2005 deans report

8/9/2019 2005 Deans Report

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The Texas A&M Health Science Ce

College of Medicine

Deans Report

2005


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F R O M T H E D E A N

I am thrilled to present the inaugural Deans Re

rom the College o Medicine o The Texas A&M He

Science Center. This is my opportunity to inorm rie

o the college o our successes and uture plans. A

rapidly approach my third anniversary here, I must sh

with you that it has been a privilege to serve as dean,

has been the most satisying experience o my proessi

career. We have made dramatic progress in educat

research and community outreach, with more chan

on the horizon. This letter will highlight many o th

developments and provide a snapshot o our uture

One o the major successes o the past three y

was the creation o a ve-year strategic plan that outl


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the uture direction o the college. The overarching goals o the plan amaintain the ocus on personalized educational experience or medical anate students as we expand class size and implement curricular reorm; (2signature research and clinical programs in partnership with our sister como the Health Science Center, Texas A&M University and our principal clinners Scott & White and the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System; arearm our land grant heritage o community outreach and service.

The success o our students denes who we are as a college. As we imcurricular reorm to accommodate class expansion, we are mindul o the im

o continuing to put our students rst and maintaining the personalized edexperience that makes us unique. Through curricular reorm, we will prostudents with more clinical training options and develop innovative clinica

Our current research strengths continue to expand in the areas o neurcell biology, cardiovascular/intergrative biology, cancer and inectious diurther build signature research programs, we have reorganized our basidepartments into our interdisciplinary departments. This reorganization mote increased collaboration with clinical departments, help ulll a strotutional commitment to an interdisciplinary environment and attract newThe our interdisciplinary departments include: Molecular and Cellular MMicrobial and Molecular Pathogenesis; Neuroscience and Experimental Ttics; and Systems Biology and Translational Medicine.

Our commitment to build our research enterprise is refected through oFaculty Recruitment Initiative. We are in the process o hiring new aculty this year and are building resources necessary to hire 30 additional aculty over the next seven years. I am very excited about attracting new researcheron the strengths o our college and continuing to improve our research eWe are also committed to developing a strong clinical and translational resegram at our Temple campus as is evidenced by our recent recruitment o pscientist chairs in Medicine, Surgery and Psychiatry.

Another key component o our strategic plan involves expansion o copartnerships. This past year we ormed a community partnership with thView A&M University Undergraduate Medical Academy and admitted 18in the inaugural year o the program. This unique partnership creates an in

approach to recruiting underrepresented students to the eld o medicinour existing Partnership or Primary Care program and the Joint AdmissionProgram, we continue to maintain our commitment to recruit students rand underserved areas o Texas.

These are just a ew highlights o the progressive initiatives we are implat the College o Medicine. I look orward to updating you on our progress through these reports as we strive to ulll our vision to make our college abest in the nation.

Kenneth M. Baker, M.D., Proessor and Director o the

Division o Molecular Cardiology and the Mayborn

Chair in Cardiovascular Research, was named the new

Chair o the American Hear t Associations National Re-

search Committee, eective July 2005. Dr. Baker has also

been appointed to the National Board o Directors and

to the Science Advisory and Coordinating Committeeo the American Heart Association.

CHRISTOPHER C. COLENDA, M.D., M.P.H.

THE JEANAND THOMAS MCMULLIN DEANOF MEDICINE

The White Coat Ceremony or the Class o 2009

marked the 28th class o students to enter the College

o Medicine. Eighty-one entering medical students took

part in the time-honored tradition o receiving a white

coat to signiy the beginning o their medical training.

College o Medicine student Amit Nanavati received the

prestigious 2005 Leadership Award rom the American

Medical Association (AMA) Foundation in March. Nana-

vati, a third-year student rom Houston, accepted the

award at a ceremony in Washington D.C. while attend-

ing the AMAs National Advocacy Conerence.


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C H R i s T O p H E R C . C O l E N D A , M . D . , M . p . H .

T H E J E A N A N D T H O M A s M C M u l l i N D E A N O F M E D i C i N E


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Farida Sohrabji, Ph.Associate Professor, Ne

and Experimental Ther

We areknowing this is where you belongbelieving your w

has a higher purposetaking care of our neighborsinvestin

something lasting and worthwhile. We are passion and healing

dreams and vision.


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The College o Medicine o The Texas A&M Health Science Center

may be the youngest and the smallest medical school in the state,

but as our students, aculty, sta, alumni and donors have ound,

it is what is on the inside that counts.

The College o Medicine is distinctive rom any o

medical school in the country in ways that might

be obvious at rst glance. But when you stop to ta

closer look, we are dierent in all the ways that ma

most. We see things in a unique light and do thing

ways you might not expect.

All medical schools award M.D. degrees and emp

aculty. We do more.

