VCU news

Patricia Kinser, Ph.D., Department of Family & Community Health Nursing, School of Nursing

Kinser was one of three individuals to receive the Exceptional Dedication and Service Award presented by Fan Free Clinic during the second annual Wellness in Bloom fundraiser at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.

Kinser was recognized for her contributions to the clinic as a volunteer medical provider of women’s health services since 2007. She began volunteering because she wanted to use her skills as a women’s health nurse practitioner to provide care for women in need.

“I had heard about all of the wonderful work the Fan Free Clinic was doing for the community and thought it would be a great fit,” Kinser said.” I was excited to become a volunteer with this wonderful organization and I immediately felt welcomed and supported. It is gratifying to be able to work together with this great group of people and be of service to others.”

Her research focuses on stress and depression management in women across the lifespan, and she is particularly interested in the intersection of research and clinical care regarding the promotion of positive health behaviors for mental and physical wellness.

While at the clinic, she regularly interacts with patients who suffer from high levels of stress, along with subclinical anxiety and depression.

“Many of these women could benefit from gentle physical activity, as well as relaxation and breathing practices shown to be helpful for stress, depression and anxiety, so I often incorporate teaching about these activities into my discussions with patients,” she said.

In addition to volunteering at the clinic, Kinser is a peer reviewer for several professional journals, co-chair of a committee for the Virginia chapter of the March of Dimes, serves as a committee member for the National Association of Nurse Practitioners of Women’s Health and serves on multiple School of Nursing and university committees.

Cynthia Kirkwood, Pharm.D., associate professor, Department of Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science, School of Pharmacy

Kirkwood was selected to receive the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists’ 2014 Judith J. Saklad Memorial Award.

“This is a tremendous honor for Dr. Kirkwood and the VCU School of Pharmacy,” said Don Brophy, Pharm.D., chairman of the school’s Department of Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science.

“Dr. Kirkwood has dedicated herself professionally to the care of patients with mental health disorders, and to teaching the next generation of pharmacists about caring for this vulnerable population. On behalf of the department faculty, we are so proud of her accomplishment.”

The Saklad Award was presented to Kirkwood during the CPNP 2014 Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Ariz. This is the 17th year the award has been presented to a senior psychiatric pharmacy practitioner who has achieved a level of professional distinction and demonstrates continuing dedication to the practice. “Like Dr. Saklad,” states CPNP award criteria, “this practitioner will represent the qualities and ideals of professional enthusiasm, in addition to possessing a passion for optimizing patient care.”

Kirkwood earned both her bachelor’s and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees at the VCU School of Pharmacy, where she also completed an American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Research and Education Fellowship in Psychiatric Pharmacy Practice. VCU Health System’s adult inpatient psychiatry unit serves as her primary practice and teaching site for students and residents. She is vice chairwoman for graduate education in the School of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science.

Her research interests include pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and outcomes of psychiatric drugs, the assessment of learning outcomes, interprofessional education and teamwork in pharmacy students.

She has been a consultant for Richmond Behavioral Health Authority, Virginia Office of Protection and Advocacy, the Department of Medical Assistance Services Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee, and Richmond Psychiatric Institute for Children and Adolescents. She is a member of American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists, American College of Clinical Pharmacy, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Virginia Society of Health-System Pharmacists, College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists and the Team-Based Learning Collaborative.

Since 2007, Kirkwood has served as Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacists recertification director for CPNP, and she works with the editorial boards for recertification and review course products. In 1999, and again in 2007, she was awarded the VCU School of Pharmacy Teaching Excellence Award. She has served as a reviewer for Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, Annals of Pharmacotherapy and the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education.

E. Gaynell Sherrod, Ed.D., Department of Dance and Choreography, School of the Arts

Sherrod, a former dancer with Philadanco and Urban Bush Women, becomes department chair of VCU Dance on Aug. 1.

Prior to coming to VCU, Sherrod was an associate professor of dance studies at Florida A&M University, where she served as interim chair of the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.

Sherrod is a Fulbright-Hayes scholar in dance research. Her artistic and theoretical works are steeped in the pedagogy of dance, music and theater out of the African diaspora cultural traditions. She has taught at New Jersey City University as an assistant professor and at New York University as an adjunct professor.

As the director of dance education for New York City public schools (2000-2003), Sherrod designed and implemented professional training initiatives geared to dance educators, teaching artists and classroom teachers interested in developing curriculum that empowers community and transforms the lives of students. Most notably she founded and directed the New York City Department of Education Dance Institute: Based on the Katherine Dunham Model, for which she was awarded a DANA Foundation Grant.

Sherrod holds an Ed.D. in dance pedagogy and theory from Temple University.

Craig Cheifetz, M.D., associate dean for medical education, School of Medicine

Faced with forecasts of serious physician shortages, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) called on U.S. medical schools in 2006 to pursue a 30-percent increase in enrollment by the year 2016. Half of that growth has already occurred.

Much of the expansion has been accomplished through the growth of regional medical campuses (RMCs) – campuses geographically separate from the medical school’s main campus. Often, RMCs have missions that differ from their main campuses, especially in the areas of rural and community medicine. Up to now, there has been no an easy-to-use classification system to make those distinctions.

For the past two years, Cheifetz has chaired the AAMC’s Group on Regional Medical Campuses (GRMC). The GRMC is the national body representing regional medical campuses throughout the United States and Canada. In that role, he has led development of a system that classifies RMCs into one of four models — basic science, clinical, longitudinal or combined.

He described the process in the May issue of the Academic Medicine, the premier journal for medical educators.

The classification system will pave the way for research into RMCs’ impact on medical education. Even questions as basic as the number of RMCs and whether they are growing or shrinking in number have been difficult to answer until now.  

“The utility of the definition is in its simplicity and the practical ways in which it can be used in future research,” Cheifetz wrote in the report, “Regional Medical Campuses: A New Classification System.”

The first research study using the classification system is expected later this year. Deans were asked to apply the classification system to their own RMCs and to provide information ranging from student and faculty affairs to medical education and finances.

Cheifetz has overseen the development of the VCU medical school‘s Inova Campus since its earliest stages. Each year, two dozen third-year medical students and two dozen fourth-year medical students train at the branch campus at Inova Fairfax Hospital.