News Release

By LESLIE H. LANG
UNC School of Medicine

CHAPEL HILL -- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine is observing the 125th anniversary of its founding this year, a distinction that will figure prominently in Thursday’s (Oct. 28) Norma Berryhill Distinguished Lecture.

Chancellor James Moeser and Dr. William L. Roper, the school’s dean and UNC Health Care System chief executive officer, are among those scheduled to speak at the invitation-only event, which includes a convocation ceremony for new faculty. Dr. Philip A. Bromberg, the M.D. Bonner professor in pulmonary and allied diseases and scientific director of UNC’s Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology, will give the Berryhill lecture.

"The fact that the UNC School of Medicine is the oldest medical school in North Carolina says much about our enduring excellence, our dedication to our mission and our ability to meet and overcome challenges as they arise," said Roper. "After more than a century, UNC remains at the forefront of medical schools in our commitment and attainment of advances in biomedical and clinical science."

On Feb. 12, 1879, the UNC Board of Trustees’ executive committee established the medical school on the recommendation of President Kemp Plummer Battle. The new medical school began as a modest enterprise, providing students with a foundation for further education.

Thirty-seven students studied medicine at UNC between 1879 and 1885. After receiving their medical degrees elsewhere, 29 of them returned to North Carolina to practice medicine.

The School of Medicine also celebrates the 50th anniversary of the graduation of the first four-year class this year. Since 1954, the school has awarded 5,837 medical degrees.

Today, the School of Medicine is a national leader in medical education, particularly in funding for biomedical research and in the training of primary-care physicians. The school ranked 20th in the

National Institutes of Health fiscal 2003 awards to medical schools, with $199.1 million in NIH funding.

More than one-third of the school’s nearly 1,000 faculty receive NIH funding. Most of the school’s 27 departments are involved in research, through individual faculty efforts and various educational programs.

SHAC, the Student Health Action Coalition at the School of Medicine, coordinates the oldest student-run health-care clinic for the underserved community in the United States, having been in continuous operation for more than 30 years.

In 1997, with support from the university’s Division of Health Affairs, SHAC expanded its programs to become the only fully interdisciplinary program within the division. Currently, students participate from the schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, public health and social work, as well as physical therapy. Hundreds of students volunteer each year with SHAC in a weekly clinic, as well as through outreach programs to the local community.

The school also recently announced a major initiative to enhance services to the Hispanic community: a four-year curriculum in medical Spanish, called the Comprehensive Advanced Medical Program of Spanish, or CAMPOS. In addition to hands-on work learning, the program offers other modes of learning, including classroom courses such as the "Medical Spanish and Culture." This course will employ mock or "standardized" patients as well as multi-media interactive exercises from a new distance education program, ¡A su salud!, a Spanish-language program for state health-care professionals that also was developed at UNC.

"Our graduates have truly made a difference in their world, exhibiting in their work the same intelligence, diligence and commitment that made them great Carolina students," said Roper. "Their work is a testament, as well, to the quality education and training they receive.

"As we look forward, our way is lit by the brilliance of our past successes and current strengths."

The Norma Berryhill Distinguished Lecture began in 1985. Established to honor the medical school’s "most able scientists and scholars," the lectureship is named after Norma Berryhill, whose late husband, Dr. Walter Reece Berryhill, was dean of the school from 1941 to 1964. Along with her husband, she is considered the co-founder of UNC’s four-year School of Medicine.

This year’s distinguished lecturer, Dr. Philip A. Bromberg, founded the Center for Environmental Medicine and Lung Biology (now the Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology) and was its director from 1979 to 2002.

Bromberg joined the School of Medicine faculty in 1975 and led creation of one of the nation’s leading environmental medicine research centers.

Successful in demonstrating the critical value of human studies in exploring the health effects of poor air quality, Bromberg helped make the use of controlled exposures of individual volunteers a focus of environmental health research.

"If you were to have an international all-star team of people who do this kind of research, Phil would definitely be on it," said Dr. David Peden, professor of pediatrics and director of the division of allergy, immunology and environmental medicine, who succeeded Bromberg as center director.

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Note: Media representatives who would like to attend the lecture or would like photos documenting the early years of UNC’s School of Medicine should contact Les Lang at (919) 843-9687. For a photo of Bromberg, visit http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/faculty/bromberg_philip.jpg

School of Medicine contact: Les Lang, (919) 843-9687 or llang@med.unc.edu