Adam E. Klein, MD - West Virginia State Medical Association

Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine | Scientific | NEWS ArticleMarshall picks up national award for family medicineJoan C. Edwards School ofMedicine at Marshall University hasreceived a Family Medicine “Top Ten”award from the American Academyof Family Physicians (AAFP) for beingone of the nation’s top schools in thepercentage of graduates enteringfamily medicine residencies.Based on a three-year averageending in October 2011, AAFPreports 16.8 percent of Marshallmedical school graduates havechosen family medicine residencies.The average places the schoolas number six in the country.“Marshall’s school of medicine hasconsistently found itself in this topranking because we are committedto educating students about theimportance of primary care and morespecifically, family medicine,” said Dr.John Walden, chair of the Departmentof Family and Community Health.“We have long been aware of thecritical nature of educating doctorsfor rural America and remainsteadfast in our efforts to promotethis very important specialty.”Dr. Sarah Chouinard, presidentof the West Virginia Academyof Family Physicians and a 1998graduate of Marshall’s medicalschool, echoed Walden’s assessment.“Family docs are THE key playersin our nation’s ability to reformour health care system. With thechanging business of medicine toinclude technology and qualitydrivenoutcome measures, we needwell-educated, engaged family docsto be present in our communities,”Chouinard said. “Marshall trainedme to be a family doctor whounderstands the value in serving ourrural West Virginia communities.”The awards were presented duringa ceremony April 27 at the Society ofTeachers of Family Medicine AnnualSpring Conference in Seattle. TheTop Ten Awards were created morethan a decade ago by the AAFP topromote the goal of having more U.S.medical school graduates becomefamily medicine physicians.Marshall professor shares kidney research in ChinaA MarshallUniversityprofessor was inBeijing in May topresent his researchat BIT’s 5th WorldCancer Congressand to meet withcolleagues at aDr. Rankin leading university.Dr. Gary O.Rankin, professor and chairman ofthe Department of Pharmacology,Physiology and Toxicology at theuniversity’s Joan C. Edwards Schoolof Medicine, spoke about his workto study how a substance foundnaturally in red wine can reducesome of the harmful effects of acommonly used anti-cancer drug.According to Rankin’s studyconducted in cooperation withcolleague Dr. Monica A. Valentovic,resveratrol, a natural componentof red wine, grapes, blueberriesand peanuts, can reduce toxicityto the kidney caused by thechemotherapy drug cisplatin. Thework is funded by a grant fromthe National Institutes of Health.“Dr. Valentovic and I are using ahuman kidney cell line to look intothe protective effects of resveratrol,”said Rankin. “We have found that thecompound’s powerful antioxidantproperties may be important inhelping to protect the kidney fromcisplatin’s harmful effects.”Also at the conference,Rankin helped lead a scientificsession, “Cancer rehabilitation,nutrition and management ofcancer related complications.”Before the meeting in Beijing,Rankin visited the School ofBiosystems Engineering and FoodScience at Zhejiang University inHangzhou, China, to give a seminarabout his work in the field ofchemical-induced injury to the kidney.Rankin was accompaniedon the trip by Dr. Yi CharlieChen, an associate professor ofbiology at Alderson-BroaddusCollege in Philippi.Both Rankin and Chen are leadresearchers in the West VirginiaIDeA Network of BiomedicalResearch Excellence—a federallyfunded program to help buildbiomedical research expertise acrossthe state. Rankin is the principalinvestigator of the project and Chenis on the steering committee.Marshall medical student selected for position with AMAAlexandra E. Norcott , a rising 4thyearstudent at Marshall University’sJoan C. Edwards School of Medicine,has been selected to serve a oneyearterm as a student ambassadorwith the American MedicalAssociation (AMA) Foundation.Norcott will be traveling thecountry over the next year educatingphysicians about the goals of theAMA Foundation and how theircharitable gifts can help supportfree clinics, scholarship grants, andother service-oriented projects.July/August 2012 | Vol. 108 41