We educate outstanding, compassionate uture p

sicians that go into all elds o medicine, ranging

pediatrics to neurosurgery. We hire exceptional ac


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that are not only progressive researchers, but superior teachers that care abstudents. Our students, aculty and sta spend countless hours donating the

better the lives o their neighbors, working on projects as varied as providinnizations and health screenings or children, undraising or tsunami humrelie and caring or hurricane evacuees in makeshit emergency shelters. look toward the uture, we do not only think about graduating more studenmore aculty and increasing research dollars. Rather, we think about how toCollege o Medicine a better place to study, to work, to serve and to grow.

We areknowing this is where you belongbelieving your work haspurposetaking care o our neighborsinvesting in something lasting anwhile. We are passion and healing and dreams and vision.

Commtment to Edcaton

Since we opened our doors in 1977 to the charter class o 32 students

awarded just under 1,200 M.D. degrees. Ater completing their residenciesour graduates return to practice medicine in Texas, where there is still a gor physicians. Our graduates serve in 80 Texas counties, or 32 percent oties in the state, with the majority settling in Bell, Harris, Dallas and Brazties. O these physicians, approximately hal o those practice primary caincludes Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Obstetrics/GyThe other 50 percent have gone on to successul careers in anesthesiology, emmedicine, neurology, psychiatry, radiology, surgery and many other special

A large part o the success o our students is due to the exceptional eduour aculty. One such exemplary aculty member is Gary C. McCord, M.D.,Dean or Student Aairs and Associate Proessor in both Neuroscience an

mental Therapeutics and Radiology. When it comes to teaching, a proessormost critically by his or her students. As a result, the act that Dr. McCord wBest Lecturer by our students during 11 out o the last 12 years speaks volhas also received numerous teaching awards on the college and university this spring, Dr. McCord was named a 2005 Piper Proessor by the prestigiouStevens Piper Foundation.

Dr. McCord teaches gross anatomy and neuroscience to rst-year medents, and oers an anatomy elective or second-year students priorlicensing exam. He believes the most important aspect o teaching is r or showing students how the basic science knowledge they learn in ttwo years o medical school will help them in their careers as physiciansshould know. In addition to his teaching and administrative duties, he

ticing diagnostic radiologist at the Burleson-St. Joseph Health Center in and Texas A&Ms Beutel Health Center.

My work as a radiologist gives me a good and current idea o what theneed to learn on a daily basis, Dr. McCord says. Its not just about telling details, but really teaching them the bigger concepts. I the students under

v i s i o n Betterteaching, betterresearch,betterneighbors

The 10th Annual Graduate Student Organization

(GSO) Symposium was held in April and included stu-

dents and post-doctoral ellows rom all Health Science

Center components. There were more than three times

as many participants this year than last (74 poster and

oral presentations). Additionally, a large number o the

residents rom the Brazos Family Medicine Residency

program participated, which was another frst in the his-tory o the event.

The Cadaver Memorial Service is an annual event that

allows frst-year gross anatomy students to express

their appreciation or the individuals who donated their

bodies to science. Gross anatomy defnitely is ver y im-

portant to our education here, student Angie Wu says.

Theres no substitute or learning about the body frst-

hand and our cadavers allow us to do that.

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A l A N R . p A R R i s H , p H . D .

C O l l E g E s T A T i O N , T E x A s

A s s O C i A T E p R O F E s s O R , s Y s T E M s B i O l O g Y A N D T R A N s l A T i O N A l M E D i C i N E

p H . D . D E g R E E : T O x i C O l O g Y

T E x A s A & M u N i v E R s i T Y

I enjoy working at the College o Medicine because it provides the opportunity to pursue research

excellence in an environment that encourages collegiality. The aculty, sta and students have

strong relationships that extend outside the classroom and laboratories.


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relevance o what I am teaching them and they see how they will use the inormationin the uture, they will put in that extra eort to learn it.

Adancn Heath Throh Bomedca Reearch

Emerging signature research programs at the College o Medicine cover a broadrange o disciplines and aculty interests. The six major programs o research at thecollege are: Biochemistry and Structural Biology, Cancer, Cardiovascular/IntegrativeBiology, Cell and Molecular Biology, Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis and Neu-rosciences. Within these six programs, aculty aim to advance health through in-vestigations on everything rom cancerous tumors, alcoholism and Lyme disease tocardiac cell growth, glaucoma and hormone replacement therapy.

The Biochemistry and Structural Biology research group explores protein synthe-sis and unctional macromolecule assembly, and utilizes state-o-the-art biophysicaltechnologies to dene mechanisms or cellular protein olding and tracking. A

program emerging in excellence, the Cancer research group strives to integrate thebreadth o cancer research rom basic biology and studies on the origin o cancer withthe therapeutic treatment o the disease. Researchers utilize molecular approaches toreveal the pathogenesis o cancer, including oncogene expression and angiogenesis.

