Anniversaries celebrated by UA medical community

Adam F. Jarrold Arizona Daily Wildcat Dr. Jordan Cohen, president and chief executive officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges, presents his interpretation of why there is a rising cost in American heath care and what his colleagues in medical education can do to help curb this rise. Cohen spoke yesterday at the University Medical Center DuVal Auditorium as part of the celebration of the respective 30th, 40th and 50th anniversaries of the UA Colleges of medicine, nursing and pharmacy.

"Over 30 years ago, there were grass fields out here," said George Humphrey, a college of medicine spokesman, "but today there's a thriving academic community that's the only one of its kind in the state."

The three colleges observed their 30th, 40th and 50th anniversaries respectively.

Dr. Jordan Cohen, head of the Association of American Medical Colleges, told the crowd of about 50 onlookers how medical schools should plan for the future.

"American medical colleges have been too laissez-faire rather than implicit in directing students to certain fields," Cohen said in a noon keynote speech at University Medical Center's DuVal Auditorium. He said medical schools need to inform their students of the variety of medical fields available.

Cohen said the UA is meeting AAMC requirements for training medical students.

"One of the dangers is allowing too many specialists and not enough generalists into the medical field," Cohen added. "Ideally, you would want a 50-50 split."

"It was nice to mark the occasion with the appearance of a national leader, such as Dr. Cohen, who can offer intelligent perspectives and viewpoints about our national medical schools," Humphrey said.

Performers from the UA music and dance school punctuated the festivities with a variety of exhibitions.

"The school of music and dance has a lot of admiration for these three colleges, because they are universally known as outstanding programs" said Jory Hancock, dance division head. "This is a university community and this was an important event for the health sciences and the campus."

The performance featured 25 student dancers and four faculty members. The UA steel band, a school and dance rhythmic ensemble, pumped life into the party after the three colleges cut the birthday cake - a miniature UMC.

"Considering all the changes in health care, what's most important is the training of diverse physicians all in one place to shape health care of the future," said J. Lyle Bootman, the dean of the College of Pharmacy.

"That's the advantage of having a health science center," he added.

Suzanne Van Ort, nursing dean, touted her school on its anniversary.

"The college of nursing provides nursing education, research and service to the community," Van Ort said. "We are very active throughout the state and have an impact in many forms of health care."