In this extraordinarily difficult time, we are suffering simultaneously from three inter-related crises. The COVID-19 pandemic is unlike any since the influenza pandemic of 1918. The economic crisis associated with the pandemic is unprecedented in its magnitude and the swiftness with which it developed; perhaps, being comparable only to the Great Depression that began in 1929. The third crisis, that of racism, is deeply embedded in the fabric of our country and the world. It manifests in many negative ways ranging from arbitrary exclusion to indifference to genocide. It should come as no surprise that because of racism, the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis have had disproportionate impacts on people of color, and especially African American and Black people.
At the Medical College of Wisconsin, we have done many things to foster diversity, inclusion and equity, and to unlearn racism, but we recognize that what we have done is simply not enough. We believe that knowledge can change lives.
We must listen. We must learn. We must engage. We must act. We must make a tangible impact. The problems of racism and violence against people of color have been with us for centuries, and we cannot wait any longer for change.
The Medical College of Wisconsin commits to accelerate our journey to being an anti-racist organization as reflected in our listening, our learning, our decisions, our actions, our investments, and our treatment of people and community.
Ukrainian-American Oksana Sayko, MD, MCW associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), is the training leader for a rehabilitation residency training program in Ukraine.Since 2015, she has provided continuing medical education to Ukrainian physicians in cooperation with the NATO Trust Fund (PDF). Other MCW PM&R trainers involved in this effort include Drs. David Del Toro, Christopher White and Stacy Stibb.
Dr. Sayko has focused on Ukraine because the ongoing war with Russia has caused the number of Ukrainians with disabilities to increase significantly. The Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R) training program trains selected physicians with backgrounds in family medicine, internal medicine, or other specialties in the newly established specialization in PM&R. The recent Russian invasion has made her efforts even more important. Her training plan for the upcoming year prioritizes education in basic clinical electrodiagnostic skills for Ukrainian rehabilitation physicians so they can increase their own capacity building and help strengthen the Ukraine healthcare system.
Until recently, Ukraine, had no physician specialists in the field of PM&R or physiatry. In the last few years, because of efforts from the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, and in collaboration with local health care organizations, Ukraine made significant advancements in rehabilitation capacity building. The field of PM&R was established as a new medical specialty for their physicians; new hospital and clinic-based rehabilitation practices have been established and supported in different regions of Ukraine. In 2019, they funded the first educational program for Ukrainian physicians to become the first specialists in the PM&R field in the entire country.
Clinical electromyography is an important component of PM&R physician specialty training. It focuses on diagnosing a broad variety of neuro-muscular diseases and is crucial in determining adequate treatment options so that patients can be productive members of society.
In countries that have an established PM&R physician specialty, the unique skillset of physicians whose focus is on function rather than on a specific organ or disease comes through 3-5-year specialty training programs (residency) supervised by national boards. Historically most of these countries began with a shorter period of sub-specialization for physicians already qualified in family medicine, internal medicine, neurology, or other specialties. This approach has also been taken in Latin American and Asian countries.
The International Rehabilitation Forum also has committed to being the external support for this training program. This 15-year-old consortium of universities and individuals around the world is dedicated to building medical rehabilitation where it is not available. Its philosophy is to create locally sustainable PM&R clinical practice and training programs.
Dr. Saykos continuing medical education has unfortunately been placed on hold now, but you can support one of the recommended Ukrainian humanitarian organizations by scanning the QR code or visiting this link.
MCW has a rich history of global engagement that dates back to 1981, when our institution co-established the Indochinese Refugee Relief Fund. MCWs Office of Global Healthwas established in January 2010, to promote health equity across neighborhoods and nations, advance MCWs four missions through multi-institutional collaborations and develop a sustainable framework for multidisciplinary collaboration that integrates and advances the global health sciences.