The Cardiovascular/Integrative Biology research group ocuses on the discoveryo molecular and cellular mechanisms that control complex physiological processes.Strong emphasis is placed upon the cardiovascular system, including the regulationo vascular tone and remodeling, angiogenesis and cardiac unction. Diseases suchas diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, heart ailure and cardiac hypertrophy arealso highlighted. Individual research programs in the Cell and Molecular Biologyresearch group ocus on understanding basic cellular mechanisms (i.e., DNA replica-tion, transcription and protein sorting) and molecules that control complex regula-tory pathways (signal transduction, gene regulation, epigenetics, and developmentand dierentiation).

A majority o the research in the Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis groupocuses on the relationships between pathogens and hosts. Considerable emphasisis also placed on the actual inectious agents, including host recognition and inva-sion, as well as the mechanism o toxin action. The Neurosciences research groupembraces diverse interests in the central and peripheral nervous systems includinggene expression, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, neuroendocrinology and sig-nal transduction. Faculty members contribute to research in the areas o alcohol anddrug abuse, circadian rhythms, neural development and neurodegeneration.

In addition to our signature research programs, College o Medicine aculty either

lead or are members o the ollowing centers and institutes: Cardiovascular ResearchInstitute, Center or Health Systems and Design, Center or Microencapsulation andDrug Delivery, Institute or Ocular Pharmacology and the J.L. Hunes Institute orSports Medicine and Human Perormance.

Dr. McCord is truly a gited educator wthe ideals and the quality aspects o teachin

ability to captivate his student audiences a

them necessary acts while, most important

the clinical relevance o the inormation. H

lectures, encouraging words, and positive

won him the respect and aection o all

He is a beloved class riend who motivates

ter students and inspires us to ultimately b

physicians. Anastacio Saenz, Class o 20

Workingtowardthe s e r v i c e improvedwell-beingoothers

This spring, Gary C. McCord, M.D. was n

Piper Proessor by the prestigious Minnie

er Foundation. The Piper Foundation giv

awards o $5,000 to proessors or superio

the college level, and has been recognizin

teaching since 1958. Selections are made

o nominations submitted by each college

in the state.


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a l u m n i Compassionate,talentedormerstudents makingadierence

The College o Medicine has awarded just under 1,200

M.D. degrees since 1981. Our graduates serve in 80

Texas counties and approximately hal o those practice

primary care, which includes Family Medicine, Internal

Medicine, Pediatrics and Obstetrics/Gynecology. The

other 50 percent have gone on to successul careers in

anesthesiology, emergency medicine, neurology, psychia-

try, radiology, surgery and many other specialty felds.

ClAiRE M. CARMAN, M.D. 85

A member o the College o Medicines Class o 1985, Claire Carman, Msilenced many a critic along the way since her days as an undergraduate sTexas A&M University. Ater being told by various naysayers that she might

it through medical school, probably shouldnt choose surgery as her careermight want to reconsider opening her own practice, Dr. Carman has provwrong time and time again. Today, she is a successul breast reconstructionand got her start at the College o Medicine.

The best thing about attending the college was the low student to tetio, Dr. Carman says. The personal attention we got was great becauseget so lost in medical school. But here, we were taught by attending prather than residents.

Ater commencement, she completed her medical training in Bomoved to the Norolk-Virginia Beach area with her husband, who is in tary. She established her solo practice, Breast Care Specialists, and sees women per day.

I really became interested in this eld during my third year surgery under Dr. (Richard) Symmonds at Scott & White, Dr. Carman remembethe chance to talk to and spend time with our patients and really enjoyed thlater, I still ound that I liked these same ladies and was drawn to them, so is very ullling. I gured i I was going to do this, I wanted to be the best.

WilliAM l. RAYBuRN, M.D. 83

No one would ever guess that Bill Rayburn, M.D., was accepted as aninto medical school or that he poured concrete to help build the third deckA&Ms amed ootball stadium, Kyle Field, in the late 1970s. Having alsoAggie undergraduate student, Dr. Rayburn began his medical training at tho Medicine in 1979.

We were only the third class, so I remember the pressure my ellow cland I elt to perorm as well or better than the previous two classes, Dr. says. The College o Medicine was unique because o the small class sizenormous amount o aculty interaction.

Ater completing his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Scott Hospital in Temple, Dr. Rayburn returned to College Station and joinedat the Scott & White Clinic in its rst year o existence. Today, he serv

College o Medicine ormer students

hail rom all over the state, nation and world. As a result, their background

interests and careers are just as diverse as the places rom which they come. The

eatured below represent just a ew o our talented ormer students who have ulf

dreams o becoming exceptional, compassionate physicians.


