Dear Colleague: 

As the new academic year begins, our school’s innovative curriculum for clerkship training for medical students was recognized last week in an article in The Denver Post. All our medical students participate in longitudinal integrated clerkships, which assigns a panel of patients to each student to follow over the course of the year. We are one of the few schools in the country that incorporates this type of training for all medical students.

Haider Sarwar, a fourth-year student planning to specialize in ophthalmology, said he chose a panel of patients who had procedures scheduled. He explained that his panel offered him insight into other health matters of his patients.

In one case this summer, Haider was at the clinic when one of his patients visited for a checkup during her first trimester of pregnancy. He initially met her during an unrelated visit for a minor surgery. In another case, he explained how a patient’s calm response to a needing follow-up care for a broken arm surprised him until he learned that the patient had also recently received anger-management care.

Opening students’ eyes to wider considerations in patients’ lives is the point of such training, said Jennifer Adams, MD, assistant dean of medical education overseeing the clinical clerkships. The longitudinal training ensures that our students develop excellent clinical skills while also emphasizing patient-centered, empathetic care. Our school should be exceptionally proud of our innovative approach to educating our medical students.

Faculty Updates
More than 290 CU School of Medicine faculty are listed among Denver’s Top Doctors in 5280 Magazine. Each summer, the magazine publishes a list of physicians in multiple specialties. It is gratifying to be so well represented in this year’s list. You can find your colleagues on the list in this summary compiled by the CU Medicine team.

Jarratt D. Pytell, MD, MHS, assistant professor of medicine in the division of internal medicine, is a co-author of an original investigation published July 17 by JAMA Network Open that considers why physicians do not address substance use and addiction in their clinical practice. The National Institute on Drug Abuse issued a news release about the study and the Department of Medicine newsroom has a Q&A with Jarratt,

Paul J. Christine, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine in the division of internal medicine, is corresponding author of an original investigation published July 26 by JAMA Health Forum, finding that nearly 1 in 3 individuals experience insurance transitions in the 12 months after opioid use disorder diagnosis. Paul and his co-authors explain that insurance instability may represent an important yet underrecognized factor in treatment outcomes for those patients.

Andrew N. Bubak, PhD, assistant research professor of neurology, is corresponding author of a research article published July 25 by the Journal of Virology that describes an evasion strategy used by the varicella zoster virus, which causes chickenpox and shingles, that may allow it to affect tissues far from the original site of infection. Twelve co-authors are from our campus. Christy Niemeyer, PhD, assistant professor of neurology and first author of the study, and Andrew describe their findings in an article in the CU Anschutz newsroom.

Toby C. Cornish, MD, PhD, is co-author of a research article published July 26 by Science Advances that analyzes a microscopic precursor lesion that gives rise to pancreatic cancer. Analyzing more than 1000 of the lesions, the authors found that lesion size can be predicted by general growth behavior without consideration for the heterogeneity of the pancreatic microenvironment or an individual’s age, history, or lifestyle. Toby contributed to the study’s methodology, resources, and writing while he was a professor of pathology at our school.

Ian H. Stanley, PhD, assistant research professor of emergency medicine, is corresponding author of a research letter published July 31 by JAMA Network Open that examines differential handgun-carrying practices and participation in violence prevention programs between youths with a parent in the military and those without. Ian is the psychological health lead for the CU Anschutz Center for Combat Medicine and Battlefield (COMBAT) Research. His three co-authors from campus include members of the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative and the Injury and Violence Prevention Center. Additional details can be found in an article in the Department of Emergency Medicine newsroom.

Patricia A. Gabow, MD, professor emerita of medicine, and Matthew K. Wynia, MD, MPH, director of the CU Center for Bioethics and Humanities, are authors of a viewpoint,  “Oaths, Conscience, Contracts, and Laws—The Gathering Storm Confronting Medical Professionalism,” published July 31 by JAMA.

Distinguished Clinicians
We celebrated exceptional physicians and advanced practice professionals last Monday evening with the Distinguished Clinicians Award ceremony.

These awards were created in 2023 to honor our colleagues who promote a patient-centered culture, demonstrate mastery of their specialty, and offer compassionate patient care with exceptional outcomes and patient satisfaction scores. It was an absolute pleasure to recognize these outstanding professionals!   The honorees are:
Advanced Practice Professionals

• Emily Michelle Benton, PhD, NP, assistant professor of medicine in the division of cardiology
• Angela Falco, MS/MPH, FNP, senior instructor of medicine in the division of hematology
• Michelle LaLinde, MSN, senior instructor of psychiatry
• Cheryl Meguid, DNP, MBA, professor of clinical practice of surgery in the division of surgical oncology

Physicians

• Huong Mindy Lam, MD, associate professor of clinical practice of medicine in the division of internal medicine
• Nancy Madinger, MD, professor of medicine in the division of infectious disease
• Jason W. Stoneback, MD, associate professor of orthopedics
• Kim Weigers, MD, associate professor of clinical practice of anesthesiology

The ceremony this year also included the Distinguished Faculty Professionalism Awards. This award recognizes colleagues who have demonstrated exemplary professional behavior and who contribute to the teaching, service, and administrative activities of their departments and the school. The honorees are:

• Frederick Karrer, MD, professor of surgery
• Wells Messersmith, MD, professor of medicine and head of the division of medical oncology

Congratulations to all these outstanding awardees who are leading the way in setting the gold standard for care. More details about the ceremony and honorees are included in this article in the School of Medicine newsroom. Many thanks also to Lotte Dyrbye, MD, MHPE, senior associate dean of faculty and chief well-being officer, and her team for organizing the award ceremony.

Have a good week,

John H. Sampson, MD, PhD, MBA
Richard D. Krugman Endowed Chair
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and
Dean, University of Colorado School of Medicine