 State of the UniversityPresident's 2009 State of the University Message
"The Other Side of the Mountains"
Philip Pumerantz, PhD
 POMONA, Calif. -- September 8, 2009 -- Through the years since 1978, when we welcomed our first class of osteopathic medical students, I have had an opportunity to report to the University community about the state of our school--not only where we are, but where we have come from and where we plan to go.
This month marks the 32nd anniversary of WesternU, and as I see it, the completion of a generation; and while we have never been stronger or more certain of our future, we must look toward our next level of growth--toward continuing to preserve and sustain our unique humanistic and interprofessional culture. Indeed, we need to look forward to our second generation. It is fully expected that as we continue to grow, we will become even stronger, with all of our programs benefitting from new and innovative human and material resources. As the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats.
But we always must keep in mind that our uniqueness depends not on what was best yesterday, but on discovering what is needed today and tomorrow. In the early months of the birth of COMP/WU, as I gazed up at the mountains, I often referred to them as a metaphor for climbing a high peak and reaching the other side. This was the task my colleagues and I had ahead of us--to aspire for new horizons.
Now, as we enter the next generation, we must ask ourselves, what lies on the other side of the mountains? And how can we prepare this next generation for the mountains they will climb, and for new horizons that will grace their view from those summits?
This State of the University Message is a chance for all of us to share a snapshot of how WesternU looks today. It also lets us flip back through our photo album to share memories, then flip forward to see the many pages left to fill and talk about what new memories we ll make.
I will share with you that for many years some people said that all of this--this enterprise now known as Western University of Health Sciences--simply couldn t be done. We couldn t start an osteopathic medical school from scratch in Pomona, California. We wouldn t find the right buildings, wouldn t attract students, wouldn t get the financial support necessary, and wouldn t clear all the hurdles needed to become an accredited institution of higher learning.
Yet we did all those things, and much, much more.
Our first years were about creation and building--about bringing the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific into being, then assuring its continued success through a combination of academic excellence, financial and community support, and plain hard work and commitment by a loyal handful of faculty and staff.
Those days might seem long ago when one considers the calendar, but I am reminded of them every time we welcome new students to campus and feel their energy as they embark on the journey to become health professionals and begin building futures of profound meaning and limitless possibility. This has been the kind of energy and hope for the future that inspired and sustained all of us at the beginning, and though our surroundings surely have changed over the years, that spirit--WesternU's soul, if you will--has endured, untarnished by time, unsullied by fate, unbreakable, unbeatable.
Of course, over the years, as we flourished and grew, our discussions centered less on just growth, but more and more on what we could do next to better serve our communities and the world through the health sciences. Those discussions turned into plans, and those plans yielded the masters in health sciences, physician assistant, and physical therapy programs, which became the cornerstone for what is now the College of Allied Health Professions. Then it was on to Graduate Nursing, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Medicine.
The adventure continues. Through innovative and bold strategic planning, led by Provost Ben Cohen, and through the wisdom and confidence of the Board of Trustees, we are celebrating the successful welcome of more than 190 first-year students to our colleges of Dental Medicine, Optometry, and Podiatric Medicine. These inaugural classes mark the dawn of a new era at WesternU, as our colleges now total eight--with a ninth, the Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences, on the way in January. Our student population has surpassed 2,600, and we are a few months away from opening state-of-the-art educational and clinical facilities that will further expand our academic base and research capabilities.
These new facilities, along with off-campus office and classroom spaces, will add more than 300,000 square feet of educational, research, and administrative space to the University. Several economic statistics related to the University s presence also are worth noting:
- The University s operating budget exceeds $100 million for the first time in its history.
- Using the standard Higher Education multiplier of 3.4 dollars spent in a geographic area for every dollar of budget, that budget translates into an economic impact of more than $340 million in the greater Pomona area.
- The University has nearly 600 full-time employees in family-wage jobs, as well as hundreds more part-time and adjunct faculty and staff positions.
- Despite the uncertain economic times, the University has had no layoffs and no hiring freezes. Indeed, we were able to make salary increases across the board this year, and we have over 40 job openings. In other words, WesternU is a great place to workâ “and we continue to hire.
- Our expansion project provided nearly 200 construction-related jobs over this past summer, which has been more good news for the local economy.