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J . p . B R A M H A l l , M . D . 8 5

C O l l E g E s T A T i O N , T E x A s

O R T H O p E D i C s u R g E O N A T C E N T R A l T E x A s

s p O R T s M E D i C i N E A N D O R T H O p E D i C s

D i R E C T O R O F s p O R T s M E D i C i N E A T T E x A s A & M A N D T E A M p H Y s i C i A N

F O R A l l A T H l E T i C s T E A M s A T T H E u N i v E R s i T Y

From the very beginning o the medical school interview process, it was clear that A&M was a very special place.

They took a more intimate approach than the larger schools and oered more opportunities because o the smaller class siz


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Scott & White Board o Directors and has held the post o Medical DirectCollege Station clinic or the last six years. Administrative duties take up

mately 50 percent o his time, but Dr. Rayburn still nds the time to deliv(more than 2,500 over the past 18 years), perorm pelvic reconstructivand collaborate on research projects. He also serves as an associate proOB/GYN or the College o Medicine.

It is gratiying to hear a doctor say they chose the eld o OB/GYN becspent time with you, so teaching is a big part o what I do, Dr. Rayburn I also like the challenges o administration and serving in various leadersbut I most enjoy being in the exam room and interacting with patients. Thacome to work or.

BECkY MOusER, M.D. 84

Many people assume the lie o a physician is glamorous. But or pe

Becky Mouser, M.D., being a doctor means working the medical trenching at 7:30 a.m. and treating 34 children every day. One o 40 pediatriciaAustin Regional Clinic, Dr. Mouser sees patients ranging rom newborns tolds or everything rom checkups and illnesses to stitches and injuries.served on the clinics board or seven years and volunteers at an underservclinic every other month.

Being a pediatrician is never boring, and theres lots o variety, Dr. MousAter being in the eld or 18 years, I am now caring or the children o mpatients!

So what made her choose pediatrics? As a student at the College o MedMouser completed her pediatrics clerkship rotation at Scott & White duringseason. She remembers the hospital was so busy that she and her ellow chad the opportunity to really get involved and work with patients. From thewas hooked.

Having also attended Texas A&M University during her undergraduatDr. Mouser ound the College o Medicine to be a natural t when decidimedical school to attend.

I knew i A&M had a medical school, they would do it well, Drremembers. The best things about attending the college were the peatmosphere and the opportunity to orm close relationships. You simpnot be anonymous or get lost in the shufe because your classmatesaculty were involved on such a personal level. Everybody talks about tNetwork, but I can say rom experience that the spirit o A&M also ove

the medical school.

a l u m n i Compassionate,talentedormerstudents makingadierence

The College o Medicine is hosting a 25th Reunion or

the charter Class o 1981, July 28-29, 2006 in conjunc-

tion with the White Coat Ceremony to welcome the

incoming class o medical students. This exciting event

will provide the Class o 1981 an opportunity to catch

up with riends and aculty, as well as celebrate with the

Class o 2010 as they begin their medical education

journey. More inormation about the Class o 1981 25th

Reunion can be ound at www.medicine.tamhsc.edu.


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J.p. BRAMHAll, M.D. 85

Having played baseball rom 1978 to 1981 or Texas A&M University, J.P. Bram-

hall, M.D., understands the needs o elite athletes and the level o care they require.Ater receiving his M.D. rom the College o Medicine in 1985, Dr. Bramhall didhis residency training in orthopedic surgery at John Peter Smith in Fort Worth. Healso completed a sports medicine ellowship in Birmingham, Alabama under Dr.Jim Andrews, one o the worlds renowned orthopedic specialists.

These days, Dr. Bramhall has a successul career as an orthopedic surgeon at Cen-tral Texas Sports Medicine and Orthopedics in College Station, and works alongsideellow College o Medicine graduate Rick Seabolt, M.D. 96. Dr. Bramhall also servesas Director o Sports Medicine at Texas A&M and team physician or all athleticsteams at the university. Both o these roles represent the ulllment o a lielongdream a dream he began to chase at the College o Medicine.

From the very beginning o the medical school interview process, it was clear that

A&M was a very special place, Dr. Bramhall says. They took a more intimate ap-proach than the larger schools and oered more opportunities because o the smallerclass size. It was great to be part o such a close-knit group o people because weworked toward our goal o a medical education together. At the time I was a student,the school was so young that we had our labs in the basement o the Teague building.We also had to listen to the activities in the slaughterhouse o the Animal Industriesbuilding during our lectures.

In his orthopedic practice, Dr. Bramhall cares or all ages o athletes with sportsinjuries, and specializes in knees and shoulders. He sees patients rom 8 a.m. tonoon and conducts operations during the aternoons, Monday through Thursdayand all day Friday. Then, he arrives at the training room on campus by 4 p.m. every

day or clinics or injured A&M athletes. Dr. Bramhall keeps busy balancing hisduties as a physician to weekend warriors and elite athletes, but says every minuteis worth the eort.

