Latest news with #DesMoinesUniversity
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Des Moines University forms faculty development academy with alumni gift
Des Moines University is creating a faculty development academy with the donation from a DMU graduate and his wife. Shown here, Des Moines University students celebrated Match Day on March 21, 2025, when they learned where they'll serve medical residencies. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch) Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences is utilizing donor dollars to expand the knowledge and skills of faculty with a new development initiative. The private medical university announced Wednesday the launch of the Dr. Robert and Brenda Good Faculty Development Academy, a campus-wide initiative to 'advance excellence in teaching, educational research and leadership among its faculty members,' according to a news release. 'This is a bold, forward-looking initiative designed to support faculty throughout their professional growth,' said DMU Assistant Vice President for Academic Innovation and Enhancement Nehad El-Sawi in the release. 'From peer-led consultations to faculty workshops on cutting-edge topics like artificial intelligence and enhanced preceptor development, the academy fosters a collaborative ecosystem for academic excellence.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX According to the release, the initiative will focus on six areas relating to faculty training and development, including improving onboarding, offering continuous professional development, encouraging educational research, furthering collaboration across campus and bettering teaching skills. El-Sawi said in the release this initiative will help the college invest in the future of health care by investing in its own faculty. A gift from 1977 DMU graduate Robert Good and his wife, Brenda, is funding the program, the release stated. DMU Director of Marketing and Communications Denise Lamphier said in an email the university is not providing the gift amount at the request of the donors. The Goods said in the release DMU needs to give the students who will eventually be caring for Iowans and others the best start they can, and a way to do that is to ensure faculty have the best training and skills to pass onto their classes. 'Their generosity will ripple through future generations and help prepare the health care heroes our world so urgently needs, including rural physicians, groundbreaking researchers and compassionate therapists,' said DMU President Angela Walker Franklin in the release. 'This is more than a gift. It's a promise of hope and innovation. The entire DMU community is grateful to the Goods for believing in our mission and investing in its future.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Axios
10-04-2025
- Science
- Axios
How a Des Moines professor helped de-extinct the dire wolf
A professor of anatomy at Des Moines University contributed research to revive the extinct dire wolf — or something similar to a dire wolf, given that she is among scientists who question the animal's classification. Why it matters: Julie Meachen's work uncovering ancient animal DNA may help save endangered species or even de-extinct others. Driving the news: Texas company Colossal Biosciences announced this week that it had successfully edited genes of gray wolves with key features of dire wolves and implanted embryos in surrogate dog mothers. Three healthy animals with dire wolf characteristics — long, thick white fur and bodies as much as 25% bigger than gray wolves — were born in October and are being kept at an undisclosed U.S. location. Catch up quick: Meachen is the lead investigator of a team of scientists exploring Natural Trap Cave in Wyoming, where Ice Age animal remains are being studied. She was among a team of scientists who authored a 2021 paper about the retrieval of DNA from fossils of dire wolves, which went extinct about 13,000 years ago. Zoom in: Meachen was not involved in creating the wolf pups but provided DNA samples collected from animal remains in Idaho and Ohio to help fine-tune the de-extinction project. The dire wolf project would have been possible without her input but would not have been as accurate, she tells Axios. The intrigue: Meachen says she doesn't believe the pups unveiled this week are dire wolves but, instead, are genetically modified gray wolves. "They are basically transgenic gray wolves with dire wolf DNA inside them," she said. Yes, but: She said the technology is exciting and is already being used to boost genetic diversity in endangered species. "Even though the scientist in me is skeptical about creating extinct animals, the kid in me wants to see what they look like," Meachen said. What's next: Meachen will lead another project at Natural Trap Cave this summer. Colossal is working on a project that could de-extinct the woolly mammoth.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
State Senate panels pass bills to explore changes at Iowa medical schools
Des Moines University students celebrated Match Day on March 21, 2025, when they learned where they'll serve medical residencies. Des Moines University would, along with the University of Iowa, explore three-year degree programs under proposed legislation. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch) Two Iowa Senate subcommittees have moved ahead House-sent bills aimed at making changes to Iowa's medical schools to increase opportunities for Iowa students and accelerate their learning. House File 386, which received signatures from subcommittee members Wednesday morning, would direct the University of Iowa and Des Moines University to conduct a study into potentially shrinking the timeline of some four-year programs to three years. Keith Saunders, chief government relations officer for the Iowa Board of Regents, said during the meeting the board is generally supportive of the bill but called the term 'three year medical school' a 'misnomer,' as other shortened medical programs have done so through accelerated degrees. Generally accelerated medical degree programs have worked in the area of family medicine, Saunders said, which is where the UI would focus its research. 