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Dean's Message
Summer has its own rhythm at the School of Medicine. The halls are a tiny bit quieter after the spring excitement of Match Day and graduation, but nothing close to silent. Listen to this:
Several groups of high school students interested in medicine and science have been with us. One-day visits to campus and our two-week Summer Scholars programs, as they have for decades, attract motivated students and help them learn about the school and what they will need to prepare for a successful career in health care. This also is the second year at the school for Camp Cardiac, a weeklong national day camp that focuses on the heart and offers more general information on careers in medicine.
Our new residents and fellows, 115 in all, have checked in and gotten down to business. Our Office of Graduate Medical Education oversees the process across our 45 residency and fellowship programs. Two of these programs — the neurology residency and endocrinology fellowship — are new this year.
On May 19, we held a ceremony to announce plans to form the UMKC Health Sciences District. As you may know, Hospital Hill is home to schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and health sciences, and pharmacy, as well as to Truman Medical Center and University Health; Children's Mercy Hospital; the Kansas City, Missouri, Health Department; the Missouri Department of Mental Health's Center for Behavioral Medicine; the Office of the Jackson County Medical Examiner; Diastole Scholars' Center; and the Ronald McDonald House. This unique collection of remarkable institutions sits on a single, walkable campus, and now its members have joined to form the UMKC Health Sciences District.
The collective efforts of these leading health-care institutions will stimulate new opportunities for greater collaboration on health-related research, community initiatives, and innovative approaches to the wellbeing of the more than 16,000 people who come every day to work and learn on Hospital Hill.
And it will make UMKC School of Medicine an even stronger academic institution and a better partner to our close affiliates — Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City, the Kansas City Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Research Medical Center.
These are just some of the exciting happenings at the School of Medicine. Please stay in touch and keep letting us know what you are doing. I wish you the best for the remaining weeks of summer.
Steven L. Kanter, M.D.
Dean, UMKC School of Medicine
Call for Alumni Board nominations
 It's last call for nominations to the UMKC School of Medicine National Board of Alumni & Partners. The deadline is Aug. 1 for the 2017-18 term, which starts Oct. 1. To nominate yourself or other alumni, please click here to complete a brief nominating form. If you are a contributing or lifetime member of the UMKC Alumni Association, you will get to vote on the slate of officers and directors after nominations close. Not a contributing member? You can learn how to become one here.
The board is the voice of the school's 3,600-plus alumni, helps develop alumni events and engagement opportunities, and works closely with the dean and other leadership to shape and support the school's goals.
Alumnus' dual duties reinforce each other  As a physician-scientist, Jason Vaught, M.D. '07, splits his time between the lab and clinic at Johns Hopkins. "I'm a better maternal-fetal medicine clinician because of my lab work," he says. "And I'm a better researcher because I understand what's at stake." Read more >>
Associate dean part of antibiotic research in JAMA  A nationwide emergency medicine research group that includes Truman Medical Centers and Mark T. Steele, M.D. '80, has published new research on antibiotic treatment for cellulitis skin infections. Steele, associate dean for TMC Programs at the School of Medicine and chief medical officer and chief operating officer for TMC, said the study was particularly well-designed to get published in JAMA. Read more >>
Dimond inducted, student wins at UMKC School of Medicine 5K  Two prominent figures from the UMKC School of Medicine — founder E. Grey Dimond, M.D., and retired faculty member Ralph Hall, M.D. — were inducted into the new Hospital Hill Run Hall of Fame on June 1. In addition, the UMKC School of Medicine 5K, which kicks off the weekend races Friday evening, was a big success with nearly 2,000 participants of all ages. The women's division was won by fourth-year UMKC School of Medicine student Jordann Dhuse. Read more >>
Run, don't walk, to register  Early bird sign-up for the fifth annual Regalia Run 5K/10K and kids' Kangaroo Hop ends July 31. UMKC Founders' Week is just around the corner, Sept. 30-Oct. 8, and the Oct. 1 races are a highlight of the week. Besides those who sign up early, members of teams get $5 off their registration. Details and registration are here.
Cuba trip update
Recent changes in U.S. travel policy have raised concerns among people signed up for the UMKC Alumni Association's trip to Cuba in May 2018. However, the company overseeing the trip, Go Next, says the trip is in compliance and will proceed as planned. Some space is still available, so if you would like to sign up or just find out more, visit the trip's website.
Has the opioid crisis affected your practice?
We are working on an article about alumni who are helping confront and mitigate the rise in opioid abuse and deaths. If you are involved with treating patients with opioid abuse problems, are using alternative pain treatments that reduce or eliminate the need for opioids, or are doing research on addiction and possible solutions, we would like to hear from you. Please write to Greg Hack at hackg@umkc.edu.
Are you involved in hospital administration?
We are looking for alumni in leadership positions at hospitals, mainly in Missouri, for a possible magazine feature article. If you hold such a post or know other alumni who do, please write to Greg Hack at hackg@umkc.edu.
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