Winning the Super Bowl is the goal of every NFL team, but as every player, coach and football fan knows, its extremely difficult to reach the top. It takes a complete team effort. Offense, defense and special teams must peak at just the right time. The coaching staff and front office personnel make crucial roster decisions, and the medical staff help players overcome sports injuries, protecting their long-term health. Thats where Wisconsin native and Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) alumnus Casey Batten, MD 03, comes in. He has served as the lead medical team physician for the Los Angeles Rams since 2016, and with the Rams recent victory in Super Bowl LVI, he has already been sized for what is sure to be a spectacular Super Bowl ring.
Dr. Battens gravitation toward sports medicine was a natural progression. While attending Madison Memorial High School, he played football and participated in track and field. He then then went on to study exercise science and kinesiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After graduation, Dr. Batten wasnt sure what his next step would be. He mulled over teaching or a career in physical therapy, but friends convinced him to consider medical school.
Looking back, Dr. Batten singles out Mark W. Niedfeldt, MD 92, GME 95 (former MCW faculty), Craig C. Young, MD, professor of orthopaedic surgery and community & family medicine, and Carole S. Vetter, MD 93, GME 98, professor of orthopaedic surgery, as particularly helpful mentors. Dr. Young works with teams such as the Milwaukee Brewers, the US Snowboard Team, and the US Ski Team, while Dr. Vetter serves as team physician for the US Speedskating Team and the Milwaukee Bucks. They not only sparked Dr. Battens interest in primary care sports medicine but also educated him on the breadth of services the field provided and shared contacts to help get his foot in the door as a sports medicine specialist.
After medical school, Dr. Batten completed his residency at the University of Tennessee, where he enjoyed a unique opportunity to get involved in the trenches of collegiate sports. He conducted physicals, helped with the training room, covered games and traveled with the universitys football team. Dr. Batten then moved on to a sports medicine fellowship conducted jointly at the University of California, Davis and Berkeley campuses. In 2007, he became assistant team physician at the University of California, Berkeley and was named head team physician four years later. He was really in the trenches at UC Berkeley. Beyond his clinical work, research and administrative duties, Dr. Batten directed nutritionists, strength coaches and athletic trainers for the universitys 900 student-athletes participating in 32 different sports.
And then the Rams called in 2016. The team had recently returned to Los Angeles after a 20-year stint in St. Louis and was looking for an experienced lead medical team physician. Dr. Batten wasnt looking to leave his collegiate role, but the Rams job and the opportunity to be the first primary care sports medicine physician at Cedars Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute, one of the countrys most prestigious sports medicine facilities, was too good to pass up. So he and his family took the plunge and moved to Southern California.
From the beginning, Dr. Battens work with the Rams was a great collaborative experience with everyone working toward the same goal and supporting each other. The team from the top down, Dr. Batten adds, really cares about the players on and off the football field. I couldnt be prouder of working with such a great organization and medical team.
The Rams battled through the postseason to represent the NFC in the 2022 Super Bowl. The team followed its usual preparation routine the week before the game and enjoyed being able to practice on Los Angeles home field. But the stakes couldnt be higher, and the stress level was ramped up because football is very unpredictable, and anything can happen on any given play.
The Rams, of course, defeated the Cincinnati Bengals, and from the pinnacle of the football world, Dr. Batten reflected on his years with the team: The big thing is the joy and satisfaction of working with everybody and going through the ups and downs. Whether you win or lose, there have been some really great moments and great relationships thatll be long-lasting.
While basking in the glow of an NFL championship, he hasnt forgotten his roots. No way I would have been where Im at, he says, if he didnt go to MCW. I couldnt be more thankful for the people Ive met and the mentorship Ive received. And he wouldnt mind the opportunity to dazzle them with his diamond-studded Super Bowl ring.
Dr. Dunn, MCWs executive vice president and dean of the school of medicine emeritus, died on November 29, 2021, at the age of 85. Dr. Dunn led MCWs medical education, research, patient care and community engagement programs from 1995 to 2008 and is credited with guiding MCWs emergence as one of the nations premier medical schools and prestigious academic medical centers.
