Dartmouth Medical School's new strategic plan should prioritize internal communication, adjustment to funding cuts and strengthened research and teaching, Joe O'Donnell, chair of the DMS Strategic Planning Committee, said at a town hall meeting in Vail Hall on Wednesday. Ten people attended the event, including DMS professors and administrators.
The Liaison Committee on Medical Education recommended that the Medical School formulate a new strategic plan when it renewed DMS's accreditation two years ago. The plan should include a set of goals for the school to achieve in the coming years.
The proposal will be presented to the College's Board of Trustees in February and to LCME on May 1. Wednesday's meeting was the last in a series of four town hall events held by the Strategic Planning Committee. One meeting was held for DMS students and the other two were held at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
The current economic crisis has posed new challenges that must be taken into consideration in DMS's new strategic plan, O'Donnell said. The National Institute of Health has had to decrease its budget for research grants, and doctors are struggling to get reimbursement from insurance companies, he said.
O'Donnell has established a finances committee, one of seven subcommittees within the Strategic Planning Committee, to examine ways to improve the Medical School's financial situation. After surveying members of the DMS community, the committee is considering private funding, expanding the technology transfer office and new academic initiatives, like a nursing program, O'Donnell said.
The most pressing concern, O'Donnell said, is the lack of coordination between DMS's different branches.
"I noticed during the meetings held at DHMC [on Oct. 16 and Oct. 24], a lot of the faculty out there did not know about the success of the basic science portfolio, the research that is being done here," O'Donnell said.
DMS faculty, staff and students are spread over the DMS campus in Hanover, DHMC and the Veterans Affairs Hospital in White River Junction, disrupting internal communication, O'Donnell said. Members of the DHMC and VA Hospital communities have said they felt detached from the Medical School, according to O'Donnell.
The committee hopes to expand the use of e-mail lists and create a web site that supports the research of the entire DMS community, O'Donnell added. Those who attended the meeting said they sought more personal interaction, acknowledging that the increased size of the Medical School has resulted in limited faculty-student communication. The committee also stressed greater communication among DMS, the College and Dartmouth's other graduate programs.
O'Donnell acknowledged the opportunity for change that the timing of the strategic plan revision affords, noting College President James Wright's retirement in June 2009 and the pending replacement of Dean of DMS William Green.
Changes to the strategic plan would only be an improvement on the "collegial, collaborative and respectful" culture of DMS, O'Donnell said.
"We want the community to say, this is our school and we are proud of it," O'Donnell said. "I go to school here or I teach here and I have an allegiance to it."
