CMU hosts open forum for second finalist to fill College of Medicine associate dean role
Dr. Linda Carol Perkowski said there are three important things in reaching her goal at Central Michigan University if chosen as associate dean for medical education and faculty development for the College of Medicine.
“Community, commitment and curriculum will be the bases for the model,” the second of two for the position formerly occupied by Dr. Nehad El-Sawi told a crowd of 20 listeners Thursday in Health Professions Building 2255 during her open forum.
Perkowski is the associate dean for Curriculum and Evaluation at the University of Minnesota Medical School. She also has held medical education management positions at the University of Texas-Houston Medical School, the University of Southern California and the University of Texas Medical Branch.
“We need to have trusting relationship, effective communication ... manage conflicts with the community (and) make a commitment by stimulating regional research and admitting Michigan students,” Perkowski said.
She said she hopes to help serve mid- and northern-Michigan areas.
Diversity is the key to moving forward because it enriches conversations with different voices and cases, Perkowski said.
“In 2020, the way we practice medicine will change, but the way we treat human beings should remain,” she said. “Diversity is an explicit goal for all colleges. We must craft tools that aren’t biased when interviewing. Students can learn from the textbooks and courses, but it’s the environment that has to change.”
Perkowski said medical schools are not taking advantage of classroom technologies or experimental learning.
“We could do more with both,” she said. “We can also sent up interventions in grade schools to get children more interested.”
Pam Gray, professor of communication and dramatic arts, said CMU needs to get a handle on the “big picture.”
“We need to continue to build on what we started and now continue on the specific things we need,” Gray said.
The other finalist, Dr. Joel Lanphear, spoke April 11 on campus.
The candidate will reportedly be chosen in the first week of May whereupon the salary for the position will be negotiated between the candidate and Provost Gary Shapiro.
