MEDICAL BULLETIN

School of Medicine launches advising societies

Groups foster community; deans help students navigate curriculum, plan for careers

Imparting wisdom. Seated, from left, the four society deans: C. Kent Smith, M.D., and Robert Haynie, M.D., Ph.D. Standing: Elizabeth “Lissa” McKinley, M.D., M.P.H., and Steven Ricanati, M.D.

June 2004 brought the latest film adaptation of the popular Harry Potter books, chronicling the adventures of students possessing magic powers as they attend the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Matriculating students at Hogwarts attend a “sorting” ceremony at which they take turns donning an enchanted hat that assesses their personalities and then assigns them to one of four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin.

August 2003 saw the comparatively low-key introduction of four new advising societies at the Case Western Reserve University (Case) School of Medicine. No magical hat was to be found, but utterance of the society names conjures up visions of some of the medical school’s most notable alumni and faculty members: Blackwell, Robbins, Satcher and Wearn. (Please see, “Honoring history.”)

Medical students will remain members of their assigned societies throughout their time in school. The groups aim to foster close relationships and a sense of community among the students, and the deans of the societies are serving as mentors, helping students navigate the curriculum. As the students progress in their education, the society deans will provide advice on residency and career planning.

The formation of the four societies coincided with a transition that saw Richard D. Aach, M.D., associate dean and director of residency and career planning, reducing his hours in anticipation of retirement. He has continued to provide guidance and assistance to upper-level students as the society dean program is phased in. (Please see the October 2003 issue of the school’s MedLines newsletter for more information about Dr. Aach’s career. It’s available online at http://casemed.case.edu/communications.)

Serving as the new society deans are:

• Robert Haynie, M.D., Ph.D., a 1978 alumnus of the medical school, 1972 alumnus of the School of Graduate Studies, associate dean for student affairs and associate clinical professor of medicine;
• Elizabeth “Lissa” McKinley, M.D., M.P.H., a 1987 medical alumna and assistant professor of medicine;
• Steven Ricanati, M.D., a 1995 medical alumnus and assistant professor of medicine; and
• C. Kent Smith, M.D., senior associate dean for students and professor of family medicine.

Dr. Haynie, who has been associate dean for student affairs since 2001, said he has appreciated the new society system. “The structure allows me to deal with issues other than just ‘problems’ which in the past made the Office of Student Affairs similar to that of a principal’s office,” he said.

Dr. Smith agreed: “We can already see the benefits of the program in its early stages.” Students will continue to see benefits, too, Dr. Haynie said. “Since all four years will be represented in each society, there will be cross-communication between years one through four,” which hasn’t been facilitated in the past, he said.

Dr. McKinley said she is “thrilled” to be working closely with medical students. “As a society dean, I have the incredible opportunity to help shape the medical school experience for a large number of students, and if I can help students navigate through these four years to a career that fits them and gives them life satisfaction, I’ve really accomplished something.”

In a way, Dr. Ricanati said, his service as a society dean is a repayment to those who have counseled him in the past. “I have benefited from great mentoring, and I am interested in sharing my experiences and talents with students,” he said, adding, “The society deans create a safety net to encourage students with a clear direction. I hope that the society deans will foster independence among the students but also be around to assist them when help is needed.”

Dr. McKinley said she hopes the societies develop along with the students. “I hope to see these societies grow into true learning communities where the society is truly the framework for students’ experiences,” she said. “I hope that students in all classes will begin to identify themselves with their own society and begin to take responsibility for helping to teach and mentor new students within their own societies.”

Now that would be charming.

Honoring history The four new School of Medicine advising societies are named for distinguished faculty members and graduates of the School of Medicine: Emily Blackwell, M.D., Frederick C. Robbins, M.D., David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., and Joseph Wearn, M.D. All were chosen because their careers embody or embodied one or more of the core themes of the school’s evolving curriculum: research, mastery of clinical skills, leadership and civic professionalism. Emily Blackwell, M.D., an 1854 alumna, became the second woman to earn a medical degree at what is now Case Western Reserve University (Case) and the third woman to earn a medical degree in the United States. Dr. Blackwell and her sister, Elizabeth Blackwell, M.D., established the New York Infirmary for Women and Children and its Women’s Medical College, where the alumna ultimately served as dean. The college ultimately merged with Cornell’s medical school. The infirmary later merged with Beekman Downtown Hospital and today is known as NYU Downtown Hospital. Dr. Blackwell died in 1910. Frederick C. Robbins, M.D., shared the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering a method of growing poliovirus in a test tube, which led to the development of effective poliomyelitis vaccines and paved the way for the development of vaccines for other diseases. Dr. Robbins joined the medical school faculty in 1952 and was dean from 1966 to 1980. After serving as president of the Institute of Medicine from 1980 to 1985, he returned to the School of Medicine. He helped establish the medical school’s collaboration with the government of Uganda and Makerere University, which has been associated with a decrease in the incidence of HIV infection in Uganda. He also helped launch Case’s Center for Adolescent Health in 1990 and became its director in 1992. He stepped down as director in 2000 but continued to remain very involved with activities at the school until his death in 2003. Before his death, Dr. Robbins graciously agreed to lend his name to a society. David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., a 1970 double alumnus, is a former president of Meharry Medical College in Nashville and former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. He is perhaps best known to the general public, however, for his role as U.S. surgeon general, which he fulfilled from 1998 to 2002. Today, he directs the National Center for Primary Care at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, which opened in the fall of 2002. The Case School of Medicine appreciates Dr. Satcher lending his name to the society dean program. Joseph Wearn, M.D., joined the faculty of the School of Medicine in 1929 as professor of medicine. During his tenure as dean from 1945 to 1959, he led the planning and 1952 launching of an innovative curriculum widely credited with changing medical education across the country and around the world. The curriculum integrated various subjects, introduced students to patient care in the first year of medical school as opposed to the third, as was common practice, and featured a philosophy by which faculty treated students as junior colleagues. Before coming to Cleveland, Dr. Wearn, with Alfred Richards, M.D., conducted research at the University of Pennsylvania that resulted in what has been described as one of the most significant discoveries in renal physiology. Dr. Wearn died in 1984. -- L.A.B.