gifts at work
DESCRIPTION
Philanthropic gifts have made a difference for our medical students, faculty and programs as well as the community. This newsletter highlights a few of those gifts.TRANSCRIPT
New Home for the Medical School
at workgifts
School of Medicine on Virginia Commonwealth University’s Medical College of Virginia Campus
fall 2011
Inmid-November,thesteelworkwascompleted
ontheMCVCampus’newmedicaleducationcenter.
Reaching12storiesintothesky,thebuildinghasbeen
craftedtohousethemostsignificantrenovationtothe
school’scurriculumseenin30years.
Inthisbuilding,theschool’sfacultywillpioneer
newapproachestotrainingphysicians.Withafocus
onteam-based,clinically-drivenproblemsolving,the
buildingwillhouseflexible,small-grouplearningstudios
andaleadingedgeCenterforHumanSimulationand
PatientSafety.
Justasimportantly,thisnewfacilitywillallowusto
helpmeettheprojectedphysicianshortagebyaccom-
modatinganincreaseinclasssizefrom200to250,
increasingthetotalmedicalstudentbodyto1,000.
Lastspring,thefacilitywonavoteofconfidence
fromgratefulpatientsandcommunityleadersJames
W.andFrancesG.McGlothlin.Gov.BobMcDonnell
wasonhandfortheannouncementofthecouple’s
$25-milliongiftmadeinhonorofDr.HaroldYoung,who
isprofessorandfoundingchairoftheDepartmentof
Neurosurgery.Inrecognitionofthegift—oneofthe
largestintheuniversity’shistory—thenewfacility
willbenamedtheJamesW.andFrancesG.McGlothlin
MedicalEducationCenter.
Adonorwallinthelobbywilldisplaythenames
ofalumniandfriendswhosegenerosityisvital
tothebuilding’ssuccess.
As teacher and friend to thousands of students in the School of Medicine for nearly 30 years, Linda Costanzo, Ph.D., professor
emerita of physiology and biophysics, suddenly found herself in a new role: patient. “I noticed that my vision was distorted and thought
I should get my glasses checked,” she remembered. “Weeks went by before I learned that something was terribly, terribly wrong.”
Enter Ali Tabassian, M.D., Ph.D., a former student from the Class of 1990, who performed surgery to correct a macular hole in
her left eye. Dr. Costanzo and her husband Richard Costanzo, Ph.D., professor of physiology and biophysics, were so grateful for his
skillful intervention that they decided to honor him by making a gift to the new Medical Education Center in his name, “as a small
gesture of gratitude for this sight-saving surgery and the kindness he demonstrated at every turn.”
From Tabassian’s view, “I was speechless. But this gift speaks
volumes about the Costanzos’ commitment to the school.”
Sight-SavingSurgery
Triggers
Gift
As physician-in-chief of the University of Maryland’s R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, Tom Scalea, M’78, oversees the nation’s first and only integrated trauma hospital. Treating nearly 8,000 of the Baltimore region’s most badly injured and critically ill people every year, the Shock Trauma Center is also the pre-deployment training ground for U.S. military doctors, nurses and special operations medics. Earlier this year, Dr. Scalea presented grand rounds on the MCV Campus and learned of the building campaign for the new James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin Medical Education Center. Impressed with the future of medical education at the School of Medicine, he made a $100,000 gift.
“MCV defined who it was I was going to become,” said Dr. Scalea. “I was very lucky. It was the four best years of my life without question. When I had the opportunity to give back to the institution that allowed me to do this great work, my answer wasn’t ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but ‘how much?’ I was happy to help, and I hope it’s not the last gift.”
With hundreds of MD alumni returning to campus to celebrate, Reunion Weekend saw attendance increase by 21 percent last spring. Along the way, alumni set a record-breaking mark of $2.6 million in Reunion giving, with the Class of 1961 leading the way for the medical education building now under construction. Three classes took on special Reunion projects, and others threw their support behind the Annual Fund.
Reunion Giving Hits New High
moreonline http://go.vcu.edu/GiftsAtWork
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moreonline http://go.vcu.edu/GiftsAtWork
believer ingiving back.
I’m a huge
At its 16th annual White Coat Ceremony, the School of Medicine
welcomed the 200 students who make up the incoming Class of 2015.
