Category Archives: Medical School

Gevvie Stone has promised herself that the next phase of her life begins on Aug. 27 when she returns to Tufts Medical School for her third-year residency.

That gives her about six more weeks to immerse herself in the dream of nearly every young athlete in America as the Newton rower represents the United States in the 2012 London Summer Games.

For the past decade, Stone has done her best to alternate between the two spectacular parts of her life. She won an NCAA championship while a student at Princeton University and then moved back to the Boston area to begin medical school while she trained daily on the Charles River.

It was a workload and time-management puzzle that would have crushed many a twenty-something who lacked the focus and discipline of someone like Stone. But it was one she felt she managed well in all but a few of the most extreme cases.

The one time that was really tricky was the spring of my second year when I was studying for board exams, she said. At the same time, I had won the National Selection Regatta, so I was already defined as the U.S. single scull for the World Cup. So I felt more pressure on myself to train more seriously because I wanted to perform at the World Cup, while at the same time I was supposed to be spending 12 hours a day in the library studying for my board exams.

That was the only time where I was full-time training and full-time studying, and I was probably not at 100 percent for either. I probably didnt get anywhere near enough sleep.

Once Stone got through her boards June 15, 2010, she remembers - she knew the better part of the next two years would be dedicated to rowing as she attempted to follow in the footsteps of her mother, Lisa, who rowed in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, and her father and coach, Gregg, who was likely headed to the 1980 Moscow Games until the U.S. boycott.

It was tremendous challenge of training on the water and in the weight room that saw its share of achievements and its share of setbacks. It all came down this spring when she competed in the single sculls at the 2012 Non-Qualified Small Boat Olympic Trials and won. That earned her a spot at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta where she would need to finish top four to make the Olympic team in the only window of opportunity her school and impending medical career would likely allow.

She finished third. She was going to London.

She was fulfilling that dream she said every little girl athlete has at one moment of her life.

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Newton rower Gevvie Stone on her way to London Olympics

NORTH HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- Construction is underway on the state's third medical school at Quinnipiac University in North Haven.

While the Frank H. Netter School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University doesn't look like much now, much like its namesake, a renowned medical illustrator, school officials view it as a palette for change.

"We will train medical students with nursing students, physician assistant students because healthcare more and more is a team activity," said Dr. Bruce Koeppen, Dean, Frank H. Netter School of Medicine.

And more and more in need of primary care doctors.

"If you look at the needs of CT and in fact, the country, there is a physician shortage in general," said Koeppen, "but a severe shortage for primary care physicians."

That's where the medical school, which will be the third medical school in the state, sees its role in the future of healthcare. Its focus will be on training medical students to enter the primary care field.

"Right now if you look at the national statistics about 15 percent of current medical students are planning a career in primary care," said Koeppen. "We hope that 50 percent or more of our graduates will go into primary care."

Studies in the medical field indicate lower salaries and less control over work hours in primary care practice play a role in steering med students to specialized fields.

Yet, Koeppen says there is no better time to grow the field of primary care than now, especially since the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, which supports more preventative health care.

"Absolutely, you've got the uninsured who will have insurance," Koeppen said. "Estimates are 30 plus million. You also have the baby boomers that are entering the Medicare system and there you've got 80 million plus, so there will be a huge influx of patients into the health care system."

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Construction begins on QU med school

More than six years ago, when Florida International University secured the green light to create a new medical school at its West Miami-Dade main campus, the affirmative vote by the states Board of Governors was hailed as perhaps the most important in the universitys history.

Leading up to that yes vote, FIU leaders presented a finely tuned sales pitch that highlighted the expected benefits of a new med school: significant economic impact, increased numbers of minority physicians and increased access to healthcare among the regions underserved populations.

We have the largest concentration in the state of underserved citizens, then-FIU President Modesto Mitch Maidique told the Board of Governors in a formal presentation prior to the key vote.

But now that FIUs medical school is up and running with a clinic that began seeing public patients in April the school has been placed on the defensive because of the limited access it provides to a key segment of the medically underserved: Medicaid patients.

The universitys on-campus Faculty Group Practice, comprising a handful of full-time FIU faculty physicians, does not accept Medicaid patients, and does not expect to do so for about six months. The clinic includes two family-practice physicians, an internist, four gynecologists and several other doctors, with plans to add specialists in areas such as neurology and cardiology.

The clinic is under an umbrella group known as FIU Health, which encompasses 119 full-time medical faculty members and more than 800 part-time volunteer faculty. A patient who calls the FIU Health main hotline seeking a doctor could be referred to any physician within the umbrella group, regardless of whether they are full- or part-time faculty.

Over time, FIU pledges that all its full-time faculty will honor all forms of insurance. Currently, the doctors at FIUs modest 6,000-square-foot Faculty Group Practice accept Medicare, AvMed and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, among others.

