SOMnews / The Buzz

What’s on my mind this month are the many innovations in education we have implemented at the School of Medicine over the last year, fulfilling one of the key goals of Shared Vision 2020, to introduce a new teaching philosophy…

What’s on my mind this month are the major transitions occurring across the School of Medicine and how necessary change is for the advancement—of our students, our academic units, our educational curriculum and our leadership team. Students: This month we…

What’s on my mind this month is the public launch of the School of Medicine’s Accelerating Innovation and Discovery in Medicine (ACCEL-MED) Initiative, which forms the cornerstone of the research component of Shared Vision 2020. Shared Vision 2020 is our strategic plan for the near term, and has been implemented in partnership by the School of Medicine and Medical System. The goal is to accelerate the pace of discovery, collaboration, and innovation, and to provide the highest-quality, patient-centered care. Shared Vision 2020 is a roadmap for success in challenging times, addressing all of our key mission areas: education, clinical care, finance and philanthropy, and research. The emphasis of the research area is our new ACCEL-MED Initiative.

What’s on my mind this month is the changing academic medical and biomedical research workforce, and how the School of Medicine can position itself to be the institution of choice and an institution of change.

Over the last few months, and in my 2013 State of the School address, I discussed the challenges we are facing in academic medicine: the budget cuts to the NIH, the cuts to Medicare, and the slow economic recovery across the country. I also outlined how the School of Medicine plans to surmount the roadblocks in our path, as well as the launch of our Shared Vision 2020 initiative.

What’s on my mind this month is our dedication to promoting diversity in our academic community, which enriches the intellectual discourse we are privileged to have at the School of Medicine, as well as across the campus. Diversity is a…

What’s on my mind this month, as we return to work after a restorative holiday break, is a renewed commitment to exponentially growing our academic enterprise across all our mission areas: research and discovery, clinical care, education and philanthropy. I…

What’s on my mind this month, as we celebrate the closing of 2013, are the unique challenges we faced this year—from sequestration, to the lack of hospital rate increases, to the Federal Government shutdown in October—and our resolve to remain undeterred in our pursuit of excellence.

What’s on my mind this month, as we celebrate the closing of 2013, are the unique challenges we faced this year—from sequestration, to the lack of hospital rate increases, to the Federal Government shutdown in October—and our resolve to remain…

What’s on my mind this month is the State of the School Address, which I delivered on September 25th. The theme of this year’s address was “Purposeful Actions, Promising Results: Relentlessly Advancing.” Considering the myriad challenges that we as an academic medical institution faced this year—from sequestration and reduced funding for research from the National Institutes for Health, to the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission voting against increased rates and forcing hospitals to absorb the 2% cut in Medicare reimbursement—we nevertheless made considerable progress, continued with our plans to support major capital projects, and launched our new plan Shared Vision 2020 for UM Medicine.

What’s on my mind this month is the upcoming “Festival of Science,” on November 22, 2013, which will give us an opportunity to highlight our outstanding research programs. This year, we will feature the research in three of our major academic units: the Institute for Genome Sciences, the Department of Pharmacology, and the Department of Surgery. World-renowned external scientific experts will provide constructive feedback on the direction of our pursuits.