VCU School of Medicine's Gifts at Work, Summer 2013

gifts

School of Medicine on Virginia Commonwealth University’s Medical College of Virginia Campus

at work

summer 2013

New Center Opens with a foundation of giving H

undreds of alumni were on hand for the

Jerry Strauss III, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the medical

grand opening of the James W. and Frances G.

school and executive vice president for medical

McGlothlin Medical Education Center in April.

affairs for the VCU Health System.

The occasion also celebrated the completion of the

The unprecedented level of support was anchored

first phase of the medical school’s fundraising

by a $25-million lead gift from the McGlothlins,

campaign that raised $190 million in gifts and

who made their gift in honor of their friend

pledges, including $44.8 million in support of the

Neurosurgery Chair Harry Young, M.D.

education center, a total that surpassed its initial

The center opens in a milestone year in which the

goal by $7 million.

medical school marks its 1838 founding. To further

“This facility is a testament to the loyalty and

commemorate the 175th anniversary, later this year

commitment of our alumni and friends. Their gifts

the medical school will embark on the second phase

and pledges have fueled the first phase of what

of its campaign, a key feature of which will be a schol-

will clearly be the most successful fundraising

arship endowment to support the students who will

campaign in the medical school’s history,” said

train in the McGlothlin Medical Education Center.

Take a Virtual Visit

Learn more online http://go.vcu.edu/GAWSummer13

At the heart of the MCV Campus, the James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin Medical Education Center is situated at 12th and Marshall streets where the A.D. Williams Clinic formerly stood. Designed by I. M. Pei’s internationally acclaimed architectural firm, the facility will allow the School of Medicine to pioneer new approaches for training physicians.

You can trace the project online, where 41 months of news coverage has been distilled into a dozen slides. With links to photo galleries and stories, the timeline chronicles project milestones, from its launch, to the renovation of the curriculum, the restoration of 70-year-old murals and the center’s remarkable simulation and standardized patient programs.

175 years Building in the tradition of the Medical College of Virginia

The McGlothlin Medical Education Center opened with a daylong celebration in April. James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin were on hand, along with other donors to the project, including 1978 classmates Tom Scalea, Debbie Clapp and John Scandling. Jerry Strauss III, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the medical school, welcomed hundreds of alumni and friends to events that were a highlight of Reunion Weekend.

Class of 2013 Celebrates Take Offs, Match Day and Graduation are a trio of milestones that close our medical students’ four years.

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This year, the Class of 2013 continued the medical school’s tradition of matching to top choice residency programs. Thirty-nine percent of the students are headed into primary care fields with dozens more matching into highly competitive fields including Thoracic Surgery, a specialty that only offers 12 training spots in the entire U.S.

175 years Graduating in the tradition of the Medical College of Virginia

73 in Primary Care ( 31 in categorical Internal Medicine, 21 in Family Medicine and 21 in General Pediatrics) • 17 in Anesthesiology • 13 in Emergency Medicine • 10 in Orthopaedic Surgery • 8 in Obstetrics and Gynecology • 6 in Dermatology • 6 in Diagnostic Radiology • 6 in Neurology • 6 in Ophthalmology • 4 in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation • 4 to military programs • 3 in Urology • 3 in Otolaryngology • 1 in Plastic Surgery • 1 in Neurosurgery • 1 in Thoracic Surgery

You can find out if any graduates are headed to your area:

More photos and the Match List online http://go.vcu.edu/GAWSummer13

Careers in Medicine Part of our graduating students’ success can be attributed to the Class of 1997’s Chris Woleben.

The Pediatric Emergency Medicine physician also serves as the school’s associate dean for student affairs. In that capacity, he’s been the architect of a fouryear advising program that helps medical students select their Chris Woleben, M’97, and Janet Mundie at Match Day. Janet paths in medicine and develop Mundie has helped 36 classes of M4s navigate the Match process. career planning skills.

“According to surveys of our students, approximately 65 percent change their minds during medical school about the medical specialty they want to pursue,” Dr. Woleben says. “The goal of Careers in Medicine is to help students find their fit with the specialty that best suits them.”

This winter, he expanded his reach to the nation’s 80,000 med students when the AAMC asked him to serve as a guest columnist. His perspective on how medical students can make the best use of the M4 year was featured in the AAMC’s Choices newsletter.

Nearly half of the graduating students benefited from scholarships made possible by private and school-based funds.

For many, that financial assistance makes it easier to follow dreams of practicing in an underserved area or to face the future without the burden of heavy debt.

When he arrived on the MCV Campus in 2005, Dean of Medicine Jerry Strauss III, M.D., Ph.D., was determined to make a medical education more affordable for our students.

“Through a sustained effort of holding tuition increases to a minimum, our medical school’s tuition is now the lowest in Virginia for residents of the Commonwealth,” says Dr. Strauss. Now he’s recruiting partners for the second half of the equation. “We have a responsibility to provide meaningful scholarship support to the medical students who study in the tradition of the Medical College of Virginia.”