My practice is rewarding because o the opportunity to watch people return totheir previous level o unction, Dr. Bramhall says. My position at A&M is satisyingbecause I get to work with young, healthy, motivated patients and it is a great respon-sibility to serve in that capacity. I have a passion or A&M athletics, so it is antasticto work in this atmosphere that has year-round demands with athletes who have atremendous will to succeed. I get to help them return to their hopes and dreams outure athletic careers, and thats pretty important.

Dr. Sydney Jae, a 1984 College o Medic

was killed September 30, 2004 while ridin

in Yuma, Arizona. Dr. Jae, 46, was a sta

Yuma Regional Medical Center. She was th

Audrey Jae and the late Richard, sister o

and granddaughter o Rose Lipman. Grave

were held October 3, 2004 at the Adath Je

etery in Philadelphia.

Dr. Jae designated the College o Me

benefciary o her employers proft-shar

unrestricted git is a great tribute to h

the college.


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r e s e a r c h Askingquestions, makingdiscoveries,fndingcures

The College o Medicine has an impressive research portolio, as ourInstitutes o Health (NIH) unding has grown rom $3.6 million to $12 mill

last decade, and total research expenditures have quadrupled in the past sevThe colleges NIH unding represents 72% o NIH expenditures at the HealtCenter and 29% at the Texas A&M University System level.

College o Medicine aculty are making great strides toward taking things rom the bench to the bedside. The ollowing researchers are ououtstanding aculty:

AllisON C. RiCE-FiCHT, pH.D.Proessor, Molecular and Cellular Medicine

Director, Center or Microencapsulation and Drug Delivery

For Dr. Allison C. Rice-Ficht, 2005 has been a good year. She receivegents Proessor Award in January, an honor that is bestowed annually by

A&M Board o Regents in recognition o awardees exemplary contributioncolleges and the people o Texas. This spring, $3 million in ederal undingmarked or the Vaccine Delivery Program, a project within the Center or capsulation and Drug Delivery (CMDD). Dr. Rice-Ficht is the director o thwhich is a multidisciplinary aculty group that designs and tests delivery oand pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Rice-Ficht has gained a strong international reputation in the areas o istry, molecular biology and inectious diseases since joining the Texas A&in 1984. As a teacher, Dr. Rice-Ficht developed innovative electronic resoteaching and was the course coordinator or genetics or eight years. She hagaged in a number o research initiatives ocused on the molecular biology oincluding 34 national and state-level grants totaling approximately $21.5 m

kATHRYNJ. kOTRlA, M.D.Associate Proessor and Head, Psychiatry and Behavioral Science

Serving in a war zone is physically, mentally and emotionally demanAmerican military personnel deployed overseas. Soldiers in the 21st centurviving serious physical injuries in increasing numbers, but are sustaining brain injuries and oten struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD

Dr. Kathryn J. Kotrla is the Department Head o Psychiatry and Behavence at the College o Medicine and Medical Director o Mental Healthhavioral Medicine at the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System (CTV1988 graduate o the College o Medicine, Dr. Kotrla is leading the charprove care or veterans when they leave the military. She and other CTVHCare collaborating with Fort Hoods Darnall Army Community Hospital in nd out how to better assist soldiers returning rom deployments oversea

At the national level, there is a lot o encouragement or the VA to wthe Department o Deense to take care o injured soldiers when they comsays Dr. Kotrla. There must be close communication between Darnall an

In 2000, Dr. Rice-Ficht was named to her current

position as director o the CMDD, or which she

recruited 46 aculty members and oversees nearly

$21.5 million in unding.

Dr. Kotrla and her team have been meeting with men-

tal health proessionals at Darnall to assess the issues

soldiers returning rom Iraq and Aghanistan will ace.


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to make the transition o care as seamless as possible. When they leave the Army,soldiers need to know they can continue to get help or mental and physical health

needs at the VA.

JOHN M. QuARlEs, pH.D.Proessor and Head, Microbial and Molecular Pathogenesis

Associate Dean or Graduate Studies

Dr. John M. Quarles has worked or the past two and a hal years with DelSiteBiotechnologies, Inc. and his veterinary colleagues to develop a nasal powder infu-enza vaccine that is easier to administer and more immunogenic than currently avail-able vaccines. DelSite was awarded a $6 million grant rom the National Institute oAllergy and Inectious Diseases last all to continue preclinical work on the project,$600,000 o which Quarles and his research colleagues will use to continue conduct-ing preclinical tests.

Dr. Quarles research might seem timely, considering the nationwide shortage ovaccines and the fu season just around the corner. But or Quarles, working with thefu is nothing new. He has been researching the virus or many years and now thechance to work on such a large project is rewarding.

