*Editors note: Ron Sutherland sent this letter to the N.C. State Faculty Senate on April Fools Day.

Dear Members of the NCSU Faculty Senate,

I ran across this op-ed in The Daily Tar Heel today and thought it would be extremely relevant to some of your ongoing deliberations:

Hospital sale is for the students.

We can certainly see the perspective of those who dont want the leaders of UNC-Chapel Hill to sell our iconic hospital. Yes, it has been a part of the University for six decades, longer than most of us can remember. And yes, the staff and alumni of the Medical School have many fond memories from the years of hard work theyve spent tending patients there and making important discoveries. But times are tough, and we cant afford to be sentimental about this sort of thing, especially now that our appropriations keep getting cut by the General Assembly in Raleigh.

Weve done the numbers, and youll just have to trust us that if we sell the hospital to a private buyer, and then invest the proceeds into a balanced Wall Street portfolio of stocks and bonds, the annual yield for the Medical School will be three times as high, and much more reliable than what we were getting by owning the healthcare facility ourselves. The Medical School has ambitious plans for becoming a world leader in the burgeoning field of health insurance database ethics management, and we cant realize those plans (including a brand new building for the HIDEM program) unless we are putting all of the assets we have available to their highest and best use.

And before you start waxing romantically about the heyday of medical training, lets all take a moment to remember the reason why Dean Walter Berryhill founded the hospital in the first place: to make money for the Medical School. We live in a modern world now, much different from when Berryhill was around, and we think he would fully support our move to liquidate the hospital assets and invest them somewhere where they will safely earn higher returns.

It is not like the hospital was getting that much use anyway. Sure, medical students still undergo some training there, but in recent years weve strategically moved most of their curriculum to the UNC Urgent Care Center on Farrington Road. We just dont need a dinosaur facility like the hospital anymoreits too big and cumbersome, and it takes too much of our administrative capacity to manage it. The world of healthcare has moved on, and training doctors is only a small part of what UNCs Medical School does now in 2014. There are some minor concerns about the impact of the sale on public health in North Carolina, but as the Chancellor sagely remarked, Were not the Department of Healthcare, were a University.

Right now the financial integrity of our school is far too dependent on the whims of healthcare demand. And with the recession still lingering on, demand for the most profitable kinds of healthcare is at a low point we havent seen in years. Some have tried to argue that the same lack of demand is going to reduce the amount of money well get for selling the hospital, but they are forgetting one thing: opportunity costs. How long would they have us wait to sell the hospital, and how many years of crucial scholarships for HIDEM students would that cost us? And lets not forget that Chapel Hill seems to be a magnet for tornadoes, rendering the entire hospital vulnerable to being destroyed with barely a moments notice. Compare that to Wall Street, which just isnt subject to those kinds of random fluctuations.

Youre rightwe did promise everyone last year that the facility would remain a working hospital under the new ownership, but it turns out that permanent restrictions of that sort just arent typically part of a hospital sale agreement. We take the buyer at his word that the legacy of the hospital will be preserved, perhaps through a nice little stone memorial sheltered from all of the new construction that will soon be underway.

Go here to read the rest:
Letter to the editor regarding the Hofmann Forest sale

TULSA, Oklahoma -

Oklahoma State University's College of Osteopathic Medicine has been ranked among the Top 80 medical schools in the nation for primary care training.

U.S. News & World Report recently ranked the Tulsa school.

"OSU Center for Health Sciences' mission is to train the next generation of primary care physicians to serve the citizens of our state," said Dr. Kayse Shrum, OSU Center for Health Sciences president and dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine.

"Our students really embrace that mission and devotion to patient care through medical school and carry it forward with their careers by choosing specialties in primary care."

The rankings are based on medical college admission test scores, grades, acceptance rate, student-to-faculty ratio and proportion of graduates who enter primary care specialties, among other factors.

The college says nearly 54 percent of its alumni are practicing in a primary care field.

"Increasing the number of primary care physicians in Oklahoma is of critical importance as we address the challenges associated with the physician shortage in our state," said Shrum.

"With an aging physician population, we know it is essential to recruit new physicians who want to stay in Oklahoma and practice in primary care areas."

The most popular residency training programs for graduates include family practice, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology and pediatric

Read more:
Tulsa Medical School's Training Program Ranked In Top 80

Primary care and research programs at the John A. Burns School of Medicine have risen in ranks among the best medical schools in the nation.

These rankings indicate that JABSOM has gained additional national recognition amongst U.S. medical schools, JABSOM Dean Dr. Jerris Hedges said.

