It's been many years since Richard Weisman, Pharm. D., has been truly excited about the first day of school. But this week, when the Class of 2013 strides through the hallowed halls of the Miller School, Weisman will be waiting with anticipation. Although the freshmen will come from Pennsylvania, New York, as far away as California and nearly every state (Florida and UM are well represented), Weisman will know most of them-by name!
That's because Weisman took a heavily hands-on approach in selecting the Class of 2013, the first to be admitted with him at the helm. He spoke at length with many of them via telephone and spent a great deal of time with them when they visited the campus. So, though whittling down 5,000 applicants to get the magic 198 students was a demanding task, he considers it one of his most rewarding. (Forty-eight of the new students are enrolled at the Miller School campus at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton).
"It was a difficult job because we are really blessed with the quality of students we have applying to the program and we wish we could take a lot more than 198. But at the end of the day that's the number of chairs we have in the lecture halls and the laboratories," says Weisman, who was named associate dean of medical admissions last summer.
"On the other hand," he adds, "by the time you get down to the final 198 you get to know them very well. I have my stamp of approval on all of them and I believe, unless something major changes, they will be great medical students and make the school proud by becoming extremely competent and knowledgeable physicians."
He's even willing to go out on a limb: "I am biased, but this is going to be one of the better classes to have ever attended the Miller School of Medicine."
The rest of the University can take comfort in knowing that Weisman is extremely well qualified to be the associate dean for admissions. For over 10 years he has served on the medical school admissions committee, as a research associate professor of pediatrics, and as the director of the Florida Poison Information Center - Miami. A proven multi-tasker, he has retained the latter job and title, along with his new duties in admissions.
Weisman took over the Miller School's Office of Admissions upon the retirement of Robert Hinkley, Ph.D., whose three decades at the University included 17 years as associate dean for admissions. In choosing a successor, the search team wanted someone who would be able to fill Hinkley's legendary loafers while steering the office to becoming the gateway of an institution that would join the top tier of American medical schools.
Weisman impressed the search committee not just with his academic resume but also his superior management and technical experience. Weisman received his undergraduate degree from Temple University and his doctorate from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. He then completed a toxicology fellowship at New York University and Bellevue Hospital. He was asked to stay on at NYU and became the director of the New York City Department of Health, Poison Control Center. In this job, and in the similar position at UM, Weisman became not only a leading expert in toxicology, but also a master at handling and streamlining enormous amounts of data, a skill the search team knew would be critical in enrollment management. Weisman's wide experience includes being a Deputy Commander for one of the Department of Health and Human Services' Disaster Medical Assistance Teams.
"Managing the applications and admissions process is an enormous and complex responsibility, especially with our regional campus at Florida Atlantic University," says Mark O'Connell, M.D., senior associate dean for medical education. "Dr. Weisman's many years of service as chair of our admissions committee and his expertise in data management systems has already had an extremely positive effect on this year's admissions cycle and the quality of the class we are bringing in this year. We are most fortunate to have Rick as our dean for admissions."
Weisman is aware of the power that comes with his job but he says he prefers to consider it an "enormous responsibility." He shares these responsibilities with an admissions committee responsible for evaluating the thousands of applicants. The committee consists of 45 faculty members - representing nearly every department on the medical campus -- and four fourth-year medical students.
"We have one of the finest admissions committees anywhere," says Weisman. "The committee members all work very hard and are committed to interviewing hundreds of potential medical students to accurately sort the average applicants from the truly outstanding applicants."
Students must have the "academic credentials, energy, desire, perseverance and willingness to study, read and devote long hours to learning about human diseases and their treatments," Weisman says. Also important is the commitment to a student body that is diverse and well rounded. To that end, he wants to recruit students who can contribute to the rich ethnic and cultural diversity of the region and make the medical school a real-world amalgam. This is why he encourages students to continue doing things they have a passion for, whether jazz or gymnastics, while they go through the rigors of medical school.
"If we recruit an applicant who is a talented musician as part of the medical school class, we want the student to continue to be a good musician because it adds to the culture of the class and improves the student's personal perspective on humanity," Weisman says. "We don't ever want that to change.
"These future medical students are ultimately going to be responsible for taking care of the health of our generation as we get older, and one of the things we seek out in choosing a physician to take care of us is someone who is a special person - a good listener, smart, talented, empathetic, sympathetic, honest and honorable," adds Weisman. "We are going to be entrusting our lives to these future physicians so in the interviews we look for the qualities that we want our own physicians to have. In a lot of ways these qualities are as important as grades. The Class of 2013 has the grades - and these qualities."
