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Associate Dean Nancy Davis says gift to school is payback

Associate Dean Nancy Davis says gift to school is payback - KU School of Medicine-Wichita

Nancy Davis, Ph.D.Nancy Davis gives to causes she believes in and institutions "where I felt like I've had opportunity."

The University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita checks both those boxes.

"I believe in our cause of preparing doctors for Kansas," she said. "And personally, I've had great opportunity. I got my Ph.D. while working here in the 1990s."

Davis, the medical school's associate dean for continuing professional development, recently made it a beneficiary of her retirement plan.

Originally from southeast Colorado, Davis moved to Salina with her family while a junior in high school. She joined the U.S. Air Force after graduation, mainly for its education benefits as her "family situation was such that I was not going to be able to afford college." Davis worked as an emergency room medic at McConnell Air Force Base and in Korea, using the GI Bill to earn a degree as a physician assistant from Wichita State University. She worked as a P.A. for five years, though she had "a heck of a time" finding a job. "This was 1982. (P.A. jobs) just weren't as prevalent as they are now."

This is Davis' second stint on the Wichita campus. After earning a master's degree in health administration from WSU, she served as the medical school's director of continuing medical education from 1991-2001, earning her doctorate in adult and continuing education from Kansas State University in 1998. Her dissertation was on learning-style preferences of medical students compared to physicians.

"I was allowed to leave early in the day and drive up to Manhattan to finish my course work," Davis said. "I felt like KU Wichita really gave me that opportunity to complete my education."

Davis went on to work as continuing medical education director for the American Academy of Family Physicians in Leawood, Kansas; for a start-up nonprofit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, helping medical schools develop continuing medical education technology integrated with quality improvement of health care; and then at the American Association of Medical Colleges in Washington, D.C.

She returned to KU School of Medicine-Wichita in 2014.

Although still involved in continuing medical education for physicians, Davis said, "My main role is in faculty development. That's essentially teaching doctors how to teach. They are hired to be good physicians and scientists and don't have any background in education, per se."

Davis presents and oversees faculty development sessions at all three medical school campuses, both in person and via interactive television.

Davis said she would like her gift to the school to be used in professional and faculty development, but put few restrictions on it. She didn't want to hamper leadership's best use of the fund.

She says she's "a few years" away from retirement and plans to stay busy when she does. She has a daughter, Veronica, and two grandsons - Nathan, 3, and Jack, 9 months - who she plans to spend more time visiting in Shreveport, Louisiana. An active volunteer at the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Allen House, Davis has a certificate in museum studies from Northwestern University.

"I'd like to do something in museum education," she said.

Meanwhile, her gift to KU School of Medicine-Wichita will continue to help the school produce better physicians by enhancing the faculty's ability to learn and teach.

Make a difference on One Day. One KU.

You, too, can support professional and faculty development at KU School of Medicine-Wichita by making a donation on Wednesday, Feb. 20 on One Day. One KU., KU's annual day of giving. It's an opportunity to support what you're passionate about at KU School of Medicine-Wichita. Go to our One Day. One KU. page to learn more.


KU School of Medicine-Wichita