- Of course, the University s accomplishments are about more than just numbers. Our students, faculty, staff, and programs have made, and are continuing to make, an impact on health care and the public good in this region and beyond.
Leading the way is WesternU s Patient Care Center (PCC), a facility innovative in its concept, design, and service. The provision of medical, dental, optometric, podiatric, and pharmaceutical care services under one roof in a brand new, state-of-the-art center will create a simultaneously robust and convenient health-care environment for patients in the Pomona Valley and beyond. Radiologic services provided in collaboration with Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center will represent additional benefits for our patients. And our unique Interprofessional Diagnostic Suites will provide a setting where patients with complex conditions will be seen by faculty physicians and students from multiple disciplines, offering a great benefit to the patient and also enhancing our interprofessional focus on improving the quality of patient care. This unique environment will allow our University faculty and students to integrate and exemplify the core values of humanism, science, and caring as they provide comprehensive and collaborative care to their patients.
The Pomona Health Careers Ladder, our partnership with the Pomona Unified School District (PUSD) and Cal Poly Pomona, is entering its second year of bringing PUSD students to campus and introducing them, over the course of several months, to future careers in the health professions. This is a program not just about academics, but about aspirations. It s an opportunity to unveil to the young people of our community--as well as their parents and families--the wealth of choices available to them if they work hard, get an education, and dare to dream.
WesternU s Center for Disability Issues and the Health Professions, renamed the Harris Center for Disability and Health Policy, also is making tremendous strides in its mission to improve the capabilities of health-care providers to meet the growing needs of people with disabilities; increase the number of qualified individuals with disabilities who pursue careers in the health professions; and empower people with disabilities to become more vocal and active participants in their health care. The Center recently relocated to its new headquarters on the Esplanade, next to the Student Services Center. This state-of-the-art facility will accommodate the many programs and resources the Center has developed since its inception in 1998, and will be home to the programs and resources to come.
On the research front, we also can take pride in the establishment of CADRE, the Center for Advancement of Drug Research and Evaluation, which was created to blend the talents of select faculty in multiple departments for drug and product development. Through CADRE, Western University of Health Sciences is helping to develop novel formulations and advances in treatment to meet the needs of specific patient populations, demonstrate proof-of-concept, and validate clinical utility.
With respect to our overall strategic research initiative, we have chosen to organize specific Centers of Research at the university, based on the premise that understanding and solving the major human and animal diseases will take an integrated effort, with a critical mass of existing and strategically hired scientists organized into groups of researchers and focused on the major health problems extant. The Centers of Research include a Center for Molecular and Metabolic Disease; a Center for Infectious Diseases and Immunology, and, a Center for Integrative Neurobiology. These three Centers are envisioned by our VP of Research and Biotechnology as interacting administrative consortia made up of researchers with varied professional training, technical abilities, research skills, and methodologies directed toward different biological aspects underlying the major human/animal diseases.
Equally as innovative and rewarding is the first phase of the Interprofessional Education (IPE) curriculum that in a few short months will come to fruition on our campus after several years of planning and development. Recognizing that collaboration and teamwork among health professionals are important aspects to the delivery of high-quality patient care, IPE will put students from all of the University's disciplines together in the classroom, in small group venues, and in clinical experiences with patients. The goal is for WesternU s graduates to demonstrate an understanding of other health professions and to provide and promote a team approach to patient care and health-care management, leading to improved outcomes and more efficient use of resources. The curriculum will be made even more effective through the use of the interprofessional patient care suites, which are one of the outstanding features of our new Patient Care Center.
This notion of interprofessional training directly reflects the calls to action made by several national commissions that have recommended changes to medical education over the past two decades. Among these recommendations is an increased emphasis on communication, teamwork, and independent learning rather than lectures. In general, these recommendations are critical of passive education that concentrates on rote memorization and recall of facts, and stress a new emphasis on critical thinking and situational learning--precisely the sort of instruction our IPE curriculum will provide, and that already plays out in our Case- and Problem-Based Learning programs.
When fully implemented, this interprofessional education model will include an assessment program to gauge the program s impact, showing how it will make a difference not only in the perspective of WesternU s graduates, but also in the results in the care for patients and, indeed, in the cost of health care.