According to the 2015 U.S. News & World Report, JABSOMs primary care program propelled nine places from 66 in 2014 to 57 in 2015, while the schools research program earned an improvement of four spots, moving up from 82 to 78.

I believe our primary care rankings continue to rise in conjunction with our student scores rising on what is called the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam, Step one, said Tina Shelton, communications and government affairs director at JABSOM.

Second-year medical students across the country must pass the USMLE Step One to continue their medical education for a third year.

In the last 10 years in a row, our second-year medical students have scored above the national average in this exam, Shelton said. That is a singular achievement as far as we know and speaks incredibly well of the faculty at our school and the problem-based learning curriculum adopted at JABSOM in the late 1980s.

According to Shelton, JABSOM has focused its research in recent years on addressing health disparities, which affect groups such as Native Hawaiians, Asian Americans and low-income citizens.

I am grateful for the excellent work that a stellar group of leaders at JABSOM has done during the last academic year, Hedges said. They, in turn, have relied on many other hard-working and committed individuals who support the vision of our school, to 'Attain Lasting Optimal Health for All.'

Among medical schools at land grant universities without a university hospital, JABSOM has led the nation in external funding, which include gifts and faculty practice income. In fiscal year 2013, external funding for JABSOM exceeded $57 million.

It has been a great privilege to complete my medical school training at JABSOM, said fourth-year medical student Kristen Teranishi. The students and faculty are top-notch both academically and as people.

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JABSOM continues to climb in national ranking

When the global financial crisis hit in 2008, over 2.6 million people in the U.S. lost their jobs. No industries were spared not even the legal profession, which had historically been among the most secure.

Wide-eyed college graduates used to flock to law school because it was the golden ticket to a stable and financially secure career. But the legal environment has changed drastically since that crucial year. As the demand for law-related jobs has shrunk, law school graduates have begun competing more fiercely than ever before, according to law school deans across the country.

Before 2008, we saw a lot of people go to law school because it was the best option, said Robert Rasmussen, dean at the University of Southern California Law School. Now the students that Im seeing are making a conscious decision that they really want to be lawyers.

In the interest of making their graduates more competitive candidates for jobs, law schools have amped up their number of practically-oriented programs, instituting more business-related courses, law clinics and career center initiatives. But a debate has emerged among scholars and legal professionals: Should law schools focus on theoretical teaching, or do they have a duty to prepare students for their future careers?

Yale Law School tends to skirt the question altogether. Over 25 faculty, students and administrators claimed that Yale Law School does not have to make any compromises between the two paths. Not only is it an institution that has topped law school rankings for years it is also just different.

Photography by William Freedberg

Faculty and administrators interviewed said Yale Law School has a stable identity, making it relatively exempt from the current debate on liberal versus practical law education. The school consistently gets a sizable slice of the job market pie but it also remains faithful to the same ideals and principles it held at the time of its 1843 founding.

We have not felt that pinch because we are still in the top of the top tier, and we have never been a law school that has ever relied exclusively on the private sector, said Yale Law School Dean of Admissions Asha Rangappa.

Deputy Dean for Experiential Education Michael Wishnie said the school is more committed to theory and experiential education, in the form of clinics, than any other law school in the country.

But just because the school enters the discussion on legal education from a more privileged standpoint does not make it immune altogether.

See the rest here:
UP CLOSE | Law School: Too Yale to fail?

As student debt continues to dominate the higher education debate, one resident in the Yale New Haven Health System is launching a company to curb medical student loan payments.

Last April, Shady Henien, a resident at Bridgeport Hospital, founded Student Promise, an Iowa-based company that aims to help students secure low interest rates for their student loans. By bundling students collective debt for investors, the company plans to offer students interest rates lower than the federal loan rate for post-graduate students, which is currently 5.4 percent. In May 2013, the company made it to the semi-final round of Shark Tank an ABC television show that brings in aspiring entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas to potential investors and is now in the process of securitizing the student loans and issuing bonds.

The idea is that we collectively combine all of our medical student debt, and then send it off to shareholders in the form of student tuition bonds, Henien said. According to Henien, the U.S. governments high interest rate on student loans makes little sense for medical students, who are a low-risk group. Unlike homeowners, whose interest rate hovers at around 1.5 to 2 percent and whose average default rate is higher, medical school students have a 0.5 percent default rate, he said.

Though the federal government is unlikely to lower student interest rates anytime soon, Henien said he believes investors will see medical student loans as a low-risk, high-reward investment. The fact that Student Promise will bundle debt also stratifies the risks, he added.

In addition to helping out students and investors, Student Promise could be a creative solution for states that are currently losing doctors, Henien said.

