Inaugural Address
Daniel W. Rahn, MD
April 26, 2002
Lieutenant Governor Taylor, Senator Walker, Representative
Connell, Regent Shelnut, Regent Leebern, Chancellor Meredith, Mayor
Young, distinguished alumni, faculty, staff, students, delegates,
family, and friends ... I offer my heartfelt thanks to each and
every one of you for gathering today to celebrate the inauguration
of the seventh President of the Medical College of Georgia. I
hesitate to say "MY" inauguration because I feel that this
day belongs to all of us. As many of you have heard me say before, I
believe this institution works because we—the faculty, staff,
students, administrators, and the community—are functioning in
support of a greater purpose.
An inauguration marks a new beginning for a college or
university. A new leader is formally presented to the campus and the
community and with that comes a number of wonderful residual
benefits—renewed focus on institutional purpose, heightened energy
and enthusiasm, a shared commitment to advance the institution. To
become better than what we are.
The installation of a new president also holds the promise of a
honeymoon period—a short span of time during which a leader can
count on the good wishes of the campus, the Board, and the community
at large. Meaningful work occurs without public displays of
contention. Stumbles are politely overlooked. Missteps are gently
corrected. I have enjoyed this time immensely but, having just been
through my first legislative session as President of this
institution, I can assure you that the honeymoon is definitely over.
I stand before you this afternoon—surrounded by this pageantry,
by the colorful academic regalia—and I am filled with humility,
gratitude, and a tremendous sense of responsibility. And, as much as
I would like to remove the focus on me from this event, I am the guy
wearing the necklace! This inauguration is an exceptionally
significant personal event for me and my family. Please allow me a
few moments to share my appreciation.
Thanks to former Chancellor Portch and the University System of
Georgia Board of Regents for providing this humbling opportunity of
a lifetime. It is truly an honor to stand at the helm of Georgia’s
only public health sciences university. And thanks to Chancellor
Meredith for his interest in, enthusiasm for, and understanding of
the complex work we do here at the Medical College of Georgia.
Thanks to my friend and mentor, Dr. Allen Steere—the
rheumatologist who discovered Lyme disease—to Dr. John Hardin—who
convinced me to come to MCG in 1991—and to my good friend Frank
Page from whom I learned the importance of being spiritually
grounded. Thanks to Yale University where I received my
undergraduate and medical education. It is there that I learned the
importance of an abiding commitment to excellence and to lifelong
learning. And thanks to the good people of Guilford, Connecticut—the
town in which I spent eight years in private practice. As a young
physician in Guilford, I learned that medical knowledge and caring
are equally important. There I learned about the sanctity of the
relationship between health care professionals and their patients.
The last ten and a half years of my professional journey have
been spent here at MCG, here in Augusta. My colleagues, my patients,
my students, my friends, my neighbors—I thank all of you for your
support and encouragement.
I also thank my family—my mother, who traveled from our
hometown of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, to be here today. My sister,
Jenny. My big brother, Ned. Siblings have a way of keeping you
grounded. And most of all—my thanks to my wife, my life partner,
Lana, and our children—Jason, Becky, and Zack. The transition from
family to MCG’s first family—if you will—has been challenging
for all us. I couldn’t have a more loving, more encouraging
personal support system.
I assumed the presidency of the Medical College of Georgia last
June, nearly a year ago. I’ve had a lot of time to think about
what I would say today. And it is quite simple, really—this
business we’re in requires a commitment to knowledge and service.
It requires a heart for caring.
Our mission—the fundamental, core function that drives all we
do—is to improve health and reduce the burden of illness in
society. We teach. We discover. We care. While our purpose has not
changed over MCG’s 174 year history, the stage on which we serve
society has been significantly altered.
When the Medical Academy of Georgia was formed in 1828, Henry
Gray had not yet created his Anatomy of the Human Body. Florence
Nightingale was eight—still 26 years from revolutionizing nursing
through her service during the Crimean War. Dentists used drills
powered by twisted catgut or coiled wire springs to remove decay
from teeth.
When our founding fathers—Dr. Milton Antony and Dr. Joseph
Adams Eve—began training physicians in two borrowed rooms of the
City Hospital, medicine was not the enlightened profession it is
today. In 1828, surgical procedures were performed without
anesthesia. The first use of ether during surgery is credited to Dr.
Crawford Williamson Long—a Georgia native—in 1842. And
antibiotics—they, of course, were unheard of for a full century
after MCG’s founding—until Alexander Fleming discovered
penicillin in 1929.
