Last week, we announced to the media that the School of Medicine rose eight spots to rank 68th in the nation among all schools of medicine. As you know, school rankings are based on total NIH grant awards. Among other public schools, the SOM rose from 47th to 39th. This signifies tremendous growth from just two years ago, when we were ranked 81st in the country among all schools of medicine.
One of the things I’m most proud of is that all of the school’s basic science departments are in the top 25 for public medical schools, with only one exception. Two of the departments are ranked in the top 10, with Anatomy at third and Physiology at ninth. Rankings are based on NIH FY07, in which the SOM was awarded $45.3 million. Our total extramural funding for KUMC is $92.6 million.
This increase in our ranking is especially significant because federal NIH funding remains flat, which means the NIH sees the value in reallocating existing funds to spur our innovative research. These improved rankings also mean we’re not just recruiting world-class talent to our campus, but that you continue to conduct meaningful research aimed at improving human health.
You will recall that when the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation released its Time to Get it Right report in 2006, Dr. Benno Schmidt stated a goal for our SOM to become a top-50 institution in the country and for all of its basic sciences programs to be in the top 25 by the year 2015. Our new ranking is significant progress toward achieving the goals set out in the report.
Congratulations and thank you for all of your continued hard work. We’re moving up!
A volunteer for the Walk to Defeat ALS talks with Paula Baum (center), community affairs manager, as Lori Wade, director of finance and administration for External Affairs, listens in. In our first year as a corporate sponsor, we were the largest corporate team and the biggest fundraiser for the Walk, with $44,000. Thanks to everyone who participated or donated money, and thank you to Paula for her efforts in coordinating KUMC's team.
Community
I traveled with Gary Doolittle, MD, to Salina last Tuesday to tour the Smoky Hill Family Medicine Residency facility and the Tammy Walker Cancer Center. I am so pleased with our residency training program in Salina, as about 85 percent of its graduates end up working in rural communities.
A Victory Party will be held for all of the ALS walkers from noon - 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 30 in Varnes 4024. Various awards will also be given out to individuals and teams.
Christmas in October will take place on Oct. 11. If you like to fix up houses, this would be a great way to complete your eight hours of volunteer work for our 8 in '08 program. If you have questions or would like to sign up, call Paula Baum at 8-1017.
Other Items of Interest
Don't forget about Alumni Weekend, Oct. 3-4. The documentary "Medicine Under Canvas," the story of the 77th Evacuation Hospital in WWII, will be shown from 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 3 at the American Heartland Theatre for the Bohan Lecture. See a sneak preview and learn more about the alumni events.
The KU Institute for Policy & Social Research is hosting a daylong conference, Insuring a Healthy Kansas, at the Memorial Union on the Lawrence campus on Oct. 30, with satellite feeds to Ulysses and Phillipsburg. Information and Registration.
The first meeting of the 2008 Physician Workforce and Accreditation Task Force will be held on Oct. 8-9 in Wichita. I am pleased that two of our faculty members, Glen Cox, MD, MBA, MHSA, and Garold Minns, MD, are serving on this important committee that will focus on workforce challenges and graduate medical education accreditation issues.
Education
Last Friday, I delivered the State of the School of Medicine as part of our annual faculty retreat. If you missed it, the PowerPoint is available online.
The American Academy of Family Physicians recently ranked KU first in the country for the highest average percentage of graduates who were family medicine residents over a three-year period (2005-2007), with 21.2 percent.
I was happy to present the last 2008 Kemper Teaching Fellowship Award of the year to John Wood, PhD, associate professor of molecular and integrative physiology. Congratulations Dr. Wood, and thank you for all of your hard work.
This year, fall enrollment topped 3,000 students for the first time at the Medical Center. The most notable record was set by the School of Nursing, which increased by 12.7 percent for the entire SON, and more specifically, by 23.6 percent for its graduate programs.
Kudos
Two faculty members in the SOM were named to the National Core Family Medicine Clerkship Curriculum Task Force, which is charged with creating a new national clerkship curriculum for family medicine. Deborah Clements, MD, associate professor of family medicine, will serve on the task force, and Heidi Chumley, MD, associate professor of family medicine and senior associate dean for medical education, will chair the group. Congratulations to Drs. Clements and Chumley.
Congratulations to Joseph McGuirk, DO, associate professor of hematology and oncology, who was recently named a Top Doctor, according to Ingram's Magazine. Read more.
Research
On Oct. 8-9, the KUMC Interdisciplinary Center for Male Contraceptive Research and Drug Development will host the annual steering committee meeting of the Contraceptive and Reproductive Health branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The meeting, at which 50 nationally recognized reproductive biologists will present research progress reports, elevates the national visibility of the contraception research being conducted here.