UNLV medical school dean back in saddle
A major health scare forced Barbara Atkinson away from her duties for about four months last year, leaving a medical school three weeks shy of its opening date hanging in the balance.
“I just have to say, I was sick enough that I wasn’t sure I was able to come back,” Atkinson, the founding dean of UNLV School of Medicine, said in an interview this month. “But I had such incredible care at (University Medical Center), and the rehab center afterward, that I came back with full everything. It was incredible.”
She returned Nov. 1, and aside from an additional surgery over the Christmas break, she’s back to working on major milestones to continue to move the fledgling school forward. This was her first interview
ATKINSON
since returning to her duties.
“It’s been exciting,” she said. “There was a lot I had felt like I left undone.”
The university did not disclose the nature of her departure last summer other than saying she was hospitalized due to a “very serious” illness.
UNLV President Len Jessup said two major milestones — the transition of the clinical enterprise from the University of Nevada, Reno to UNLV and the launch of the first class on the academic side — happened while Atkinson was on leave.
“There were some pretty big tasks during that time, and I thought it went well,” Jessup said. “She’s built a greatteam.”
Student Lauren Hollifield said the inaugural class saw little change whendr.shawngerstenberger stepped into the role of acting dean.
“The school was good about keeping us updated on her condition,” said Hollifield, 25. “From the administrative standpoint, everything ran pretty smoothly.”
Fundraising work
Fundraising and continuing to move the needle on the accreditation process have been Atkinson’s top priorities. She said she’s confident the school can bring in $250 million for a new medical education building.
“That’s been one of the main things I’ve been working on,” she said. “Finding where the right donors are and moving that whole projectahead—ittakesalotof time.”
Jessup said fundraising efforts continued successfully in Atkinson’s absence. During that time she assisted in finding donors by phone, Jessup said.
And fundraising activities have continued on an upward trajectory since her return, he said, with several top prospects likely to make significant contributions to the school’s new medical education building.
“That project continued on very
well while she was sick, and it continues on today,” Jessup said. “We’re in good shape where we are.”
UNLV’S executive director of planning and construction, David Frommer, has said the university would like to begin construction in 2021. Atkinson believes it could be sooner.
“I’m hopeful it’s not any longer than that,” Atkinson said. “But I tend to be on the hopeful side, and he tends to be on the sensible side.”
Successful fundraising activities are also key to start research programs, she said, and she’s been working on securing other donors to increase the scholarships available for the second class.
A fundraising drive in 2015 secured full scholarships for all 60 members of the charter class and 25 each for the remaining three classes.
“Right now I think we have a little more than that — one or two more,” she said. “It’s a watch-and-see situation.”
The scholarships will be doled out on the basis of need, she said.
Quest for accreditation
Atkinson hopes the next accreditationvisitfromtheliaisoncommittee on Medical Education, slated for March 2019, will go smoothly as well. School officials are working ontheself-study,whichmustbe submitted to the LCME in November.
“We need to show we have the curriculum for the third and fourth yearready,thatourfinancesarein place and that we have all the faculty hired that we would need for those students,” Atkinson said.
Afterthemarch2019visit,the LCME should decide within two months on whether the charter class can move onto its third and fourth years of schooling, she said.
“We’re not expecting a problem with the accreditation, but we want to do it right because there’s always a chance that something won’t go right,” she said.
Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702477-3897. Follow @Nataliebruzda on Twitter.