriated. The real cost associated with additional students cannot exceed the additional tuition revenue.
• For all students, the second year of the medical school curriculum will be offered only at the OHSU Marquam Hill campus.

Moving to the Center for Health & Healing

OHSU has taken possession from contractors of the Center for Health & Healing, the first new building in OHSU Commons on the South Waterfront, and has begun a six-week process of moving clinical practices, research facilities and people from the Marquam Hill and West campuses into the new structure. The formal opening ceremonies and ribbon-cutting will be held on December 3. By then, 937 people will have moved into the 16-story, 400,000 square foot building.
Twelve floors in the $145 million building will be occupied by OHSU physician practices, outpatient surgery, imaging services and the March Wellness Center. Four floors, or almost 100,000 square feet of space, will be devoted to research, including cancer, orthopaedics, pulmonary medicine, cardiology, and biomedical engineering. OHSU's General Clinical Research Center, Oregon's only multidisciplinary patient-oriented research facility, will also be there.
The CHH is the most energy-efficient, large-scale building in the Northwest and one of the greenest in the world. It's on track to achieve LEED Platinum, the U.S. Green Building Council's highest ranking. Christine Ervin, the first president of the U.S. Green Building Council and a former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, has said the structure "will revolutionize the design of large buildings."

The building is 61 percent more energy efficient than required by Oregon code. It will use nearly 60 percent less potable water than a similar conventional building. One hundred percent of sewage generated in the building will be treated on site. Rainwater and wastewater will be harvested for landscaping, keeping 15,000 gallons a day from reaching the city's overburdened sewer system.
Accessibility of the CCH via public transportation includes extension of Portland Streetcar service to the center's front door, providing a link to TriMet light rail and bus lines. Streetcar No. 9, one of the 10 providing service on the expanded line, will be sponsored by OHSU and will bear the OHSU logo under a five-year agreement with Portland Streetcar, Inc.

The ring of public transportation links to the CHH will be completed early next year when the Portland Aerial Tram opens to the public. The tram now is more than three quarters of the way to completion. Employees can expect to be on the tram beginning early in December when the operational training period begins. The tram cabins will be hung on the ropeway at the lower terminal shortly, but will remain wrapped until an unveiling event in early December. They will begin flying sometime early in November, but even then they will remain wrapped to prevent any damage to them while construction goes on at the upper and lower terminals.

Resources for Grantseekers

The OHSUF Foundation Relations team is developing hands-on resources to aid you in securing grant funding from private foundations more quickly and efficiently. Included in these resources will be easy-to-use internal electronic submission forms, informative guides to major private foundation funders and technical assistance resources for successful proposal preparation. The Foundation Relations team will provide further information this winter on how to connect to these new resources, which promise to be valuable and rewarding for OHSU grantseekers. Contact the OHSU Foundation, Foundation Relations Department at (503) 220-8348

Application Deadline nears for Gerlinger Research Award

The School of Medicine is taking applications for the Gerlinger Research Award. Applicants must have a faculty appointment within the School of Medicine. Preferences will be given to research dealing with collagen disease, arthritis or DMSO. Funds for a one-year period may be sought for salary, equipment or supplies. Indirect costs cannot be provided. Applicants may seek all or part of the $40,000 available annually. Previous awards have averaged $10,000.

Applicants should follow guidelines provided in the Gerlinger application. An original and 29 copies (all copies stapled) of the application should be submitted by 12:00 noon, Wednesday, November 15, 2006, to Sandra Kollenburn in room 11D30 in the Hatfield Research Building, or mailed to her attention at CR 113. Funding will begin in January 2007.

Applications can be obtained by e-mailing click here or calling 494-5649.

O. John Ma, M.D., named Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine

O. John Ma, M.D., has accepted the position of Chair of the OHSU Department of Emergency Medicine. This appointment includes the administrative position of Chief of Emergency Services for OHSU/Doernbecher Hospitals and Clinics.

