VITAL SIG NS
Students also completed an independent analysis of the college. “The LCME has always valued the perspective of students,” Candler said, “and it’s important to the LCME to have an unbiased view that’s free from any faculty or administrative influence. Students conduct their own independent survey that is separate from the rest of the self-study process.” Materials submitted to the LCME totaled more than 2,000 pages. The LCME examined the reports ahead of its January 27-30 site visit, an activity designed to verify and clarify the submitted information. To receive such high marks from a body that analyzes virtually every aspect of educational programs was gratifying, Candler said. “It was validating to know that all the hard work our faculty and staff have invested in our educational program was recognized by this kind of external rigorous process,” he said.
College Names Two Assistant Deans The OU College of Medicine has named faculty members Katie M. Smith, M.D., to the position of Assistant Dean for Student Affairs and Teresa Scordino, M.D., as Assistant Dean for Preclinical Curriculum. Smith, an OB-GYN, is filling a newly created position in the college’s administrative structure, created to enhance student services. She will serve in several functions, including medical student career/Match counseling sessions, activities and
Teresa Scordino, M.D.
programming. She will assist with medical student performance evaluations for a select proportion of senior medical students, and she will act as a student advocate, representing student interest and perspective at meetings and other venues. In the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Smith is an associate professor and chief of the Section of Academic Generalists. She maintains a busy practice and has a special interest in lower genital tract disease and cervical cancer prevention, which has also been the focus of her clinical research and service on national committees. In 2015, she began serving as OB-GYN clerkship director. She also serves as co-chair for the Curriculum Evaluation Subcommittee. Scordino assumes a position previously held by Robert Blair, Ph.D., who retired. As Assistant Dean for Preclinical Curriculum, she will work with others to ensure the preclinical curriculum is developed, delivered and evaluated in accordance with college and university polices and standards. She will serve as chair of the Preclinical Curriculum Subcommittee and assist with the development, review and revision of academic policies and procedures. In addition, she will work with staff, faculty and administrators to develop innovative solutions and programs to address the needs and concerns of the undergraduate medical education program.
Katie M. Smith, M.D.
Scordino is associate director of hematopathology and the medical director of the clinical hematology, serology, urinalysis and Jimmy Everest Center laboratories for OU Medicine. She is the course director for the OU College of Allied Health’s pathology course and co-course director of the College of Medicine’s course on blood, hematopoiesis and lymphatics. She lectures to medical, allied health, nursing, physician assistant and dental students in seven courses across the OU Health Sciences Center, and she is involved in the education of pathology residents and hematology-oncology fellows. [ Fa l l / Wi n t e r 2 019 ]
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