A World-Class College
Paul Rothman, MD, Dean, Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
The past year has been very productive and there is strength, vitality and growth across all mission areas of the UI Carver College of Medicine.
Our national reputation remains healthy, with U.S.News & World Report ranking the College ninth in the nation for primary care and 10th for research among the nation’s public universities. In addition, several of the College’s programs were also highly ranked among the nation’s public universities, including the Physician Assistant Program, ranked first; and our physical therapy program, ranked third. Three specialty areas were ranked highly--internal medicine ninth, rural medicine fifteenth, and family medicine at sixteenth.
Outstanding people enhance our national reputation, and this year several faculty members won prestigious awards, while other faculty and students served in leadership positions in state and national organizations. In addition, we successfully recruited many new faculty members, and welcomed four outstanding additions to our leadership team—Patrick M. Schlievert, PhD, head of Microbiology; James Potash, MD, MPH, head of Psychiatry; Karl Kreder, MD, MBA, head of Urology; and Raphael Hirsch, MD, is the new head of the Department of Pediatrics and physician in chief, University of Iowa Children's Hospital.
In our education mission, we continue our curriculum renewal planning and are beginning to implement some changes. Our curriculum renewal is focused on individualization, integration, and innovation that will allow medical student to have a more tailored experience. One of the most notable changes we will implement in the coming year is to increase our class size by four students to accommodate the new Rural Medicine Program.
Other points of pride for our education mission in 2011, include:
- Continued success for 2011 Physician Assistant Program graduates, who achieved 16 straight years of 100 percent pass rate for the National Certification Examination. In fact, the 2011 mean score for the program’s 24 graduates was the highest ever by a class from The University of Iowa in the 37-year history of the program—a wonderful achievement for both the PA Program and its students.
- A very successful Match Day, on March 17, 2011, with 141 of the College’s medical students “matching” to residency training programs for additional specialty training, including 46 percent who will enter primary practice specialties. We are fortunate that 45 of the graduates will continue their training in Iowa, 32 of them at UI Hospitals and Clinics.
Our research enterprise continues to grow--in 2011 to more than $229.5 million in funding--a $16 million increase over 2010. We also increased our National Institutes of Health funding to more than $144 million, making us tenth in the nation among public medical schools receiving NIH funds.
In July 2011 we received word that The National Cancer Institute awarded the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center a renewal of its formal designation as a comprehensive cancer center, which includes a five-year, $11.5 million Cancer Center Support Grant.
We continued our commitment to the advancement of discovery in a very tangible way with the construction of the new University of Iowa Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building. Scheduled for completion in 2014, this facility will be home base for collaborative research in neuroscience, cancer, diabetes, and other areas.
Clinically, our faculty and students are focused on offering new, advanced services, such as:
- A new $12 million cancer clinic in the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center with 37 exam rooms, two procedure rooms, and 40 infusion locations.
- First total artificial heart transplant program in the state
- MedMinder—a Facebook application to remind user to take their medication
Looking ahead to next year, The College’s strategic initiatives will include:
- Improving patient safety, quality, access and satisfaction
- Recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty
- Implementing medical education curriculum improvements
- Investigating and establishing global medicine initiatives
- Continuing to explore and advance personalized medicine in all our mission areas
With these and other initiatives we will fulfill our commitment to engage in innovative research, educate tomorrow’s health care leaders and provide world class patient care.