Semi-Annual COM All- Faculty Meeting Offers Insight as to CDU’ s Many Successes
Dr. Eleby Washington is Chair of the COM Faculty Executive Board
Following an opening round of welcome and introductions by COM Faculty Executive Board Chair Eleby Washington, the meeting got underway. Interim Provost Sylvia Manning offered her congratulations on the LCME preliminary accreditation of the CDU MD program and indicated that she hadn’ t seen this much joy in many years.
The accreditation is notable, she stated, as it arose on the heels of terrible things happening in the country including the killing of George Floyd, and the impetus for greater emphasis on eradicating health care disparities. She noted that with the many successes that CDU is rapidly accomplishing, disparate entities are beating a path to the University’ s door. So many things are propelling this interest including the on-campus energy, intelligence, drive, and CDU’ s glorious mission.
Dr. Gail Washington, new Dean at the Mervyn M. Dymally School of Nursing indicated that she was looking forward to working with the various campus leaders. Dr. Monica Ferrin, a longtime faculty member now installed at COSH Dean, said that she was very thrilled and happy, with her immediate objectives of increasing student numbers and diversifying curriculum offerings such as the Biomed enrichment program.
Dr. Margarita Loeza, incoming Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Admissions noted that there were 476 applicants to the new CDU MD program in the first four weeks. Academic Senate President Thomas Magee indicated that the body was currently revamping governing documents and thanked the members engaged in the revision. He noted that the announcement of the new MD program has encouraged CDU students to try hard to be admitted to the new program and he encouraged attention that should be paid to other qualified local candidates.
Dean Deborah Prothrow-Stith likened the preliminary accreditation to the birth of a baby. The LCME wouldn’ t have granted the distinction if they thought CDU couldn’ t accomplish establishing the program. She highlighted key areas of need that included training the new students and fostering leadership. Diversity goals include enrolling a high percentage of qualified African American and Latino students. The University is very active in new faculty recruitment. July 10th, 2023 marks the start of the new 4-Year MD program.
She stressed that in the excitement about the CDU MD program, the historic partnership with UCLA is not going away. The two entities are striving to develop ways that the institutions can establish additional active mutual support.
In his reflections on takeaways from the recent AAMC conference, Dr. Arthur Gomez, the new Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education offered lessons learned about antidotes to faculty burnout. The CDU Advantage propels the University to be a leader in interprofessional education, as
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