SENATE MEMORIAL 110

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2015

INTRODUCED BY

William H. Payne

A MEMORIAL

COMMENDING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE ON PROVIDING FIFTY YEARS OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND PUBLIC SERVICE TO THE RESIDENTS OF NEW MEXICO.

     WHEREAS, in 1961, the governor and the legislature approved the creation of a two-year school of medicine at the university of New Mexico to provide medical education and clinical care for the state's residents; and

     WHEREAS, the university of New Mexico president Tom Popejoy hired founding dean Reginald Heber Fitz, M.D., to assemble the new faculty; and

     WHEREAS, the first class of twenty-four students began the fall semester in 1964; and

     WHEREAS, the school of medicine was expanded to a four-year program in 1966; and

     WHEREAS, Robert S. Stone, M.D., became the second dean of the school of medicine in 1968, and Leonard M. Napolitano, Ph.D., became the third dean in 1972; and

     WHEREAS, the office of the medical investigator came under the school of medicine's direction in 1973; and

     WHEREAS, the school of medicine assumed control of the Bernalillo county medical center in 1978; and

     WHEREAS, the school of medicine adopted a "problem-based learning" model when the school initiated its innovative primary care curriculum in 1979; and

     WHEREAS, the school of medicine researchers invented the first implantable insulin pump in 1982; and

     WHEREAS, the school of medicine established New Mexico's only level one trauma center at the university of New Mexico hospital in 1983; and

     WHEREAS, the nation's first domestic disaster medical assistance team was created at the school of medicine in 1983; and

     WHEREAS, the school of medicine's single-track curriculum was adopted in 1993, becoming an international model for medical education; and

     WHEREAS, in 1994, Paul B. Roth, M.D., M.S., became the fourth dean of the school of medicine and, in 2014, became the nation's longest-serving medical school dean; and

     WHEREAS, the school of medicine faculty founded the university of New Mexico center for telehealth and cybermedicine research in 1995; and

     WHEREAS, the university of New Mexico's cancer center in the school of medicine received a national cancer institute designation in 2005; and

     WHEREAS, the school of medicine, with legislative support, joined with the university of New Mexico college of arts and sciences to create a combined bachelor of arts and doctor of medicine program in 2006; and

     WHEREAS, the school of medicine is nationally known for its programs in family and rural medicine;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the university of New Mexico school of medicine be recognized and commended for providing fifty years of education, research and public service to the residents of New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the president of the university of New Mexico and to the dean of the school of medicine at the university of New Mexico.

- 3 -