In his second Dean’s Message in the January 1992 Bulletin magazine, Dr. Donald E. Wilson announced that changes were coming at Maryland:

“First, and most important, the School of Medicine needs a vision—a fresh look at what it would like to be and where it is going; a strategic plan to guide us in making the decisions and actions needed to achieve that vision; and an operational plan delineating the specific processes to be utilized in effecting the strategic plan. If we are to meet the current challenges of medical education, research and service to society, it is essential that we re-examine our directions, commitments, resources and methods.”

  This self examination is a routine exercise in the re-accreditation process which Maryland was facing at the time the above message was written, but for the new dean it was a perfect opportunity to get the ball rolling. George Lentz, ’57, a member of the search committee which recommended Wilson’s hiring, wasn’t surprised by what he read. “During the interviews, we had been genuinely impressed with the breadth and depth of Dr. Wilson’s vision for Maryland,” Lentz recalls. “It was apparent to us that he would get down to business without hesitation.”

The summer ’91 Bulletin announcing Wilson’s appointment

Reshaping the Medical Curriculum
By the early 1990s, information technology was forcing the hand of change in medical education. The volume of new scientific information was accelerating at alarming rates. Traditional didactic classroom learning had become outdated, and so too had the conventional model of separating basic and clinical sciences.

In 1994, after two years of collaborative planning by faculty, staff, and students, Wilson unveiled Maryland’s new curriculum. The decision to embark upon a medical career, asserted Wilson, carries with it a lifetime commitment to learning. And the success of a physician, he believes, depends on an individual’s ability to find answers independently. Maryland’s new curriculum reflected this approach. Lecture time for the entering class of students was reduced from eight hours per day to two. Instruction was presented in blocks—varying in length—with small-group teaching, problem-based learning, and increased time for self-study. Basic sciences became multi-disciplinary with emphasis on their clinical relevance. During the clinical years, there would be a stronger emphasis on education in the ambulatory setting. Computer labs were built in Howard Hall, and each student was equipped with a laptop computer. As the curriculum was rolled out, the dean reminded students and faculty that it would always be a work in progress.

The spring ’95 Bulletin detailing Maryland’s new curriculum

“We were really scared when school started,” admits Otha Myles, ’98, president of the class of first-year students undertaking the new curriculum. “I can remember looking at my schedule and noticing that my afternoons were open. How was I going to learn everything that my predecessors were taught during their long hours of lectures?”
But the afternoons were soon filled with self study, and trips to the hospital allowed students to immediately apply to real patients the information they learned in the classroom. “Combining classroom learning with hands-on clinical experience was extremely effective,” says Myles, who recently completed a fellowship in infectious disease at the Walter Reed Institute of Research in Washington, D.C. Midway through the first year most of his concerns had vanished.

In addition to reforming the curriculum, changes were made to the guidelines for faculty appointments, promotions and tenure. The alterations granted increased flexibility in awarding tenure, and more appropriately allowed the school to reward faculty with promotions for outstanding contributions to teaching and service. These were significant improvements in an increasingly competitive teaching environment.

Congratulating graduates at convocation

It’s all about the Budget
Dwindling operational support from the state would present challenges during Wilson’s entire tenure at Maryland. Between May 1991 (before he arrived at Maryland) and January 1992, the medical school sustained three deep cuts, and employees faced a mandated loss of eight paid days of work. “These cuts, combined with reductions in reimbursements due to managed care, really hit us hard,” remembers Gregory F. Handlir, MBA, senior associate dean for resource management. “Getting out of the red was going to require an entirely different approach to the way we conducted our business,” he adds.

In 1997, acting on recommendations from a task force he created on alternative funding, the dean engaged a consultant to help the school implement mission-based budgeting. Now routinely used in medical schools throughout the country, Maryland was among the first to employ this method. It involves assessing departmental and faculty productivity in research, education, and patient care, and realigning revenues to match them. The system quickly improved utilization of resources for the entire medical school.

Mission-based budgeting also helped stimulate productivity, particularly in the area of research funding. Recognizing the need for institutional leadership in this area, the dean created a new post—associate dean for research. It would be the charge of this position to provide guidance to faculty and promote collaboration among the disciplines. By 2005, research funding had soared to $349 million, up from $77 million in 1991. The figure far outpaced an earlier goal of $200 million by the medical school’s 200th birthday in 2007, placing Maryland in the upper tier of all public and private medical schools. Highlights included $24 million from Novartis Pharma AG in 1999 to advance treatments for schizophrenia; $20 million in 2000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a measles vaccine for infants in developing countries; $64 million in 2004 by the Institute of Human Virology to provide care, treatment and counseling to people living with AIDS in Africa and other developing countries; and $46 million in 2005 from the Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop medical countermeasures against nuclear threats.

Updating alumni on medical school developments during Reunion

  To accommodate the dramatic increase in research funding, Wilson aggressively lobbied the state legislature for accelerated completion of Health Sciences II, a state-of-the-art biomedical research building. It opened in May 2003, well ahead of schedule. And at the time, the dean was already laying the framework for a Health Sciences III. His efforts also fueled renovation of Howard Hall—the old Hecht Building purchased by the university in 1960 and retrofit for classroom and laboratory space.

Making good decisions is crucial. Avoiding bad ones is equally important. One of these involved Maryland’s faculty practice plan—University Physicians, Inc. Elected president of the plan in 1996, Wilson ignored trendy advice from consultants to join competitors in buying up private practices in and around Baltimore, a short-lived craze that would sputter out within a few years. Wilson instead decided to move in a different direction, investing $1 million to improve the plan’s infrastructure. The results of his efforts were immediate and considerable, as University Physicians noticed a sharp reduction in its volume of non-collectables, vastly improving the bottom line of its financial statement.

  Additional revenues—primarily addressing programmatic needs—were generated through fund raising, as the number of endowed chairs and professorships grew from fewer than a handful to more than 30 during Wilson’s tenure. Included among them was the Dr. John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean, an honorary title for the dean. “I established this fund especially for Dean Wilson, to honor his outstanding career and accomplishments,” Dr. Akiko Bowers commented after endowing the position in 2002.

With wife Patricia at a Reunion gala

 Some of the accomplishments to which Dr. Bowers was referring included Wilson’s efforts to promote equality in health care and medical education. From 1992 to 2005 the number of Maryland’s underrepresented minority faculty more than doubled to 7.1 percent. In 2004, the medical school announced establishment of a new center for health disparities, an NIH-sponsored center coordinating patient care, research, education, and outreach initiatives in the state’s underserved urban and rural communities. There have also been community outreach programs such as Mini-Med School, offering tuition-free classes designed to help Baltimore residents improve their health.

Wilson’s own health became an issue in 2004. Diagnosed with chronic renal failure, he elected to undergo a kidney transplant in December. Although significantly recovered from both illness and surgery, he announced nine months later that he had not regained the level of energy which carried him during his first 14 years on the job. This factor, combined with the desire to spend more time with family, were the compelling reasons for his decision to step down.

The 69 year-old Worcester, Massachusetts, native is building a new home in Florida. His plan is to remain active in retirement, and he is already working on an autobiography of his challenges and achievements as dean.

“Maryland owes Dr. Wilson a significant debt of gratitude,” according to Sylvan Frieman, ’53. “He set a new standard for the medical school, and we’ll be comparing the performance of our future deans with his level of accomplishment. That’s the ultimate form of flattery.”