'We're happy to do the study, happy to provide a feasibility study,' Saunders said. 'And again, we're committed to doing everything possible to get as many health care workers into the workforce as possible.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Des Moines University is registered as monitoring the bill, lobbyist Threase Harms said, but the university has requested it be removed from the legislation. As an institution with no undergraduate programs or residencies, Harms said it would be very difficult to accelerate the university's programming, especially with the knowledge that DMU did try to implement three-year programs in the 1980s without success. 'DMU is graduating the most family practice medicine doctors in the country,' Harms said. 'We pride ourselves on that, and we have them all throughout the state of Iowa, but we just feel like the three-year escalation doesn't fit with our current structure, and it doesn't ensure that those doctors are prepared to go out and deliver those services.' Each of the subcommittee members said they would move the bill forward with plans to introduce an amendment. Sen. Mike Zimmer, D-DeWitt, said he was in favor of removing DMU after hearing Harms' remarks, but Sen. Mike Klimesh, R-Spillville, said he wasn't sure if taking the university out was the best idea and it is important to think about potential cost-saving measures of shorter degree programs. Sen. David Rowley, R-Spirit Lake, said he wants to encourage collaboration while working on the bill. 'We've got to be curious and have curiosity to find out how we could do this better, and I think that takes collaboration, working together with all of us in this room, to find some options or some opportunities out there,' Rowley said. House File 516, which passed a Senate subcommittee Tuesday, would have the Iowa Board of Regents implement a policy requiring the UI doctor of medicine program and college of dentistry enroll cohorts made up of at least 80% resident students or students who attended an Iowa college or university prior to applying. Saunders said the programs currently have between 70% and 75% resident students enrolled, and the board is supportive of initiatives that will keep more health care professionals in the state. Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-West Des Moines, said during discussion she has concerns about the bill potentially pushing away students who want to study, and stay, in Iowa. 'I'm willing to sign off on it, but just because somebody didn't grow up here or go to college here doesn't mean they don't have a lot to offer to Iowa,' Trone Garriott said. Klimesh said he understands where Trone Garriott was coming from in her remarks, but he looks at the legislation as a way to ensure UI medical programs have the best state retention possible. However, he said he plans to introduce an amendment to the bill that would add additional criteria for qualifying students, like those who maybe didn't grow up in the state but know what rural Iowa is like based on their own upbringing in a neighboring state. 'To be perfectly honest, when I've asked folks what the definition of Iowan is, I get air quotes around it sometimes, so I'm not even sure what that is,' Klimesh said. 'Maybe defining what an Iowan is and adding additional frameworks might be beneficial.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Des Moines University students learn their residency program at Match Day celebration
Des Moines University students learned their medical residency program at a DMU Match Day celebration on March 21, 2025. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch) A crowd of students, their families and friends crowded into a room Friday at Des Moines University Medicine & Health Sciences, chatter filling the air as anticipation grew. Students fiddled with white envelopes that held the answer to the question of their future. David Connett, dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine at DMU, stood before the room to toast the students during the university's first in-person Match Day celebration. Students were notified Monday if they were selected for a residency program and had been eagerly awaiting the news of where they will go to continue their health care training. They clinked glasses before watching the clock count down to 11 a.m., when they could open their acceptance letters. 'It's been a minimum of eight years — four years of college, four years of medical school — to get to this moment that'll happen in the next 15 minutes, and I wanted just to go ahead and wish you all both a fruitful personal life and professional life moving forward,' Connett said. 'Again, I can tell you, after practicing medicine for 40 years, it was absolutely worth it.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX For Carina Hansen, the biggest feeling that followed her from Monday to Friday was relief — relief that she got a placement at all, as psychiatry is a field growing in popularity with not enough new residency slots opening up to accommodate demand. She learned on Match Day she was selected for the psychiatry residency program at the University of South Dakota, her top choice. The match process starts in the prior summer and fall when students start applying to programs across the U.S., Hansen said. Interviews take place throughout the winter, with students able to rank the programs they've interviewed for and vice-versa for the residencies. If a student isn't matched after this process, they can apply for programs left open. Having grown up in Cedar Falls, Hansen said she's always wanted to stay and help people in the Midwest. She was happy to see she had matched, as there were only 12 psychiatry residencies with open slots left across the U.S. for those who didn't. 'I'm very excited. We need more people in medicine in general, and definitely in psych in the Midwest,' Hansen said. 'So that's been my goal for a long time, and I'm happy I'm able to play a part in that.' Connett said the college had a 99% match rate for this year's class, with 33 out of 200 students placed in Iowa hospitals and clinics. 