Dean Robert M. Mentzer, Jr., has presented a vision for the WSU School of Medicine that culminates in 2011 with a revitalized  a nd expanded faculty,  a new focus on interdisciplinary research, a groundbreaking for a state-of-the-art research building , and successful competition for a  prestigious National Institutes of Health Clinical-Translational Science Award.

"We have have a lot of strengths here," Dean Mentzer said. "Yes, we have challenges, too, but we have to ask, 'Where are the opportunities?'"

At a special forum sponsored by the Faculty Senate last week, Dean Mentzer discussed plans to lead the School of Medicine into a new era as a premier, research-intensive institution for academic medicine.

Just after arriving on campus in March, Dean Mentzer initiated an application for a $180,000 planning grant to help the School of Medicine prepare itself to compete for a National Institutes of Health Clinical Translational Science Award. NIH launched the CTSA program to encourage the development of novel approaches to clinical and translational research to allow new medical treatments to be developed and delivered more quickly and efficiently to patients.

"With or without the planning grant, we're going to be moving ahead," the dean said, adding that he aims to have the school ready to submit a competitive application for a CTSA within three to five years.

Next month, the early stages of planning for a formal strategic plan for the School of Medicine will begin, Dean Mentzer said. The first steps will include meeting with various key constituencies and consulting with other medical schools that have successfully implemented strategic plans. By fall, the dean plans to have consultants in place to launch a full-scale strategic planning process.

Through a combination of attrition and new positions, Dean Mentzer expects to hire 70 new research-intensive faculty positions during the next five years. This initiative, along with plans to revamp faculty development programs and promotion and tenure guidelines, is aimed at reinvigorating the school's faculty.

Dean Mentzer's vision calls for completing fundraising for the Richard J. Mazurek, M.D., Medical Education Commons as well as working toward the construction of a new research building. A request for proposals for the design of a research building went out May 9; although groundbreaking will not occur until around 2011, a design is expected by fall.

"The message here is that the action has started regarding this critically needed research facility on this campus," Dean Mentzer said.

On the clinical front, Dean Mentzer said he would be meeting with faculty physicians to discuss the creation of a single, multispecialty physician group under the auspices of the WSU Physician Group.

He envisions the school developing partnerships with multiple health-care partners in the future and also evaluating the current model for the WSU graduate medical education program. Dean Mentzer also discussed his plans to establish an ambulatory care environment that fosters the best in quality patient care, student education and translational research.

"This also positions us with respect to the CTSA," he said of developing an ambulatory care model. "Not only is it the bench work to the bedside in the hospital, but it's the translation of that work out to the community where it becomes the standard of care.

"That's the spectrum, that's the challenge, that's the gauntlet that the NIH has set forth for those folks who want to be on the players' side."

To view Dean Mentzer's "Vision 2011" in its entirety, please visit click here.