January 6, 2023 - Aron Sousa, MD
Friends,
I anticipation you and yours got the accidental for a spot of interruption implicit the holidays, and fto maine springiness my sincere appreciation to those of you connected service, successful clinic, keeping the buildings open, supporting our safety, and keeping the animals steadfast successful the vivaria the past fewer weeks, portion the remainder of america got the accidental to instrumentality a nap. There are ever radical moving successful the college, and we beryllium connected your dedication. Thank you.
The past twelvemonth ended with a flurry of activity: support of the college’s strategical plan, submission of the LCME materials, support of the Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health, and CAC support of six caller departments. Each of those achievements brings a bid of adjacent steps – nary bully deed is simply a terminus.
This period the assemblage volition beryllium moving into implementation of the strategical plan. Carol Parker is starring the dean’s office’s enactment of the implementation plan, and we are pulling unneurotic the steering committee to pb the work. Next, determination volition beryllium implementation enactment groups to caput up the pillars and expansive challenge. It is these groups that volition finalize metrics and enactment plans.
Perhaps it is obvious, but the implementation enactment groups cannot bash each of the implementation – we, the corporate we, person to bash the implementation. Each enactment radical volition beryllium staffed by an subordinate dean, and they volition supply oversight and, successful immoderate cases, circumstantial implementation. As an example, the Dean’s Advisory Committee connected Diversity (DACD) volition beryllium the enactment radical for the diversity, equity, and inclusion stream. They already get updates from the college’s diverseness bureau and supply oversight successful that way. The DACD besides has been astatine the halfway of the implementation of the 1964 Project and should merchandise the winning proposals yet this month.
As astir of you volition know, the college’s eight-year LCME accreditation rhythm has travel astir to different survey squad visit. We expect the sojourn to beryllium based retired of Grand Rapids, and dissimilar anterior visits erstwhile they visited much than 1 community, this clip the LCME survey squad volition lone beryllium successful Grand Rapids. I would similar to person the squad sojourn immoderate of our different campuses, but the LCME has reduced the fig of days successful a sojourn and determination is not clip to determination the team. We volition marque this work, and we volition usage videos of our different spaces to amusement the squad our facilities astir the state.
Last month, Dan Webster, MD, who was the founding assemblage adjunct dean for our Traverse City Campus retired. I met Dan a agelong clip ago, erstwhile we worked to acceptable up the Traverse City field arsenic the archetypal caller CHM field since the instauration of the archetypal six campuses with the founding of the school. Dan was ever crippled to sojourn prospective sites, promote practices to enactment with our students, and I americium definite his transportation of pies and popcorn to prospective objective module was a cardinal portion of the endurance strategies of respective Northern Michigan businesses. He was a nationalist person successful the AAMC Group connected Regional Campuses and has been a cardinal protagonist of our agrarian programs. Dan’s illustration and the enactment of the Traverse City field unit laid the groundwork for the enlargement of our premier agrarian wellness acquisition programme arsenic good the instauration of our caller campuses successful the past decade. Dan has my deepest gratitude and appreciation.
And, if Dan is leaving, idiosyncratic has the unenviable occupation of replacing him. I americium blessed to denote that David Klee, MD, has accepted the relation arsenic our caller assemblage adjunct dean for the Traverse City Campus. Dr. Klee is simply a household medicine doc and has a agelong past of moving with our students and residents. He went to aesculapian schoolhouse astatine the University of Minnesota earlier doing his household medicine residency successful Midland astatine the programme affiliated with the assemblage astatine the past MidMichigan Health, present MyMichigan Health. He volition beryllium large successful this important role, and we are truthful blessed to person him with us.
While I americium doing announcements, I americium thrilled to denote that Wayne McCullough, PhD, has agreed to beryllium the interim seat for the caller Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health. Dr. McCullough has been singular successful starring the part done the past twelvemonth and a half, and his enactment was perfectly indispensable for the occurrence of the section connection approved by the committee of trustees successful December. The section has created a module enforcement committee, and we are opening the process of creating the hunt for the founding chair. Thank you, Wayne.
A caller twelvemonth brings caller opportunities for anticipation and inspiration. Michigan State alums Wanda Lipscomb, PhD (Education, ’78), and Candace Smith-King, MD (’03), person been mentoring and supporting students from underrepresented backgrounds for decades. Hundreds of physicians person recovered a way specifically from their mentorship. Dr. Lipscomb is our elder subordinate dean for diverseness and inclusion arsenic good arsenic subordinate dean for pupil affairs, and Dr. Smith-King is vice president for world affairs astatine Corewell Health successful Grand Rapids and adjunct prof successful our Department of Pediatrics and Human Development. Their enactment was celebrated arsenic 1 of the “most inspirational stories of 2022” by WOOD TV successful Grand Rapids.
We each marque a quality 1 student, 1 idiosyncratic astatine a time. Passing from 1 to the next, crossing the years similar we transverse a door-slab, crossed each of us, we service multitudes.
Serving the radical with you,
Aron
Aron Sousa, MD, FACP
Dean
English (US)