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RVU Board of Trustees
- Thread starter DO Anes
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I got the letter today, they just elected me chairman.
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Good afternoon:
I have been contacted by students from RVU regarding the recent turmoil in their administration. I have attached copies of their correspondence to this letter.
It appears that several of the essential checks and balances of quality at this institution have been abrogated and I remain very concerned about how this will reflect on the validity of osteopathic education and our accrediting bodies.
Despite my strong opposition to RVU, I was confident that Dr. Martin could assure the quality of the school. Now it appears that he has been ousted over the objections of the board of trustees, who have similarly been removed. With the resignation of Dr. Smith, it appears that the institution has been commandeered as a pure profit-making instrument without any assurance to the profession that this will be anything more than a branch campus of the American University of the Caribbean.
Gentlemen, I can tell you that this institution has damaged our reputation. Living in Mississippi I am frequently questioned by my colleagues about the planned William Carey school in Hattiesburg. I have to go to great lengths to assure them that it is not another for-profit Caribbean school and I believe they are still skeptical. As I have said on many previous occasions, when health care reform becomes manifest, we are in danger of being left out because of these false perceptions of us as fly-by-night doctors. The potential for abuse at Rocky Vista was tremendous and I fear that the worst of my predictions is coming true.
I urge you in the strongest possible terms to intervene immediately and forcefully. If we fail to do so, we will be seen as incapable of policing our own institutions. The LCME, USDE or other external agency will then enter the vacuum in the proverbial "interest of public safety", signaling the demise of osteopathic medicine as an independent profession.
Thank you for your consideration in this serious matter.
Fraternally,
George Mychaskiw II, DO, FAAP, FACOP
Bottom line - if nothing wrong is going on at RVU, then transparency should not be a problem. Appoint an independent Board of Trustees and demonstrate responsible stewardship of the school.
I have been contacted by students from RVU regarding the recent turmoil in their administration. I have attached copies of their correspondence to this letter.
It appears that several of the essential checks and balances of quality at this institution have been abrogated and I remain very concerned about how this will reflect on the validity of osteopathic education and our accrediting bodies.
Despite my strong opposition to RVU, I was confident that Dr. Martin could assure the quality of the school. Now it appears that he has been ousted over the objections of the board of trustees, who have similarly been removed. With the resignation of Dr. Smith, it appears that the institution has been commandeered as a pure profit-making instrument without any assurance to the profession that this will be anything more than a branch campus of the American University of the Caribbean.
Gentlemen, I can tell you that this institution has damaged our reputation. Living in Mississippi I am frequently questioned by my colleagues about the planned William Carey school in Hattiesburg. I have to go to great lengths to assure them that it is not another for-profit Caribbean school and I believe they are still skeptical. As I have said on many previous occasions, when health care reform becomes manifest, we are in danger of being left out because of these false perceptions of us as fly-by-night doctors. The potential for abuse at Rocky Vista was tremendous and I fear that the worst of my predictions is coming true.
I urge you in the strongest possible terms to intervene immediately and forcefully. If we fail to do so, we will be seen as incapable of policing our own institutions. The LCME, USDE or other external agency will then enter the vacuum in the proverbial "interest of public safety", signaling the demise of osteopathic medicine as an independent profession.
Thank you for your consideration in this serious matter.
Fraternally,
George Mychaskiw II, DO, FAAP, FACOP
Bottom line - if nothing wrong is going on at RVU, then transparency should not be a problem. Appoint an independent Board of Trustees and demonstrate responsible stewardship of the school.
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Is your friend's eight year old brother a board certified physician, pediatric anesthesiologist who, I presume, has no great reason to give a rat's @$$ over the issue other than a genuine concern for the profession? Likewise, does he lend some respect to the profession by virtue of his academic appointments, publications, AND willingness to advocate for what he believes is right for the profession and medicine in general (or how about you there, med studly)? If not, then, maybe, I'd take Dr. M's words with a slightly smaller grain of salt...
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And this is why physicians out of school tend to avoid SDN.
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+3 Clever....
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Like all of you, I know Dr. Mychaskiw II as well as you do...from reading some of his articles from Google. However, I took his article with a "grain of salt" because I don't find it entirely accurate. After talking with a few students from the school, Dr. Martin was fired because of a law suit that had happened in the past. Also, some of the Board of Trustees were fired because they were hired by Dr. Martin (which makes sense that some of them didn't think he should leave because they were very close to him).