In July 2006, Dr. Ma was appointed Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Missouri/Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri, where he had served as Vice Chair since 2000. He was promoted to Professor of Emergency Medicine in 2004. From 2000 - 2002, he served as Vice Chair for Academic Advancement, and since 1998 has been Research Director, Department of Emergency Medicine, UMKC/Truman Medical Center.

Dr. Ma received his B.A. degree in molecular biology from the University of Colorado in 1986 and his M.D. degree from the George Washington University School of Medicine in 1990. After graduating from the emergency medicine residency program at the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1994, he joined the faculty of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. From 1994-97, he served as the Medical Director for Carolina Air Care as well as the department's EMS and Clinical Research Director. After moving to Kansas City in 1997, Dr. Ma worked in private practice at St. Luke's Hospital before joining the UMKC faculty in 1998.

His research interests include emergency ultrasonography and trauma. Textbooks that he has edited include Emergency Ultrasound, Geriatric Emergency Medicine, Emergency Medicine Manual (6th, 5th, and 4th ed.), and Just the Facts in Emergency Medicine (2nd and 1st ed.). Dr. Ma will serve as a co-editor for the 7th edition of Tintinalli's Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide. At UMKC/Truman Medical Center, Dr. Ma was named the department's Teacher-of-the-Year four times (1999, 2000, 2001, 2003) and was presented the 2005 Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Excellence in Ultrasound Education Award.

Dr. Ma will begin his responsibilities as Chair effective January 1, 2007. Terri Schmidt, M.D., M.S., R.N., has been serving as interim chair of OHSU's Emergency Medicine department since April 2005 when Jerris Hedges, M.D., M.S., left as department chair to become Vice Dean in the School of Medicine. Dr. Schmidt will continue in the interim chair role until Dr. Ma assumes his responsibilities in January.

Marquam Hill Concert Series

Thanks in part to the OHSU School of Medicine, a series of eight concerts is taking place on the Marquam Hill campus in the OHSU Auditorium throughout the year. Now in its sixth year, the distinctive series features both nationally and internationally acclaimed professional musicians, performing a variety of styles from jazz, to classical, to tango. The recitals are free for staff, faculty, patients, and members of the public. Take an hour out of your hectic schedule and wind down with some terrific, top-rate music. Please send an email to outreach@ohsu.edu if you would like receive email notification of upcoming concerts or a flyer with the year's events in full.

Memorial Service for George Saslow, M.D.

George Saslow, M.D., Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at OHSU and one of the founders of modern psychiatry, died September 16, 2006 in Portland. He was 99.

Dr. Saslow's professional career spanned 76 years. He began as a biology instructor at Washington Square College, NYU, and then did research in pharmacology, physiology & public health. In 1943, he became Professor of Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Following a faculty appointment at Harvard Medical School, he became the first chairman of the Oregon Medical School (now OHSU) Department of Psychiatry. In 1974, he became chief of Mental Health & Behavioral Sciences Education at the Veterans' Administration Hospital in Sepulveda, CA as well as Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute.

Returning to Oregon in 1979, he continued to teach, practice and serve as Professor of Psychiatry (Emeritus) at OHSU & was a member of the state's innovative Psychiatric Security Review Board for the criminally insane.

During the 1940's, Dr. Saslow served as psychiatric consultant for the staff of the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, NM. During the 1960's, he was chairman of the Behavioral Science Panel of the President's Office of Science & Technology as well as chairman of the subcommittee on medical, ethical, psychological & economic implications of cardiac replacement for the National Heart Institute. He traveled to the USSR and Eastern Europe to observe mental health practices. In the 1970's, he was a member of the task force on nomenclature and statistics for the American Psychiatric Association's third edition of the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual (DSM III).

Dr. Saslow mentored generations of health care professionals from many disciplines. In the words of a former student, he practiced a "maverick psychiatry" that was rooted in careful observation and interpersonal communication, which later became one of the foundations of modern psychiatric practice. He was a pioneer in providing inpatient milieu therapy, use of group therapy with students and colleagues as well as with clients, and he started one of the nation's first mental health inpatient crisis units. He maintained an "open door" policy and was available to clients, students and colleagues continuously and had numerous "pro bono" patients. He was active in many professional organizations and wrote or contributed to over 120 research publications.

