For Immediate Release May 10, 2005

For More Information Contact: Jonathan Barada, 317-274-1345 jbarada@iupui.edu

School of Medicine to Celebrate Alumni Weekend

INDIANAPOLIS - Education is a lifelong process for physicians and many will continue on that path when they return to the Indiana University School of Medicine for the 58th annual Spring Medical Alumni Weekend, May 13 and 14.

The "Innovations in Medical Education" program provides new learning opportunities for the veteran doctors. In one session, they participate in an exercise that hones the skills of medical students. The technique, called Objective Structured Clinical Examination, places medical students in various scenarios with actor-patients in which they are monitored for their diagnostic skills, clinical techniques and interaction with patients.

Alumni also will get hands-on training with some of the latest teaching tools and technology in medical education. Virtual patient simulators - human-like robots programmed electronically to respond to treatment - allow the doctors to place bronchial tubes. The simulators also can be programmed to experience cardiac arrest, choking and other life-threatening incidents.

While Spring Medical Alumni Weekend offers the usual fare of activities and class reunions, it also is a time to honor IU School of Medicine graduates who have excelled in their fields.

Dr. John E. Pless will be the recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award and Dr. Lynda J. Means will receive the Glenn W. Irwin Jr. M.D. Distinguished Faculty Award at a May 14 luncheon for IU medical alumni from around the country.

Dr. Pless, the Clyde G. Culbertson Professor Emeritus of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, currently serves as a consultant in forensic medicine. He's nationally known for his work and during his IU career supervised more than 300 postmortem examinations annually for coroners throughout Indiana and served as an expert witness in criminal and civil cases.

A Bedford, Ind., native, Pless served as associate chair of the Department of Pathology and directed the department's Division of Forensic Pathology. After earning his IU medical degree in 1963, he completed residencies in South Bend and was an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Dr. Means is the former executive associate dean for academic affairs at the IU School of Medicine. In that role she was responsible for the supervision for faculty affairs, which includes school policies and procedure related to faculty, diversity and faculty development, and medical school admissions.

She also was professor of anesthesia and of surgery, and a critical care consultant at Riley Hospital for Children.

Means received her medical degree from IU in 1977 and completed pediatric and anesthesia residencies at the IU Medical Center. Currently, she serves as a lecturer at Harvard Medical School and is an anesthesiologist Children's Hospital in Boston.

The Glenn W. Irwin Jr. M.D. Distinguished Faculty Award is named in honor of the man who served as dean of the medical school from 1965 to 1973. Dr. Irwin also served as chancellor of the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus until his retirement in 1986.

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