Gifts at Work

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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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!