Dear Colleague, 

I was on the road again this past week, so I had to compress several meetings into the two days I was here. On Monday, I met with the Departments of Immunology and Cell and Developmental Biology to discuss the proposed reorganization of basic sciences and on Wednesday met with most of the clinical chairs to discuss the proposed reorganization of the governance of our clinical practice. All three meetings were successful, I thought, in allowing broad input into our thinking and process. This week, I will meet with the Departments of Microbiology and Pharmacology as well as all the basic science chairs.  

Tuesday morning, I drove to Aspen to have lunch with the leadership team of the Department of Psychiatry at their annual retreat. The drive over Independence Pass in the morning and back through Glenwood Canyon in the afternoon bookended a nice discussion about the Department of Psychiatry’s role in our educational, research and clinical missions. I arrived in Aspen just after noon to witness the thrilling end to their bocce match and an amazing toss by Professor and Vice Chair Randy Ross, MD, to seal a victory for his team. On the way out of town I drove by the corner of Garmisch and Francis streets where the Given Institute used to be and where it appeared new construction is about to happen.  After a small spasm of nostalgia, I headed home.     

Thursday morning, I welcomed a large group interested in carbon-ion radiation technology at a two-day meeting organized by our colleagues from the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Studies at Colorado State University. I previously met some of the visitors, who were from the Japan National Institute of Radiological Sciences and from industry, on a trip to Japan earlier this year. I hoped to be present for most of the two-day meeting here, but left that morning to fly to Charleston, SC, where I attended a meeting of the Blue Ridge Academic Health Group on behalf of Vice President for Health Affairs Lilly Marks. She had been invited to describe the evolution of our involvement with University of Colorado Health, but when her second grandson was born earlier in the week, she asked me to give her presentation. The Blue Ridge Academic Health Group has been meeting annually since 1993. It is funded by Emory University and the Woodruff Health Sciences Center and is an august body of past and present senior leaders from some of America’s leading academic health science centers. I found the discussion very interesting and look forward to the publication of the proceedings later in the year. And the opportunity to meet with an august body in August was doubly special.  

University of Colorado Health announced last Thursday that Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs is taking the steps necessary to become a Level I Trauma Center, making it the first such Colorado hospital outside metro Denver. A Level I Trauma Center must have trauma surgeons, neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons and their teams of nurses and anesthesiologists at the hospital or on call and ready to treat patients 24 hours a day. Pursuing the designation could take one to three years. The move coincides with the expansion of the School of Medicine’s annual class size, beginning in 2014, from 160 to as many 184 students. Members of the expanded class will train during their third and fourth years in medical school at the new Colorado Springs branch of the School of Medicine. 

The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) has long benefited from the leadership of physicians from our School. Paul Bunn Jr., MD, professor of medicine, and Fred Hirsch, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and pathology, are longtime executive leaders of the group. Last week, the IASLC announced that Laurie Gaspar, MD, MBA, professor and chair of radiation oncology, was elected to the IASLC board. 

Dan Theodorescu, MD, PhD, director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, has been elected to a three-year term on the board of the Association of American Cancer Institutes. The group represents 95 academic and free-standing cancer research centers in the United States. 

5280 magazine published its annual list of “Top Docs” and, as usual, our faculty members are well represented. Out of 334 physicians listed in the August issue of the magazine, 135 are full time regular faculty and 61 are on our voluntary clinical faculty with the School. Congratulations to all. 

Colorado Public Radio featured an interview with Tom Campbell, MD, professor of medicine, about an effort to rebuild the health system in Zimbabwe, which collapsed during a decade of economic and political strife. It’s a terrific story that reminds us again that the School of Medicine’s reach extends far beyond this corner of Colorado. 

The Academy of Medical Educators is providing online training for all members of the Anschutz Medical Campus with a faculty or clinical instructor designation.  The modules cover teaching, career issues and technology in education. A list of specific topics and information about signing up for a Crowd Wisdom account to access the modules are available at the academy’s website. 

Finally, we were wandering around Cherry Creek on Saturday and stopped by the “Robert Anderson Gallery.” We mentioned last month that Bob is working part-time helping us with the preparation for our next Liaison Committee on Medical Education accreditation in 2016. He has opened a gallery on East Third Avenue near Columbine Street where he has a terrific collection of his and other artists’ photographs.  There is a lot to see and he is a great tour guide.

Have a good week,

Richard D. Krugman, MD
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and
Dean, School of Medicine

"What’s Going On Here" is an email news bulletin from Richard Krugman, MD, Dean of the CU School of Medicine, that is distributed to inform University of Colorado School of Medicine faculty members about issues pertaining to the School’s mission of education, research, clinical care and community service. See the UCH-Insider →

If you would like to receive these emails directly, please contact Cheryl.Welch@ucdenver.edu. 

Unsubscribe →