Alumni Association Activities 2013

Alumni Council Dinners

Lee Goldman, who has been dean of P&S since July 2006, addressed alumni in attendance at the Jan. 29, 2013, council dinner. "We are the only medical school in the top 10 or 15," he was pleased to report, "that has had an increase in NIH funding in each of the past three years." In addition, he announced, "last year our clinical practice increased by 8 percent, and we raised over $200 million in philanthropy over the past two years." Elaborating on the new curriculum, he described its emphasis on "team-based learning" in small groups. Opting to preserve the "summer break," the school decided to transform it into an active time out of the classroom to be used by students to launch scholarly projects or to gain experience in global health. Other key curriculum changes include a shift of the clinical experience, still a full year long, to six months earlier in the pedagogical experience. Concerns that students would be unprepared for clinical learning, the dean said, have proved unfounded. Educational options have been enriched with two longitudinal curricula: one of 12 months duration at the Bassett Hospital and a new 12-week course at the Bronx VA Hospital—both of which combine experience in medicine, primary care and three surgical disciplines. Thanks to the most important innovation, the scholarly project, the dean said, "We have, in essence, made P&S a three-year medical school with a fourth year of required scholarship." The goal, he added, is to "prepare our graduates for lifelong learning." 

Lawrence R. Stanberry, MD, PhD, the Reuben S. Carpentier Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at P&S, and pediatrician-in-chief of Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian, was the guest speaker at the March 20, 2013 council dinner. (He is pictured at left with Alumni Association President Neil Freeman'85.) Recruited in 2008 from the University of Texas at Galveston, where he served as professor and chair of pediatrics, Dr. Stanberry is a recognized authority on infectious diseases and vaccine development and the author of more than 200 scientific papers. With an annual budget of $117 million, including some $50 million generated from clinical care, the Department of Pediatrics at P&S has the third highest case-mix index in the United States. At Morgan-Stanley Children's Hospital, Dr. Stanberry explained, "we take care of the sickest of the sick." He has set himself a goal of hiring NIH-funded division chiefs. In addition, the department will continue to focus on clinical research, with outstanding faculty clinician-scientists serving as role models to students and trainees. NIH departmental funding has significantly increased under his tenure. He also hopes to increase the number of endowed chairs. One special project in the works, in conjunction with the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology is establishment of the nation's first women's and children's health research initiative, in line with a longstanding tradition of maternal and child care at Babies Hospital.