During the nineteenth century, the practice of heroic medicine—using
bleeding, blistering, and other unsavory approaches to purge the
body of disease—was commonplace. Patent medicine—the use of
questionable and usually highly alcoholic tinctures and potions to
cure illness—abounded. The River Swamp Chill and Fever Cure was a
popular locally-produced remedy for yellow fever and malaria, which
were believed to be caused by breathing the mist that rose from the
Savannah River each morning.
I’ve heard nineteenth century medicine described as equal parts
quackery and science. But the nineteenth century also was a period
of rapid change in medicine. A period that spawned many of the
methods and ideas that form the basis of modern clinical medicine—the
germ theory of disease, use of medical imaging and local anesthesia,
the principles of hygiene. And it was Gregor Mendel’s
mid-19th-century experiments with peas that demonstrated physical
traits pass from one generation to the next—the foundation of
today’s extraordinary work in genetics and molecular biology.
Two recent events stirred enormous press interest as examples of
the incredible advances of the genetic revolution. In 1997, Dolly—the
first mammal to be cloned from an adult—was introduced to the
world. And, in 2000, the much anticipated sequencing of the human
genome was completed.
On the national stage, politicians, religious leaders, ethicists,
and scientists debate genetic research. While this debate rages, as
it should, researchers quietly work at their benches, using
molecular genetic techniques to manipulate cells, making small,
incremental discoveries that broaden our understanding of human
biology and disease processes.
Discoveries in the fields of stem cell biology, immunogenetics,
genomics, and proteomics—words not found in dictionaries of a
decade ago and not even in my spell checker now—are paving the way
for us to actually intervene in disease processes in fundamental
ways that were unimaginable a few years ago. The challenges are
formidable and the possibilities are mind-boggling. We are on the
verge of a virtual revolution in biomedical science, one which may
well transform our approach to human health and disease.
But equally formidable are the economic and ethical challenges
associated with these new tools and scientific breakthroughs. As we
work to advance our knowledge of the biomedical sciences, we must
work simultaneously to assure that we provide the highest quality
health care to everyone—to assure that non-scientific barriers do
not result in health care disparities. We also must assure that our
biotechnical capabilities do not overwhelm our ethical standards.
During the past quarter century, we have witnessed a gradual
transition in the pattern of health—a shift from the treatment of
acute problems to the management of chronic diseases. Less than 80
years ago, President Coolidge lost his son to septic poisoning, the
result of a blister he developed while playing tennis on the White
House lawn. Life expectancy at birth was just 56.4 years.
Today, the average American lives more than 77 years; most are
afflicted with a chronic disease during that lifetime. Diabetes.
Cardiovascular disease. Alzheimer’s disease. Rheumatoid arthritis.
Cancer. Illnesses that are prolonged; illnesses that are not
resolved with a short course of treatment; illnesses that are rarely
completely cured. Treatment becomes ongoing management that requires
collaboration among teams of health professionals. And this
transfers more responsibility to the patient as a member of that
team. Now, more than ever, we are in this together—and for the
long haul. That is why we, as practitioners, must have a heart for
caring.
We work with patients over long periods of time to minimize the
adverse effects of debilitating illness. We work with patients who,
thanks to the development of emergency medicine, survive traumatic
accidents and regain maximum mobility and functionality but only
through lengthy therapeutic treatments. Often—we alleviate
suffering. Occasionally—we cure. But always—we care.
We are surrounded by amazingly sophisticated modalities for
medical care and treatment. With the gamma knife, for example, we
are able to perform brain surgery without ever opening the skull.
But we continue to struggle to deliver dental care to all children,
to meet the health care needs of the uninsured, to eliminate
long-standing and troubling disparities in the health status of
racial and ethnic minorities.
Last month, the Institute of Medicine, the medical branch of the
National Academy of Sciences, released an extensive analysis of
racial and ethnic disparities in health care in the United States.
This monograph, entitled Unequal Treatment, presents in exhaustive
detail what we already knew from many individual studies—that
racially-determined disparities in health status and health care are
pervasive.
How far have we come as a scientific and medical community if
African Americans are less likely to receive appropriate care for
heart disease or recommended cancer screening when compared to their
white counterparts? If half the children born to low-income families
do not receive appropriate dental care?
African Americans have worse health status when compared to their
white counterparts in the areas of maternal and child health,
cardiovascular care, treatment of diabetes and kidney disease, use
of analgesics, cancer diagnostic tests, emergency service treatment,
mental health services, and on and on. These disparities persist
even after controlling for socioeconomic factors.
We know that the interplay of genetics, ethnicity, socioeconomic
status, geography, and health behaviors all contribute to health
status, health care access, and health care quality. This is a
complex issue—a troubling issue—that defies a single, simple
solution. But I can assure you—part of the solution is to increase
the number of under represented minority health professionals. Our
goal must be the complete elimination of health disparities. MCG
will do everything possible as a public institution to erase these
disparities in Georgia and will work with every partner in this
endeavor.