It seems it was destined that Dr. Dunns life would be entwined with MCW, says Joseph E. Kerschner, MD 90, FEL 98, MCW provost, executive vice president and The Julia A. Uihlein, MA, Dean of the School of Medicine. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Cornelius Dunn, who graduated from the Marquette University School of Medicine in 1931. The Marquette University School of Medicine is MCWs predecessor institution.
We are fortunate that Dr. Dunn shared his memories in a videotaped interview with MCWs then-archivist and faculty member, Walter Gager, MD 63, GME 67, in 2012. Some of Dr. Dunns reminiscences and quotations noted below have been culled from that session and from several media interviews.
As a young boy, Dr. Dunns familys home was located at 87th Street and Bluemound Road in Wauwatosa, mere blocks from todays Milwaukee Regional Medical Center campus. Dr. Dunn recalled, As a rambunctious youth, I roamed the vegetable fields of the county farms, which provided food for the patients at the Milwaukee County Hospital. My recollection is that the Medical College of Wisconsin is presently situated in a former cabbage field.
Dr. Dunn was a member of an informal group known as the 3-M Club those young men who graduated from Marquette University High School, Marquette University (where he received his undergraduate degree in philosophy) and the Marquette University School of Medicine.
From my medical school days, I clearly remember the Cramer Building, which housed the medical school on 15th Street on the Marquette campus, Dr. Dunn said. That was the era of John Hirschboeck [MD 37] as dean, and the powerful clinical and basic science leaders such as [Drs.] Engstrom in medicine, Ellison in surgery and Kerrigan in pediatrics. Basic science leaders included [Drs.] Quick in biochemistry, Beckman in pharmacology, Kappus in microbiology, Smith in physiology and Walter Zeit in anatomy.
Upon graduation from medical school in 1962, Dr. Dunn was the recipient of the Millmann Award, MCWs highest honor for a graduating medical student. His medical school classmates honored him by creating the Michael J. Dunn, MD, Class of 1962 Achievement Award, which recognizes the senior medical student graduating with the most distinguished academic record. The Class of 1962 currently is raising funds to establish an endowed chair in Dr. Dunns name.
Dr. Dunn served an internship and residency in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. He then took a nephrology fellowship at the University of North Carolina and spent three years of military duty as a malaria researcher at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Bethesda, Maryland.
Before returning to his medical school alma mater in 1995 as MCWs eighth dean and executive vice president, Dr. Dunn was the Hanna Payne Professor of Medicine and director of the nephrology division at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. He also served as associate director of the department of medicine and acting chair of medicine at both Case Western Reserve and the University Hospitals of Cleveland.
Dr. Dunns 13-year tenure as MCWs dean (1995-2008) was one of the longest among US medical schools. Allen Cowley, Jr., PhD, the James J. Smith and Catherine Welsch Smith Professor Emeritus, the Harry and Gertrude Hack Term Professor Emeritus of Physiology, and former chair of the department of physiology, led the MCW deans search committee and recalls, It was apparent that Dr. Dunn had high aspirations for MCW and intended to move us forward from the middle of the national pack into the top tier of US medical schools. By every measure, he achieved that goal.
At his installation ceremony as dean in 1995, Dr. Dunn said, Medical schools are the engine in our society that provide the human and intellectual resources for our healthcare system. Thus, we have a major role to play in the future. I think the school has a bright future for a number of reasons. We have the advantage of being the only [academic medical center] in a large metropolitan area. We have the advantage of being in an ideal location; were not locked in downtown. Were in an area where we can build. We have relatively young and dynamic faculty and good community relations. And we have three terrific hospitals.
He continued, We are at a critical juncture in academic medicine, in a time of transition. I want to use my experience, knowledge and judgment to help create a new foundation for the next generation of physicians and scientists.