Here you’ll find abbreviated stories of a half dozen of those partners.

You can read their full stories online http://go.vcu.edu/GAWSummer13

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Gratitude Moves Patients to Honor Surgeon When Mason and Wyatt Beazley, M’61, made provisions for a scholarship in their estate plans, longtime friends Carol and Carter Fox wanted to help speed things along so that that the couple could actually meet recipients during their lifetime.

With $120,000 in gifts and pledges raised, the Wyatt S. Beazley III, M.D. Scholarship will go to work now, honoring a skilled and much-loved surgeon, and also helping those who want to follow in his footsteps.

Celebrating the marriage that survived med school It’s not every day that a husband honors his wife with a $1.5 million scholarship, but for Gerry Robbins, M’83, a long and fruitful career wouldn’t have been possible without her love and support. Gerry and his wife Colette have established a trust to fund a scholarship following their deaths. Both agree, “nothing is worth having if it isn’t shared.”

Classmates Mark 40th Reunion As chair of her reunion class giving efforts, Pat Koors, M’71, spread her enthusiasm for scholarships to her classmates. So in honor of their 40th Reunion in 2011, they decided to make a lasting difference for medical students. As the class plans for their 45th Reunion in 2016, the Class of 1971 Scholarship is again at the top of their fundraising goals.

Memorializing Mom and Dad Losing a parent is heartbreaking. Losing two within eight weeks is devastating. Diane Devita, M’96, was in medical school when that blow came. She thinks other schools may have required her to take the semester off. But faculty at the School of Medicine allowed her to study from home and take her exams when she returned. It is in this spirit of compassion that she and her sister Lynette Freeman are endowing a scholarship as a tribute to their parents who, with no formal education of their own, instilled in their children the power to endure and the ability to set a goal and achieve it.

Monument Avenue’s where it all got started Who knew that a group of guys who studied together would remain close friends long after leaving the School of Medicine?

For this group of alumni it’s not just a love of travel that helps bind them together, but also an appreciation for their education and experience at the School of Medicine. So much so, they’ve established the Monument Avenue Scholarship to commemorate the good ol’ days and help future students at the same time.

Tax law change opens opportunity “When I was in medical school I was called into the dean’s office – you can imagine how scared I was,” Lewis D. Johnson, M’65 said. He was surprised to learn he’d been chosen for a $500 scholarship. “I was very appreciative. I’d never been given anything.” To make a gift of his own, Dr. Johnson took advantage of a charitable rollover extension that allows taxpayers 70½ and older to make tax-free transfers of up to $100,000 from their IRAs. The scholarship will carry the names of Dr. Johnson and his wife. “Had it not been for Lucy, I wouldn’t have made it through medical school,” he said.

“We’ve been fortunate, and now we’re going to share with others.”

s t f i g at work

If you have questions about Gifts at Work, please

VCU

Virginia Commonwealth University Medical College of Virginia Campus School of Medicine P.O. Box 980022 Richmond, Virginia 23298-0022

Do you get more than one copy of Gifts at Work?

Maybe you married a classmate, or your child is a Medicine grad who has moved away. Email us at MedAlum@vcu.edu so we can update your record!

(804) 828-4800, toll-free at (800) 332-8813, or by email at MedAlum@vcu.edu.

Associate Dean for Development: Tom Holland Editor: Erin Lucero Assistant Editor: Leetah Stanley Contributing Writer: Nan Johnson Photographers: Allen Jones, Karen Orders, Nancy Parker, Skip Rowland, Kevin Schindler Graphic Design: Kevin Schindler

Scan this QR code with your mobile device for the chance to check out expanded story coverage and photo galleries.

Honor Roll Chronicles Generosity The McGlothlin Medical Education Center opens in a milestone year that marks the medical school’s 1838 founding. Over those 175 years, the medical school has welcomed generations of physicians, some even hailing from the same family.

You’ll find many of those family names on an honor roll of donors that proudly lists the hundreds of alumni and friends who supported the building project. James E. Gardiner, M’78, is pictured here with his son Daniel, who is a rising third-year medical student.

More photos online http://go.vcu.edu/GAWSummer13

Reunion Weekend Hundreds of alumni returned to the MCV Campus for class parties, campus tours, a career fair for medical opening of the McGlothlin Medical Education Center.

More photos online http://go.vcu.edu/GAWSummer13

Mark your calendars for Reunion Weekend 2014

April 11-13, 2014 for class years ending in a ’4 or ’9

Reunion Weekend 2015

April 17-19, 2015 for class years ending in a ’5 or ’0

MCV

F O U N D A T I O N Serving the MCV Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University Since 1949

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Address Service Requested

contact the medical school’s Development Office,

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