The White Coat Ceremony for new students at Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) will be held on Friday, September 12, 2014. “This traditional event is always moving and meaningful, as our new medical students don their white coats and become physicians-in-training,” said RUSM’s dean and chancellor, Joseph A. Flaherty, MD.

The guest speaker will be Dr. Jenny Han, a 2005 RUSM graduate who is a pulmonary and critical care specialist who is currently the director at Grady Memorial Outpatient Pulmonary Clinic in Atlanta, GA. She is also an assistant professor at Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Han and her husband, Dr. Nazario Villasenor, an anesthesiologist who is also an RUSM graduate, are the parents of triplet toddlers.

“Like all of RUSM’s more than 11,000 alumni, Dr. Han has an awesome and inspiring story to tell,” Dr. Flaherty said.

Dr. Han, who was born in Philadelphia, began her caregiving career as a substance abuse counselor for teenage girls. She went on to become an EMT and paramedic before finally enrolling in RUSM. She graduated with highest honors and then earned an internal medicine residency placement at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, going on to become chief resident.

During her residency Dr. Han conducted a medical education study for which she received the David C. Leach Award from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in 2010. She completed fellowship training in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Emory University, where she served as chief fellow and authored two book chapters—one on sepsis that will be published in the new edition of Principles of Critical Care, and one on liver failure for the Textbook of Organ Transplantation, published in 2013. Her main career interests are medical education research and clinical trials in the intensive care unit.

Recently, some Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) alumni earned jobs at practices in their respective regions—and made it onto the pages of their local newspapers, too. We've culled some of the highlights, which you can read below.

Dr. Jose Murillo (Class of 2010) has joined a new primary care practice recently opened by Baptist Medical Group in Pensacola, Florida. Prior to joining Baptist, Dr. Murillo worked at an urgent care center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He completed his family medicine residency at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Murillo is a Gulf Coast native who is looking forward to returning to the region with his wife and two children to begin serving the Pensacola community.

Dr. Najla Ahmadzia (Class of 2007) has joined the Adventist Health Physicians Network in Hanford, California. Her specialty is internal medicine. She grew up in the Bay Area and completed her undergraduate work at University of California at Santa Cruz. She completed her internship and residency training at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center and practiced at an urgent care center in Bakersfield for two years before coming to Hanford.

Dr. Sean Tubens (Class of 2010) has joined Gifford OB/GYN and Midwifery in Randolph, Vermont. Originally from Baltimore, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Towson University before attending RUSM. He completed his OB/GYN residency at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he was named outstanding resident teacher of the year. Dr. Tubens is a member of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists.

Why Does Medicine Still Inspire? is the title of a talk delivered by Wm. Lynn Weaver, MD, FACS, Ross University School of Medicine’s (RUSM) Senior Associate Dean, Dominica Campus, at the American Medical Association’s Annual Meeting on June 6, 2014, in Chicago.

According to the AMA website, "AMA’s Annual Meeting unites physicians to share their wisdom and insights into what has inspired them throughout their career, impactful moments with patients and their role of physician leadership in furthering health care."

Dr. Weaver related that, "What I want to share with you is not a great success story, not a miracle of modern medicine and technology, and not a miracle of divine intervention. In fact when this story first happened, I felt that I had failed."

To view a video of Dr. Weaver’s presentation, please click here.

Another week, another series of news and notes featuring the achievements of Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) alumni. Here’s the latest and greatest from our grads.

Lauren Fletcher Luke, MD, Class of ’09, recently opened her own practice in Louisiana—Women’s Health and Treatment Center of Acadiana, Lafayette. Dr. Luke treats general health and wellness, weight loss, medical-grade aesthetics, and many other conditions. Dr. Luke completed family medicine residency training at University Medical Center, Lafayette, by way of Louisiana State University. She also completed a supplemental one-year internship in pediatrics at University of Buffalo Children’s Hospital in Buffalo, New York, and is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).

Joanie Peter, MD, Class of '11, recently joined the medical staff of the Franklin Memorial Hospital Emergency Department, Farmington, Maine. A Durham resident and AAFP member, Dr. Peter completed family medicine residency training, with a selective track in emergency and critical care medicine, at Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC), Lewiston. Dr. Peter earned the Family Medicine Residency Professionalism Award in 2013—an honor granted to CMMC residents who exemplify honesty, altruism, and accountability, among other qualities, during their training.

On September 12—a Friday—hundreds of newly minted Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) students donned white coats, recited RUSM's Honor Pledge, and said the Morning Prayer of the Physician in unison.  It’s all part of the White Coat Ceremony: a rite of passage that first-semester RUSM students undergo when they arrive at campus, one that signifies their entry into the study of medicine.

Perhaps Dr. Wm. Lynn Weaver, RUSM Senior Associate Dean, said it best. “There are three very special days in a medical student’s life,” he said. “One is when you get that letter of acceptance. And of course there is graduation.

Then there’s White Coat. “That means you’ve started on the road, and you’re no longer students,” he told the crowd of more than 300. “I refer to you as doctors—and I expect you to act professionally and be doctors.”

The keynote address was delivered by 2005 RUSM alumna Dr. Jenny Han,  currently the director at Grady Memorial Outpatient Pulmonary Clinic and an assistant professor at Emory University School of Medicine, both in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Han and her husband, Dr. Nazario Villasenor, an anesthesiologist who is also an RUSM graduate, are the parents of triplet toddlers.

“The calling of medicine requires that you invest and become a part of your community,” she told gathered students. “All of you went into medicine to help people. You have to remember to help those around you. It is also important to engage with the Dominican community, to assist with medical clinics on the island and do outreach programs. You will gain so much richness out of life when you invest and serve.”

In attendance at the ceremony were the Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica; the President of Dominica, His Excellency the Hon. Charles Savarin; and other Dominican dignitaries.

RUSM Dean and Chancellor Joseph A. Flaherty, MD, stressed that students can lean on faculty and staff—and each other—for support.

“The faculty and staff members are your friends. This is your new family,” said Dr. Flaherty in his address. “We can help you get through this. Thank you for being here. And welcome.”

…And Then They Were Doctors
In the post above, Dr. Weaver speaks to three special events in a med school student’s life—one of which is graduating. Check out this video on our YouTube channel to watch selected segments of RUSM’s 2014 Graduation Banquet, held for the Class of ’14 at the Patricia and Philip Frost Museum of Science in Miami, Florida on June 12, 2014.

One of the doctors profiled below treated a prominent US politician after the latter was shot in an assassination attempt. Another previously served as a forensic psychiatrist for one of the world’s oldest, most well-known prisons. And two others just got new jobs in family practice. What’s the common thread? They’re all graduates of Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM). Join us in honoring some of our grads for their post-RUSM achievements. 

Dr. Marcie Leeds, RUSM Class of 2006, has joined Valley View Medical Center, Ft. Mohave, Arizona, as a general surgeon. In 2011—while still a resident—she was one of the first surgeons to treat retired Gabrielle Giffords, a now-retired Arizona congresswoman, when the politician was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt. Dr. Leeds completed residencies at University of Arizona Medical Center, Tucson, and Maricopa Integrated Health Services, Phoenix. In addition to her duties as general surgeon at Valley View, Dr. Leeds is also expected to join the staff of the medical center’s on-site wound care and hyperbaric center.

Dr. Michael Lin, RUSM Class of 2011, has joined San Joaquin General Hospital’s Primary Care Medical Clinic, French Camp, California, as a family practitioner. Dr. Lin completed his residency in family medicine at Riverside County Regional Medical Center, Moreno Valley, California.

Dr. Sanaz Kalantarzadeh, RUSM Class of 2004, has joined Mark Twain Medical Center (MTMC) in California as a psychiatrist. Dr. Kalantarzadeh will work at two of MTMC’s family medical centers—Angels Camp Family Medical Center and Arnold Family Medical Center. Prior to this, she practiced forensic psychiatry at San Quentin State Prison, one of the country’s most well-known prisons. She completed her psychiatry residency at Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York, and a fellowship (forensic psychiatry specialty) at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx. 

Dr. Cristin Newkirk-Thompson, RUSM Class of 2008, has joined Beaver Dam Community Hospital Medical Clinic in Columbus, Ohio, as a family practitioner. She will practice at BDCH’s Columbus Clinic, emphasizing on sports medicine. Prior to this, she practiced family and sports medicine at Marshfield Clinic, Wausau and Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Dr. Newkirk-Thompson completed both an internship and residency with Mercy Health System in Janesville, Wisconsin, and a sports medicine fellowship with the University of Nevada, Reno. 

Neurology. Oncology. Surgery. Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) graduates are practicing worldwide in virtually every specialty, and each week brings us a mixture of excitement and pride as we hear word of our graduates’ career achievements. From Texas to Canada, here’s the latest on what’s happening with our graduates, as of the first week of October.

Leopoldo M. Basilico, MD, Class of 2010, has joined the staff of Maury Regional Medical Center, Columbia, Tennessee, as a hospital medicine physician. A specialist in internal medicine and pediatrics, Dr. Basilico completed his internship and his residency in internal medicine/pediatrics at the University of Illinois, Peoria.

Sacha De Souza, MD, Class of 2009, has taken a position with the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance in Alberta, Canada as a pediatrician. Before coming to Chatham-Kent, Dr. De Souza worked at University of Alberta, Stollery Children’s Hospital. She completed her residency training in pediatrics at the University at Buffalo, New York.

Armin Kamyab, MD, Class of 2008, has taken a post as general surgeon at Cox Monett Hospital, Monett, Missouri. Dr. Kamyab completed a transitional-year internship at the Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education in 2009, and then completed a surgical residency at Providence Hospital and Medical Centers, Michigan, in 2014.

Toby Yaltho, MD, Class of 2002, has taken a position with Methodist Sugar Land Neurology Associates in Texas. Dr. Yaltho completed an internship in internal medicine, a residency in neurology, and a fellowship in neurophysiology all at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. He later completed a fellowship in movement disorders at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston, followed by a second year at Baylor College of Medicine, also in Houston.

Eldad Bialecki, MD, Class of 1999, recently joined the staff of Esse Health Digestive Disease Specialists, Hazelwood, Missouri, where he will treat patients with abdominal and intestinal disease. Dr. Bialecki has expertise in colon cancer prevention and colonoscopy. His internal medicine residency training was at MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Bialecki is board-certified in both internal medicine and gastroenterology. 

By Joseph A. Flaherty, MD
Dean and Chancellor, Ross University School of Medicine

The style of interaction between a physician and his or her patient has been evolving over time, but like many aspects of our lives, the pace of change has increased tremendously in the digital age. The three classic models of the doctor-patient relationship were described in 1956 by Thomas S. Szasz, MD and Marc H. Hollender, MD.

• In one style, the doctor is the authority figure, and the patient passively submits.
• In the second, the doctor is more of a guide, with whom the patient cooperates.
• The third style involves mutual participation with the doctor listening to the patient’s input. Medicine is moving toward this style, but all patients are different.

Doctors in the past were often the most educated people in their communities. But that’s no longer the case, and thus the authoritarian style doesn’t always work that well. Despite the desire for an egalitarian relationship, some people don’t want it in practice. They want to be told, “This is what you have.” They don’t want to hear, “I don’t know what caused your fainting spells.” 

The patient also wants to be heard. We have to encourage doctors to become good listeners, and to know that there is much they can learn from their patients. I did. 

There is a new style of physician-patient relationship today that is really the Internet version of what the French, in the 19th century, called Le Malade Au Petit Papier – The Malady of the Little Piece of Paper. That’s when patients came to a doctor’s visit with notes about what they think the problem is, based on what they might have heard from others or what they imagined. In the modern age, people may go online and research their symptoms and come up with their own diagnoses that they offer to their physicians. Or, they may see a prescription drug advertised on TV and feel that it would right for them, so they ask the physician for it, thereby dictating their treatment. We should recognize that people are striving for a laudable goal – learning how their bodies work in health and disease. As physicians, we need to take time to hear their thoughts. 

Every physician must find a style that he or she is comfortable with in relating to patients, and perhaps adapting it to the needs of different patients. We also need to be sensitive to what patients want in this relationship. Some may want us to be their friend which could reduce our effectiveness in being their doctor. When I was a young resident I characteristically introduced myself to patients as “Joe Flaherty” rather than “Dr. Flaherty.” I found most patients were uncomfortable with that and preferred Dr. Flaherty. I realized I was introducing my own intellectualized desire for egalitarianism rather than considering each patient’s unique needs.  

Maybe, when it comes to this most important relationship, one style does not fit all. 

Under the supervision of Reid Adams, Director of Simulation Operations at DeVry Institute for Research and Clinical Strategy, several residents from St. Joseph Mercy Oakland recently won a first-place award in a cardiology poster competition. St. Joseph Mercy Oakland is a Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) clinical affiliate.

The poster, “Simulation Training Improves Echocardiography Skills in Cardiology Fellows”, won top marks in the Fellows in Training Poster Competition at the Michigan Chapter of the American College of Cardiology’s 26th Annual Conference. The event was held on Oct. 17-18, 2014.

Adams, who previously served on the technical/operations staff at RUSM’s accredited Simulation Institute, worked with the residents on writing the manuscript, crafting the study design, collecting data, and other elements of the project. Adams is currently working with St. Joseph’s officials on the hospital’s simulation lab.

When he was a child, Salvatore Chillemi hated going to the doctor. That was before he actually became one, of course.

"Once I got to high school, I realized I was really interested in helping people who are sick,” he remembers. “So I did rotations at a hospital early in my college education—and I loved it.” Now Salvatore, a 2007 Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) graduate, is a practicing nephrologist at North Georgia Kidney Specialists in Marietta, Georgia.

There’s more: Salvatore isn’t the only Chilliemi who gravitated toward medicine and found success at RUSM. His younger brother Filippo Chillemi, MD, is a 2009 RUSM graduate and orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine at the prestigious Andrews Institute in Gulf Breeze, FL. “I chose Ross,” says Filippo, “because my brother was there. He was two years ahead of me and he’s such a great guy. I didn’t apply anywhere else.”  

“One of the Best Decisions of My Life”

And from the way Salvatore tells it, Filippo didn’t even have to. 

“I was studying in the library at the time of his interview,” says Salvatore, recalling the day of his brother’s interview. “I heard all the profs interviewing him, and they were just dying laughing. He walked out of the room and I said, ‘What just happened? You were in an interview, not a comedy show!’ All the professors came out as happy as can be, and the next thing you know, he’s class valedictorian and a successful orthopedic surgeon at Andrews. I’m very proud of him.” 

Salvatore chose Ross because his best friend and former undergrad roommate at Mercer University in Georgia, Dr. Shonak Patel, was attending RUSM at the time. “He knew I was a little bit down because I was waitlisted at a medical school in Georgia, so he suggested I look into it,” Salvatore says. "I applied, had my interview and the rest is history. It’s probably one of the best decisions of my life.”

A New Opportunity

Like Salvatore, Filippo discovered his interest in medicine in high school. “I was an All-American soccer player in high school,” says Filippo. "I was in the Top 20 in the country and played for the U.S. National Team. We represented the U.S. all over the world.”

On every journey, the boys were accompanied by an orthopedic surgeon. “When I was 15, I was on an airplane with 20 other kids but I’d talk to him and he introduced me to the operative side of sports medicine, which I really didn’t know existed.”

Filippo went to University of Notre Dame on a full athletic scholarship, dual-majoring in arts and letters and in economics, with a minor in pre-med studies. “My game plan at the time was that if I played professional soccer, after my career, I’d join the business world with my econ degree, and if for some reason I did not play soccer, I’d go to medical school. I got injured during my senior year and was no longer able to play, so Plan B took effect and I went to med school. There was a residency available in orthopedics so it seemed like a no brainer for me to pursue sports medicine.” 

Salvatore chose the medical rather than surgical route for two reasons. He half-jokingly says, “Reason number one: my brother is crazy to have to wake up so early in the morning! So it’s a quality of life issue for me. Reason number two: nephrology patients are your patients for life because most of them have chronic kidney disease as a result of diabetes or hypertension. So instead of a surgeon or critical care doctor who may see a patient once or twice and never again, I’m able to establish a rapport with my patients; a relationship and a friendship with them.” 

The Importance of Never Giving Up

Salvatore fondly remembers Dr. Calogero Tumminello of Wycoff Heights Medical Center, who mentored him during his clinicals and rotation. “He had the biggest impact on me. I related to him because he’s Italian American like me. We bonded as we discussed each patient and the findings. He really walked me through it and showed me the beauty behind medicine.”

“I learned the most from Dr. Laura Welke,” said Filippo. “She taught neuroanatomy, and she did it with so much enthusiasm. I had no interest in brain anatomy at all, but I still remember everything because of the way she taught it.”

In addition to his medical degree, Filippo left RUSM with a fiancé. “I met my wife the second day of med school. MaryLynn Epsten. We sat together for every lecture and we did every rotation together except for my two orthopedics. She’s a pediatrician.” They married during their residencies and have a young daughter and son, Eliana and Francesco. 

Salvatore and his wife Maria have a brand new baby boy, Luca. 

The brothers agree on the most important thing they learned at RUSM. “Sacrifice and perseverance,” says Salvatore. “In any field, you need to sacrifice. You need to study. And you need to learn to never give up, no matter what.” 

Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) has named two faculty members as chairs of their respective departments.

Alan Bateson, PhD, has been appointed Chair of the RUSM Department of Pharmacology.  A professor of pharmacology who joined RUSM in 2011, Dr. Bateson teaches cardiovascular/renal pharmacology and neuropharmacology, is Chair of the Faculty Appointments and Promotions Committee, and is a member of both the Curriculum Committee and the Clinical Curriculum Subcommittee. Previously, he was interim chair of the Pharmacology Department at RUSM.

Dr. Bateson earned his PhD from the University of London (King’s College), UK, in biochemistry and molecular biology. He has held faculty appointments in the University of Alberta’s Department of Pharmacology—with adjunct positions in psychiatry and neuroscience—and, later, in the Faculty of Biological Sciences at the University of Leeds, UK. He has published numerous peer-reviewed papers as well as books and review chapters, primarily in the area of GABA-A receptor neuropharmacology and other channels important to cardiovascular functions. Multiple agencies, such as the Canadian Institute of Health Research, have funded Dr. Bateson’s research.

Sheila Nunn, PhD, has been appointed Chair of the RUSM Department of Anatomy. She previously served as interim chair of RUSM’s anatomy department, having joined RUSM full-time in September 2013. Dr. Nunn is a member of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, the British Association of Clinical Anatomists, and the Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME).  She has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals in the fields of gastrointestinal anatomy and pathology and medical education.

She completed postgraduate study at The Queen’s University of Belfast, Ireland, where she earned a PhD in anatomy.  She spent two years at RUSM as an Assistant Professor of Anatomy before returning to the UK in 1995 to become a Lecturer in Anatomy at the University of Leeds, where she was primarily involved in the teaching and mentoring of medical students, in addition to carrying out research responsibilities.

In 2001, Dr. Nunn was recruited to set up the Department of Anatomy at the University of Durham, UK, an institution that was going to admit its first cohort of medical students that year.  She also served as a Senior Anatomy Lecturer, Deputy Chair of the Board of Examiners, and Director of the Clinical Skills Laboratory at Durham.  In 2006, she returned to the University of Leeds as a Senior Lecturer in Anatomy.  She was Program Leader for the Intercalated degree in Anatomy, and was responsible for all of the embryology and the majority of the histology teaching to medical and dental students, lectures in gross anatomy and lower limb, and all labs to medical, dental and science students.  

Given the recent observance of Veterans Day in the US, this week’s Alumni Roundup had an interesting twist: Two of our grads just popped up in the news this past week, and both of them have experience caring for patients at veterans hospitals. Their doctoral careers moved pretty quickly after they graduated from Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM), so read on to see how they’re doing right now.

RUSM Grad Opens Specialty Sleep Disorders Clinic

Kenneth Drane, MD, Class of 2010, recently opened a sleep disorders specialty clinic for adult and pediatric patients in Natchez, Mississippi. An area native who made a career change from engineering to practicing medicine, Dr. Drane completed residency training in internal medicine at University of Louisville, Kentucky, from 2010 to 2013. He followed this up with a sleep medicine fellowship in 2014 at the Louisiana State University Health Science Center (LSU Health), Shreveport.

In addition to his operating his specialty clinic, which opened in October 2014, Dr. Drane also has admitting privileges at Natchez Community Hospital and runs a separate sleep disorders clinic for veterans at Overton Brooks VA Medical Center, Shreveport. >> read news story  

Class of 2007 Alum Named Medical Director of SAMC Psychiatry Program

Leona J. Graham, MD, Class of 2007, is now Medical Director for the AltaCare Outpatient Psychiatry and Counseling program at Southeast Alabama Medical Center, Dothan, Alabama. Previously a psychiatrist at Kansas City VA Medical Center, Dr. Graham completed dual residencies in internal medicine and psychiatry at University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC), Kansas City, from 2008 to 2013.  She then completed a fellowship in addictions in 2013, also at KUMC. >> read news story

RUSM's Jon Bolaski, EdD, NCC, Graduate Admissions Advisor and Associate Professor of Behavioral Sciences (left) speaks with Stefan Kuster de Souza, 24. Stefan will be attending RUSM as part of the January 2015 class.

In early November, Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) gave hundreds of prospective students and guests the opportunity to really get an inside look at what it’s like to be a medical school student. For the first time ever, RUSM opened its Miramar location up to the general public at the first RUSM Clinical Experience Open House. Guests toured patient exam facilities, explored the highly advanced simulation technology used throughout much of RUSM’s curriculum, and engaged alumni, deans, and other colleagues in one-on-one and group discussions about the institution’s history and graduate outcomes.

Generally, only current students are allowed access to RUSM’s Miramar location. RUSM students come to Miramar midway through their medical education for six weeks of clinical training in Internal Medicine Foundations after completing their studies in Dominica, as they transition to the clinical years and go on to complete rotations at hospital affiliates in the US.

Joseph A. Flaherty, MD, RUSM dean and chancellor, was on hand at the event for opening remarks. Carey M. James, MBA, RUSM’s associate dean of operations, analysis, and admissions, presented an overview of the school and facilitated a Q&A session with a panel of RUSM colleagues and alumni.

Stefan Kuster de Souza, 24—a native of Brazil and a graduate of Florida International University who will be attending RUSM in January 2015—attended the Open House specifically because he wanted a sneak preview of the simulation technology in play at RUSM. “I’ve wanted to be a doctor since I was a child—I used to play with a little medical kit,” he said. “I still have it.”

Also in attendance were people who are already working in healthcare professions. This included a registered nurse and a paramedic with a large metropolitan fire rescue department, both of who said they have always had a desire to be a doctor. Career-changers comprise a significant population of the students at RUSM.

An alumnus on the Q&A panel, Dr. Frederick Scott Ross (2010) is a hospitalist at Cleveland Clinic Florida, where he completed his residency. He described his experiences as a “non-traditional student” older than average, and with a wife and children whom he brought to Dominica. Alumna Dr. Cleopatra Gordon-Pusey (2004) owns a family practice in Pembroke Pines, FL. She talked about her economic challenges as a medical student, recalling days of “eating Ramen noodles on Dominica.”

“I wouldn’t change it for the world,” Gordon-Pusey said.

By Allison Dobbie, MB, ChB, MRCGP
RUSM Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education

While only a small percentage of physicians are actively engaged in research, it is vitally important for every doctor to be able to interpret and understand the basics, in order to be an evidence-based medical practitioner who maintains high standards of practice and is a life-long learner. Today, a comprehensive understanding of research is more important than ever because medical knowledge is increasing exponentially and the physician’s ability to access the literature and apply findings to populations of patients is absolutely vital in providing the best care.

At Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM), our core mission is the teaching and mentoring of medical students. However, research is a core academic activity for our faculty and students that overlaps with that mission. They are active in publishing papers and presenting research findings at international conferences. We also organize Research Day symposia three times per year on our Dominica campus. We aim to increase the number of students involved in research activities and extend those activities to our clinical sites to enable greater participation.

So at a medical school that is focused completely on medical student success, how does research contribute? At RUSM, we support research activities to achieve three goals. 
 

1. Elevate Our Graduates’ Competitiveness 

Our primary goal is to prepare our graduates to be successful in securing a residency position and launching their career as a physician. This starts during our Foundations of Medicine curriculum. For example, in our Behavioral Science course led by Dr. Davendra Sharma, Dr. Robert Gee and Dr. Paul Ricketts, we are strengthening the teaching of research methods. The goal is to help prepare students for their United States Medical Licensing Examination^®; Step 1 exam, as well as to teach them to better understand the research literature and to read it critically. This is very important for some competitive residencies.
 

2. Enhance Our Teaching Effectiveness 

Much of the research we conduct concerns teaching methodology. Our faculty are continually assessing their methods to understand better how medical students acquire knowledge and skills – and sharing their findings with their fellow educators. RUSM has conducted significant research on simulation-based teaching on our Dominica campus. And now Dr. Jyotsna Pandey is working to assemble a site-based research network at our affiliated hospitals, where students and clinical faculty can participate. 
 

3. Improve Faculty Engagement and Job Satisfaction 

Many of our faculty came to RUSM after long careers at universities where research was their primary focus, ahead of teaching. Many of them came to RUSM because they enjoyed teaching, but maintain an active interest in research. Supporting these activities among both our MD and PhD faculty helps them stay engaged with progress in their field and make them happier and more engaged faculty.

Adam Hines (above), RUSM Clinical Student

An experience with a difficult patient during a psychiatry rotation became an opportunity for a Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) clinical student to publish and present new research based on the case. 

Adam Hines was completing a rotation at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway, NY, when an 84-year-old woman was admitted. “She came in with irritability, depression and delusional behavior, but did not seem to have typical dementia,” he said. “She needed to get neuropsychological testing. She was very difficult to deal with, but I was able to build a rapport with her. The way I approached her was by trying to get to know her on a personal level.” A CT scan revealed that the patient had two calcified meningiomas (tumors). 

Hines drew on the experience as co-author of Meningioma and Psychiatric Symptoms: A Case Report and Review, a poster presented at the annual meeting of the Institute of Psychiatric Services of the American Psychiatric Association held in San Francisco in October. A paper on this topic has also been accepted for publication in The Annals of Clinical Psychiatry.“The poster presentation was a really great experience,” Hines said. “I was able to present to prestigious people and to discuss the case with them.”

A graduate of West Virginia University, Hines enrolled in RUSM in January 2012, after working for two years in a senior position at a home health agency. “I made a lot of sacrifices to go to medical school,” he said. “I gave up a good job. I was married, and I initially moved away from my wife. It was a culture shock to arrive in Dominica, an unfamiliar place. But once orientation started, it was game time, and I hit the ground running.” His wife later joined him, and became involved in the RUSM Spouses Organization. 

Institutional leadership, including RUSM's dean, had kind words for Hines. "We heartily congratulate Adam Hines on his remarkable achievement at this stage of his medical career," said Joseph A. Flaherty, Dean and Chancellor.

"We're glad that Adam's education at St. John's Episcopal has resulted in this poster presentation and the article being accepted for publication," added Gary Belotzerkovsky, Senior Director for Clinical Student Affairs. "These will be great additions to his CV when the time approaches for the Residency Match."

Four fully-functional emergency call boxes have been installed on the Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) Dominica Campus in a continuing effort to improve security, announced Director of Security and Emergency Management Dennis Gordon.

The tall, blue metal emergency call boxes have a blue light on the top which is clearly visible during the day and at night, and the word “EMERGENCY” in capital letters written vertically along the structure. The call boxes are located on the northeast side of Jenner Hall, near the Ross University Housing (RUH) pool, between the lower sea-side deck and the basketball court, and near the Small Learning Lab. There is a plan for additional emergency call boxes to be placed in strategic locations throughout the Picard community. 

The easy instructions for using the call boxes are displayed on each of the units. In the event of an emergency, locate the nearest call box and push the red button, to be connected to a Security Department dispatcher, who will receive automatic notification of your location. Then, state your emergency. Assistance will be dispatched.

Members of the community are advised to be aware of RUSM emergency numbers should the need arise:

• Security (emergency): 767-235-9111
• Security Office: 767-255-6234
• Health Clinic: 767-255-6501

These numbers are printed on the back of the RUSM IDs for ease of reference, Gordon noted, and should be saved on people’s phones.

The American healthcare system faces a shortage of over 45,000 primary care physicians by 2020, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Unchecked, that number is predicted to rise above 65,000 by 2025. The AAMC, AARP, and other US organizations have sounded the alarm. Medical schools like Ross University School of Medicine, writes Huffington Post contributor Paul Alexander, could be part of the solution needed to address the shortage.

Caribbean Medical Schools Producing Much Needed Doctors 

“As American medical schools struggle to keep up with demand, one source of new doctors that can help fill the shortfall is Caribbean medical schools,” writes Alexander. He points out that historically, these schools have been “stigmatized,” but cites RUSM as one of the “good schools” that can be a new answer to the physician shortage. Lest anyone worry about the quality of practicing physicians from Caribbean medical schools, Alexander writes, “Any medical school graduate, no matter what institution he attended, either domestic or foreign, must pass the same board exams administered by the American Board of Medical Specialties in order to practice in the United States. This prevents unqualified doctors from going into practice.”
 

RUSM Leads All Medical Schools in Producing New Residents

More than 800 RUSM graduates earned residencies in 2014, more than every other medical school in the world, and more than two-thirds of those placements were in primary care programs. If past surveys of RUSM alumni hold true for the future, then half of RUSM graduates who entered primary care will stay there for the majority of their careers, potentially helping to curb or solve the impending shortage in primary care.

Are RUSM’s graduates part of the solution to the primary care physician shortage? Perhaps only time will tell—but based on the numbers above, it sure looks that way.

Read the original Huffington Post article here.

By Joseph A. Flaherty, MD
Dean and Chancellor, Ross University School of Medicine

Parents of children who have an interest in pursuing a medical career have often asked me what their sons and daughters should do over the summer breaks in high school and college to help them prepare. Believe it or not, I tell them to have their kids work in a retail store, restaurant or grocery store, or in any type of job that requires customer understanding and service. I would encourage young people to do this type of work because of the valuable people skills it provides. You meet all kinds of people. Sometimes they’re ornery or antagonistic. Some are lonely and want to tell you their life story. If you’re a waiter, you have to get that order right. Patrons may give you kudos or be very angry; this is where you’re honing your skills in people-reading. Doctors need to be good at reading people and responding well, no matter how the patient behaves.
 

Words of Wisdom from “Big Al” 

There is an element of customer service and pragmatism that has long been a guiding principle and dynamic in my life. When I was a youngster I worked in a grocery store after school and I delivered groceries in a station wagon. Big Al, the store owner, used to say to me, “Don’t let those talkative older people hold you too long.” I had to learn how to be friendly, to chat for a while, but to keep moving, so I could get to my next customer. In a hospital, residents may see 40 patients in a day. They have to keep moving, yet at the same time, they have to make a connection with each person, and hear what the patients have to say.

The laudatory increase in technical sophistication in medicine has unfortunately carried with it a deleterious consequence—a decrease in the reliance on perceptive human skills in assessing patients. The physician may be more likely to get the diagnosis right, but less likely to show empathy, and to make sure the patient understands what is happening and will cooperate with treatment.
 

The Human Side of Medicine 

Often, our students select a path to medical school so early in their lives that they are spared from doing jobs where they could learn customer-service skills, and could learn to recognize social cues from people, and then use these with patients, to identify feelings like dread, anxiety, and anger. There’s a wide range of capacity to read affect. How well we do in that range, reading it well or poorly, is a result of how much practice we’ve had. I think we’re missing that in the premature crystallization of identity that keeps a youngster who wants to be a doctor in a kind of a bubble, with limited opportunity to talk to a lot of people and try to ascertain how they feel. I am not devaluing shadowing of doctors or working in a research lab, but making the case for the doctors to be immersing themselves in experience with people.

I encourage the admissions department at RUSM to look for well-rounded applicants, especially those who have spent time in a role that trains a person how to be good at customer service — which is essentially how to connect to humankind. 

Strategic hospital affiliations give students a rich clinical experience

RUSM students gain clinical experience in their first semester. That fact appeared to be the most surprising and exciting information aspiring physicians learned during an interactive open house recently hosted at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland (SJMO) in Pontiac, MI. Nearly 70 attended the program, including five recently accepted students, to learn more about RUSM directly from the university’s faculty and alumni as well as from current students who are conducting clerkships at SJMO.

The program included a guided tour of the technologically-advanced simulation lab and hands-on demonstrations of innovative robotic equipment used during surgical procedures. Prospective students also had the opportunity to listen to a panel discussion and have questions answered about RUSM’s curriculum, campus life, student outcomes and more.

The SJMO simulation lab, “the most special tour feature” as commented by one attendee, provided realistic experiences for prospective students. Guests performed ultrasounds on the simulator, passed plastic blocks with laparoscopic instruments, maneuvered robotic surgical arms and evaluated SimMan® for an asthma attack.

“The simulation part of the tour gave students insight into what kinds of technology they would encounter in their first two years of medical school and beyond,” said Dave Pederson, director of the Center for Excellence in Simulation Education at RUSM.

“The clinical experience at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland is an example of what many RUSM students may undergo during their clerkships,” said Peter Goetz, vice dean of administration at RUSM.

SJMO is a RUSM-affiliate teaching hospital where a significant number of RUSM students conduct all of their core rotations (e.g., Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Surgery) during the third and fourth years of their medical school journey. One of the major reasons that RUSM established a relationship with SJMO is its similar focus on incorporating technology in medical education. 

Attendees were also able to experience what robotic surgery entails through the da Vinci® Surgical System. Prospective students manipulated mechanical hand controls to mimic precise incisions made during surgical procedures.

The event concluded with a reception where prospective students were able to get additional questions answered during individual discussions with RUSM faculty, administration, alumni and students.
 

We think there’s a lot to love about Dominica, home of Ross University School of Medicine’s Foundations of Medicine curriculum. Many already travel here for the sights and experiences:  The country is home to rainforests, waterfalls, hot springs, and numerous diving spots, plus local flora and fauna that you can’t find anywhere else. 

There’s more to Dominica than just its beauty, though. CNN recently posted an article listing the Top Ten Ethical Travel Destinations, as selected by Ethical Traveler, a nonprofit organization.  Dominica landed in the third spot on the list.

Ethical Traveler looked at three criteria when creating this list—environmental protection, social welfare, and human rights. The nonprofit consulted databases from sources like Freedom House, UNICEF, and Reporters Without Borders, and reviewed detailed case research about each of the candidates.

"In Dominica, native species and forests are relative unspoiled in comparison to neighboring islands," writes Ethical Traveler. "Impressive efforts are underway to save endemic mountain chickens, which only inhabit two islands in the world. Other notable strides in Dominica include the expansion of solar power across the island, work to preserve native populations of frogs and iguanas, and a stated goal to become energy independent and carbon negative by 2020."

There’s more to making this list than doing well in the three categories above, though. “Each country selected as a Best Ethical Destination also offers the opportunity to experience unspoiled natural beauty, and to interact with local people and cultures in a meaningful, mutually enriching way,” writes Ethical Traveler on its website.

Check out the CNN article here.