'Many more' students wanted to stay in the state than there were residency slots available, he said, a problem that he's hoping to address with support from the state. 'My goal is to create more residencies so we have more opportunities to match more students,' Connett said. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said during her 2025 Condition of the State address in January a lack of residency slots means people are losing out on giving Iowa a chance, as many physicians choose to practice where they completed their residency. Connett said Reynolds and the Legislature have been very open to expanding residencies in the state, citing a number provided by Reynolds in her address that 70% of the physicians who attended medical school and completed their residency in Iowa stay in Iowa to practice. A Medicaid graduate medical education program Reynolds introduced in her address would bring in an expected $150 million in federal funding to form as many as 115 residency slots at 14 Iowa hospitals and train around 460 physicians over a four-year period. Companion bills in the House and Senate with Reynolds's proposal passed out of appropriations subcommittees this week. Many hospitals without residency programs are unaware of their ability to form a program and the 'potential' they bring in terms of student success and workforce benefits, Connett said, and he has met with some to convey this. 'We're trying to recruit people from Iowa in the first place,' Connett said. 'So that is a strategic imperative for us, is to make sure that I have people from Iowa to come here.' Chance Johnson, a native of New Hampton, Iowa, also received news Friday that he had matched with his top residency program at UnityPoint Des Moines Emergency Medicine. He completed rotations at the emergency medicine department in his third and fourth years at DMU and said he has a great relationship with the faculty and staff there. He is one of five DMU students matched to emergency medicine residency programs in Iowa, according to information provided by DMU Director of Marketing and Communications Denise Lamphier. Until UnityPoint Des Moines launched its program last year, Johnson said, the only emergency medical residency program in the state was at the University of Iowa. The new program has already made a difference in getting more students interested in emergency medicine, Johnson said, as some of the people he worked with at the hospital system were also involved with DMU in some way. 'I think it's a great thing to start making more spots here in Iowa so we really can solve some of these problems by having more physicians in the state,' Johnson said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Iowa bill that bans administrating mRNA vaccines advances out of subcommittee
DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa Senate Republicans advanced legislation at the beginning of the first funnel week that would prohibit a person from administering a gene-based vaccine to another in the state. Gene-based vaccine is defined in the bill as 'a vaccine developed using messenger ribonucleic acid technology, modified messenger ribonucleic acid technology, self-amplifying messenger ribonucleic acid technology or deoxyribonucleic acid technology.' To simplify, this definition means mRNA vaccines, like those developed for COVID-19. A lot of people commented on the public forum of the bill, expressing their concern with it moving forward. The bill advanced by a vote of 2 to 1, with both Republican Senators voting for it: Sen. Campbell and Sen. Guth. The bill would not allow a person to administer a gene-based vaccine to another, while classifying the penalty as a simple misdemeanor and a $500 fine per incident. Lots of medical professionals and people lobbying for organizations and associations in the medical field were very frustrated with the legislation. 'Legislation has no right to take away patients' individual choice, to be vaccinated or not,' said Dr. Patrick Keating, MD a child and adolescent psychiatrist. ISU student accused of sexually exploiting minors on social media 'Our students want no part of practicing here with bills like this on the table,' said Dr. Johnathan Crosbie, a physician and assistant professor at Des Moines University. 'You are chasing them off. So you go ahead, pass it, chase off the best and brightest, by all means go ahead.' 'I think that these tools need to be in the toolbox for innovation, to fight different diseases,' said Jessica Hyland, the Executive Director for the Iowa Biotechnology Association. 'Criminalizing the practice of medicine and the practice of pharmacy on a vaccine that is voluntarily received and sought after by a patient,' Kate Walton, a lobbyist for the Iowa Pharmacy Association. Even some people that spoke in favor for the bill were not fans of the penalty mechanism that the bill outlined. 'These are gene therapy products, intent on altering a person's body. With that being said we do not like the mechanism of enforcement for this bill, or an outright ban,' said Lindsey Maher with Informed Choice Iowa. Some for the bill shared anecdotal stories about their injuries or illnesses after taking some variant of the COVID-19 vaccine. 'This is a non issue, the issue at hand is what is being injected into humanity and nobody in Washington, D.C. is going to do anything, nobody in the FDA,' said Dan Twelmeyer, from Des Moines. Sen. Campbell said at the end of the subcommittee that he would be filing an amendment to the bill, which may end up changing it in its entirety. He briefly mentioned to members of the media that he would look at companies manufacturing the vaccine to drop liability protections in order to sell the vaccine in the state. That amendment is not filed yet so the details around what changes could come are not clear. Iowa News: Iowa House lawmakers unanimously advance bill requiring feminine hygiene products in public schools Iowa bill that bans administrating mRNA vaccines advances out of subcommittee ISU student accused of sexually exploiting minors on social media Highlights from day 1 of Iowa high school girls state basketball tournament WHO 13 Farm Report: Monday, March 3rd Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