The university did confirm that its Faculty Group Practice does not currently accept Medicaid, but said it does not track what insurances are accepted by the 800-plus volunteer doctors under the network.

FIU provided the names of all volunteer faculty to The Miami Herald. That list was compared with the states database of local Medicaid providers, and revealed that almost one-third of those doctors do not accept Medicaid.

I was very disappointed, said Dr. Francisco Pita, a general practice doctor with an office a few blocks from the FIU campus.

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Is FIU health program falling short in its pledge?

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First year Medical Students Travis Corgan, left, and Christine Dahlhausen wait to don their white coats during the Texas Tech Paul L. Foster School of Medicine White Coat Ceremony at the Plaza Theatre.

El Pasoan Victoria Nuez smiled after putting on her white medical coat for the first time during a ceremony Saturday for the newest class of students at El Paso's medical school.

Nuez is one of the 80 students in the fourth class to enter the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. Nuez is among 12 El Pasoans in the medical school's Class of 2016.

The new students were given the coats, which are symbolic of the medical profession, during a White Coat Ceremony at the Plaza Theatre. The White Coat Ceremony is a milestone that marks entering the medical field and signifies the responsibility to take care of patients.

Nuez, a graduate of Americas High School and the University of Texas at Austin, said she was happy to attend medical school in her hometown.

"It means so much," Nuez said. "I still have family here. I have that support network from my family. I can give back to my community."

Nuez said she was inspired to become a doctor by her grandfather, Dr. Germinal Nuez, who was a doctor in El Paso before he retired, and her aunt, Dr. Lourdes Nuez of Miami.

Medical school leaders said the new group of students were selected from 2,900 applicants. The school now has 260 students, including the newest class.

The school's first class will graduate next May in what will be a milestone for the medical school, which for decades was only a dream for El Paso, said Dr. J. Manuel de la Rosa, the medical school's founding

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New medical school student sees chance to serve El Paso

Brandon Universitys medical school recommendation report has been submitted to the province.

President Deborah Poff, along with representatives from BU, the University of Manitoba and other committee members, met Tuesday to discuss the feasibility study that had been completed by two consultants.

Poff submitted the report Thursday and will be meeting with the Council on Post-Secondary Education on July 13.

Poff wouldnt discuss the recommendations, but said she was pleased to see it moving forward.

Itll feel better when we know what people are going to do with it, she said.

Last spring, the Manitoba government provided $350,000 to conduct the feasibility study to determine how enhancing medical education in Brandon can help to increase the number of doctors across the province.

The study is looking at a variety of options, including a stand-alone medical school in Brandon, a satellite program expansion from the University of Manitoba in partnership with BU and a continuation or expansion of existing models of rotational and educational experiences.

Earlier this year, Poff said she would like to see the university involved in medical education either stand-alone or partnered.

The recommendation report was originally supposed to be submitted to the Council on Post-Secondary Education on March 31, but was given two extensions.

jaustin@brandonsun.com

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University submits medical school study to province

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- The 84-year-old baseball has been sitting in Elizabeth Gott's drawer for years, but now she's hoping it will pay off her son's medical school debt.

New York Yankees slugger Lou Gehrig smashed the ball into the bleachers for a home run during the 1928 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Gehrig hit the homer off Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander while teammate Babe Ruth was on base and called it his most significant homerun at the time, according to a newspaper account.

Hunt Auctions plans to sell the ball Tuesday at the All-Star FanFest in Kansas City, Mo., and predicts it could fetch $100,000 to $200,000. Online bidding has already begun, with the top bid at about $37,000 as of Thursday.

Gott, a 57-year-old Stamford resident, said she's selling the ball on behalf of her 30-year-old son, Michael.

''I'm just sort of floored by the whole thing,'' she said. ''It has a lot of history. It's a lot about America. To think that it's possible the team that we rooted for could actually help my son pay off some of his medical school debt, any amount would be fine.''

Michael Gott, who is in his last year of residency, said he was surprised at the potential value of the ball. He said his medical school debt was nearly $200,000.

''I'm extremely fortunate that this occurred and definitely I'm extremely thankful that something so lucky would happen to me,'' Gott said. ''I'm ... very appreciative that someone in my family was able to contribute to something I worked so hard for.''

Gott said the ball was a gift to him from his uncle, who received it from other relatives of Buddy Kurland, who is Elizabeth Gott's great-uncle.

Kurland, who lived in Manchester, had gone to the game with his friend Scotty Stevenson. Kurland nearly caught Gehrig's three-run homer, but a fan knocked his cap over his eyes and he dropped the ball, according to a newspaper account. Stevenson picked up the ball and gave it to Kurland.

''There she goes right into the bleachers in center field,'' broadcaster Graham McNamee said, according to the account. ''He's got it. No, he hasn't. It's his error, the first error of the day. It has fallen from his hands and everybody else is trying to find it.''

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Conn. family selling Lou Gehrig's home run ball