By SEAN GARNER

Senior Reporter

Getting accredited as a medical school is a lengthy, meticulous process, but Oakland University officials say they are confident they are on the right track.

After being approved as an academic unit by the OU board of trustees on Feb. 4, the OU William Beaumont School of Medicine is currently working towards receiving accreditation, developing the curriculum and hiring faculty.

The trustees also approved the hiring of four associate deans: Dr. David Felten, Dr. John Musich, Dr. Angela Nuzzarello and Dr. Michele Raible.

Dr. Virindir Moudgil, provost at OU, addressed the OU Senate — a secondary legislative body made up of OU faculty and administrators — on Feb. 12 and updated the senate on the progress of the medical school.

The school’s first class, limited to 50 students, is scheduled to begin their studies in the fall of 2010.

Under the planned curriculum, students will spend the first two years taking classes on the OU campus before moving on to Beaumont for the final two years of clinical training.

Getting accreditation

Moudgil said that the medical school is still in the process of meeting the requirements set by the Liaison Committee for Medical Education, the major accrediting body for medical schools in the United States, before they will consider accreditation. One of these was recently fulfilled by hiring four associate deans, bringing the total up to six.

Moudgil said LCME guidelines require medical schools to hire about three full-time professors for each of the seven disciplines laid out in LCME guidelines.

He said they will need to hire roughly 20 full-time professors before being considered for accreditation. That figure increased from 14 in October when LCME revised their guidelines.

Current LCME standards require the school to have full-time backup faculty in case one of the professors can not make class or has to take an extended leave.

Hiring faculty

Dean Dr. Robert Folberg is currently interviewing candidates for the faculty positions. Lorna Bearup, Folberg’s assistant, said the school has received about 400 applications to fill the full-time positions, as well as an undetermined number of part-time positions.

Folberg was not available to comment, but Moudgil said Folberg is “aggressively recruiting” faculty from Beaumont.

Felten and Musich, two of the associate deans, will work through Beaumont. Moudgil said this will help alleviate the financial burden on OU because they will not have to pay the Beaumont faculty.

“You have the expertise of someone who actually does this for a living as opposed to someone who teaches but has never seen a patient,” he added.

Faculty hired by the medical school, if tenured, will retain their tenure, Moudgil said. Faculty hired by Beaumont will not be eligible for tenure from OU.

“I think it is a good measure to protect the students,” Moudgil said.

“The financial pieces are being worked out relatively smoothly, but there are still some things that have to be worked out,” said Ronald Mattei, assistant dean.

Working with others

Moudgil thanked OU faculty for recently voting 228-18 in favor of including the medical school as an academic unit of the university.

This vote will allow the medical school to work with the OU chapter of American Association of University Professors, which in turn, will allow OU faculty to be directly involved in the hiring of the initial medical school faculty.

Folberg has dual appointment with OU and Beaumont, and will oversee all faculty at both institutions. Moudgil said this is vital for holding Beaumont faculty to the standards of other OU professors.

“All of the physicians who claim to be academic or are involved with any teaching and research will report to [Folberg],” Moudgil said. “It is a huge implication. Beaumont faculty will be responsible to the university.”

Third time’s the charm

The current venture with Beaumont is OU’s third attempt at establishing a medical school. The first was in the 1960s when they tried to create one with Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital. Later, OU tried to create one with Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

“This time we are making sure that we do not engage in activities and obligations that will create trouble for this program,” Moudgil said.

Meet the new deans

Name: Linda Gillum

Job title: Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Faculty Development

Duties: Develop curriculum and recruit faculty.

Before: She comes from University of Michigan’s med school and has been in the field of academic medicine for 30 years.

Now: “It gives me the opportunity to be on the cutting edge as far as creating a new medical school.”

Name: Ronald Mattei

Job title: Assistant Dean

Duties: Mainly overseeing the financial operations as well as recruiting and processing faculty.

Before: He was all set to enjoy retirement in October after teaching health sciences at OU, but three days later, Folberg asked him to return as Assistant Dean, and he accepted.

Now: “The university is fulfilling its obligation to the community by creating this school, and it’s just great to be a part of it.”

Name: Angela Nuzzarello

Job title: Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry

Duties: Student health and counseling services, etc.

Before: She comes from Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, where she had the same duties.

Now: “There’s a lot of opportunities for collaboration [on] an undergraduate campus.”

Name: Michele Raible

Job title: Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education and Clinical Assistant Professor of Pathology

Duties: Develop the curriculum.

Before: She practiced medicine as a hematologist and oncologist.

Now: “It seems like most physicians are teachers at one level or another.”

• Associate Deans David Felten and John Musich weren’t available for comment by press time.