Dear Colleagues,
As we begin to look ahead to the new year, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your commitment to our college and to reflect on our most recent successes. I joined the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson not quite six months ago, and have continuously been impressed by our progress in education, research and patient care. In an effort to be more transparent and communicative with our college family, here’s some of the headway we’ve made in these areas.
Education
The future is bright for students pursuing medicine here at our college. We have begun discussions with the UA College of Education to offer our students a new opportunity: a dual MD-MEd program. This new dual degree program is expected to launch by the end of the academic year and will equip our graduates with the ability to teach as well as heal.
The UA College of Medicine – Tucson continues to attract attention nationwide and students are eager to train amongst us. This past year we received more than 9,500 applications for admission to our medical school. This coming year, we will begin reserving 10 of our admissions slots for undergraduates in the UA Honors College. We are eager to get this direct admission program off the ground and begin welcoming some of the UA’s brightest young scholars.
As you may know, we hosted a successful limited site visit from the Liaison Committee for Medical Education in October. The LCME’s preliminary findings have been very positive and I will continue to share updates as we receive feedback.
Research
Some of you know that research is close to my heart. That being said, I am eager to begin spotlighting our outstanding basic, translational and clinical scientists. We are delighted to host the college’s first-ever Research Day in February. The day-long event will allow our researchers to get to know one another, as well as compete for cash prizes in a shark tank-style competition. We hope that events such as these inspire more collaboration between our departments and health sciences colleges, as well as across campus.
We have also made it a goal of ours to build the number of clinical investigators here at our college. I believe we have talent here on our turf that is not being harnessed. To combat this problem, we are actively working on better supporting our investigators and building new partnerships that further our hand in clinical research. As part of this goal, we are preparing to reapply for a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA). This funding will allow us to speed up our translation of research discovery into improved patient care.
Patient Care
I and other college leadership are working directly with Larry Goldberg, Chad Whelan, and Sarah Frost to improve our university’s relationship with Banner Health. This includes making rounds on a regular basis to understand clinical problems and potential solutions. Looking ahead, each of these leaders is committed to a more unified partnership with open lines of communication.
On a similar note, new service lines with Banner Health are on the horizon that will fall under the cancer and heart divisions. We are diligently working to have these lines up and running as soon as possible. We also hope to improve the patient experience and make access to care easier. As part of that initiative, our goal is to provide our family — all UA and Banner employees — with an appointment within 72-hours of request.
Finally, as many of you may know, last year we established the Clinical Excellence Awards to celebrate physicians who exceed all standards of clinical care. I look forward to continuing this tradition in the year to come to recognize and reward excellence in the clinical enterprise.
Other News
We are actively ensuring that diversity and inclusion play a role in all of our efforts. Later this month, the college is hosting its first annual Diversity Lectureship during Martin Luther King week. All are invited to attend and hear from renowned surgeon, Dr. L.D. Britt.
Last but not least, our search for a permanent dean of the College of Medicine – Tucson continues. In December we interviewed candidates and have since begun narrowing down the search to a list of finalists. I expect that these candidates will be on campus sometime this winter as we continue the interview process.
Thank you, again, for your contributions and hard work in 2018. The accomplishments mentioned above could not have been done without you. I hope you are looking forward to 2019 and more progress in these areas; I know I am.
As we begin to look ahead to the new year, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your commitment to our college and to reflect on our most recent successes. I joined the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson not quite six months ago, and have continuously been impressed by our progress in education, research and patient care. In an effort to be more transparent and communicative with our college family, here’s some of the headway we’ve made in these areas.
Education
The future is bright for students pursuing medicine here at our college. We have begun discussions with the UA College of Education to offer our students a new opportunity: a dual MD-MEd program. This new dual degree program is expected to launch by the end of the academic year and will equip our graduates with the ability to teach as well as heal.
The UA College of Medicine – Tucson continues to attract attention nationwide and students are eager to train amongst us. This past year we received more than 9,500 applications for admission to our medical school. This coming year, we will begin reserving 10 of our admissions slots for undergraduates in the UA Honors College. We are eager to get this direct admission program off the ground and begin welcoming some of the UA’s brightest young scholars.
As you may know, we hosted a successful limited site visit from the Liaison Committee for Medical Education in October. The LCME’s preliminary findings have been very positive and I will continue to share updates as we receive feedback.
Research
Some of you know that research is close to my heart. That being said, I am eager to begin spotlighting our outstanding basic, translational and clinical scientists. We are delighted to host the college’s first-ever Research Day in February. The day-long event will allow our researchers to get to know one another, as well as compete for cash prizes in a shark tank-style competition. We hope that events such as these inspire more collaboration between our departments and health sciences colleges, as well as across campus.
We have also made it a goal of ours to build the number of clinical investigators here at our college. I believe we have talent here on our turf that is not being harnessed. To combat this problem, we are actively working on better supporting our investigators and building new partnerships that further our hand in clinical research. As part of this goal, we are preparing to reapply for a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA). This funding will allow us to speed up our translation of research discovery into improved patient care.
Patient Care
I and other college leadership are working directly with Larry Goldberg, Chad Whelan, and Sarah Frost to improve our university’s relationship with Banner Health. This includes making rounds on a regular basis to understand clinical problems and potential solutions. Looking ahead, each of these leaders is committed to a more unified partnership with open lines of communication.
On a similar note, new service lines with Banner Health are on the horizon that will fall under the cancer and heart divisions. We are diligently working to have these lines up and running as soon as possible. We also hope to improve the patient experience and make access to care easier. As part of that initiative, our goal is to provide our family — all UA and Banner employees — with an appointment within 72-hours of request.
Finally, as many of you may know, last year we established the Clinical Excellence Awards to celebrate physicians who exceed all standards of clinical care. I look forward to continuing this tradition in the year to come to recognize and reward excellence in the clinical enterprise.
Other News
We are actively ensuring that diversity and inclusion play a role in all of our efforts. Later this month, the college is hosting its first annual Diversity Lectureship during Martin Luther King week. All are invited to attend and hear from renowned surgeon, Dr. L.D. Britt.
Last but not least, our search for a permanent dean of the College of Medicine – Tucson continues. In December we interviewed candidates and have since begun narrowing down the search to a list of finalists. I expect that these candidates will be on campus sometime this winter as we continue the interview process.
Thank you, again, for your contributions and hard work in 2018. The accomplishments mentioned above could not have been done without you. I hope you are looking forward to 2019 and more progress in these areas; I know I am.
Happy New Year,
Irving L. Kron, MD
Interim Dean, College of Medicine – Tucson
Senior Associate Vice President, UA Health Sciences
Professor, Department of Surgery
