EFTA01199532.pdf

From: To: "jeevacation(kgmail.com" <jecvacation mail.corn> Subject: Fw: UVI School of Medicine Date: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 13:37:24 +0000 Attachments: Bio_Oct_ 2014.pdf; Medical School_Mr_Epstein.pptx Hi Jeffrey, Please read below from Dr. Sachs, Interim Dean of the University of the Virgin's Island's new Medical School. From: Benjamin Sachs Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2014 3:45 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Fw: UVI School of Medicine Dear Thank you for returning my call this morning. Dear Mr. Epstein, I am writing to you in my capacity as the Interim Dean of the University of the Virgin Island's new Medical School (UVISOM) with the hope of meeting you, if possible, when I am on Island next week. I have been a member of the Harvard Medical School faculty since 1978, except for a six year hiatus when I assumed the positions of SVP and Dean of Tulane School of Medicine post Katrina. I am currently at the MGH. Attached please find my bio. President Hall asked me to help design the school and put together the application for LCME accreditation. I accepted the challenge because I believe that the school provides a once in a life time opportunity to both improve health care in the USVI and to stimulate the economy. As you know, UVI is a public, land grant, Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in the US Virgin Islands. The University is seeking to create an LCME accredited medical school. The vision of the University of the Virgin Islands School of Medicine is to improve the health of the people of the Territory and wider Caribbean community and to address pressing national and international health issues in support of the global community. The mission of University of the Virgin Islands School of Medicine is to educate students from the US Virgin Islands, the wider Caribbean and the Continental US as physicians dedicated to their communities. These physicians will be prepared for the challenges of the 21st century: doctors who are life-long learners, solution finders, team players and educators. EFTA01199532 UVI has had a longstanding contractual relationship with the other Caribbean islands who pay UVI tuition in exchange for the students agreeing to return home to work. It is expected that this will be extended to the medical school. The preliminary application will be submitted to the LCME in December 2014, with the school accepting 25 students in 2016 and growing to a maximum of 50 students per year. The USA is spending 17% of GDP on healthcare, one of the highest costs per capita in the world, yet we rank 38th with respect to outcomes. We, in the medical community, need to change the way we practice and it starts by transforming the way we train the next generation of physicians. Our mission is to incorporate advances in pedagogy so that graduates will be life-long learners, solution finders, team players and educators. For these reasons, we have set out to build a very different type of medical school. One that I believe will train physicians better able to meet the needs of the people of the USVI and the wider Caribbean. I also believe that the UVISOM will be a national role model in medical education. With respect to research, the medical school will focus initially on public health and infectious disease. Little is known about the health status of the people of the region. Furthermore, with global warming and international travel, there are new infectious diseases, such as Chikungunya, that begin in the Caribbean and then spread to the mainland. UVISOM will become an "early warning station" for the newly emerging diseases. I have attached a few slides from a presentation I made to the USVI senators last week. I look forward to meeting you. The best way to reach me is by calling or bye mail. Yours Sincerely Ben Sachs EFTA01199533