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A newsletter for the Baylor College of Medicine Alumni • September 2011
New Students Arrive at BCM
The entering class of
medical students, graduate
students and physician
assistant students arrived
in July along with our
new medical residents.
The nurse anesthesia
students joined us in
January. The trainees in all
of our programs are very
strong and come from
diverse backgrounds and
undergraduate institutions.
BCM continues to
be highly competitive
for trainees in all of our
schools as you can see in
the demographics (next
page). I hope that whenever you have the opportunity to visit the campus that
you will take time to meet with some of the students. They are really outstanding
and you can take great pride in the individuals we are training to become leaders
in medicine, allied health and biomedical research.
There are 20 members of the President’s Trainee Advisory Council who
represent the medical school, the graduate school, the school of allied health and
the postdoctoral association. I recently met with this group and asked them to
discuss one thing that is great about BCM and offer one suggestion of something
that would improve BCM. The group had such positive comments about the
schools including:
• The faculty are amazing and really care about the students. They are great
mentors and really help in the transition to medical school.
• There is a great culture of cooperation rather than a focus on competition.
• Everyone helps everyone else. It feels like a family here.
• The school and other students have really embraced the allied health
professions.
C O N T I N U E D O N N E X T PA G E
Human Anesthesia Simulation
Center Opens
The School of Allied Health Sciences Graduate Program in Nurse Anesthesia
(GPNA) received a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration
that funded the purchase of a Human Patient Simulator. This funding, in com­
bination with support from BCM, has enabled the program to design, develop
and implement an anesthesia simulation laboratory with the highest fidelity
human simulation technology in the world. Based on aviation simulation tech­
nology, Medical Education Technologies Incorporated developed the Human
Patient Simulator (HPS). The simulation technology gives nurse anesthesia
C O N T I N U E D O N N E X T PA G E
New Board
Members Include
BCM Alumnus
Laura Arnold, President of the Arnold
Family Foundation, and Tony Sanchez,
Chairman of the Board and CEO of
Sanchez Oil & Gas Corporation (SOG),
were both elected to the BCM Board in
July. The Baylor University Board also
elected John F. Anderson, M.D. to the
BCM Board. When BCM separated from
Baylor University in 1969, the bylaws
included that Baylor University would
have the right to elect up to one-quarter
of the BCM Board.
Ms. Arnold co-founded the Arnold
Family Foundation in 2004. It invests
in innovative strategies to address
the country’s most significant social
justice issues, including poverty and
education. She served as Executive Vice
President and General Counsel of Cobalt
International Energy, L.P. until 2006.
She is a member of the National Board
of Directors for Teach for America, chairs
the Civil Service Commission of the
City of Houston, and is a trustee of the
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Mr. Sanchez has been actively
involved with Sanchez Oil & Gas since
1972 when it was established. The
company is engaged in exploration and
development of oil and natural gas in
Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and the
Rockies. He serves as a director for the
A.R. Tony and Maria J. Sanchez Family
Foundation, which assists indigent
families with medical care and food and
also awards education scholarships to
students in Texas. He is also a member
of the Board of Visitors at MD Anderson
Cancer Center.
Dr. Anderson previously served as
Senior Vice-President and Chief Medical
Officer for both Baylor Health Care
System in Dallas and Catholic Health
Initiatives. In both companies, he led
C O N T I N U E D O N N E X T PA G E
ALUMNI NEWSLINK • SEPTEMBER 2011
New Students C O N T I N U E D
FROM FRONT
• There is tremendous knowledge circulating at BCM.
It is easy to find someone to collaborate with on any
research project.
Their suggestions for improvements included:
• Offering career development and financial
management workshops for all students.
• Adding students to various committees such as the
Globalization Advisory Committee.
• Providing scholarships for allied health students.
• Enhancing the integration between the medical
school and the graduate school.
I appreciated all their comments and I have my team
following up on all the issues that were brought forward.
It is clear that these trainees are going to become leaders
regardless of the career path that they choose.
Medical Students
Applicants: 4,835 (Texans: 1,500)
Enrolled: 186 (Texans: 139)
103 men
83 women
36 underrepresented
minority students
Scores (mean): GPA 3.80
MCAT 11.19
Graduate Students
Enrolled: 102
(10 in the M.D./Ph.D. program)
49 men
53 women
10 underrepresented minority students
Scores (mean): GPA 3.63
Allied Health Students
Enrolled: 39 (Texans: 24)
6 men
33 women
11 underrepresented
minority students
Scores (mean): GPA 3.70
Board Members
CONTINUED FROM FRONT
system-wide efforts to clinically integrate and improve care and
provide strategic clinical direction. He graduated from BCM
in 1973 and completed his residency in General Surgery at
Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas and a fellowship
in Peripheral Vascular Surgery at the University of Tennessee
Health Sciences Center in Memphis/Baptist Memorial Hospital.
Anesthesia Simulation Center C O N T I N U E D
FROM FRONT
students access to a realistic operating room environment, pro­
viding vast learning opportunities. All learning activities in the
simulation center can be video and audio recorded to allow analysis
and debriefing after a learning episode. The simulation laboratory
provides a safe learning environment that allows the student not
only to master technical skills, but also to integrate knowl­edge into
practical applications prior to providing care to real patients.
The simulation lab also includes fully automated Laerdal child
and infant simu­lators. Airway manage­ment techniques training
is augmented by an Olympus videoscope and advanced airway
management mannequins. The GPNA simulation lab also includes
Blue Phantom ultrasound task trainers and a Sonosite S-nerve
ultrasound machine that offers learning experiences in peripheral
and central venous access as well as peripheral nerve blocks.
The program is integrating this high fidelity human simulation
into all facets of the curriculum. This will allow student nurse
anesthetists to progress from novice to expert through knowledge
acquisition, competency development, competency attainment and
competency verification as they progress through the 36-month
curriculum.
BCM’s Graduate Program in Nurse Anesthesia is a national
leader among nurse anesthesia programs. The curriculum has
transitioned from a master’s-level curriculum to a doctoral-level
curriculum. The inaugural class matriculated into the Doctor of
Nursing Practice in Nurse Anesthesia curriculum in January 2011.