These students were chosen from more than 6,450 applications –
our highest number ever, and a dramatic increase from the 4,200
applicants to the school in 2005.
In front of friends and family, the students walked across the stage
to receive the distinctive white coat that represents professionalism
and empathy in the practice of medicine.
This year’s keynote speaker was Internal Medicine Professor
Peter A. Boling, M.D., who first arrived on the MCV Campus for
his internal medicine residency training. Now a champion of
the house calls approach both locally and on a national level, he
leads our school’s program that provides in-home primary care
for more than 5,000 home-bound, frail adults. Among those
patients is a 97-year-old retired teacher who joined him on
stage to share with our students her own views of what makes
a good physician.
Four GenerationsGaylordW.Ray,M’76,H’79(right),withhissonChristopher,whowasrecentlyelectedpresidentoftheClassof2015,isholdingthe1897diplomafromtheUniversityCollegeofMedicinethatwasawardedtohisgrandfatherA.ChambersRay.GaylordRay’slatefather,EdRay,isalsoconnectedtothemedicalschool:hecompletedhishousestafftrainingin1944andwentontobenamedthefoundingchairofpulmonology.
Class of 2015
Member of the Class of 2015 Legacy Connection
SeanM.Brodie.................father,HarryB.Brodie,M’75,Littleton,Colo.,retiredgeneralpractitioner uncleEdmundM.Brodie,M’71,Gainesville,Fla.,retiredradiologist grandfather,EdmundG.Brodie,1943graduateofthedentalschool,Norfolk,Va.SaraC.Finestone..............father,DougH.Finestone,M’79,Greenville,N.C.,practicingpsychiatrist uncleRobertDabrow,M’84,H’85,SilverSprings,Md.,pediatrichospitalistEmilijaO.Florance............father,JaredFlorance,M’82,Randolph,Vt.,recentlyretiredfromacareerinpublichealthDanielJ.Gardiner.............father,JamesE.Gardiner,M’78,H’83,Winchester,Va.,practicinggastroenterologistStevenA.Gordon..............father,DavidA.Gordon,M’80,Allentown,Pa.,practicingcardiovascularsurgeon mother,MarshaA.Gordon,1978graduateofthedentalschoolSpencerC.Harris..............grandfather,HaroldJ.Harris,M’32,nowdeceasedMarieK.Moorman...........father,TonyMoorman,M’88,Chestertown,Md.,practicingobstetrician/gynecologistElizabethM.O’Brien.........parents,theClassof1983’sLorraineM.AriasandJamesJ.O’Brien,WinstonSalem,N.C.,anesthesiologistsChristopherC.Ray............father,GaylordW.Ray,M’76,H’79,Gloucester,Va.,retiredemergencyphysician grandfatherEdRay,H’44,nowdeceased,emeritusprofessorofmedicineatMCVandfirstchairmanofits pulmonarydepartment great-grandfatherA.C.Ray,1897graduateoftheUniversityCollegeofMedicine,predecessortoMCVPhillipC.Sholes................grandfatherDillardM.Sholes,Jr.,M’49,H’50,nowdeceasedMadisonSternberg...........father,ElliotSternberg,M’80,Orange,Calif.,executivevicepresidentofSt.JosephHealthSystemAllisonC.Waller...............father,KennethWaller,M’85,MHA’08,Richmond,Va.,practicingneurologist step-motherSusanWaller,M’01,H’05,Richmond,Va.,practicingpsychiatrist
forSuccessDressed
Legacy Connections
6451 students applied • 200 matriculated • 22 states
represented and 94 undergraduate colleges and universities
• 2 already have earned a doctoral degree • 37 have a
Master’s degree • 111 Virginians • 92 females • 30
MCAT average • 3.60 average science GPA • 24.5
average age, from 21 to 42
Among the Class of 2015’s new matriculants are 12 whose families already have alumni ties to the medical school.
In October, Tadataka
“Tachi” Yamada, M.D., was
honored as one of VCU’s
most accomplished alumni.
Yamada completed residency
training on the MCV Campus
in 1974.
The former president of the
Bill & Melinda Gates Founda-
tion Global Health Program is
currently executive vice president and member of the
board of directors for Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.
