-
Hi Guest, want to participate in the discussions, keep track of read/unread posts access private forums and more? Create your free account and increase the benefits of your eGriz.com experience today!
New University president?
- Thread starter Mavman
- Start date
GriznMN
Well-known member
The next university president needs to be forward thinking and from a medium sized university with demonstrated enrollment growth that has positioned their academics for the future and supports athletics as the front porch to the university.
It would be great if they were from Montana or had extensive ties to Montana. Academic experience at a university should be a prerequisite.
It would be great if they were from Montana or had extensive ties to Montana. Academic experience at a university should be a prerequisite.
The massive hospital infrastructure in Billings is the place to locate any medical school.
Last edited:
Blgs Griz Fan
Well-known member
No doubt especially with Intermountain/SCL building the new 14 story billion dollar hospital and two Level 1 Trauma Centers in Billings Clinic and SCL just five minutes from the airport.
i'm not sure what the current dental/medical/pa/etc... school climate is like nationally these days, but i'd say that if umontana were to add any of the above, they need to be smart about it. not too long ago, pharmacy was a 'hot' degree, with pharmd graduates easily finding good paying work. administrators thought they saw a cash cow, and the number of pharmacy schools nearly doubled. this over-saturated the market with new pharmd's, salaries dropped as pharmacy chains replaced more costly older pharmacists with younger ones who would work for cheaper. in order to attract students, lots of pharmacy schools started lowering admissions standards and made some other moves. the result? pharmacy went from the 'most desirable' degree in the u.s. to way down the list, enrollment dropped dramatically at most schools, and some have even closed. i was at a university who jumped on the bandwagon, had 100+ students per class for about 5 years, then poof, the number dropped to about 20 per year, and the pharmacy building classrooms largely get used by other programs. departments shrunk, the research mission largely fizzled, etc...
this long ramble is really meant to just say that umontana needs a president who is forward thinking, but judicious when it comes to adding programs, etc...
this long ramble is really meant to just say that umontana needs a president who is forward thinking, but judicious when it comes to adding programs, etc...
UM is starting PA program next Fall.
probably a good move, i think pa's are still in high demand. however, according to a quick search, the number of pa schools has doubled since 2010 (!), with more to come. it went from 154 programs in 2010 to over 300 now, with 353 schools projected by 2027. since the market is 'hot', i suspect that the longer standing schools have added spots, which happened in pharmacy.
having said all that, umontana could probably open their pa school without hiring a significant number of new faculty for the didactic instruction, which could probably be picked up by existing faculty in the college of health sciences (or whatever it is called now). obviously there would need to be pa's hired as faculty for the clinical lectures and rotations. that would likely include hiring pa's who have done extra training in specific specialties, such as orthopedics, etc...
it'll be interesting how it all shakes out in the next 10 years or so, although it does sound like the same trajectory as pharmacy schools in terms of number of schools.
I was originally told Clay wanted someone named in time for the March BOR meeting, 2 months sounds like a more prudent timeframe.
MontanaGrizSoccer
Well-known member
Isn't that a fast timeline, usually it takes about year, hopeful this decision is not rushed and not a good Ole boy network, UM needs change and new leadership all around. Will the candidates be publicly announced.
HelenaHandBasket
Well-known member
While true about AI, very few engineers will be forced out. There is currently a shortage and it will free up time for those that are working. All results will still require engineer review.
SinCityGriz2005
Well-known member
Before I get into my rant about Osteopaths, I would agree with Engineering. There are Engineering degrees UM could offer that MSU and Tech don't.
UM wouldn't want to even try to compete with MSU's Mechanical or Computer Engineering Degrees. Those are both nationally ranked programs. That would be a waste of resources.
Tech has three of the best engineering programs in the nation in Petroleum& Mining Engineering, they are top ten in the nation in Electrical Engineering and one of thirteen Geological Engineering programs in the entire nation.
Between MSU and Montana Tech, both schools pretty much cover the Engineering gambit, but there are areas of engineering that UM could definitely specialize in.
- Aerospace Engineering (I think UM should capitalize on this one).
- Industrial Engineering
- Biomedical Engineering (with the School of Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, and all of the specialized medical facilities in Missoula it would make sense)
- Environmental Engineering (makes sense with the School of forestry)
- Nuclear Engineering (neither MSU or MTech offer this and they don't need a nuclear reactor to study the discipline)
Now my rant.
