Dear colleague: 

The School of Medicine is seeking applicants for the Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs position. Doug Jones, MD, who has been an important member of the School’s leadership team, told me when I was interviewing to become Dean that he planned to step down this fall. Doug became Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs five years ago and he has served on the School of Medicine faculty for more than 30 years, initially from 1968 to 1977 and returning in 1990 and serving continuously since then. Among Doug’s contributions, he has helped build relationships with our affiliates, assisted in putting in place a governance structure for a more integrated academic group practice and provided thoughtful guidance during my first months as Dean. The Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs is a crucial partner in leading our School and we are looking for licensed, board-certified physician who will be a champion of safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient and equitable patient care. Details can be found in the job description. To apply, submit a curriculum vitae and letter of interest that includes a summary of qualifications, a vision statement and a list of program priorities to sarah.h.miller@ucdenver.edu. Applications are due on Monday, July 27.

Brenda Bucklin, MD, professor of anesthesiology, has been named Associate Dean for Continuing Medical Education and Professional Development. She has been Assistant Dean of CME, working with Ron Gibbs, MD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology, until he retired earlier this month.

Congratulations to the administrative leadership team at the Department of Neurology for winning a CU Shared Practices (CUSP) award. CUSP rewards CU employees for innovative thinking and for developing practices and tools that can be used by colleagues to improve their work performance. The team in neurology, Kathy Illian, David Vu, Zachrey Baud and Alina Rich, were recognized for an event management system that improves conference registration and manages the reporting and surveys from those events.

Congratulations to Larry Hunter, PhD, professor of pharmacology, who is in Dublin, Ireland, this week to receive the inaugural Outstanding Contributions to ISCB Award from the International Society for Computational Biology. The award recognizes Larry, a founding father of the group, for exemplary leadership, education and service to the organization.

The School’s Undergraduate Medical Education section is seeking faculty members to serve as facilitators for two small group sessions during the First Course portion of New Student Orientation. Please contact Helen.Gurnee@ucdenver.edu if you are interested. Facilitators are needed to help with these sessions:

• The Last Straw – Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Using a board game similar to the “Game of Life,” participants will discuss social determinants of health. The game prompts discussion of health as a function of environment and socioeconomic factors. There will be about 24 small groups and the goal is to have two facilitators for each group.
• Hopes and Fears – Thursday, Aug. 13, 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. In this session, students split into small groups to read a section of “Better” by Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, and discuss it. Separately, the students are asked to write about their hopes and concerns on entering medical school. These writings are sealed and returned to the students near the end of their fourth year.

The School of Medicine’s Academy of Medical Educators is now accepting applications for its skills-based Teaching Certificate Program. The yearlong self-directed program is designed to help faculty improve their teaching skills in the setting where they work, whether that is at the bedside, in a lecture or in a procedure-based setting. Participants can tailor the content of the program to their learning needs. The online application is available on the Academy’s website and is due by Monday, Aug. 3.

The Department of Pediatrics has announced that Stuart Orkin, MD, is the recipient of the 29th Annual Joseph W. St. Geme, Jr., MD Lectureship, which will be delivered on Friday, Oct. 30. Dr. Orkin is chairman of the Department of Pediatric Oncology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, the David G. Nathan Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and is an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The St. Geme Lectureship is one of the School’s most prestigious honors. It was established in 1987 in honor of former School of Medicine Dean St. Geme, who served January 1985 to October 1986.

CU Family Night at the Colorado Rockies is scheduled for Saturday, July 25. Tickets are available online and will include an exclusive Rockies CU baseball cap.  Tickets are available to order online. Those attending will also be treated to a performance of the national anthem by the Anschutz Medical Campus’ own choir, “The Arrhythmias.”

“Stories & Seasons in Woodcut,” an exhibition of woodcut prints by Michael Keyes is on display in the gallery on the third floor of the Health Sciences Library. An opening reception is set for 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., Friday, Aug. 7, in the Reading Room on the third floor.

A video featuring the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus that was first presented at the Aspen Ideas Festival in late June is posted online and it’s worth a look. There are some stunning views of our campus and excellent shots of our physicians and researchers at work.

Have a good week,

John J. Reilly, Jr., MD

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