Dean Jeffrey Flier began the Dec. 2 Faculty Council meeting by introducing Jack Szostak, HMS professor of genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital, who shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Szostak gave his Nobel acceptance lecture, concerning the winning discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.
Flier then introduced Nicholas Christakis, HMS professor of medical sociology in the Department of Health Care Policy and professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who gave a presentation on the genetic basis of social networks.
The following speaker, Jules Dienstag, dean for medical education, gave an update on the site visit by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), to take place from March 6 through 11, 2011. Dienstag explained that the visit is preceded by an institutional self-study that will be developed by the School’s LCME subcommittees.
These subcommittees are the following: Governance and Administration, chaired by Nancy Tarbell, dean for academic and clinical affairs; Finances, chaired by Barbara McNeil, head of the Department of Health Care Policy; Medical Students, chaired by Richard Schwartzstein, director of the Academy; Research and Academic Environment, chaired by Lewis Cantley, HMS professor of systems biology and the William Bosworth Castle professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Clinical Teaching Facilities, GME and CME, chaired by Michael Gimbrone, the Ramzi S. Cotran professor of pathology; General Facilities, Library and IT, chaired by Rick Shea, associate dean for physical planning and facilities; Faculty, chaired by Barrett Rollins, the Linde Family professor of medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Educational Program, chaired by Dienstag; and the Steering Committee, co-chaired by Flier and Dienstag.
Dienstag also discussed the role of the students in a survey to precede the visit and during the visit itself. He noted that, although the LCME is interested in assessing the strengths of the School in all areas, their ultimate focus is on medical student education. He then gave an overview of the results from the previous LCME visit in 2001, including the areas of concern.
The presentation was followed by a discussion about how incidents in the hospitals are handled and the need for better lines of communication for reporting back to the Medical School.