What also is significant about this interprofessional curriculum is the fact that it will continue to reflect our humanistic tradition, weaving that philosophy into the fabric of each of the health professions. In a sense, it s like a marble cake, in that no matter where it is sliced, these important values will always be clearly evident in each program of the institution.
As WesternU s reputation for educational excellence and compassionate care grows, our presence is sought beyond the confines of our Pomona campus:
- In partnership with Samaritan Health Systems, and as part of the natural evolution of our Northwest Track program, we are establishing a permanent COMP Northwest campus in the heart of Oregon s Willamette Valley. In 2011--just two years from now--this campus will welcome 100 first-year DO students who will further COMP s mission of educating caring and compassionate physicians who also are lifelong learners, while simultaneously addressing the health-care needs of residents throughout the Northwest region.
- WesternU recently reached an agreement with Claremont s Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences (KGI) to develop a dual-degree program that will equip students with skills that are highly regarded by the pharmaceutical industry and specialty health-care organizations. This dual-degree program will build upon and complement WesternU s Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum with KGI s highly successful Master of Bioscience (MBS) degree.
WesternU s contributions to education, diversity, and to the community at large also have been recognized recently:
- Three WesternU colleges--the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, the College of Pharmacy, and the College of Veterinary Medicine--rank in the Top 10 nationally for professional degrees awarded to Hispanics, according to a recently released report by the Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine.
- The Corporation for National and Community Service honored WesternU with a place on the President s 2008 Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts and service to America s communities.
- Faculty members Dr. Beatrice Saviola, associate professor of microbiology for the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, and Dr. Linda-Marie Sundstrom, assistant professor in the Department of Health Sciences Education in the College of Allied Health Professions--along with Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis, a WesternU Board of Trustees member since 2004--have been selected for the Fulbright Scholar Program for 2009-10.
- The University received the Pomona Chamber of Commerce s Image Award, which annually goes to a business or organization that continually demonstrates pride in ownership by maintaining itself in a positive manner.
- Most recently, Dr. Thelma Mel ©ndez de Santa Ana, a member of our Board of Trustees and superintendent of the Pomona Unified School District, was confirmed as President Obama s nominee to the post of Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
These accolades and accomplishments are testament to the commitment, compassion, and expertise demonstrated each and every day by the people of Western University of Health Sciences. They are the portraits--the snapshots that I mentioned earlier--of where we have been and where we are now. And they are reminders that for all we have accomplished over the past 32 years, and for all the pages of the photo album that we have filled, there are many more pages left to fill, more achievements to chronicle, more memories to make.
To further accomplish what we have set out to do means to examine our time-honored assumptions about education. A system of medical education that has not changed fundamentally for decades will never really be altered unless medical educators are willing to question some of the conventional wisdom.
We are, today, at the dawn of a new era for Western University of Health Sciences. The broad scope of our colleges puts us on the leading edge of health professions education in this country. Our ambitious academic programs and innovative centers for excellence will turn over new ground in the educational and research arenas.
And we always--always--will be seeking what lies on the other side of the mountains, for it is on that journey that we will face our steepest challenges; discover reserves of passion and commitment that we never knew existed; and realize our finest rewards.
What do I see for Western University that lies on the other side of the mountains? I have alluded to elements earlier; however, in the coming years and decades, WesternU will:
- Continue to expand its clinical services to the community and diffuse its brand of interprofessional care over a broader geographic territory.
- Expand our basic and clinical research opportunities, and establish multidisciplinary centers of excellence.
- Expand the "footprint" of the campus to fill out the "university village" model, including the potential of additional land acquisitions for research and teaching and for more student and faculty housing.
- Expand educational and other opportunities in areas of critical need in communities outside of Southern California.
- Endeavor to increase the presence of underrepresented minorities in the health professions.
As you can see, despite all that WesternU has done in the past 32 years, there remains much yet to do. There are always other mountains, and those mountains always have another side.
In "El Dorado," Robert Louis Stevenson wrote: "There is always a new horizon for onward-looking men...An aspiration is a joy forever ...To have many of these is to be spiritually rich.
"We have never made a statue worthy of our dreams. And when we have discovered a continent, or crossed a chain of mountains, it is only to find another ocean or another plain upon the further side.
"...To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labor."
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