Dr. Dunn immediately forged a strong partnership with T. Michael Bolger, JD, then MCWs president and CEO, as they led Wisconsins only private academic health sciences center into a new millennium. Milwaukee Magazine observed in 2008, [Michael] Dunn and [Mike] Bolger have perfected the inside/outside partnership, which is often difficult to achieve. Bolger oversees fundraising, government affairs, alumni affairs and community relations. This leaves the dean free to run the medical side: academic programs, clinical programs, research, relationships with hospitals and recruiting of faculty. Indeed, the long tenure and happy partnership of Bolger and Dunn provided the perfect recipe to grow the institution.
What I enjoyed most was being a leader on behalf of the faculty and students, Dr. Dunn shared in his interview with Dr. Gager. I liked the idea of being able to work with them to formulate new ideas about clinical care, education or research, and then helping them to get the assets needed whether it be space or money or new faculty to implement it.
I always felt that my job was to work for the faculty, Dr. Dunn continued. When I met with faculty members, it was never with idea that I had the right ideas and they should follow. It was with the idea that we should jointly articulate our programs and then Ill help you get the resources.
Often referred to at that time as MCWs research dean, Dr. Dunn fostered a climate of collaboration and commitment to the advancement of medical knowledge. Under his leadership, MCW was identified as one of the nations fastest-growing biomedical research institutions as MCW expanded its cancer, cardiovascular and digestive disease research centers while creating new multidisciplinary centers of research in genetics, biotechnology and imaging.
Research is absolutely vital to our academic mission, Dr. Dunn said. Our research programs invigorate our teaching, introduce potential cures for clinical research testing and energize the entire academic enterprise of the Medical College.
In recognition of Dr. Dunns passion for scientific discovery, MCWs department of medicine created the Michael J. Dunn Award for Research Excellence and Contribution. The award is presented annually to an established investigator in the department who exhibits all aspects of research contribution: scholarly excellence, mentorship, collaboration, education and institutional enthusiasm.
Through national searches, Dr. Dunn appointed all of MCWs senior associate deans and most center directors, as well as 22 academic department chairs. Five new departments were established during his tenure (biophysics, otolaryngology and communication sciences, plastic surgery, population health and urology). Dr. Dunn told the Milwaukee BizTimes in 2007, The biggest impact Ive had at the Medical College has been to recruit chairmen and center directors the leaders of the school who share my vision that this can be a great school and we can be competitive on the national scene.
Under Dr. Dunns leadership, MCWs academic programs were awarded the maximum accreditation in the 1990s and again in the early years of the 21st century from both the Liaison Committee for Medical Education and the North Central Association of Colleges and Universities. MCW began updating its medical school curriculum with a focus on utilizing new technologies to enhance clinical skills. One major initiative was the development in 2002 of MCWs Standardized Teaching and Assessment Resource Center, better known as the STAR Center.
Kenneth B. Simons, MD, senior associate dean for graduate medical education and accreditation, designated institutional official and director, Medical College of Wisconsin Affiliated Hospitals, Inc., and professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, and pathology, and former senior associate dean for academic affairs, shares, Mike was committed to doing what was right for our medical students education despite all of the competing pressures placed upon him. It was obvious that Mike Dunn was much more than just MCWs research dean. He was truly a dean for all of MCWs missions.
In the clinical arena, Dr. Dunn worked with leaders from Milwaukee County and Froedtert Hospital to close the countys John Doyne Hospital in 1995 and seamlessly transfer the county hospitals patient care programs to Froedtert Hospital. MCW launched a primary care initiative to help support MCWs faculty specialists.
As dean, Dr. Dunn worked closely with MCWs three major teaching hospitals Froedtert Hospital, Childrens Hospital of Wisconsin (now Childrens Wisconsin) and the Zablocki VA Medical Center as the hospitals developed national reputations as leading academic tertiary care facilities. William Petasnick, former president of Froedtert Hospital, remembered Dr. Dunn by saying, His strong and effective leadership at the Medical College championed the integration of discovery, clinical research, education and expert patient care leading to hundreds of applications that saved or improved the quality of life for multitudes of people.
