Archive for March, 2007

Newer Entries »

On pins and needles…

Friday, March 9th, 2007

Next Thursday, March 15—Match Day—the nation’s 125 medical schools will gather their graduating seniors to open envelopes that’ll reveal where the students will be spending the next 3-6 years of their lives. Match Day is held annually to announce the results of the National Residents Matching Program, which pairs graduating medical students with residency programs. Our students will be gathered in Levin Hall.

This year, UTMB will be graduating FOUR physicians from Galveston County. They are: Mindy Leigh Phillips Calandro (her mother graduated UTMB in 2000); Monaliza Evangelista; Farah Hameed (all from League City); and David Raimer, son of Drs. Ben and Sharon Raimer, two UTMB names you likely know.

SOM Commencement takes place June 2 and this year features the world renowned neurosurgeon, Dr. Benjamin Solomon Carson, Sr., as the keynote speaker. Carson’s been named by CNN and Time as “one of the nation’s 20 foremost physicians and scientists.”

Maybe one of our many outstanding grads is destined for a place on the same list?

Posted in Life in Galveston | Comments Off

Discerning fact from fiction

Tuesday, March 6th, 2007

Did you know that the greatest number of UTMB employees (more than 2000) are clustered on the east end of Galveston Island, or that roughly the same number of employees live in Dickinson as live on the island’s west end? Did you know that that about 33% of us live on Galveston Island, 64% live in Galveston County, and about 23% live outside the Houston/Galveston area? Are you curious about turnover rates, average age of our employees, the types of jobs we do, the diversity of our workforce?

All this information and much more is compiled in an interesting document that Human  Resources offers from its web site. It’s the 2006 HR Annual Metrics Report. Some of it is surprising, some is not. Some of the numbers are consistent with what one would expect after the year we just had. 

And a lot of the information continues to tell a pretty good story about who we are, what we do and how we do it. I think sometimes we’re our own worst critics, that we buy into others’ funk, mire in their politics and agendas, and lose sight of the big picture and the world beyond our own walls. I heard an account about a recent business visitor who came down from Houston for a first-time visit, and was astounded at how beautiful our campus and facilities were. She’d read or heard how “rundown” things were, and expected to walk into a pit. (Wonder where she heard that?) Imagine her surprise…

We have a lot to be proud about. It’s the result of a lot of hard work—it hasn’t been easy and probably won’t get much easier anytime soon. But it’s good work, important work that makes life better for people. That much I understand and believe, even without figures packaged in a nice report.        

Posted in News from the Top | Comments Off

New web sites

Tuesday, March 6th, 2007

The School of Medicine launched their new web site this week. It looks good, clean and easy to navigate. Take a look and pass any comments along to Jackie Genovese or Denise Gonzalez.

We’ve also been shadow publishing a new digital Newsroom web site that uses a blog format and framework. It’s still being refined, but we’d welcome your feedback on this as well.  

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

So when do they find time to study?

Thursday, March 1st, 2007

Even though employees outnumber students about 4 to 1 at UTMB, the first word in our name is “university,” and I love the fact that education is a big part of the reason we exist. For those whose jobs do not take them near our students, they are a remarkable bunch. A few weeks ago, our PT students helped organize and host the Mardi Gras Fun Run.  Coming up:

Friday: The St. Vincent’s Clinic presents The 2007 St. Vincent’s Clinic Benefit Concert!
Join us this Friday, March 2, at 7 p.m. in The Grand 1894 Opera House, and see your friends, classmates and colleagues in the spotlight! This year’s show features over 60 performers from all over UTMB. All proceeds go to the St. Vincent’s Free Clinic. Tickets are $5 in advance; $8 at the door. Purchase tickets in the Office of Student Life or from students. Question? Send email to stvconcert2007@yahoo.com. We hope to see you there!

Saturday: Galveston County Health Fair
The 13th Annual Galveston County Health Fair is set for Saturday, March 3, in the parking lot of Academy Sports and Outdoors at 4523 Fort Crockett Blvd. in Galveston. Students from UTMB’s four schools organize the health fair to benefit residents of Galveston County. Children and adults may take advantage of free health screenings including vision, cholesterol, diabetes and blood pressure checks, and visit more than 60 informational booths. Entertainment includes a class on healthy cooking, YMCA Cheer and Dance Team, Boys & Girls Club Praise Dancers, Ishmael Robles Karate and a Yoga demonstration. The UTMB Blood Bank donor coach will be onsite, and Island Transit will provide free bus service to the health fair from several island locations. For more information, call (409) 747-0819 or read the full news release.

March 15: Healing our Ailing Health Care
Dr. John Abramson, author of Overdosed America and clinical faculty at Harvard Medical School, will speak on Thursday, March 15 at 5 pm in the Old Red Amphitheater. He’ll explore why our nation spends more than two times more per person on health care than other developed nations but still ranks dead last in healthy life expectancy, and what we can do to change. Brought to campus by the Pharmaceutical Awareness Group, UTMB’s Professionalism Project, the Student Government Association and Frontera de Salud.

Posted in In the news | Comments Off

Newer Entries »