Now according to the article, after the firing of Dr. Martin and a few events after that, RVU "has been commandeered as a pure profit-making instrument" as, in part, because of these events. But after talking with a number of people from the school, the firing of Dr. Martin has NOTHING to do with the school being for-profit, UNLIKE what Dr. Mychaskiw II has implied. Now you can blame everything on a school being for-profit, but this seems awfully far-fetched. Thus, I took his words with a "grain of salt" because according to my understanding of the situation, Dr. Martin and a number of Board of Trustees were canned because of event that took place IN THE PAST and not because the school is for-profit. I understand many of you don't like the idea of a "for-profit" school but he wasn't fired because the school was for-profit.
Now according to the article, after the firing of Dr. Martin and a few events after that, RVU "has been commandeered as a pure profit-making instrument" as, in part, because of these events. But after talking with a number of people from the school, the firing of Dr. Martin has NOTHING to do with the school being for-profit, UNLIKE what Dr. Mychaskiw II has implied. Now you can blame everything on a school being for-profit, but this seems awfully far-fetched. Thus, I took his words with a "grain of salt" because according to my understanding of the situation, Dr. Martin and a number of Board of Trustees were canned because of event that took place IN THE PAST and not because the school is for-profit. I understand many of you don't like the idea of a "for-profit" school but he wasn't fired because the school was for-profit.
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If this is true, RVU should have no issue with an open and transparent process. Before the inaugural class even completed its first year, the dean and members of the board were fired. Regardless of the "tax status" of the school, it should be serious cause for concern. In the only for-profit medical school in the industrialized world, in a minority profession, it should be cause for alarm.
Is it plausible to believe that the RVU corporation did not do due diligence in hiring Dr. Martin, a highly regarded educator, and were "surprised" by something in the past? Is it plausible to believe that the board reviewed the issues and refused to remove Dr. Martin simply because of loyalty to him? Is it plausible to believe that the owner of the school dismissed the board because of his concern for the impact of this on the quality of the school? Is it plausible to believe that Dr. Smith resigned because he needed a change of scenery? How many of the remaining board members and officers are closely tied to AUC? Or is it also plausible that quality and profit collided and quality lost?
The changes in the economy and US government in the last 12 months were unforseen and practically unbelievable, ask any Dodge dealer. Now health care reform, in a crisis mode, is the topic of the day. Similar changes are possible, indeed likely. Physician-centered health care is under threat, ask any nurse practitioner (aka: Doctor of Nursing Practice). So how will this minority profession fare when its accreditation and quality assurance mechanisms are called into question by its for-profit medical school, the only such institution in the industrialized world?
If there was a genuine quality problem at RVU, then its owners deserve credit for taking aggressive action in addressing the situation. If Dr. Martin and the board were removed because they placed quality above profit, then the owners should be sanctioned. Regardless, the matter should be examined by the AOA/COCA openly and intensely. Failure to do so could result in the destruction of this profession by external (government) parties "in the interest of public health and safety", practically overnight. Unlikely? As unlikely as the current administration limiting executive compensation at GM? A simple executive order could replace COCA as the body recognized to accredit osteopathic schools with the LCME. To say the stakes are high, is an understatement.
GM
Is it plausible to believe that the RVU corporation did not do due diligence in hiring Dr. Martin, a highly regarded educator, and were "surprised" by something in the past? Is it plausible to believe that the board reviewed the issues and refused to remove Dr. Martin simply because of loyalty to him? Is it plausible to believe that the owner of the school dismissed the board because of his concern for the impact of this on the quality of the school? Is it plausible to believe that Dr. Smith resigned because he needed a change of scenery? How many of the remaining board members and officers are closely tied to AUC? Or is it also plausible that quality and profit collided and quality lost?
The changes in the economy and US government in the last 12 months were unforseen and practically unbelievable, ask any Dodge dealer. Now health care reform, in a crisis mode, is the topic of the day. Similar changes are possible, indeed likely. Physician-centered health care is under threat, ask any nurse practitioner (aka: Doctor of Nursing Practice). So how will this minority profession fare when its accreditation and quality assurance mechanisms are called into question by its for-profit medical school, the only such institution in the industrialized world?
If there was a genuine quality problem at RVU, then its owners deserve credit for taking aggressive action in addressing the situation. If Dr. Martin and the board were removed because they placed quality above profit, then the owners should be sanctioned. Regardless, the matter should be examined by the AOA/COCA openly and intensely. Failure to do so could result in the destruction of this profession by external (government) parties "in the interest of public health and safety", practically overnight. Unlikely? As unlikely as the current administration limiting executive compensation at GM? A simple executive order could replace COCA as the body recognized to accredit osteopathic schools with the LCME. To say the stakes are high, is an understatement.
GM
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