The pre-clinical phase o development rst shows the vaccine works in animals.Then we start planning to conduct human trials. Bringing a new vaccine or drug tothe market can take years, but we are making signicant strides. The NIH has beenpushing or academic entities and private companies to orm partnerships, and thatsexactly what weve done here, Dr. Quarles says.

W. ROY sMYTHE, M.D.Proessor and Head, Surgery

Dr. W. Roy Smythe, College o Medicine Class o 1989, returned to his alma ma-ter in 2004 to head up the Department o Surgery on the colleges clinical campusat Scott & White. Dr. Smythe is active in the ght against mesothelioma, a rare anddeadly orm o cancer in which cancerous cells are ound in the mesothelium, a pro-tective sac that covers most o the bodys internal organs.

The surgical procedure to extract the tumors and subsequent radiation therapyare only perormed by a ew surgeons around the country. There is a relatively highrate o recurrence and treatment can be very costly. As a result, Dr. Smythe started aoundation that oers grants to oset costs or treatment or mesothelioma patients.He is also in the process o planning a nationwide clinical trial with two major goals:to treat patients and teach more surgeons about treatment or this deadly cancer.

My goal is to cure every patient, Dr. Smythe says. But I believe this procedureis worth the time and money to improve a patients quality o lie, even i it onlyprolongs his or her lie or a while. My aim is to continue to constantly learn how toimprove the treatment o this disease.

Dr. Quarles and his colleagues have collabo

ate an intranasally administered powder t

thin flm o gel over the mucous membra

vaccines to be taken up more slowly by th

Beore his arrival in Temple, Dr. Smythe se

tor o the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center M

Multi-disciplinary Treatment and Researc

Houston.


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Mahatma Ghandi once said that service which is rendered without joy hther the servant nor the served. And although he let medical school ater

Ghandi understood the meaning o service and the signicance o reachiothers. Faculty, sta and students at the College o Medicine also strongly the importance o outreach, and give countless hours o their time and resouyear to educating and bettering our neighbors.

stdent Contrbte to Hrrcane Rta Ree

College o Medicine students had planned to spend the weekend o S24 cramming or gross anatomy and basic block tests that had been schethe ollowing Monday. Mother Nature had other ideas, however, as categorricane Rita bore down on the Texas and Louisiana coasts. With visions o tdevastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, residents rom Houston and Gscrambled to evacuate the region, bringing approximately 10,000 evacue

Bryan-College Station area. Many were seeking shelter rom the storm, but talso hundreds o sick and elderly people that had been evacuated rom clinics and nursing homes.

Approximately 90 students volunteered over the weekend at shelters acity, contributing more than 700 collective hours to the relie eort.

This was a wonderul volunteer experience that proved truly rewarit rearmed my commitment to become a doctor, second-year medicaAnastacio Saenz said. It allowed me to put to use many o the skills thatlearned in class including pertinent history-taking and eective commuwith patients. It also gave me the opportunity to learn disaster relie rst hlessons I learned ar surpassed anything I could have gained rom a book oemergency situation.

No one could have anticipated the impact that the students time spentevacuees would have on them not only as uture physicians, but as people. periences allowed them to help those in need and provided an invaluable opto receive hands-on training in a real-lie disaster relie setting.

Manoa Tea Edcate loca lade on Women ie

The College o Medicine hosted the rst annual Magnolia Tea in May at thAstin Mansion in Bryan. Featuring guest speaker Dr. Farida Sohrabji, an assoessor in the Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics department, theo the tea was to educate ladies in the local community about hormone reptherapy issues.

Dr. Sohrabji explained to her captive audience the importance o propor hormone replacement therapy to maximize benets and minimize danmessage was that we must continue to seek out answers to questions about replacement therapy that are currently unresolved, and come to a better uning about which women are the best candidates or therapy.

More than 60 women rom the Bryan-College Station community attewell-received event. Plans are currently underway or the 2006 Magnolia organizers are aiming to increase attendance or the next event.

o u t r e a c h Increasingknowledge,improvinghealth,enrichinglie

The frst 10 students to join the Gold Humanism Hon-

or Society rom the Class o 2005 were Crista Benson,

Brad Burns, Rajesh Datary, Marci Ernsberger, Christo-

pher Kneip, Jared Lund, Lakshmi Nair, Trichelle Newman,

Sarjita Shukla, and Rebecca Wiatrek. The students were

recognized or demonstrated excellence in clinical care,

leadership, compassion and dedication to service. Below,

Trichelle Newman pins Sarjita Shukla.

Sixteen students rom The College o Medicines

Christian Medical Association headed or Nuevo

Laredo over Spring Break or a medical mission trip.

Medical students and physicians saw patients at their

our makeshit clinics, treated approximately 350

people over the course o two and a hal days, and

perormed histories and physicals, made diagnoses

and distributed medication. Below, Nikki Weidner

holds a child at the orphanage the group visited.


