Local Area Networks (LANs)

Past LAN Meetings

Please send contributions to john.friede@villanova.edu

Boston LAN

• Past Meetings

• January 12, 2007 MIT  About 30 advisors and med school admissions deans and directors joined to discuss our topic Cultural Competence: Understanding Outward and Reflecting Inward.  Deborah Washington, Director of Diversity for Patient Care Service at Mass General Hospital led us in discussion and thought-provoking exercises.  Some photos are attached.

• January 13, 2006 at Tufts University.  Ellen Julian, Associate VP and Director of the Medical College Admission Test, AAMC, joined us for our eleventh annual Boston LAN meeting.  There are significant changes in the wind for the MCAT and Ellen discussed them and answered our questions. Among the topics Ellen presented were the upcoming computer-based MCAT and the recent validity study published in Academic Medicine.
• June 22, 2005 at MGH Institure of Health Professions.  The meeting covered the graduate programs in Nursing, Physical Therapy, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Clinical Investigation and Medical Imaging.  A tour of the USS Constitution was available for those who were interested.
• January 14, 2005 at University of Massachusetts Medical School. The meeting focused on Professionalism in Medicine. Our keynote speaker was Dr. Aaron Lazare, Chancellor of the UMASS Medical School and author of the recent book, Apology. He discussed the issue of professionalism from a number of perspectives, and in the context of his book. The responders were Drs. Keith Bradley, Health professions advisor at Fairfield University, John Paraskos Associate Dean for Admissions at UMASS Medical School, and Amy Kuhlik Dean for Student Affairs at Tufts University School of Medicine.
  
• January 9, 2004 at Tufts University Main Campus The focus of the meeting was on working with students with mental health problems and related disabilities. There was a panel presentation provided by Dr. Sherry Richman from the Tufts Counseling Center, Marisel Perez, the Associate Dean for Student Affairs at Tufts, and Dr. Mai-Lan Rogoff, Dean for Student Affairs at UMass Medical School that covered issues for both undergraduate and medical school students. Carol Crafts from Providence College and Terri Orr, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Harvard Medical School, responded to the panel and set the stage for questions and answers.
  
• May 23, 2003 at Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions. Advisors were hosted by Dr. Michael Bonanno, the Manager of Graduate Admissions and Marketing, who provided information on the Institute’s entry level master's programs in nursing, physical therapy, clinical investigation and communications science. There was a tour and the opportunity to speak with students and staff.
  
  

   

  ---

New York City LAN

• Past Meetings
  
  
• October 19, 2001 at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The Minority Affairs Advisory Board of the Associated Medical Schools of New York and the New York State Department of Health Council on Graduate Medical Education teamed up with the New York LAN to hold a conference entitled Insiders’ Tips: Navigating the Medical School Admission Process, with a focus on minority students. Topics covered included the status of minority medical education in New York State, affirmative action, trends in minority student application to medical school, and an update on AMCAS by Director Nancy Tillinghast. A simulated admission exercise was led by Dr. David Trabilsy from Johns Hopkins Post-bacc and Premedical Program
  
• April 19, 2001 at Cornell Medical School hosted by Lilliana Montano, Assistant Dean of Admissions and coordinated by Tracy Holleran. Topics discussed included advising of rejected students, interviewing skills, and the MD/PhD program at Cornell
  
  
  
  
  
  

  ---

  
  

Philadelphia LAN

• Past Meetings
• January 9, 2007 at Drexel University College of Medicine.  About 40 advisors from 30 institutions attended the meeting and were joined by 18 representatives of six medical schools.  The morning session was a case-based look at mental health and substance abuse issues.  Following lunch, the medical school representatives responded to various questions from the audience.
• January 6, 2006 at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.  Over 40 advisors from 32 different undergraduate institutions attended the meeting along with 12 administrators from eight area medical schools.  The professional schools that represented include:  Drexel , Jefferson,  PCOM, Penn State, Robert Wood Johnson,  Temple, University of Pennsylvania, and UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine.  A panel of medical school admissions officers discussed plans for increasing enrollment and the challenges posed by such expansion.  In the afternoon session, Ellen Julian from the AAMC shared information on plans for the 2007 computerized MCAT and answered questions about the new format.  Optional tours of PCOM were available after the program.
  
• January 7, 2005 at UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford, NJ. The topic was "Changes in Medical Education."
  
• January 8, 2004 at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in Hershey . The topic was on cultivating professionalism in our students. Information was shared on the role of the Humanities at Hershey and on an innovative Patient Project, in which medical students are paired with patients in the community to get an in-depth view of how people cope with illness. There was also a panel discussion by Drs. George Blackall from Hershey, Clara Callahan from Jefferson, Jean Kan from Johns Hopkins, and Ralph Sorenson from Gettysburg College, followed by a tour of the medical center complex.
• January 4, 2002 at UMDNJ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. A joint meeting of NEAAHP advisors and NEGSA colleagues from the Philadelphia area, hosted by Drs. David Seiden and Carol Terrigino. The focus was on diversity issues. Following a keynote presentation by Dr. Kountz on health care disparities there was a panel of 9 medical school administrators who discussed how their institutions are preparing students for a multicultural environment, as well as roundtable discussion between advisors (37 in attendance) and deans on how to promote multiculturalism at undergraduate institutions.
  
  
  
  

  ---

Chesapeake LAN

• Past Meetings
  
  

  ---

  
  

Upstate New York LAN

• Past Meetings
  
  April 19, 2001 at Cornell Medical School hosted by Lilliana Montano, Assistant Dean of Admissions and coordinated by Tracy Holleran. Topics discussed included advising of rejected students, interviewing skills, and the MD/PhD program at Cornell
  
  October 19, 2001 at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The Minority Affairs Advisory Board of the Associated Medical Schools of New York and the New York State Department of Health Council on Graduate Medical Education teamed up with the New York LAN to hold a conference entitled Insiders’ Tips: Navigating the Medical School Admission Process, with a focus on minority students. Topics covered included the status of minority medical education in New York State, affirmative action, trends in minority student application to medical school, and an update on AMCAS by Director Nancy Tillinghast. A simulated admission exercise was led by Dr. David Trabilsy from Johns Hopkins Post-bacc and Premedical Program

  ---

Western Pennsylvania LAN

• Past Meetings
  
  
• April 13, 2004 at Duquesne University. Dr. Allen Tunkel, Associate Dean for Admissions at Drexel University College of Medicine, was the guest speaker for advisors in the afternoon and for students from Duquesne and area colleges and universities in the evening.
  
• October 9, 2001 at Duquesne University, hosted by Dr. Kenneth Boyd with invited guest, Dr. Clara Callahan, Senior Associate Dean of Admissions and Dean of Students at Jefferson Medical College. Area advisors and their students were invited for an interactive session. Advisors also provided Dr. Callahan with insight about their premedical programs.