As practitioners, we do not treat problems. We treat people. And
that requires us to build relationships with our patients. As
educators, we must instill this value of caring in the students who
trust us to guide and instruct them. We have a responsibility to our
students to provide them with the knowledge and skills they require
to function at the top of their chosen fields. But we also must
plant the seeds of lifelong learning and social responsibility so
that they remain there and serve society in a manner that is worthy
of the trust placed in us and in them.
We must educate professionals who advance biomedical science and
clinical care through their knowledge and skills. But we must also
mentor and mold people who comfort and serve other people.
Physicians, nurses, dentists, and allied health professionals who
recognize and respond to the health care needs of everyone in
society, including the marginalized, the elderly, and the poor.
As leaders of the medical professions, we must work with
professional societies and public policymakers to aggressively
address issues that impact the health of the public we serve. Yes,
we have a responsibility to advance science, to advance medicine, to
advance clinical care. But we also have a responsibility to not
leave anyone behind.
Next month, MCG will graduate 700 new health professionals and
biomedical scientists. These newly minted practitioners and
investigators will have the knowledge and skills to make major
contributions to society. And if the past predicts the future, more
than 65 percent will remain in this state—directly contributing to
improved health status for all Georgians.
I know our students—our junior colleagues—will leave this
institution as highly trained professionals but also with a
commitment to serve society. We see their empathy, their passion for
service, in the initiatives they have undertaken during their years
of study.
Our students—across all schools—have sponsored and
participated in service projects to address the health needs of
migrant workers, of children in low socioeconomic neighborhoods, of
citizens in rural areas. For the past ten years, Students for
Intercultural Medicine has provided humanitarian efforts abroad—providing
basic medical supplies and services to citizens in need. This year,
students formed a campuswide Committee for Community Service—a way
to unify the entire student body through organized volunteerism. In
May, three dental students will cycle 100 miles up Mt. Mitchell—11,000
vertical feet of climb—to raise funds for student scholarships.
And just this week, ten of our freshman medical students conducted a
bone marrow and stem cell drive to connect patients with possible
donors. Hearts for caring—we’re very proud of all of them.
As many great philosophers and poets have noted, nothing endures
but change. It is life’s only constant. New threats to the health
of the public are emerging, but new threats have always emerged.
Some—infectious diseases thought to be relics of the past—are
now on the front page as tools of terrorists.
The health professions are changing, but they too have always
been changing. MCG is changing—new relationships, new buildings on
the horizon, new faculty being recruited, new president. Since I
assumed this office in June, we’ve appointed three new deans and
114 new faculty. And, through the generous support of the Georgia
state government and the people of this state, we have acquired more
than $40 million in funding for capital projects such as our cancer
research facility and the addition to the interdisciplinary research
building.
We completed a strategic planning process that resulted in 30
high level strategic priorities for the institution. We’ve also
completed a master facilities planning process that will guide the
growth and development of our campus over the next ten years. This
process embraced our current building projects—the cancer and
interdisciplinary research buildings, the allied health and nursing
educational building, and the wellness center—but also mapped out
a bold and attractive plan for campus development. We envision
creating an enhanced campus atmosphere by increasing green space and
minimizing surface parking. We intend to enhance our connection to
the community through improved campus edges, create a biotechnology
research park through collaboration with the Georgia Medical Center
Authority, and heighten campus accessibility to downtown Augusta.
Clearly, we are advancing the mission of this institution.
Realizing our full potential—that is, for MCG to contribute what
it is capable of contributing to Georgia—will require broad
collaboration and new kinds of partnerships that cross institutional
lines and involve public/private partnerships. Collaboration across
schools and departments. Collaboration with our partners in the MCG
Health System and the University System of Georgia. And,
collaboration with our friends and colleagues in the Augusta
community as we develop creative partnerships designed to translate
medical advances into improved health and economic development. MCG
stands at the epicenter of an incredible amount of change, but MCG
does not stand alone.
This institution—indeed any complex organizational structure—will
always be in a state of transition. We will always strive to become
better than what we are. But to be a superior health
sciences university, one thing must never change. We must stay true
to our core purpose. We must stay true to our value to society—to
teach, to discover, to care.
We have embraced our mission of improving health and reducing the
burden of illness in society. We have embraced our vision of
becoming one of the nation’s premier health sciences universities.
And we have embraced our shared values of leadership, social
responsibility, compassion, diversity, professionalism, and
excellence. Now...let us embrace our future.
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