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Heath Crc: Not Jt Cownn Arond

Currently, the state o Texas ranks 43rd in the nation in the number o ully immu-

nized preschool-aged children, and approximately 21 percent o the states childrenare uninsured. In the Brazos Valley, 67 percent o residents deer seeking medical carebecause o the cost o healthcare, while Burleson, Grimes, and Leon counties havebeen designated as Health Proessional Shortage Areas.

In the spring o 2002, two students rom the College o Medicine met with UnitedWay Brazos Valley representatives to discuss these healthcare issues and how studentscould make a dierence in the local community. As a result, Health Circus was born.A traveling health air designed to serve the surrounding counties o the Brazos Valley,Health Circus is a student-organized partnership with healthcare providers to improvethe quality o lie or children and adults by ocusing on preventative medicine, insur-ance coverage and a positive outlook on healthcare.

For the past three years, College o Medicine students have been working with

great dedication to make this project possible. Hundreds o children receive ree im-munizations every year, and organizers plan at least six events each academic year. Inaddition to immunizations, Health Circus volunteers oer healthy child screenings,dental screenings, blood pressure and glucose checks or adults and educational in-ormation rom local health organizations, as well as door prizes, balloon animals, acepainting, popcorn, games, and a moonwalk or children.

Coee Mn-Medca schoo gradate loca Redent

Members o the Bryan-College Station community had the opportunity to at-tend medical school this spring or ree. Mini-medical school, that is. The College oMedicine presented the rst Mini-Medical School during the 2005 spring semester

or local residents interested in learning current, relevant medical inormation rommedical school aculty. The three week program, planned or consecutive Thursdayevenings in January and February, was designed to make positive connections to thelocal community.

Mini-Medical students attended inormative lectures given by College o Med-icine aculty members Dr. Don DiPette, Dr. Roy Smythe and Dr. Farida Sohrabji.Dr. DiPette kicked o the program with Hypertension: The Hearts Silent Enemyand a discussion about the dangers o hypertension and methods o treatment.Dr. Smythe lectured attendees on current cancer research in Cancer: When GoodCells Go Bad. Dr. Sohrabji concluded the Mini-Medical School with a talk entitledHormones: To Replace or Not to Replace, which discussed the benets, pitallsand current research on menopause, estrogen and hormone replacement therapy.

Students who attended at least two o the three sessions were presented with acerticate o achievement at a graduation ceremony on the last night o the Mini-Medical School. The event drew more than 100 attendees or this years program, andorganizers are looking orward to broadening the scope o this community outreachopportunity at next years event, which is being expanded to six sessions during Janu-ary and February.

The Mini-Medical School program is a m

portunity or the community, and these are

aect all o us, attendee Dorothy Miller s

ree parking, a ree program, ree rereshm

opportunity to ask experts questions ab

personal issues. How can you beat that?

More than 60 women rom the Bryan-Co

community attendedthe 2005 Magnolia T

Recognized or their contributions to t

Texans, the College o Medicines studen

Circus organization was selected as the w

2004 Student Research Exhibit at the Te

o Family Physicians 55th Annual Sessio

tifc Assembly.


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While nancial gits to the College o Medicine go back to the days o its inceptionin 1977, ull-time organized eorts to attract private resources are much more recent.

With the establishment o the Health Science Center in 1999, a separate Health Sci-ence Center Foundation was also created. The HSC Foundation, a 501(c)3 organiza-tion, accepts gits on behal o the institutions o the HSC, which includes the Collegeo Medicine.

The Oce o Institutional Advancement is responsible or all activities related todevelopment, including soliciting major and ongoing gits, stewarding donors andplanning community outreach events. Through this oce, the College o Medicinehas initiated new programs to encourage giving ranging rom annual support andendowment level gits to bequests, trusts and other planned gits.

One such program is the colleges Annual Appeal Fund. This campaign is de-signed to attract broad support through regular gits at levels o $1,000 or less.Sponsorships through this campaign provide unrestricted dollars, a source o criti-

cal importance that allows the college to support a variety o educational, researchand outreach projects.

The college is also organizing a scholarship campaign to solicit both current andendowed unds. Medical education expenses, when coupled with the costs o under-graduate school, oten leave medical students with a tremendous debt load. Financialsupport, in the orm o scholarships, helps oset some o this expense and provides atremendous incentive to potential students. Since the College o Medicine is expectingto grow its incoming class size by 25 percent beginning in 2007, additional scholar-ship support will also be necessary to assist students. Plans are underway to increasethe existing endowed corpus or scholarships rom approximately $1.5 million tomore than $3 million.

In addition to these major eorts, the Oce o Institutional Advancement is or-ganizing events which serve to promote the college while providing community out-reach opportunities. The college hosts multiple events throughout the year in the Bry-an-College Station area and other communities statewide to oer timely inormationabout important medical topics. From sessions on the latest innovations in womenshealth to caring or elderly parents, these events allow the college to take inormationrom the classroom or research lab to share it with the general population. Such com-munity outreach not only enables the college to ulll its mission o service, but alsoattracts donors to a variety o programs seeking private support.

