Trading in His Ph.D. for an M.D.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 6, 2010) – University of Kentucky President Lee T. Todd, Jr. traded in his Ph.D. for an M.D. at the UK College of Medicine's Mini-Medical School on Thursday, April 1. Todd was joined by UK First Lady Patricia Brantley Todd, members of the Women and Philanthropy organization, and Kentucky business and community leaders, as they experienced – in one day – all the events and milestones medical students encounter in four years of training, from beginning, with the White Coat Ceremony, to end, with their graduation.
“I appreciate so many individuals taking time out of their busy schedules to learn a little more about what is happening in medical education and research at the University of Kentucky,” President Todd said. “There are so many exciting projects and initiatives under way within our medical campus, and I was glad we were able to share some of those successes with our friends today.”
In just nine hours, these "medical students" attended lectures on diabetes and obesity; toured the gross anatomy lab; learned about the differences between a normal and fatty liver in a histology small-group study session; toured radio telemetry labs, metabolic chambers and other research labs to learn how UK studies the effects of hypertension, diabetes and obesity; and participated in clinical rotations with UK physicians, residents and medical students. Finally, they graduated and received their "match day" placement information for residency programs.
A special focus for the day, diabetes and obesity research at the UK College of Medicine, allowed participants to better understand the impact of the diseases, specifically in Kentucky, and the current research at UK on this subject. As a part of this, the group visited UK's first research-dedicated facility, the Biomedical Biological Sciences Research Building (BBSRB), where researchers conduct approximately $34 million in research each year.
Those in attendance, in addition to the Todds, were" Joe Ardery, Jack Baugh, Janice Blythe, Penelope Brown, Amelia Crutcher, Jo Hern Curris, James L. Elliott, Suzanne Elliott, Leslie Geoghegan, Ann Haney, Bo Henry, JJ Jackson, Pamela Mathis-Yon, Virginia McGregor, Kathryn McMullen, Rish Mehrotra, Sandy Patterson, Harry Richart, Susan Richey, John Schenkenfelder, Karen Schenkenfelder, Myra Tobin and Ruth Webb.