He spent October 21 visiting the MCV Campus and
talking with students, before an evening dinner hosted
by the VCU and MCV Alumni Associations.
Charitable IRA Rollovers
In the wake of her nephew’s death, Elizabeth Rice Martin, M’98, wanted to celebrate his life. As the family was writing young Chancellor’s obituary, it occurred to them that contributions to a scholarship in his name would not only help memorialize his life forever, but would also provide much-needed financial support to medical students on the MCV Campus. “I didn’t know how to get a scholarship off the ground,” Martin said. But after she made the initial donation, the scholarship became fully funded in less than three years. “Every time a friend said, ‘I’m so sorry about your nephew, what can I do?’ my family and I would talk about Chancellor and mention the scholarship. It gives us a lot of closure.” In addition to its support for students with an interest in pediatrics and obstetrics, the Chancellor Asa Rice Scholarship calls attention to the dangerous infection during labor that led to Chancellor’s brain injury and ultimately his death. “It helps us to know that something so good came out of something so tragic,” Martin said.
Scholarship Fund Student RecipientBersoff Medical Scholarship Fund Caleb Cutherell, M1Eugenie M. Fribourg Scholarship Fund Kelly Evans, M3J. Dennis Hoban Scholarship Fund William Rossano, M1Herbert S. and Elinor C. Neifeld Scholarship Samarth Gola, M1Chancellor Asa Rice Memorial Scholarship Fund Adrianne Colton, M4Fred and Rose Shaia Family Scholarship Kathryn Zedler, M4 Drs. O. W., Sr. and Oscar W. Ward, Jr. Scholarship Balraj Bajaj, M1
While each reflects its donor’s interests in unique ways, the newly endowed scholarships have one unifying theme: each donor asked that the scholarship be awarded to a student with demonstrated financial need.
Thanks to the extended charitable IRA legislation,
you can once again make outright gifts using IRA
funds without tax liability. If you are age 70 ½ or older
and do not need your required minimum distributions,
you can make tax-free charitable gifts totaling up to
$100,000 from an IRA account directly to the MCV
Foundation until the end of 2011. While you cannot
claim a charitable deduction for the IRA gifts, you
will not pay income tax on the amount.
The Next Step Be sure to contact tax professionals or your IRA
administrator if you are considering a gift under this
law. You can get more information about your options
from Tom Holland, Associate Dean for Development at
(800) 332-8813, (804) 828-3800 or [email protected].
2011 Alumni StarNew Look for Annual Fund 100 percent of the Annual Fund is used to create
student scholarships that help combat student
debt. Last year, 224 first-time donors to the Fund
helped pushed total giving to the Annual Fund up to
$335,000! To encourage more new donors to join
the effort, the Annual Fund is unveiling a new look
you’ll see on future mailings and is
establishing new giving levels for
young alumni.
The Warner Club Recognizing M.D. graduates of the last 9 years who make yearly gifts totaling: 1-5 years out $120 or $10 each month
6 years out $240 or $20 each month
7 years out $480 or $40 each month
8 years out $720 or $60 each month
9 years out $960 or $80 each month
The medical school’s fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30.moreonlinehttp://go.vcu.edu/GiftsAtWork
moreonlinehttp://go.vcu.edu/GiftsAtWork
Out of Tragedy Comes an Everlasting Gift
The Class of 1998’s Elizabeth Rice Martin (right photo). Her nephew Chancellor (left) with his parents.
moreonlinehttp://go.vcu.edu/GiftsAtWork
Seven new scholarships benefit students this year A pioneering woman and a grateful son. An otolaryngologist, an aunt, a businessman, a surgeon and a widow. They are the individuals behind more than a half dozen new scholarship endowments in the medical school. Together worth more than $500,000, the endowments will generate annual scholarship awards that are benefiting students for the first time in the coming year. Today, 70 endowed scholarship funds, valued at $10.4 million, benefit students in the medical school. Housed at the MCV Foundation, scholarship endow-ments produce an annual award of about four to five percent of the fund’s value. The medical school encourages named scholarships to be created with a gift of $25,000 or more. Below this amount, donors may direct support to any of the school’s established scholarships or to the Annual Fund, which also supports student scholarships.
