September 9, 2020 | Volume II, Issue 17

LCME Accreditation Update

The once-every-eight-year accreditation process by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) is critical to a medical school’s existence, certifying that a medical education program meets the prescribed standards for all U.S. and Canadian medical schools. For the past year, nearly 300 Larner community members–faculty, students, residents, and staff–led by Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean for Public Health Jan K. Carney, M.D., M.P.H., have volunteered on the LCME Task Force and 12 subcommittees. These groups have examined the 12 standards and 93 elements used by the LCME in order to produce a comprehensive analysis of our institutional strengths and challenges. At the same time, our student task force achieved 100 percent response to the Independent Student Analysis Survey (a first for the College), and the results of our 2020 Graduation Questionnaire provided helpful insights on areas of improvement to focus on.

The pandemic has brought changes in meeting format, but not in substance or final deadline.

On January 19 & 20, 2021, a team from the Medical School Advisory Group will conduct a Virtual Mock Site Visit, and provide detailed feedback in order to help the College take final steps to prepare for the LCME Virtual Site Visit from April 11-14, 2021.

Endowed Scholarship Honors Collins Oguejiofor ‘22

The passing of Collins Oguejiofor, a member of the Larner College of Medicine Class of 2022, was a deep loss for the family and friends whose lives he touched, as well as for his teachers and fellow medical students, who recognized what an outstanding physician he would have been.

To honor Collins’ memory in a meaningful way, the Oguejiofor family worked with the Larner Development and Alumni Relations Office to establish a diversity scholarship fund in his honor, with an initial goal of raising $50,000 to endow the fund. By early September, gifts and commitments from family members, students, faculty, staff, and friends of the College, combined with matching funds from the Medical Alumni Association’s Challenge Program, had met the fund’s initial goal.

Learn more and contribute to the scholarship fund.

Brentjens Presents Stetson Lecture on Novel CAR T Cell Immunotherapy Cancer Treatment

On September 8, 2020, Dean Richard L. Page, M.D., introduced Fifth Annual Stetson Lecture in Technological Advances in Medicine speaker Renier Brentjens, M.D., Ph.D., as “one of the brightest lights in cancer research.” Dr. Brentjens, the director of cellular therapeutics in the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center, discussed a novel form of immunotherapy–called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy–that he and colleagues at MSK pioneered and continue to study as a treatment for certain difficult-to-treat cancers. 

In his presentation via Zoom, titled “CARs and Armored CARs: Improving CAR T Cell Therapy for Cancer,” Dr. Brentjens discussed the history and evolution of CAR T cell therapy research. This approach, which has been studied with in vitro and mouse models, as well as clinical trials, involves the removal of immune cells from a patient and genetically re-engineering the cells with new proteins that “educate” them to recognize and attack cancer. The cells are then given back to the patient in large numbers as treatment for their cancer. 

The Stetson Lecture is supported by a fund established by UVM alumni John Stetson ’56, M.D.’60, and Roberta Stetson ’57.

Watch a MSK video about “CAR T Cell Therapy: How It Works.” 

Pictured above: Dr. Brentjens (Courtesy photo)

College Announces Clinical Training Site Updates

Several changes to the College’s out-of-state clinical education sites have been announced by Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education Christa Zehle, M.D.

Medical student rotations at our clinical training site at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., have been suspended for the next year. The College plans to maintain this important clinical education relationship and resume student placements at this location when travel and COVID-19 surge risks have been minimized.

At the College’s branch campus in Connecticut, there is currently the largest cohort to date–22 students–completing their clinical education at Nuvance Health’s Danbury and Norwalk Hospitals. Another 35 students from the Class of 2023 have committed to complete their clinical curriculum there starting in 2021.

After completion of the 2020-21 year, the College’s Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC) at Hudson Headwaters Health Network (HHHN), based in Glens Falls, N.Y., will discontinue. Piloted in 2016, this LIC has educated two additional cohorts of third-year medical students over the past two years, providing an outstanding rural clinical education experience. The College will remain close clinical and educational partners with HHHN and hopes to develop opportunities for clinical education experiences in the months and years to come.

The LIC at Central Vermont Medical Center, initiated in 2019, is educating its second cohort of four students. The aim is to grow this LIC program to serve as a model for establishing additional LIC programs within the UVM Health Network.

 I did not come to Kenosha to riot. I did not come to Kenosha to fight with members of QAnon, a group my parents agree is the 'new KKK.' I came to Kenosha to protest the unjustified shooting of Jacob Blake and the continued mistreatment and killing of Black and Brown people (especially men) in the hands of the police. While my horror from the destruction of this community is heartbreaking, and my disgust with the political manipulation of our shared pain is nauseating, I remain hopeful.”

~Class of 2021 medical student Christopher Veal

Read Christopher Veal’s full blog post, “’Over 400 Years in the Making:’ My Drive to Kenosha.”

Pictured above: Mr. Veal

Accolades & Appointments

CITATION HIGHLIGHTS

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