APSA Newsletter - Phi Psi, 2009 Winter, Volume 3, No. 3

Don’t speak in Greek to me!

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Samuel F. Bakhoum, Newsletter Editor, APSA Public Relations Committee

Last month, I had the chance to participate in a short educational seminar on how to communicate scientific research to laypersons and only then did I fully realize the depth of the scientific universe in which we spend most of our time. With the incredible pace at which biomedical discoveries are being made, the average doctoral thesis work is already light years away from the quotidian level of abstraction of the common citizen. To most scientists this may not present a significant challenge since they habitually communicate among themselves and with familiar granting agencies. For physician-scientists, on the other hand, being able to communicate on multiple levels and adequately relay scientific information to the layperson is a crucial skill. For instance, recruiting patients to clinical trials at times requires a rather sophisticated level of mediation between the laboratory and the clinic. Moreover, as physician-scientists brace to become the upcoming leaders in medical research and treatment, they ought to be able to efficiently communicate their work with the general public as well as politicians whose support is essential for continued research funding. For this precise reason and others, frequent attendance of conferences and meetings is an integral part of a physician-scientist’s training and APSA encourages all its members to attend many of the meetings that it offers. These range from the annual meeting in Chicago (which begins on Friday, April 24th this year) to regional meetings and other conferences to which APSA members are invited to attend. In this issue, we review a number of useful and important meetings that took place within the past year in order to keep you, our readers and APSA members, up-to-date and hopefully inspire you one day to attend one of these meetings if you have not done so yet.

From the President

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James Pauff, APSA President and Member of APSA Board of Directors

It seems like the winter months are always that time of year when you find yourself locked into your work, pushing ahead, keeping a steady pace while you wait for the energy that comes in the spring. At least that often seems to be the case for me! I and the rest of the Executive Council hope that you all are having a safe and productive winter. As for all of us, we've been working on several projects here in the latter half of the 2008 - 2009 year.

A GREAT Meeting

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M. Kerry O'Banion, MD, PhD, Director of the University of Rochester MSTP, Chair-Elect, MD-PhD Section of the AAMC GREAT Group, and Member of APSA Board of Directors

PhD Program Directors and Administrators representing more than 80 programs attended the AAMC Group on Graduate Research, Education and Training (GREAT) Annual MD-PhD Section Meeting in Seattle, Washington. Held October 2-4, 2008, the meeting was part of a larger gathering that included the Postdoctorate Leaders Section and Full GREAT Group.

Second APSA Texas Regional Meeting Recap

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Suzanne Chan* and Chirag Patel**, *2006 Texas Regional Meeting Organizing Committee, **APSA Member at Large (MD/PhD, DO/PhD)

After hosting the first APSA regional meeting in the nation in 2006, Texas hosted the 2nd APSA Texas Regional Meeting in Houston in November 2008. Despite delays from Hurricane Ike, perseverance paid off and the meeting was a success.
A Roundtable Discussion at the 2008 APSA Texas Regional Meeting
The meeting was hosted by the APSA chapter at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston (UT-Houston). Suzanne Chan (member of the 2006 TX Meeting's Organizing Committee) and Chirag Patel (APSA Member at Large (MD/PhD, DO/PhD)) co-chaired the meeting, which was held in the Fayez Sarofim Building of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston's Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM). Thanks to the generosity of Thomas Caskey, MD (IMM Director), we were able to use the amazing facilities for a second year. Participants included students from MD/PhD, MD, PhD, and undergraduate programs, representing 11 medical schools and universities from around the state of Texas: UT-Houston, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), University of Texas-San Antonio, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas A&M University and College of Medicine, Rice University, University of Houston, Houston Baptist University, UT-Dallas, and Prairie View A&M. We even had an ambitious high school student from Bellaire High School in attendance.

APSA & AMA-MSS CSI Continue their Collaboration, with a Grant Writing Seminar at the 2008 AMA-MSS Interim Meeting

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Richard Price* and Chirag Patel**, *The Ohio State University and Co-Chair of the AMA-MSS Committee on Scientific Issues, **University of Texas-Houston and APSA Member at Large (MD/PhD, DO/PhD)

During the AMA-MSS Interim Meeting last November, AMA and APSA teamed up for a seminar in grant writing entitled Grants 101.  APSA members Chirag Patel (University of Texas-Houston; APSA Member at Large (MD/PhD, DO/PhD)) and Rick Price (Ohio State; Co-Chair of the AMA-MSS Committee on Scientific Issues) coordinated the seminar at the Orlando Meeting. This seminar follows in a tradition of collaboration between APSA and the AMA-MSS CSI that was begun two years earlier.  Rick and Chirag presented to an audience of approximately 40 eager AMA medical student members, regarding the concept of research and how to write a grant.  For  the seminar, Chirag and Rick each gave a quick presentation for the first half and then were joined by Aaron Kithcart (Ohio State; Medical student Councilor, AMA Council on Scientific Affairs and Public Health (CSAPH)) and Dr. Westley Reeves (University of Florida; ASCI member) to round out a panel of grant experts to field questions from the audience.

“Yes SHE can” with help from APSA: APSA’s Women Physician-Scientist Initiative presents at AMWA conference

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Mercedes J. Szpunar, APSA Institutional Representative of University of Rochester, New York

Mercedes Szpunar (R) and Jennifer Kwan (L) present APSA to the AMWA Region 6 Meeting
As you already read in the Fall 2008 edition of Phi-Psi dedicated to women in medicine and science, APSA has eagerly joined the cluster of medical groups working to foster equal opportunities for female physician(-scientist)s and trainees. After realizing the significant disparity between the numbers of women entering medical school and those attaining high-ranking medical positions (such as department chairs or deans), APSA has been dedicated to helping delineate the means by which we are losing women in the ranks of medical hierarchy. As was mentioned in the letter from APSA President Jim Pauff, one of APSA's goals is to forge relationships with other organizations also dedicated to this cause. More specifically, APSA has formed a collaboration with the American Medical Women's Association (AMWA, www.amwa-doc.org), the purpose of this agreement being to strengthen the joint cause and to develop shared resources that will enable female physician-scientists and trainees to achieve their professional goals.

Advocating for Increased Retention of Women Physician-Scientists in Academia: Tearing Down the Glass Ceiling Once and For All

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Misty C. Richards, AMWA 2008-2009 Student President-Elect

Now that we have broken through the glass ceiling, where does this leave women physician-scientists pursuing careers in academia? Once we step over the jagged edges, will we see wide-open spaces and the sunrise to a new day? If this were a Disney movie, we would see all this and more, including a prince named "Promotion" who would recognize our value and keep us in the system.

Book Review of “How Doctors Think” by Jerome Groopman

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Dionisia Quiroga, APSA Public Relations Committee and Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine

When I first glanced at the cover of this book, I was very skeptical. Based on the title and blasé picture of a stethoscope, I assumed it would be some "dumbed down" guide for patients on how to better understand their doctor's medical lingo and reasoning. After finishing the first few pages of the book, I was pleasantly surprised to be completely wrong. Instead, this book serves as a compilation of physician stories that point out the flaws in medicine, and what we should do to prevent them. For patients, it doesn't function as an excuse for how doctors act, but more of an explanation behind their reasoning, whether it be correct or not.