March 2016

Student Leaders Meeting Notes
Some of the students had questions about our current inclement weather policy. Dr. Parker conferred with other medical schools and found that our “liberal leave” policy aligns with the policy of about 80% of medical schools. Those schools cite the same reasons we do…clinical work goes on during inclement weather, and part of our job is to train you to manage stress and uncertainty in balancing commitments to patients and care teams. Communication and forethought are the keys!

Class of 2017: You are encouraged to stop by and speak with the OSA Deans about scheduling and career plans.

Class of 2018: There were some questions about the date that third year begins. Please utilize MedScope to determine important dates for the next academic year.

Class of 2019: We would like to remind you that you can not have electronic devices with you during the exam. You should limit the amount of times you get up during the exams out of respect for your classmates.

All: Please let Dr. Parker know if you have any incidences or safety concerns while utilizing the Lexington Garage

Annual Climate Survey
You should already have taken the mandatory Title IX student training at this point; we now ask that you take some time to complete this important annual climate survey related to sexual misconduct.

The UMB Office of Accountability and Compliance’s Education and Equal Access Team is conducting this climate survey to gather information on the perceptions and experiences UMB students may have had with sexual misconduct and to assess the level of comfort students feel in reporting these concerns. Additionally, UMB would like to determine the level of student knowledge and awareness of UMB's sexual misconduct policies and procedures, and available resources.

Participation in the survey is completely voluntary. This survey responses are anonymous; the names and identities of survey participants will not be tracked or recorded. The survey is intended to inform campus policies and procedures while continuing to improve the climate here at UMB, and to engage in an open and honest conversation about issues related to sexual misconduct.

UMB has been administering this survey since 2013 and was ahead of the curve when Maryland enacted HB 571 last year, which required all higher education institutions conduct a climate survey related to sexual assault.

The survey opens on today and closes on March 31st at 11:59 PM. You should have received an email containing a link to the survey. Please search for “Campus Climate Survey” or “Use Your Voice” if you cannot immediately locate the email in your inbox.

Should you have any questions, please contact the University’s Title IX Coordinator Ms. Bonnie M. Muschett, Director of Compliance and Engagement, or Deputy Title IX Coordinator Ms. Rahel H. Denboba, Director of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives. You can reach them via email TitleIXCompliance@umaryland.edu or by calling (410)706-2281.

Student Health
If you need your health records from student health, please be advised it will take approximately 3 weeks.

UM SOM Authorship Policy
The University of Maryland Baltimore has requested that all UMB schools develop a manuscript authorship policy that will help prevent and resolve disputes concerning authorship. The aim of such a policy is not to exhaustively dictate all possible scenarios but to provide some broad guidance regarding the inclusion or exclusion of individuals as authors. Dean Reece requested that the Research Affairs Advisory Committee (RAAC), chaired by Dr. Rich Eckert, develop such a policy and present it to the SOM Executive Committee and SOM Council for discussion and approval.

The RAAC consulted the policies of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors as well as authorship policies of 10 other major research institutions. The resulting UMSOM policy uses authorship criteria that are similar to those employed by the ICMJE and other institutions.

Volunteers and Tour Guides Needed
Would you like to inspire Walt Whitman High School who are interested in medicine? If so, please volunteer to speak with our students about your life as a medical student. We will also need tour guides. The students will be here on Friday, March 11, 2016 from 1:00 pm until 3:30 pm. Please email Dawn Roberts if you are able to participate.

NHSC Scholarship Program
2016 Application and Program Guidance has the detailed information you need to apply. Please read carefully before you start your Scholarship Program application.
You can apply to the Scholarship Program if you are committed to primary care and accepted to or enrolled in an accredited U.S. school in one of the following primary care disciplines:
 

• Physicians (MD or DO)
• Dentists
• Nurse Practitioners (post graduate degree with clinical practice focus)
• Certified Nurse-Midwives
• Physician Assistants

The scholarship pays tuition, fees, other educational costs, and provides a living stipend in return for a commitment to work at least 2 years at an NHSC-approved site in a medically underserved community.
For each year of financial support (up to four years), the student agrees to serve one year (minimum two years) at an NHSC-approved site in a high-need urban, rural, or frontier community across the nation.
Service begins upon graduation (and completion of primary care residency training for doctors and dentists). The NHSC helps scholars find a practice site that's right for them. When in service, scholars earn a market-rate salary, paid by the employing facility.
Scholarship payments other than the living stipend are federal income tax-free.
The Scholarship Program accepts applications once each year. To learn more about how NHSC reviews applications and determines who receives a scholarship, please watch the short video below. Applicants chosen to receive the scholarship are notified no later than September 30.

2016 Minority Summer Fellowship Award
The goal of the 2016 ASTRO Minority Summer Fellowship Award is to introduce medical students from backgrounds that are under-represented in medicine to the discipline of radiation oncology early in their medical education. Medical students in all years are encouraged to apply, although preference will be given to first- and second-year students.
Two award winners will be chosen, and they will be introduced to the discipline of radiation oncology and exposed to clinical, basic and translational research questions.
Each winner will receive:
 

• A $2,500 stipend for an eight-week training program.
• An additional $1,000 upon completion of a final report.
• Another $1,000 to be applied toward attendance at the 2017 ASTRO Annual Meeting.

The application deadline is March 4, 2016.