By 2020, Henien said there will be a shortage of around 150,000 physicians across 10 states, including Connecticut. While some states already offer loan forgiveness to medical school graduates if they stay in-state, Henien said he recommends that every Student Promise investor also get a tax-free return on investment from the state.

Its a triple win investors have security, the students interest rate is almost cut in half [and the state benefits,] he said.

According to Dean of the Yale School of Medicine Robert Alpern, 80 percent of Yale medical students graduate with some debt. The average amount of debt among these students is $124,000, compared to the $170,000 national average, he added.

In 2008, the medical school improved its financial aid policies, allowing students with annual family incomes below $100,000 to receive financial aid. While Alpern said the new policy has decreased the average debt for Yale medical students, he admitted that $124,000 is still a significant burden. The medical school continues to encourage alumni to make financial aid scholarships their top giving priority, he said.

While pressing debt may incentivize students to turn to alternative outlets like Student Promise, Mark Kantrowitz senior vice president and publisher of Edvisors Network, a resource center that advises students on financial aid said Student Promise is still unlikely to be successful.

See the original post here:
Yale New Haven Health system resident targets debt

ASSUMPTION Class 55: Mandy C. Torres, Cora B. Lopa, Chinggay D. Lagdameo, Myrna T. Sanchez, Bea B.Tan, Ana Olondriz

March, the month of graduations, is about the time we seniorsin age, that ismark our own milestone alumni homecomings. And for our own diamond high school jubilee, my balikbayan classmates are busy preparing for a trip home.

Its been 60 years, and with the prospect of 30 of us coming, our homecoming promises to break all records of attendance, at least for diamond classes of St. Theresas College, Quezon City, where we graduated in 1955.

For a class to be able to hold itself together after all these years, there has to be a leaderthe critical linkand for us its always been Fanny Chua Ti Lu. She keeps the home fires burning for us, so to speak, such that, no matter how long its been since leaving school, it still feels important for us to come home.

For our contemporaries from other schools, campus memories and homecoming traditions are no less treasured, and here are some of those nostalgic voices:

Cora Bautista Lopa

Assumption High School 55

One thing about reunions, you cant really say that when youve been to one youve been to all. In earlier reunions, say 25 years after high school we were mostly curious and interested in how we all had fared in life. Our recollections are spiced with vignettes of wholesome fun and misadventures. How come we remember most the naughty ones in class?

Through the years we have realized that weve been growing closer to each other what with more reunions, lunches, trips abroad and celebrations of milestones. The bond has become stronger, and the friendships deeper.

Follow this link:
Why these seniors still attend their class reunions

Home > About Us > Alumni

Former residents and fellows of the Department of Radiation Oncology have helped to shape the department during their tenure, and have gone on to impact our field during their careers. We invite alumni to reconnect with our center and each other!

Register for the 2014 Alumni Weekend, coming April 11 and 12. You can get information about weekend activities and answers to frequently asked question via the Feinberg Medical Alumni Association site.

Our Northwestern is the Universitys online community for all alumni. Join Our Northwestern to submit and see updates and photos from fellow alumni, update your own profile, let us know about your recent moves and career changes, and search for peers in our field. Joining is easy, free, and offers access to content and people that are uniquely Northwestern.

Northwestern Medicine Magazine (formerly Ward Rounds) is a quarterly print and online magazine for the faculty, staff, students, and alumni of the medical school and McGaw Medical Center for graduate medical education. It focuses on education, clinical, and research progress throughout our academic medical center.

Learn more about helping the Department of Radiation Oncology through a generous donation.

The Medical Alumni Association serves some 20,000 alumni around the world and close to home with activities, programs, and opportunities that strengthen and enhance all that a Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine degree means to those who have proudly earned it.

For more information on the Medical Alumni Association, please contact:

ML Farrell Senior Associate Director, Alumni Relations 312-503-0855

Medical Alumni Association Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Rubloff Building, 9th Floor 420 East Superior Street Chicago, IL 60611

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Alumni : Department of Radiation Oncology: Feinberg School ...

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March 25th, 2014 2:44 pm by Marybeth McLain

KINGSPORT - The Dobyns-Bennett High School Alumni Association Board of Directors are accepting nominations for the Dobyns-Bennett High School Alumni Association Hall of Fame Class of 2014.

Nominees should be Dobyns-Bennett graduates and/or teachers and administrators who had a profound effect on Dobyns-Bennett High School and have had a successful and influential life, not only in regard to Dobyns-Bennett, but with their family, community, career, and others. There are 20 nomination categories to choose from.

