Dear colleague: 

I am pleased to announce that Peter Buttrick, MD, S. Gilbert Blount Professor and Head of the Division of Cardiology and professor of physiology and biophysics, has been named Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for the School of Medicine. Peter has been an esteemed and highly accomplished colleague on this campus and he will bring a critical understanding to the many issues we will face in the years ahead. For the near term, Peter will continue to serve as head of the Division of Cardiology as the Department of Medicine leadership develops a transition plan for that role. Please join me in welcoming Peter to the School’s administrative leadership.

Peter’s appointment was one of the key issues on the agenda at the School’s Executive Committee meeting on Tuesday, June 16. In addition, the committee received a briefing from Erik Wallace, MD, associate dean for the School of Medicine’s Colorado Springs Branch, on the progress there to establish the curriculum and recruit preceptors who will help teach the third-year medical students who will begin their clinical rotations in 2016. 

At the Associate and Assistant Deans meeting on Thursday, Senior Associate Dean for Education Robert Anderson, MD, reminded us of the importance of preparing for the Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME) site visit in 2017 when he reported that another major university’s medical school was placed on probation for failing to meet the standards required by LCME. The LCME’s accreditation visit to the School of Medicine in 2017 is critically important and Bob and his team are organizing our comprehensive self-evaluation, which formally kicks off in September, but is already underway. If you are asked to help in our self-review, I hope you will participate.

The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus has joined more than 100 institutions and organizations, including the Association of American Medical Colleges, in signing a letter in support of the 21st Century Cures Act, which is sponsored by Reps. Fred Upton and Diana DeGette. That legislation recognizes that funding medical research is a critical national priority. As Reps. Upton and DeGette explained in a perspective articlethe Denver Post, the resources in the bill will also benefit major research facilities like the University of Colorado Cancer Center. 

The American Board of Family Medicine recently announced the election of its officers and new board members. Two School of Medicine faculty members were elected: James Kennedy, MD, clinical professor of family medicine, as chair, and Colleen Conry, MD, professor and vice chair of quality and clinical affairs for the Department of Family Medicine, as a member of the board. 

The Center for Bioethics and Humanities is hosting a symposium and performance by composer and author Bruce Adolphe. The event, “With Music in Mind,” begins at 4 p.m., Monday, June 29, in the Fulginiti Pavilion for Bioethics and Humanities and will feature a discussion led by Adolphe on the effects on the brain of music and meditation. After the conversation, cellist Bion Tsang will perform Adolphe’s composition, Self Comes to Mind, which will be accompanied by a film of brain scan images. The event is free, but an RSVP is required. Contact Jephta Bernstein at director@projectchambermusic.org or 970-305-2261.

A housekeeping reminder that June pay is deposited on July 1, rather than on the last day of June. The University of Colorado generally pays employees who are on a monthly pay schedule on the last work day of each month. But due to a 12-year-old state law, all employees paid monthly get their June pay on the first business day in July.

We said good-bye to Ronald Gibbs, MD, associate dean for Continuing Medical Education and Professional Development and professor of obstetrics and gynecology, at last Thursday’s meeting of the School of Medicine’s Associate and Assistant Deans. Ron is retiring on Monday, July 6. He has been a long time, dedicated member of our faculty and administration. We greatly appreciate his service and commitment to the School and his colleagues. We wish him a happy and healthy retirement.

We will also soon be saying goodbye to John Harney, president, and CEO of University of Colorado Hospital (UCH). John announced in March that he will retire on Tuesday, June 30. He has been an excellent partner on the Anschutz Medical Campus. John became chief operating officer of the hospital in 2008 and was promoted to president and CEO in 2012. John has overseen significant growth at UCH, which has been recognized repeatedly as one of the nation’s top academic medical centers during his tenure. We have enjoyed working with him and wish him well on his retirement.

Have a good week,

John J. Reilly, Jr., MD
Richard D. Krugman Endowed Chair
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and
Dean, School of Medicine