The Department of Family Medicine and Community Health is one of the largest departments in the medical school and has played a major role in resident and medical student education for many years. We are pleased to have become closer working partners with the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health Duluth as one department reaching across both the Twin Cities and Duluth campuses.

Carole Bland, PhD, passed away August 23, 2008, from pancreatic cancer.

Bland was a vital member of the University of Minnesota Medical School Department of Family Medicine and Community Health faculty for 34 years. Most recently, she served as assistant dean for faculty development in the Medical School, co-directed the leadership component of the Deborah E. Powell Center for Women’s Health, and directed the family medicine fellowship in clinical research. Previously, Bland served as project director for the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Bishop Fellowship and director of the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health research program, in addition to participating in a myriad of other national and local academic activities.

Throughout her career she received multiple awards and honors. In March, the American Education Research Association named Bland a recipient of their Distinguished Career Award, honoring her extraordinary scholarly achievement. Her research interests and areas of expertise included faculty and administrator development and productivity, educational design and evaluation, and mentoring relationships. In addition to producing numerous scholarly journal articles, Bland also authored several educational books on faculty development and research, including the soon to be published Mentoring and Being Mentored: Effective Collaboration through an Academic Career.

Carole wore many hats—researcher, teacher, mentor, consultant, colleague, and friend. Her contributions to the field, department, and school will be truly missed.

A private ceremony has been planned for family and close friends. A celebration of her life will be held the afternoon of Monday, October 6, at the McNamara Alumni Center.

Family Medicine Connection

The summer edition of the department’s newsletter, the Family Medicine Connection (pdf format), is now available. The newsletter shares important updates and includes a letter from the department head, new faculty/staff introductions, and notice of faculty/staff publications, media attention, and grant awards.

In this issue, you’ll find information about the AAFP Top 10 Award, the launch of the Center for Excellence in Primary Care, a recap of the residency and fellow commencement, and much more.

More Family Medicine News