AMA Foundation's Minority Scholars Award
The AMA Foundation, in collaboration with the AMA Minority Affairs Section (MAS), with support from Pfizer Inc., offers medical student tuition assistance scholarships through the Minority Scholars Award program. As part of the award, $10,000 scholarships will be awarded to first- or second-year medical students from traditionally underrepresented groups. In addition, the Dr. Richard Allen Williams & Genita Evangelista Johnson/Association of Black Cardiologists Scholarship of $5,000 will be awarded to one first- or second-year African-American medical student with an expressed interest in cardiology. The recipients will also participate in a leadership training program held in conjunction with the AMA Annual Meeting. Applications for the Minority Scholars Award program are now available to medical schools, with a deadline on March 4, 2016 at 5:00 pm CST. Students must be nominated by the dean or dean’s designate in order to apply. Please contact the financial aid office or other appropriate faculty member for more information.

International Tropical Medicine Summer School
ITMSS will be held on August 1st – 18th, 2016 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The theme is all about "Tropical Medicine In Indonesia’s Primary Health Care System".
For more information, please visit the International Tropical Summer School’s official website. For the Application Form, Poster, Guidelines, please click here. For questions, please e-mail: itmss.indonesia@gmail.com 

Class of 2016

Faculty Awards
Nominate your favorite faculty members for awards which will be presented at your graduation! You will also be deciding on a Faculty Speaker, Hooders and Marshals. Just click on the ‘Questionmark’ button from the MedScope homepage (username is the same as for MedScope. Password is your student ID including the ‘@’ symbol). The survey ends March 11, 2016. 

Match Day
Your Match Day tickets are available! Stop by OSA and pick them up! Please be considerate and only pick up the number of tickets that you need. Additionally, the AAMC hopes your school will participate in the Match Day frenzy by following and posting to Twitter using either or both of the two hashtags: #iMatched and #Match2016. Please let Dawn Roberts know if you will NOT be participating in Match Day.

Graduation Fair
If you missed the Grad Fair, don’t worry! You will be able to order your regalia, announcements etc., online starting on March 1, 2016. (The bookstore has had to delay online regalia ordering). Please visit UMB’s Commencement website on or after March 1st.

Graduation
Please let Dawn Roberts know if you will NOT be attending graduation.

Graduation Ticket Waitlist
Please email Dawn Roberts with the number of additional tickets you will need. We will do our best to accommodate you.

Graduation Accommodations
Please remember to email Dawn Roberts if you need wheelchair accommodations.

Yearbook
The deadline has been extended until March 5, 2016 for yearbook ads. No ads will be accepted after March 5th. If you or your family has hard copy or email ads to submit, please feel free to have them mail or email them to Dawn Roberts. Also feel free to contact Richard Chen with questions. He will be sending you details soon.

Class of 2017

Match Day 2016
We need volunteers for Match Day! Match Day is March 18, 2016 at the Hippodrome Theater. We will need volunteers between 9:30am and 1:30pm. You don’t need to stay the whole time, just let Dawn Roberts know when you are available! You can also certainly help yourself to the light breakfast that will be served. If you are interested and available, please email Dawn Roberts. Wear your white coat and be a part of this very special day!

4th Year Photos
To get your complimentary VSAS/ERAS photo taken, you should report to the Photo and Graphics Group.

Photo and Graphics Group
Bressler Research Building
1st floor, Room 1-009.
(Beyond Hosick Lecture Hall)
Phone x6-7808 (410-706-7808)
9:30a.m. – 3:00p.m.
Monday – Friday (Closed between noon and 1pm)

Call the day you plan to have your shoot to confirm the photographers are available.
Remember to dress professionally. Wear what you would wear to a residency interview.
Your potential, future program directors will be viewing these photos. The background is usually white.
Guys: Please arrive at the photo shoot prepared. Wear your jacket and tie. Shave/get hair-cuts etc. before the photo shoot.
Ladies: Please dress appropriately for the photo shoot. Most students wear shirts (not low-cut) and jackets. The photographers can’t completely re-touch your hairstyle, so come with your hair looking very nice.
Everyone: Scrubs are not appropriate.
Also the photographers are very busy…No re-shoots!
Don’t wait until the last minute!

Minority Senior Scholarship Program
The Minority Senior Scholarship Program (MSSP) aims to expose URM medical students to careers in academic pediatrics and community health. The program enriches the experience of 4th year students through a one month elective rotation, close mentoring by faculty and residents, networking with program and hospital leadership, and financial support to offset the cost of travel and housing.

Applications are due by May 1, 2016.

Class of 2018

Medical Education Fellowship for Medical Students
Now in its third year, the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine is continuing to offer a one year medical education fellowship to a medical student after completion of year 2 of the traditional MD curriculum.  Through our Educational Development Office, this fellow will work primarily on our ‘Cane Academy initiative. Modeled after the Khan Academy, the Miller School has developed a program to deliver a competency-based, self-directed curriculum that utilizes online modules with short videos and self-assessment questions in addition to in class problem solving sessions leading to formative and summative assessments.  This fellow must already have expertise in instructional technology resources to create short instructional videos and will work collaboratively with faculty and an instructional design specialist on this initiative.  A graduate student stipend for the year will be provided along with support for travel to medical education conferences.

For more information, please contact Dr. Alex J. Mechaber, Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education, 305-243-0496.