A memorial gathering to honor Dr. Saslow will be held Saturday, November 18, 2006 at 3:00 p.m. in the Old Library on the OHSU campus.

Remembrances may be sent to the George Saslow Endowment Fund (account # 16888) OHSU Foundation, 1121 SW Salmon St., Suite 200, Portland, OR 97205.

Molly Osborne, M.D., Ph.D., elected to National Chair in AAMC

Molly Osborne, M.D., Ph.D., has been elected 2006-2007 National Vice Chair of the Group on Student Affairs (GSA), one of 13 professional development groups within the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). She will serve a four-year term in leading the AAMC Group on Student Affairs as Vice Chair, Chair-elect, Chair and Past Chair beginning in November 2006.

Dr. Osborne is Associate Dean for Student Affairs in the OHSU School of Medicine and Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care. She has 48 publications and has had NIH research funding focusing on asthma epidemiology. In addition, she has held VA funding as a VA faculty leader for palliative and end-of-life care in the ICU, and has been part of an international ICU workgroup, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, addressing research and education in these areas.

Dr. Osborne serves or has served on national committees including the FDA Pulmonary Advisory Board, the American Board of Internal Medicine Pulmonary Board, and the American Thoracic Society (ATS) Board of Directors as well as many ATS committees. She currently chairs the ATS Education Committee and the ATS Conflict of Interest Committee.

After receiving her B.A. in psychology from Colorado University, Dr. Osborne earned her Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology and her M.D. degree from Colorado Health Sciences Center. Her internal medicine training, including chief residency, was completed at OHSU. She completed her fellowship in Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of California in San Francisco.

When asked about her goals as the new leader of the GSA, which represents the interests of medical schools and students in the areas of admissions, student records, student affairs, financial aid and minority affairs, Dr. Osborne replied, "I want to make the administration of medical school transparent to students so they can focus on learning the science of healing. I truly want to be a student advocate."

Public Health & Preventative Medicine Accreditation

The Preventive Medicine Residency Program, located in the Department of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, has been notified that the program has received ACGME accreditation for five years, through 2011.

The Oregon MPH Program, a collaborative of Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon State University, and Portland State University, has been notified by the Council on Education in Public Health that they have received accreditation for seven years. This program includes the Epidemiology & Biostatistics track of the MPH, located within the Department of Public Health & Preventive Medicine.

Beth Darnall, Ph.D., awarded American Pain Society Grant

Beth Darnall, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Peri-Operative Medicine, was awarded the American Pain Society's 2006 Future Leaders in Pain grant for her study "A Prospective Investigation of Immunologic Response to Negative Cognition in Persons with Chronic Pain."

Fred Keller, M.D., awarded BSIR Honorary Fellow

Dr. Frederick S. Keller is being awarded Honorary Fellow for the British Society of Interventional Radiology at the BSIR Annual Meeting held November 1-3, 2006 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. Dr. Keller has been Director of the Dotter Institute since 1993 and has long been active in the clinical and academic aspects of interventional radiology at OHSU. He is the Cook Professor of Interventional Therapy, medical director of the Department of Interventional Radiology, professor of Surgery and chair of the Department of Diagnostic Radiology.

Martin Fuss, M.D., expert on Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy

Dr. Martin Fuss, Radiation Medicine's program leader for Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT), is the lead or senior author on a recent trio of peer-reviewed manuscripts on Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT).

Basically, SBRT is a treatment procedure similar to brain stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy, except it pertains to extra-cranial sites (tumors outside the brain). The lung and liver are the usual target organs for SBRT approaches. It involves a single high dose radiation delivery or a few fractionated radiation deliveries (hypofractionated radiation therapy). The procedure will reduce the treatment time for some early stage tumors, especially oligometastases in lung, liver, and bone from multiple weeks to single or a few days. The challenge of this process is that the high precision device used for brain immobilization is not feasible for body components because they are not only non-rigid but also associated with substantial organ motion. Dr. Fuss and has been actively engaged in the development of new techniques to implement best available methods to immobilize patient, localize treatment target and monitor the radiation treatment for SBRT.