Doctors of Osteopathy = Quacks, snake oil salesmen. I understand they take the same boards as M.D.s, but one is science and the other is new age crystals, skull massage, and magnets. I have more faith in WebMD than I do Osteopaths.
My mom is seeing an osteopath. This quack has her doing cranial sacral therapy, massages, infrared light therapy and no joke, MAGNETS, and meditation to treat her blind eye. She actually believes that garbage is going to restore her eyesight along with praying 8 times a day, because apparently 8 is some significant thing in the bible. Meanwhile, instead of listening to an ACTUAL doctor, having the eye removed, which would allow her brain to adjust, and strengthen her good eye she is throwing money at this voodoo priest.
I have more use for attorneys, but I put Osteopaths and Journalists on the same level of usefulness. Bring the hate...
SinCityGriz2005
Well-known member
The School of Medicine doesn't have to be in Missoula. Heck, MSU has a their nursing program extension at UM.
Great post... except I don't have the same experience with DOs... there are several at our missoula hospitals and im friends with one...
However, in regards to filling the voids of engineering sectors that aren't currently met, let's get after it.
osteopathy was born of quackery, but there are a few decent osteopaths out there. they do need to pass the same medical boards as md's, so all the basics of practicing medicine are in their curriculum. most osteopaths are people who wanted to go to med school but couldn't get into one, so took they next best option. i think the best osteopaths ignored the quackery aspect of the education, and probably would have been decent md's but didn't get into med school for some reason that affected their performance as a pre-med, like say a divorce, or some such issue. that said, i've taught both, and i'll take an md over an osteopath every time, unless there is some really good reason not to.
wbtfg
Well-known member
MSU offers bachelor's degrees in Biomed, Industrial, and Environmental. They also offer a minor in Aerospace engineering, as part of the Mechanical Engineering degree.
I think Tech offers Environmental and Industrial. Also, the Tech Mechanical Engineering program offers career and grad school paths into Aerospace, and biomed.
My experience is that D.O.'s are a mixed bag. Those who are board-certified by the American Board of Medical specialties, and who maintain board certification through ABMS-certified continuing medical education, are most likely the equal of M.D.'s with similar credentials. I doubt very much the D.O. your mom is seeing is a board-certified ophthalmologist.
SinCityGriz2005
Well-known member
I painted that comment with a broad stroke, but my experience with D.O's has never been positive. You are also spot on. I did look up his credentials and he is not an Ophthalmologist, which I expressed emphatically to my mother, but she is so desperate to get her sight back in her eye that she won't listen to reason at all.
It's not going to happen. She suffered a Central retinal vein occlusion (eye stroke) and lost all of her vision. Her original ophthalmologist told her she would never regain her vision, so she got a second, third and fourth opinion.
Finally she saw this witch doctor who says with magnets, infrared therapy, no sh*t healing crystals, and Craniosacral massage therapy, she might regain partial eyesight. So FOUR ophthalmologists are wrong, but for $4999.00 Dr. Voodoo is gonna help her get it back.
A sucker is born every second, unfortunately it's my 81 year old mother.
Anyway it would be cool for someone, anyone in the state to actually start a legitimate school of medicine so our kids don't continue to leave the state.
Last edited:
SinCityGriz2005
Well-known member
But, they don't specialize in Aerospace Engineering or Environmental Engineering, and none of them have Nuclear Engineering programs. Also, I don't see why UM doesn't offer engineering. I don't see why MSU doesn't offer law. I think it's dumb to not offer everything.
I would have majored in electrical engineering at UM if they offered it, but they don't. I got my AAS in Electronics Engineering and would have gone on to get a BS/MS but they didn't. I would have gone to MSU for engineering, but I have a massive dislike for Bozeman itself and always have (I grew up in Billings) so there was no way I was going to move my family there.
I did think about Tech, but going to school and raising my kids in Butte was out of the question, Bozeman would have been better than that. I did apply to Rocky when I got out of the Marine Corps but was talked out of the PA program by a friend of mine who said he regretted ever becoming a doctor, and managed to talk me out of it. I still think I should have gone.
Point is, I don't see why there is this issue with the colleges offering the same things. They do it in every other state I have lived in (California, Texas, Washington, Nevada, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio).
SinCityGriz2005
Well-known member
Fair enough reply and I agree with you.
