Wayne State University School of Medicine Dean Robert M. Mentzer, Jr., M.D., recently announced the appointment of Suzanne White, M.D., as chair of the WSU Department of Emergency Medicine, effective Sept. 1. Dr. White, who joined the School of Medicine faculty in 1993 and currently serves as a professor, specializes in medical toxicology.
"Dr. White's commitment to the university combined with her skills as a leading toxicologist will serve the WSU Department of Emergency Medicine well," Dr. Mentzer said. "I have full confidence that she is the right person to lead the department to a new level of excellence."
The Department of Emergency Medicine has traditionally ranked among the nation's top departments in terms of National Institutes of Health funding. Dr. White's vision, however, calls for the expansion of both basic and clinical research initiatives to increase the department's external funding as well as overall grant and publication productivity.
In addition, Dr. White's plan includes strengthening the department's Continuing Medical Education program and marketing it to the local medical community. Part of this initiative will include building closer relationships with the member institutions of the Southeast Michigan Center for Medical Education and the Michigan College of Emergency Physicians.
"An indispensable current and future role filled by academic medical centers is the connection with community physicians through excellent CME offerings," Dr. White said. "We are fortunate to have trained many of Michigan 's practicing emergency medicine physicians at the School of Medicine and therefore have a natural bond with these colleagues."
Dr. White received her medical degree with distinction from the WSU School of Medicine after graduating with a bachelor's of science from Adrian College . She trained in the WSU emergency medicine residency program at Detroit Receiving Hospital , where she later completed a medical toxicology fellowship. During the 2003-04 academic year, she was a Hedwig van Meringen Fellow in Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine at Drexel University, in Philadelphia .
Dr. White is an expert in medical toxicology and disaster preparedness. She is project director for a $300,000 grant from the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a terrorism, disaster and public-health emergency curriculum.
"Detroit is high risk for terrorism with a density of vulnerable populations," she said. "How many students in pharmacy, nursing and medicine go untrained? Yet we look to health-care professionals to take the lead when a disaster happens. Recognizing that WSU has a history of expertise in developing competencies for emergency and disaster medicine, we are filling a training gap with a five-module training program."
Dr. White is a resident of Farmington, Mich.