The three recently published articles are 1) Rassiah-Szegedi P, Salter BJ, Fuller CD, Blough M, Papanikolaou N, Fuss M. Monte Carlo characterization of target doses in stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). Acta Oncol. 2006;45(7):989-94; 2) Fuss M, Shi C, Papanikolaou N. Tomotherapeutic stereotactic body radiation therapy: Techniques and comparison between modalities. Acta Oncol. 2006;45(7):953-60; and 3) Joyner M, Salter BJ, Papanikolaou N, Fuss M. Stereotactic body radiation therapy for centrally located lung lesions. Acta Oncol. 2006;45(7):802-7.

Jennifer Hyer Elected to American Academy of Family Physicians Board of Directors

Jennifer Hyer, OHSU medical student, has been elected to the board of the directors of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). The AAFP represents more than 94,000 physicians, residents and medical students nationwide. Hyer was elected to a one-year term by the National Congress of Student Members and was confirmed by the Congress of Delegates, the governing body of the AAFP. She will be installed at the Delegate's Dinner Sept. 28, which is held during the AAFP's annual meeting.

As a student member of the AAFP board of directors, Hyer is responsible for representing the interests and opinions of the National Congress of Student Members to the AAFP board and Congress of Delegates.

A member of the AAFP since 2001, Ms. Hyer has served on the Committee on Rural Health and the Special Issues Reference Committee. She also has served on the AAFP Leadership Task Force as student delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates. Most recently, she served as student chair for the 2006 AAFP National Conference for Family Medicine Residents and Students.

On the state level, Hyer is an active member of the Oregon Academy of Family Physicians, the Oregon Medical Association, the American Public Health Association and the Association of Students for the Underserved. On the local level, Hyer volunteers at Wallace Clinical Concern, where she cares for indigent patients. Hyer is also active in OHSU's Family Medicine Interest Group.

Hyer graduated with a master's degree in public health with an emphasis in health management and policy from Portland State University in June 2006, receiving the Award of Excellence for top graduating student. She will complete her medical degree from OHSU in June 2007. Because of her passion for rural health care, Hyer aspires to become a family physician in rural Alaska upon completion of her residency in 2010.

SOM New Faculty

A warm welcome to the following faculty members who have joined the School of Medicine between September 1 and 30, 2006:

Jessica L. Hagen, M.A., Instructor, Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery; Robert C. Sears, M.D., Instructor, Family Medicine; Kevin P. White, M.D., Asst Professor, Dermatology; Michael Hartmeyer, M.D., Instructor, Anesthesiology & Peri-Operative Medicine; Daniel J. Karr, M.D., Adj Asst Professor, Ophthalmology; Jack H. Simon, M.D., Adj Professor, Diagnostic Radiology; Terri L. Wadsworth, Ph.D., Research Asst Professor, Neurology; Colleen Odell, M.S., Instructor, Psychiatry; Francie V. Salinas, M.D. , Adj Associate Professor, Anesthesiology & Peri-Operative Medicine; Kendall L. Snow, M.S. CRNA, Instructor, Anesthesiology & Peri-Operative Medicine; Jennifer K. VanAtta, M.S., PA-C, Instructor, Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation; Marielle C. Gold, Ph.D., Research Asst Professor, Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine; Kristen L. Roberts, M.N., F.N.P., Instructor, Family Medicine; Michael S. Chapman, Ph.D., Adj Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Susanna K. Lai, MPH, Instructor, Pediatrics; Stacey M. Lawrence, PA-C, B.S., Instructor, Anesthesiology & Peri-Operative Medicine; Nellie M. Wirsing, M.D., Instructor, Family Medicine; Darin M. Friess, M.D., Asst Professor, Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation.