A Publication for the Faculty & Staff of the University of Maryland School of Medicine

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FUNfact

Did you know that School of Medicine students, faculty and staff provide over 115,000 hours of community service to over 400 organizations?


is produced by the University of Maryland School of Medicine Office of Public Affairs.

Donald E. Wilson, MD, MACP, Vice President for Medical Affairs and Dean, School of Medicine

Jennifer B. Litchman, Executive Editor
Jennifer L. McGinley, Contributor
Concept Foundry, Designer

Submitting Information to SOMNews Do you have news or information you would like to see in SOMNews? If so, please e-mail your submission to Jennifer Litchman, Director, Public Affairs, at jlitchman@som.umaryland.edu or fax it to 6-8520.
    

headerVol2Num8.JPG - 6852 BytesApril 2001  Volume 2   Number 8

A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

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As physicians, our primary responsibility is to provide care to those who need it. As teaching physicians, we are responsible for educating medical students and trainees – the future physicians and scientists. But there are forces at play which seriously undermine both of these missions. Access to medical services for some Maryland residents on medical assistance is being jeopardized by inadequate physician reimbursement. As a result, our financial stability and education programs are in danger.

School of Medicine faculty provide primary and specialty care to over 100,000 West Baltimore residents. Many of these patients are uninsured or are covered by the Medical Assistance Program. For the uninsured, most of the care is free, while Medical Assistance payments cover less than 50 percent of the cost of care. This is particularly burdensome because our clinical practice plan is supported entirely by revenue generated by clinical collections. Clinical services, which are essential to our patients and to the educational programs of the School of Medicine, are in need of increased support.

The Faculty Practice Plan incurs an annual loss of approximately $12 million on services to Medical Assistance patients, and annual losses of $14 million on services to uninsured patients. In the past, care for Medical Assistance and uninsured patients has been indirectly subsidized by the commercial payers via the School of Medicine Medical Service Plan. Over the past five years, however, commercial payers have reduced reimbursement levels to the point where subsidies are no longer possible. Unlike Maryland hospitals, we do not have an all-payers system for physicians who provide care. Physicians must accept what a payer offers or decline to participate in the program.

Thus, we are caught between a rock and a hard place. While we are the principal provider safety net for patients in West Baltimore, and we see and treat all patients who walk through our doors, over 28 percent of the total services we provide are reimbursed at less than 50 percent of our cost to deliver the service. This can’t continue.

Physician reimbursement for our patients must be increased. It is imperative that we find additional funding for the School of Medicine’s clinical education programs to ensure that our teaching programs remain viable, and to ensure that we can continue to provide the citizens of Maryland with the quality care that they need and deserve.

 IT’S A MATCH!
University of Maryland School of Medicine Students Match for Residency Programs

At noon on March 22, 126 University of Maryland School of Medicine graduating seniors were among medical students from across the country who found out where their careers as physicians will begin. It was “Match Day” – an annual event run by the National Resident Matching Program linking graduating students to residency training programs in all medical specialties.

For School of Medicine students, 88 percent matched to one of their first three choices for residency programs. Approximately 59 percent matched to their first choice, 18 percent to their second choice, and 11 percent received their third choice. Twenty-seven students were accepted to the University of Maryland Medical Center’s residency program to begin July 2001.

The majority of residency programs chosen by School of Medicine students are in specialties such as internal medicine, emergency medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics. The most-chosen specialty is internal medicine.

“We are very proud of our students’ accomplishments, and look forward to hearing wonderful things from them during their residency and beyond,” commented Jack Gladstein, MD, associate dean for student affairs. “The Match Day 2001 results show that our students are welcomed into the best programs in America. Many of our graduates will remain in the Maryland, DC, and Pennsylvania area. A good number will eventually practice in Maryland upon completion of their training. In fact, over 50 percent of Maryland’s practicing physicians are University of Maryland School of Medicine graduates.”

“This is an exciting time for all of us” said Eric Klineberg, president of the class of 2001. “Today we have been offered positions in our desired medical specialty and, in a real sense, completed our transition from medical student to medical doctor.”

MATCH RESULTS:
Specialty/# of students who matched

• Internal Medicine 32
• Family Medicine 14
• Pediatrics 12
• Surgery 6
• Radiology 3
• Radiation Oncology 3
• Anesthesia 7
• Psychiatry 4
• Medicine-ER 1
• Transitional 1
• Emergency Medicine 12
• Orthopaedics 4
• Ob/Gyn 6
• Medicine-Pediatrics 2
• Dermatology 2
• Neurology 3
• Ophthalmology 4
• Urology 2
• Rehabilitation 2
• Ear, Nose & Throat 2
• Preliminary Medicine 3
• Preliminary Surgery 1

In Memoriam

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Trudy L. Bush, PhD, MHS
The School of Medicine lost a friend and colleague on March 14, 2001, when Trudy L. Bush, PhD, MHS, professor of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, died suddenly.

Dr. Bush, director of the graduate program in Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, came to the University of Maryland in 1994. She had a long-standing interest in the effects of hormones and hormone replacement therapy on the cardiovascular

and reproductive systems, including the menopausal transition. She received international attention for research projects on the health effects of female hormones. She published over one hundred original manuscripts and served on several national and international committees and editorial boards relating to women’s health and menopause.

Dr. Bush received her PhD in sociology/demography from Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Health Science degree in epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. Dr. Bush is survived by her partner, Dr. Sue Miller, and her daughter, Emily Bush-Miller.

Quick Studies

Amira T. Eldefrawi, PhD, professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, has been given the title of adjunct professor in the Department of Pesticide Chemistry & Toxicology at the University of Alexandria, Egypt. Dr. Eldefrawi will also be listed in Who’s Who in America for his scientific contributions in the United States.

Denise M. Harmening, PhD, professor and chair, Department of Medical and Research Technology, was named one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women for 2001 by the Daily Record. The award recognizes the outstanding achievements of women who live or work in Maryland.

David M. Hone, PhD, associate professor, and George K. Lewis, PhD, professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, along with Robert Powell, PhD, all from the Institute of Human Virology, were issued a patent for their “Method for Introducing and Expressing Genes in Animal Cells, and Live Invasive Bacterial Vectors for Use in the Same” invention.

Susan K. Keay, MD, PhD, associate professor, Department of Medicine, Michael K. Hise, MD, associate professor, Department of Medicine, and John W. Warren, MD, professor, Departments of Medicine and Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, received a patent for “Heparin Binding-Epidermal Growth Factor-Like Growth Factor in the Diagnosis of Interstitial Cystitis” technology.

Vincent C.O. Njar, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, was awarded a Concept Award Grant from the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command’s Office. The grant will help Dr. Njar enhance his research on potential agents for breast cancer chemoprevention and therapy.

Scott M. Steidl, MD, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Ophthalmology, has just released a recording of works he composed and which have been performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. The title of his compact disc is Fire Dreams.

In Memoriam

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Richard Cohen
The School lost another friend when network engineer Richard Cohen died on March 13, 2001. Rick joined Information Services as a desktop technician in August 1997. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in September 1999. Rick played music throughout his teen-age years and attended Towson State University where he majored in music. He played the saxophone professionally for many years with a group called the Jazz Ensemble. Rick is survived by his wife of 17 years, Marley, and two sisters.

New Associate Dean for Information Services Appointed

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James E. McNamee, PhD, has been named the School of Medicine’s new associate dean for information services as well as associate professor of physiology. Dr. McNamee will have executive responsibility for the overall administration of the School of Medicine’s computer technology in support of academic and administrative activities. In addition, he will have teaching responsibilities within the Department of Physiology.

In his new position, Dr. McNamee will oversee all hardware, software, networking, and telecommunications operations, as well as educational communications and data services at the School of Medicine. He will also serve as a catalyst for interdepartmental and interinstitutional collaboration on information technology initiatives.

“Dr. McNamee has a unique combination of skills and experience that will enable him to expand and articulate the School’s information technology plan,” says Dean Wilson. “Because Dr. McNamee is a research scientist himself, he understands how technology can be used to help students and faculty members achieve their goals.”

Dr. McNamee’s research interests focus on pulmonary function, including the investigation of how air and blood meet in the lungs, and how very large molecules move from lung capillaries into the lymphatic networks. His studies have been published in the Journal of Applied Physiology and the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology.

Dr. McNamee has extensive experience in the management of information technology for the advancement of health care and biomedical research. He is the former director of the office of computer and communications resources at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. Dr. McNamee also held the position of associate professor of pharmacology and physiology at South Carolina. He received his PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Southern California, and served his postdoctoral fellowship at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco.

Fourth Annual Program in Neuroscience Symposium will be held on Tuesday, May 1, from 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. at the Nursing School Auditorium. The symposium will explore recent advances in understanding the basic mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases. For information: neurosci@umaryland.edu.