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As we celebrate the accomplishments of the past year, I take great satisfaction in knowing that we are reaching our goals. From our successful educational programs to our clinical achievements and our research discoveries, success describes the MUSC Department of Medicine.

Organizationally, the department has been a significant partner with the Medical University Hospital, the Faculty Practice Plan and the College of Medicine in focusing on the quality medical care and the quality of service provided to our patients.  We have embarked on a program called MUSC Excellence, which focuses on improving the quality of care and service organization wide with a focus on our people, continued growth, health care service delivery, quality of medical care, and financial management.  We have instituted numerous programs and operationalized plans to achieve our goals of becoming a provider of choice for our patients and an employer of choice for our faculty and staff.  We have active survey instruments for our patients, faculty, staff, and other employees to identify areas where we may improve either the quality of our care, the quality of our service, or both.  MUSC Excellence has been dramatically successful and has further focused us on goal directed achievement and individual accountability for all members of the Department.

While the Department of Medicine continues to grow in faculty size, it also has grown new leaders who serve not just the Department of Medicine, but our entire institution.  Dr. Alice Boylan, an Associate Professor in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, has accepted the leadership role as Medical Director for the Critical and Acute Care Service Line.  Dr. Marcy Bolster, a Professor of Rheumatology, has become the Director of our Musculoskeletal Disease Service Line.  These two outstanding faculty are the first women in the institution to lead the expanding number of service lines within the Hospital, Practice Plan, and College.

In addition, Dr. Lynn Manfred has joined our Division of General Internal Medicine, and also serves as the new Associate Dean for Curriculum and Evaluation in the College of Medicine.  Dr. Cassy Salgado, an Associate Professor in Infectious Diseases, has become the Director for our combined Medicine and Pediatrics house staff training program. 

Finally, three of our Professors have been recognized for their academic excellence by the University.  Dr. William Moran, Director of the Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, was appointed as the McKnight Chair for the study of Aging.  Dr. Louis Luttrell, Director of our Division of Endocrinology, was named an Eminent Scholar by the MUSC Board of Trustees, and Dr. Rick Silver, Director of our Rheumatology Division, was named Distinguished University Professor, the highest academic accolade bestowed by MUSC.

As the largest and one of the most clinically productive departments in the MUSC College of Medicine, we have outstanding physicians from generalist to sub-specialist.  We continue to expand our successful programs, including our Hospital Medicine program, our Diabetes Management Service, and an Emergency Medicine - and Cardiology - base Chest Main Center.  Our physician faculty members provide leadership for the MUSC Heart and Vascular Service Line and the Digestive Disease Service Line, and have been essential contributors to the highly successful opening of our new hospital facility, Ashley River Towers.

We enjoy an engaged faculty and administration. We seek to improve the health of those we serve through the highest quality patient care, excellence in education, and innovative research.

The MUSC Department of Medicine focuses these assets on an array of learning programs, facilitating the transition of inquiring students into first-rate clinicians, educators and researchers. Our Internal Medicine Residency program continues to draw high caliber candidates and provides an example for us to follow as we lay the ground work for a new residency program in emergency medicine. Our subspecialty training programs, post-doctoral fellowships and graduate student mentors all attract a diverse pool of high caliber candidates.

In the research arena our scientists conduct basic and clinical research as well as health services and health policy research. From the Gazes Cardiac Research Institute in the Strom Thurmond Research Building – a first of its kind facility we share with the VA Medical Center – to our newly renovated laboratories in the Clinical Sciences Building, our scientists work to translate scientific discoveries into patient care solutions. The Department has been awarded Centers for Economic Excellence Endowments by the South Carolina Legislature.  These newly funded Centers of Excellence provide multiple endowments for research professorships (endowed chairs) and new opportunities for collaborations among the several research universities within South Carolina.  Two new funded programs in Cardiology and Nephrology will add as many as four additional endowed chairs for Department research growth!  One of our newest endowed chair holders, Dr. Melanie Thomas, holds the Grace DeWolff Chair in Medical Oncology, and is the first woman holder of a Center of Economic Excellence chair in the entire state of South Carolina.

As a complement to our clinical, research and educational successes, I am excited about the progress we have made increasing and promoting diversity on campus. Our Black History Month Program, as part of the Department’s Grand Rounds series, has become a tradition that includes presentations from leaders in academic medicine from across the country.

The stabilizing force behind our tripartite mission is, of course, our business support team. Our management team has instituted a Customer Service Training Initiative for all Department of Medicine support staff. Our Strategic Planning initiative, a joint effort on the part of our faculty and staff leaders, and our efforts at improving inter-departmental communication through our bi-weekly newsletter continue to produce excellent results.

We’re also sustaining ourselves financially. State-funded by only six percent, the Department generates the remainder of our budget. We generate one in every five dollars within MUSC, and one in every six dollars in the clinical enterprises.

Our collegial, supportive and increasingly diverse faculty, staff and trainees live and work in the beautiful “Holy City” with its steeples piercing the skyline, historic charm and friendly people. Together, Charleston and the South Carolina Lowcountry host a broad spectrum of cultural events, festivals, and outdoor recreational opportunities. In the course of a day you can run on the beach, listen to a jazz quartet, then catch a RiverDogs minor league baseball game in the evening.

The MUSC campus is nestled in the historic district. Protected by local preservation organizations, the historic architecture and character will continue to be enjoyed and appreciated far into the future. We continue to treasure our history, our strengths and our diversity while working toward a successful future.

I fully believe that other great achievements are in store for the MUSC Department of Medicine. I invite you to review our annual report and to contact us with any questions. I look forward to meeting you personally should you visit our institution and community.

John R. Feussner, M.D., M.P.H.
Chairman, Department of Medicine
Distinguished University Professor