Catherine Pearson evaluated Hondurans’ access and barriers to healthcare. She notes that “even Honduran communities that are located near one another displayed considerable differences in their access to health services. By understanding the barriers unique to each community, medical relief efforts may be able to provide more targeted care.” Her research can guide future relief trips as her findings point to areas of greatest need and identify the considerable barrier that geography plays in access to care.
Gabriela Halder, M.P.H., surveyed access to and sanita-tion of drinking water. “In Honduras diarrheal diseases are currently among the top three leading causes of disease in children up to five years of age,” says Halder. “Since contaminated water can harbor the infectious agents that cause diarrhea, recent efforts have focused on increasing the availability of clean water throughout the country.”
VCUVirginia Commonwealth UniversityMedical College of Virginia CampusSchoolofMedicineP.O.Box980022Richmond,Virginia23298-0022
Address Service Requested
If you have questions about Gifts at Work, please contact the medical school Development Office, (804) 828-4800, toll-free at (800) 332-8813, or by email at [email protected].
Associate Dean for Development: Tom Holland Editor: Erin Lucero Assistant Editor: Leetah StanleyContributing Writer: Nan JohnsonPhotographers: Allen Jones, R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, Skip Rowland and Kevin Schindler Graphic Design: Kevin Schindler
at workgifts
For about two dozen first-year medical students, HOMBRE is an annual rite of passage – a summer medical mission trip that takes them to Honduras and the Dominican Republic, two of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Each year since 2000, a new crop of first-year students takes charge of HOMBRE, inheriting the tradition from the previous class along with recommendations on how to pull it off. They spend the school year before their trip raising funds to support travel and the purchase of medication and supplies for their patients. Then for 10 days, the students work alongside physicians, nurses and pharmacists at clinics, as well as visiting patients in their homes, providing care in schools and initiating public health projects, such as clean water filter programs. Last summer, two of the students used HOMBRE to undertake research in three Honduran communities. With guidance from their faculty advisors, Internal Medicine’s Gonzalo M. Bearman, M.D., M.P.H., and Mike Stevens, M.D., M.P.H., they made discoveries that could be useful to future trips.
L e a r n m o r e a b o u t H O M B R E a t w w w. h o m b r e m e d i c i n e . o r gmoreonline
PearsonHalder
PostOfficeBox980234 RichmondVA23298 (804)828-9734 www.mcvfoundation.org
Serving the Medical College of Virginia Campus of Virginia Commonwealth
University since 1949 and proud to be a partner with the School of Medicine.MCVF O U N D A T I O NServing the MCV Campus of Virginia
Commonwealth University Since 1949
Classes ending in ’2s and ’7s - mark your calendar! Reunion kicks off with Friday evening’s Class Parties and features a reception on the Egyptian Building Plaza Saturday night!
Do You Know How to Throw a Great Party? If you would like to volunteer to help with planning your class activities, contact Jodi T. Smith, director of alumni engagement for the School of Medicine, at [email protected].
Want to Earn CME Credits? Saturday’s Alumni Update Course will tackle a broad variety of fields, covering topics as diverse as psychiatry, pediatrics and heart health. You can earn up to 6.75 credit hours. For additional information and to register, visit www.cme.vcu.edu or call (804) 828-3640 or (800) 413-2872.
Get Ready for Reunion 2012: April 20-22
Non-ProfitOrganizationU.S.Postage
PaidRichmond,VAPermitNo.869
AIR MAILHHPostcards from Honduras
Build a Legacy! Reunion Class Giving is on its way to becoming an MCV Campus tradition. As Reunion 2012 draws closer, you’ll receive info about joining with your class to make a special gift to the School of Medicine. Many of last year’s attendees marked their Reunion with gifts to the medical school, helping generate over $2.6 million in support for scholarships and the new medical education building.
Plan ahead: Reunion 2013 is April 26-28.
New Design for Gifts at Work We always have good stories to tell about how philanthropy makes a difference in the medical school. Now we’ve re-designed our publication to give you the chance to quickly review that news. When you want to know the rest of the story, you can find expanded articles and additional photography at http://go.vcu.edu/GiftsAtWork. We hope you’ll take advantage of the additional coverage and that you’ll let us know what you think of our new approach!