For more inormation about giving opportunities, please contact Tom Pool,Director o Institutional Advancement at [email protected] or

979/845-3431.

Promotinggrowthand d e v e l o p m e n t osteringresourcesortheuture

2005-2006 Annual Fund Spo

Active LeveL

TREsA MCNEAl, M.D.

AlAN & susAN suNDERl

Bronze LeveL

CHRisTiNE ABRAHAM

TERREll BENOlD, M.D.

JOliE CAppEl 08

DR. DON & JuliE CAuTH

pHYllis CHANg, M.D.

DARREll & DONNA FAg

gEORgE s. FiDONE, M.D

AliCE D. FRiEDMAN, M.DJ. BlAkE HARRisON, M.D

lAuRA HATTOx 09

JOY l. HAWkiNs, M.D.

J. MARk JACksON, M.D.

DAviD &JENNiFER liN

ROB MilMAN, M.D. 8

THOMAs MuRNANE, M.D

DARREN NElsON, M.D.

k. kip OWEN, M.D. 8

kEN & liNDA QuiRk

RENE sAlAzAR, M.D. 9

SiLver LeveL

BRiAN & kAREN ECkHA

ANgElA lATHAM, M.D.

FiONA pRABHu, M.D.

GoLd LeveL

---

PLAtinum LeveL

ClAiRE M. CARMAN, M.D

MiCHAEl DRAguTskY, M.DpAul OgDEN M.D. 8

BARBARA WEiss pROBE, M.

ROBERT A. pROBE, M.D.

JOsE i. ullOA

*As of publication date


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A D M I S S I O N S

Admission to The Texas A&M Heath Science Center Coee o Medicine is competitive. We consider individuas oment who have competed at east 90 hours o their underraduate course work at a uy accredited coee or un

in the United States or its territories. By state mandate, enroment o individuas who are residents o states oth

Texas may not exceed 10 percent.

We are committed to improvin the heath o Texans throuh the interated education o humane and hihy skie

cians and the deveopment o knowede in the biomedica and cinica sciences. We aso beieve in the importan

diversity in the trainin o uture medica proessionas, which enhances their abiity to provide care to communitiea broad rane o racia and ethnic roups. These characteristics o the coee orm the phiosophy behind our adm

process and our desire to admit students whose oas and attitudes are consistent with our mission.

Appicants, thereore, must demonstrate better than averae abiity to master a chaenin educationa experi

addition to academic abiity, successu appicants must exhibit the persona quaities necessary to interact wit

in an eective and personabe manner. Pre-medica advisors pay an important roe in hepin the admissions coassess these attributes and quaities. Prospective appicants are ured to et to know their advisors eary in thei

raduate education.

APPlICATION INORMATION

The Texas Medica and Denta Schoos Appication Service (TMDSAS) is a centraized appication processin servic

picants to frst-year enterin casses at participatin medica schoos. TMDSAS provides one standardized orm ohttp://www.utsystem.edu/tmdsas/. The appication or admission can be submitted as eary as May 1. The TMDSAS

tion ee is $55; the ee wi increase $10 with each schoo seected. The ee schedue is incuded with the eectronic

o the appication. A supportin documents are to be maied to: TMDSAS, 702 Coorado, Suite 6.400, Austin, TexaContact TMDSAS at 512/499-4785 or emai [email protected].

Appicants must aso submit the Secondary Admission Appication, which is ocated on the Coee o Medicine The appication is to be fed out and submitted by eectronic transmission, and the appication ee is $45 (non

abe). Appicants wi not be considered or urther evauation unti the primary and secondary appications ha

propery competed, appropriate MCAT scores reeased and etters o evauation submitted.

Inormation on etters o evauation, appication screenin, persona interviews, underraduate course requireme

the Medica Coee Admission Test can be ocated on the Coee o Medicine Admissions webpae.

COllEgE O MEDICINE ADMISSIONS RESOURCES

Admissions Ofce: http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/admissions/index.htm

Appication Timeine: http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/admissions/timeine.htm

Admissions AQ: http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/admissions/aq.htm

I you have questions concernin admissions, pease address them to: The Texas A&M Heath Science Center Co

Medicine, Assistant Dean or Admissions, 159 Reynods Medica Buidin, Coee Station, TX 77843-1114. ConAssistant Dean or Admissions at 979/845-7743 or emai [email protected].


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Collegeof MediCine

The Texas A&M Health Science Center

147 Joe H. Reynolds Medical Building n College Station, Texas 77843-1114

Phone: 979 / 845 3431 n Fax: 979 / 847 8663

2005 deans report

Documents