A Message from the Founding Dean
I
shall now begin many of the dispatches that appear in this space with a resounding thank you.
Not that I will continually utter those words ad infinitum, but we will be reporting regularly and with great anticipation regarding the continuous efforts of the progress being made toward the establishment of the 4-Year CDU MD program in these pages. Thanks will be appropriate at every large and small milestone achievement as we progress on this journey, and will be duly noted.
Securing preliminary accreditation status from the LCME was certainly a monumental milestone that took an unbelievable amount of inspiration, courage, and hard work. And having cheerleaders, such as our friends at the State and County Departments of Health, as well as the plethora of elected officials, foundation executives, corporate sponsors, and our own alumni who coached us and urged us along from the sidelines. Certainly, no small measure of affirmation and encouragement has flowed forth in a gushing mother lode.
Locally, it took the effort of people who seized ownership of this project, chiefly, our President David Carlisle, that embraced the mission even prior to my coming to this campus. CDU is a place that we now know is chock full of innovators and visionaries willing to go the distance to carve out the sustainable reality of training 21st century doctors from the mustard seed of a hopeful dream. In the process, we have discovered many discerning things about ourselves. Such as? Though it took over half a century to get to this precious moment, there was a certain inevitability to this initial triumph. The overwhelming need for an aggressive response to eradicating health care disparities has lately taken on a widespread resolute, strategic moral imperative.
Fortunately, we took a long view of building out the institutions and to recognize the human capital so necessary to achieve what has transpired thus far. But preliminary accreditation does not guarantee a permanent or even interim solution to the problem that this ambitious project sets out to resolve. We must continue to be vigilant in our planning and development while pushing ahead, critically assessing our progress every fateful step along the way.
As we continue to take ownership and passionately accomplish our project goals, soon we will be thanking new people of good will committed to joining this battle, that today we have yet to meet. Our momentum will be a juggernaut that powers us to achieve ideals that are beyond even our unthinkable dreams.
The stars are aligned, the wind is at our backs, and we have the momentum to achieve beyond everyone’ s expectations – even our own.
CDU College of Medicine | PG. 3