Education

05/14/2013 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Education

Cooper Institute’s FitnessGram Fights to Maintain Foothold

FitnessGram is under assault, as it seems to be every legislative session. FitnessGram measures a child’s fitness in several ways. It assesses students’ aerobic capacity and body composition as well as muscular strength, endurance, and flexibility. The tool—developed by the Dallas-based Cooper Institute and championed by Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound—was implemented in the 2007-2008 school year. Originally, all students were required to be assessed in grades 3-12. The 2011 legislature limited FitnessGram only to students who were enrolled in physical education. Texas requires 30 minutes a day or 135 minutes a week of physical activity in elementary school and… Full Story

04/23/2013 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Education

Advisory Panel Named in UNTHSC President Search

UNT System Chancellor Lee Jackson has appointed a 17-member presidential search advisory committee to identify candidates to lead the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth. Interim President Michael Williams, MD, was appointed in December 2012. The committee includes representatives of the UNTHSC faculty and administrators, student body, UNT System Board of Regents, and other education, business, and civic leaders. A permanent presidential appointment is expected this summer.    

04/21/2013 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Education

Texas Senate Passes Bill to Increase GME Slots

The Texas Senate has approved legislation proposed by Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, to expand graduate medical education residency slots in the state. It includes: • $10 million to create new residency positions. • $1.5 million for graduate medical education planning grants to encourage residency programs in hospitals that have never had one. • $33.8 million for physician education loan repayment.

03/28/2013 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Education

Morning Rounds (03.28.13)

Insurance companies will have to pay out an average of about one-third more for medical claims on individual health policies under the ACA.

Plano-based Argon Medical Devices plans to acquire Interventional Products Business of Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Despite the cut in on-call hours, residents are not getting more sleep and are reporting more errors and symptoms of depression. Full Story

03/27/2013 1 comment Bookmark and Share Share Post
Education

First-Year Residents Reporting More Errors, Not Enough Sleep Despite Cut in Hours

New regulations in 2011 restricted the number of continuous hours a first-year resident could spend on call, from 24 hours to 16 hours. Despite the cut in hours, residents are not getting more sleep, and are reporting more errors and symptoms of depression, according to Time. A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine compared two groups of interns: one group that was on call every fourth night for a maximum of 30 hours, and the other working under the new regulations. Self-reported data from the latter group showed the same risk of depression at 20 percent, and a 15 to… Full Story

03/27/2013 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Education

UNTHSC Master’s Program ‘a Hoop of Fire’ to Med School

Kristen Taylor McCormick, who is graduating from the Texas College of Medicine (TCOM), landed her top choice of graduate medical residency this month at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. She has the Master of Science in medical sciences (Med Sci) program at the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) in Fort Worth to thank for that. Since 1999, UNTHSC has built an academic bridge between undergraduate education and medical school. Med Sci has graduated more than 600. The rigorous 12-month program is designed to bolster credentials to win acceptance to medical schools. Students take classes in biochemistry, cell… Full Story

03/10/2013 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Education

UNT Creates Fort Worth Advisory Panel

The University of North Texas System has created a taskforce of more than 20 Fort Worth community leaders to advise the university as it expands the UNT Health Science Center in Fort Worth. The group will be chaired by attorney Dee Kelly Jr., and include Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley and former mayors Mike Moncrief and Kenneth Barr. The taskforce will be involved in legislative initiatives, selection of the next president to replace Scott Ransom and have a voice in appointing Fort Worth residents to the UNT board of regents.

02/28/2013 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Education

UTA Receives $7.5 Million Donation, Renames Research Institute

Shimadzu Scientific Instruments has given $7.5 million to The University of Texas at Arlington to support its science programs. Due to the size of the donation, UTA is renaming the Institute for Research Technologies at UT Arlington the Shimadzu Institute for Research Technologies. “This partnership promises to make North Texas a new hub of scientific discovery and innovation,” said James Spaniolo, UTA president in a statement. “The Shimadzu Institute will be a magnet for world class students and a resource for discovery across Texas and beyond. The Institute will house $25.2 million in equipment from Shimadzu, the Maryland-based subsidiary of… Full Story

02/26/2013 Bookmark and Share Share Post
Education

Interim UNTHSC President Took a Leap of Faith

Michael Williams, MD, DO, was on a December vacation in Santa Fe, a trip that his two grown daughters said they wanted as their only Christmas gift. Then he got a telephone call: We need you in Fort Worth in two days; however, we cannot offer you a job yet. The chief executive officer of Hill Country Memorial Hospital and University of North Texas regent had recused himself from discussions about University of North Texas Health Science Center President Scott Ransom in case he was needed. The board was about to pull the trigger on Ransom’s administration. Williams had an… Full Story