Labor Day's done, summer's fading and the school busses are rumbling down the streets. It's the perfect time of year to reconnect with the WSU School of Medicine, and several interesting events have been planned this fall to do just that. Among the highlights:

Dean Robert Frank will welcome full-time and voluntary faculty back to school at a special reception Thursday, Sept. 15, to kick off the 2005-06 academic year. The event will be from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., in the Detroit Public Library's Strohm Hall. For more information, please contact Sue Helderop at sheldero@med.wayne.edu or (313) 933-4179.

On Tuesday, Sept. 20, Dean Frank will moderate a debate on health courts presented by the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies between trial attorney Geoffrey Fieger and Philip Howard, founder of Common Good. The topic at hand will be whether special courts created to handle medical liability cases will create a more reliable system of justice. The event will be at 6 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 20, in Scott Hall. Watch for more details about this event in future issues of Prognosis.

Pathfinders in Medicine, a WSU School of Medicine black-tie event established in 2000 to honor outstanding vision and leadership in medicine, scientific research and the availability of quality health care within the community, will be at 6 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 8, in Ford Field. This year's honorees include:

• Larry Fleischmann, M.D., past president of Children's Hospital;
• Henry McKinnell, chairman and CEO of Pfizer;
• Tina Kelley (posthumously), a WSU School of Medicine resident dedicated to serving children who was killed in a car accident Feb. 4;
• Roberto Romero, M.D., head of National Institutes of Health's Perinatology Research Branch at the WSU School of Medicine;
• Ebony Rucker, a WSU School of Medicine fourth-year student; and
• Sophie Womack, M.D., president of the Detroit Medical Center medical staff and chief neonatologist at Sinai-Grace Hospital.

Proceeds from Pathfinders in Medicine go to scholarship funds, including the Black Medical Association of Wayne State University Endowed Grant Fund and the Charles F. Whitten, M.D., Post-Baccalaureate Fund. For more information or to make a reservation, please contact Sue Helderop at Sue Helderop (313) 993-4179 or sheldero@med.wayne.edu .