Dr. Dunn also worked with faculty leaders to establish two physician group practices: Medical College Physicians and Childrens Specialty Group. With almost 1,000 physicians, MCW was home to one of the nations largest academic medical group practices. During Dr. Dunns tenure as dean, the number of patient visits to MCW physicians increased from 700,000 to more than one million patients annually.
He said, I want to emphasize that we MUST preserve our academic orientation as we address healthcare reform and a unified practice. We are not simply a medical clinic. We are an educational and research institution with a large commitment to clinical care. I want education and research to permeate everything we do.
In 1997, under Dr. Dunn, the stature of community service was elevated as one of MCWs four core missions. Within a decade, the mission gained national recognition. In 2005, the Association of American Medical Colleges bestowed its Outstanding Community Service Award to MCW for implementing innovative public and community health programs to meet the needs of underserved inner-city and rural populations.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Dunn published 183 original papers and authored or co-authored 54 chapters or textbooks on nephrology and hypertension. He was a past president of the American Society of Nephrology, one of the nations few medical school deans to maintain an active research lab and received continuous NIH funding for more than 35 years.
Dr. Raymond shares, Mike was a personal hero of mine and a mentor to me early in my scientific career, like he was to so many clinician-scientists who were studying the basic mechanisms of kidney cell function. Later, Mike became a mentor and a friend to me.
Dr. Dunns honors include his selection as a Master of the American College of Physicians American Society of Internal Medicine and as a Markle Scholar in Academic Medicine by the John and Mary R. Markle Foundation of New York. He was named a Fogarty Senior International Fellow and served as a visiting scientist at the Institut Pasteur in Paris and the Centre de Biochemie at the Universite de Nice in France.
Dr. Dunn was honored by every institution for which he was an alumnus. He was elected to the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars, named Marquette Universitys Distinguished Alumnus in the Arts and Sciences, was recipient of Marquette University High Schools Alumni Merit Award and the recipient of MCWs Distinguished Service Award the institutions highest honor for a faculty or staff member. Dr. Dunn also was the recipient of the Medical College of Wisconsin/Marquette Medical Alumni Associations Alumnus of the Year Award.
As he prepared to retire as dean in 2008, Dr. Dunn said, This has been the most rewarding part of my professional career. Its the most senior position and the biggest leadership position, and its given me the opportunity to have the broadest and deepest impact.
He also reflected on the importance of a career in medicine saying, The human needs for cure and healing persist. The call to meet those needs has been answered by societys best and brightest for thousands of years. Whatever its socioeconomic situation, each generation of physicians has been committed to instill a love for and dedication to medicine in its successors, and to transmit Hippocrates code of professional values. Ours can do no less.
Mike knew how critical it was to support and recruit creative-thinking men and women if we were to be considered among the top medical institutions. He was very approachable and an outgoing individual with a charming, charismatic personality, gracious, with quick wit and a wonderful sense of humor. Allen W. Cowley, Jr., PhD, former chair of physiology
He was a mentor not just in medicine, but also in life. Wendy and I cherished each and every minute we got to share with Mike, Pat and their family. Kenneth B. Simons, MD, senior associate dean for graduate medical education and accreditation and professor of ophthalmology and pathology
I joined MCW as chair because of Mike Dunn and Mike Bolger. Mike Dunn was an extraordinary leader, a warm and wonderful person, a mentor and an inspiration. His love of science, people, food and wine ensured many, many wonderful times! Mike had a great impact on my professional life. He brought out the best in people and created a superb culture at MCW. Paula Traktman, PhD, dean of the College of Graduate Studies and Hirschmann Endowed Professor, Medical University of South Carolina, who served as chair of the MCW department of cell biology, neurobiology and anatomy from 1997-2015
Mike Dunn and Mike Bolger were a terrific team. We all benefited from their sustained and complementary leadership. So grateful that Mike Dunn decided to return home and serve his alma mater. Edmund Duthie, MD, GME 79, MCW professor of medicine