Nomination categories for Dobyns-Bennett Graduates include: academics, administrator/teacher, arts, athletics, business, church and ministerial, entertainment, government services/humanitarian, judicial and legal, literature, medical, military service, news and communications (media), politics, public service and science.

Nomination categories for non-graduates of Dobyns-Bennett include: Administrators, teachers, staff and friends.

The nomination form is located on the Dobyns-Bennett High School website (www.k12k.com/db) under the D-B Alumni Association & Reunions side tab.

Nomination deadline is Thursday, May 1.

Completed nomination forms may be submitted in the following ways: * Mail form to the Dobyns-Bennett High School Alumni Association, P.O. Box 3337, Kingsport, TN 37664. * Email form to Linc Jarvis at linc@charter.net or Thom Throp at tthrop23@yahoo.com. * Drop off form at The Jarvis Agency, 205 Cherokee Street, Kingsport, TN 37660.

The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is scheduled for late October.

Visit link:
Dobyns-Bennett High School Alumni Association accepting 2014 Hall of Fame nominations

By Kim Girard

Stanford University

(Poets&Quants) -- T.J. Duane began the Startup Garage course at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business last September planning to build a closed online network for lawyers.

About eight weeks into the 24-week class, he and his team ditched that idea.

"We pivoted ... and decided to instead build a community tool," he says, during a recent break on campus from working on his company. His team's startup will help graduate students find each other based on their skills and academic backgrounds.

In Startup Garage, failure is encouraged. That cycle of trying, failing, and trying again helps prepare students to pitch bullet proof ideas to angel investors, says Startup Garage instructor Stefanos Zenios, who is also a professor of operations, information, and technology at Stanford.

"Startup Garage focuses on the seed-stage of funding -- getting to the point where you can stand up in front of investors and ask them for $250,000 or half a million or maybe a million," Zenios says.

About 95% of Stanford's Graduate School of Business's 809 students opt to take at least one entrepreneurship class -- whether it's Startup Garage, Product Launch, or Formation of New Ventures. At the Stanford Venture Studio, students who apply to be residents are using the space to design and build companies. Others are taking advantage of services like pitch session practice, mentor matching, or peer-to-peer coaching.

While theelective courses are at the core of Stanford's approach to entrepreneurship, anotherobvious edge the school has over others is its location in Silicon Valley. It's also just miles from the biggest venture capital firms in Menlo Park, Calif. Since its foundingin 1996, the Stanford'sCenter for Entrepreneurial Studies (CES)hastaken advantage of that proximity, hiring from Silicon Valley and creating partnerships with its leaders.

Stanford's ties toSilicon Valley "rubs off quicker and more deeply at the school," says Russell Siegelman, an angel investor and former partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, who teaches Startup Garage and other courses.

Link:
Inside Stanford B-school's startup factory culture

By Kim Girard

Stanford University

(Poets&Quants) -- T.J. Duane began the Startup Garage course at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business last September planning to build a closed online network for lawyers.

About eight weeks into the 24-week class, he and his team ditched that idea.

"We pivoted ... and decided to instead build a community tool," he says, during a recent break on campus from working on his company. His team's startup will help graduate students find each other based on their skills and academic backgrounds.

In Startup Garage, failure is encouraged. That cycle of trying, failing, and trying again helps prepare students to pitch bullet proof ideas to angel investors, says Startup Garage instructor Stefanos Zenios, who is also a professor of operations, information, and technology at Stanford.

"Startup Garage focuses on the seed-stage of funding -- getting to the point where you can stand up in front of investors and ask them for $250,000 or half a million or maybe a million," Zenios says.

About 95% of Stanford's Graduate School of Business's 809 students opt to take at least one entrepreneurship class -- whether it's Startup Garage, Product Launch, or Formation of New Ventures. At the Stanford Venture Studio, students who apply to be residents are using the space to design and build companies. Others are taking advantage of services like pitch session practice, mentor matching, or peer-to-peer coaching.

While theelective courses are at the core of Stanford's approach to entrepreneurship, anotherobvious edge the school has over others is its location in Silicon Valley. It's also just miles from the biggest venture capital firms in Menlo Park, Calif. Since its foundingin 1996, the Stanford'sCenter for Entrepreneurial Studies (CES)hastaken advantage of that proximity, hiring from Silicon Valley and creating partnerships with its leaders.

Stanford's ties toSilicon Valley "rubs off quicker and more deeply at the school," says Russell Siegelman, an angel investor and former partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, who teaches Startup Garage and other courses.

Read this article:
Inside Stanford B-school's startup culture