CMED finalist says partnerships is key to success


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George Kikano is interviewed for the CMED Dean’s position in the Health Professions building, Monday Jan. 19.

Strategic partnerships with other institutions allowed George Kikano, founding director of the Weatherhead Institute for Family Medicine and Community Health, to provide affordable health care to urban areas in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Kikano is one of four candidates being interviewed to replace founding dean Ernest Yoder as leader of Central Michigan University's College of Medicine. 

CMED has inducted two classes and will accept its third class after April 30. The next dean will have to finish the curriculum for fourth year students as well as develop and maintain key relationships with practices in Michigan.

Kikano graduated Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland in 1988. He specializes in family medicine and has served patients for more than 20 years. 

During a campus forum, Kikano met with CMED officials Monday in the main auditorium of the College of Medicine.

Kikano became Case Western Reserve University's first vice dean for community health in 2011. He is responsible for leading the school's Weatherhead Institute for Family Medicine and Community health.

Kikano managed the development of an urban medicine track within the college's curriculum. This engaged medical students in providing health care to urban areas. 

"The vision base and consumer base for medical schools has changed. Consumers are educated," Kikano said. "We have to prepare our students to be life-long learners because of the advancing accessibility to information."

Instead of avoiding technology, Kikano said medical schools need to embrace change while maintaining the core values of the college.

"Technology is here and we have to embrace it. The mission of CMED is its core value and that should not be changed or re-shaped," Kikano said. "Using tele-monitoring (physicians) can still maintain the mission of serving rural areas. I have a patient in the Upper Peninsula where they're undeserved in health care and special practices that I can now see because of technology." 

In his 13 years as chairman of the department of family medicine, Kikano said it's important for colleges to maintain existing strengths while adapting to change. Kikano lead the department's House Calls program, which serves 300 home-bound elderly people.

The program was inspired by a patient that travelled two hours to see Kikano at his practice. Now students and physicians make trips to elderly patients in areas around Cleveland. 

While integrating technology into a medical school is important, Kikano said a successful college of medicine is led by strategic partnerships with other institutions.

"Clinical relationships are key, we have to create a model here with clinical affiliates," Kikano said. "As (CMED) grows in size, the Saginaw relationship will not suffice on its own."

At the end of January the provost and president will hire the next dean of CMED. Jim Knight, director of Marketing and Communications of the College of Medicine, said understanding the priorities of being the dean of CMED is going to be the biggest challenge for the finalists. 

"Everyone has mentioned a five-year plan of some sort outlining the dean's priorities when arriving to CMED," Knight said. "Its priorities like creating the fourth year curriculum for students, the LCME visit next month, the response to the LCME feedback in June or July and the graduate medical education program. They all have those priorities but it is how they tackle them that will ultimately determine the next dean."

The LCME visit will determine the accreditation of CMED. Kikano said that if citations are found by the LCME that the college with have use them as a leverage.

Kikano outlined his goals for the first months as dean, emphasizing the importance of continuously learning about CMED while in a leadership position. 

"The first thing to do is develop planning early on, the next is to listen and learn more about the people and culture of CMED," Kikano said. "This college has come a long way in just a few years but there is still a lot of work to be done. I'm going to be taking input from many people by attending a lot of meetings like this and one-on-one."

As of now Klea Bertakis, James Hermand and Kikano have visited on-campus and Saginaw forums. Michael Iannuzzi will be on campus today from 2:30 to 3:30 in the main auditorium in the College of Medicine. 

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