September 2011 President’s Corner

Office of the President and
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs
John B. Connally Building
301 Tarrow, 7th Floor
College Station, TX 77840-7896

Howdy and welcome to another fall semester! Lots of things are happening around our little corner of the Texas A&M University System, so let me try to share a few of them.

We have formally opened another building on the Bryan campus and are actively moving into the third. On July 19, we hosted Texas State Comptroller Susan Combs and her deputy, as well as several members of the Board of Regents and a host of community members. They toured the facility and heard from members of our great faculty about the variety of work being done. To a person, those who toured were impressed with the work and quality of the individuals doing it. We all need to spend a bit more time bragging on our excellent research portfolio! And many, many thanks to the faculty and graduate students who helped provide the amplified tour.

The third building, Clinical Building I, houses academic programs for the TAMHSC and Blinn College, as well as clinical facilities for The Texas Brain and Spine Institute and the Mary Crowley Cancer Research Center. There will be a good deal more traffic in and out of the campus and a chance to get to know some new friends. The good news for the traffic is that the Texas Department of Transportation has issued the plans for an overpass that will facilitate access for those individuals coming from north of the campus, and it should also encourage additional development in the area. With a little luck, the overpass should be complete in fall 2013.

Texas A&M Physicians has moved its family medicine clinic to new clinical space at 2900 29th St. in Bryan. Psychiatry and behavioral health has moved to the new Clinical Building I on the Bryan campus. I’d like to encourage you to consider Texas A&M Physicians for your medical needs. For more information, please visit its website at http://www.texasamphysicians.com

It was an exciting day when the School of Rural Public Health and the College of Medicine were notified they had received $2,748,008 in a grant awarded by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. This grant, under the leadership of Drs. Jane Bolin and David McClellan, is directed to colon cancer prevention and will be used to screen and educate low-income patients at risk for colon cancer while training family physicians in screening procedures. In the same award sequence, Jill St. John, M.A., M.P.H., and Dr. Christopher Beaudoin of Texas A&M University received $487,589 to train and utilize promotores to deliver education that improves access to comprehensive cancer services and enhances survivorship of those with colorectal, breast and cervical cancers in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Kudos to the grant recipients!

Kudos also to Dr. Don Wesson, vice dean of the College of Medicine and chief academic officer for Scott & White, who was named chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation, effective June 2013, to serve a two-year term. He is currently vice chair and will take over from the current chair, Glen Hackbarth (Medicare Payment Advisory Commission chair), at the conclusion of his term. The foundation oversees the work of the ABIM Board of Directors, manages the ABIM grant portfolio and leads ABIM efforts not involving certification. The ABIM is the board certifying entity for internal medicine physicians.

Welcome to all of our first-time students. There are white coat ceremonies occurring in many of our schools – the formal induction of a student into the ethics and responsibilities of their particular profession. These are exciting times as these students formally become a part of the group that they have worked so hard to join. Be sure to bid them welcome and share your lessons learned and excitement at going forward.

Until next time, best regards. You can always reach me at president@tamhsc.edu I value your ideas, learn from your concerns and believe in your commitment.

Best regards,
Nancy W. Dickey, M.D.
President, Texas A&M Health Science Center
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs, Texas A&M University System