By Jayne Spencer

The country is in for a big shock, said Robert W. Holden, M.D. (pictured), dean of the Indiana University School of Medicine at his first State of the School address Sept. 24 on the Indianapolis campus. Baby boomers are getting older.

"Never in our history have we seen so many people simultaneously experience old age," said Holden. "I'll let the politicians argue over the fiscal ramifications, but medically, we're going to witness increased demand for preventive care, aging care, cancer care and public health services, to name just a few." Preparing graduates for the challenges of the millennium will require four major steps, Holden said.

Those steps are:

Securing the future of the faculty; expanding research, teaching and clinical practice; adapting the curriculum so graduates will have the skills and knowledge they need when they begin their practices and through to their retirement; and playing a more proactive role in developing the state's physician workforce to provide culturally appropriate care, rural community care and professional development for female physicians.

"Practitioners of today and tomorrow must do more than merely diagnose and treat disease," Holden said. "They also must understand diseases sufficiently to provide intervention and promote wellness. But even improved science and medicine aren't enough. In a world focused on cost containment, our graduates must utilize interventions which achieve improved, cost-effective outcomes.

"By virtually any standard, we are managing change proactively, advancing the interests of our students and faculty, overseeing the public and private resources entrusted to us, and serving the educational and medical needs of the people of Indiana," he said.

Some "fast facts" about the Medical School:

• IU's medical school is the second largest in the nation.
  
• The school's capital campaign delivered more than $211 million in contributions.
  
• External research grants totaled $94 million last year‹ an all-time high.
  
• This fall's entering class is the best qualified ever recruited, measured by grade-point averages and MCAT scores.
  
• The faculty's national and international reputation continues to grow. In the past six years, publication of peer-reviewed articles written by faculty members increased more than 50 percent -- to more than 1,500 publications in 1994-95.
  
• Statewide, 3,000 mentors contribute time and talents to advance the quality of the school's medical education.
  
• The opening of the Indiana Cancer Pavilion will be followed with the new IU Cancer Research Institute next summer. Phase one of the Van Nuys Medical Sciences Building is under construction and in two years, the Lilly Clinical Research Center will be completed.

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