The C. Everett Koop Institute appointed attorney David Serra to the position of administrative director last week.
Serra will deal with the daily activities and financial aspects of the institute and manage personnel and consultants.
The Koop Institute is a "partnership of educators, scholars, researchers and physicians in practice," according to the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
"David Serra brings a unique set of experiences to the institute which will enable him to forge ahead with the many diverse programs and initiatives we have already begun to implement," said C. Everett Koop, the former U.S. surgeon general and founder of the institute.
In Koop's early speeches to Dartmouth faculty and administrators, he said the emphasis of the institute would be to foster integrity and trust in the doctor-patient relationship, elevate the importance of ethics in medical education and promote prevention in health care.
The Koop Institute's recent support for technological advance in medicine marks a change in the philosophical goals which divided the Dartmouth medical community.
But the new director plans to act on the original goals of the Institute, he said.
"The institute's goals have been and continue to be reshaping medical education and improving the delivery of health care," Serra said.
"We have a big job to do, and we have a number of tools before us with which to accomplish the task. It's a matter of choosing the right tools for the job," he added.
The institute plans to initiate curriculum reform programs and work on the development of a health care information and communications network across northern New England.
Dr. John Duffy, the former medical director of the C. Everett Koop Institute at the College, cited a lack of direction and real programs in the institute as his primary reasons for stepping down from his post last month.
Serra would not comment on Duffy's resignation.
Koop has taken the position of acting medical director until a new director is appointed.
"I'm thrilled that Dr. Koop is the acting medical director of the institute," Serra said. "He's the best person for the job."
Before joining the Institute, Serra practiced health care law and labor and employment law for a civil litigation firm in Montpelier, Vermont. He has served on the corporate general counsel staff of Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Salomon, Inc.
Serra spent time as a missionary and social worker in the Midwest and as a project manager at a regional medical center in North Carolina before receiving his law degree.
The Koop Institute is involved in many programs, including Partners in Health Program, a joint venture with the Medical School's Community Service Counsel, and the Glaxo grant project which surveys undergraduate students and college administrators to determine the needs of pre-medical students.
The Institute is also working on the Robert Wood Johnson Generalist Initiative, which aims to increase the number of primary care physicians, and the Healing and the Arts Initiative, which aims to incorporate the arts and humanities into medical education.
