Deans from across the South tour ECU’s Health Sciences Campus
More than a dozen deans from colleges and universities across the South descended on East Carolina University’s Health Science Campus last week as ECU’s College of Allied Health Sciences hosted the annual conference for the Southern Association of Health Professional Deans at Academic Health Centers.
The college — the largest and most academically diverse college of allied health professions in the state of North Carolina — used the visit as an opportunity to showcase not only its facility and programs along with ECU’s vibrant Health Sciences Campus, but also the rest of the university, the city of Greenville and eastern North Carolina.
When the deans arrived, they were greeted with a spread of eastern North Carolina barbecue, fried chicken and a host of traditional local sides, including Brunswick stew.
“I think the deans were very appreciative and liked the fact that we provided for them, literally, a taste of East Carolina,” said Dr. Robert Orlikoff, dean of ECU’s College of Allied Health Sciences and association’s current chair.
While the taste of eastern North Carolina was nice, what the deans had the opportunity to witness on ECU’s Health Sciences Campus was even better.
“What unifies the deans in this association is that they all represent health professions in a university that has a medical school and academic health center. So, these are pretty impactful colleges and schools, scattered throughout the South,” Orlikoff said. “But in our particular instance, we have more programs that work together and are dedicated to prevention, primary care, rehabilitation and health administration. And I think they were particularly impressed by the fact that we could take such diverse programs and diverse students, and work interprofessionally – not only within the college, but across the Health Sciences Campus and in many instances, across the university.”
On the second day of their visit, the visiting deans heard from ECU’s Interim Vice Chancellor of Health Sciences Dr. Ron Mitchelson, ECU School of Dental Medicine Dean Dr. Greg Chadwick and Dr. Michael Waldrum, dean of ECU’s Brody School of Medicine and CEO of Vidant Health.
“This was really an opportunity for the College of Allied Health Sciences to show off what we’re able to do in a rural area while being very heavily mission driven,” Orlikoff said. “And being able to show the professional diversity of our college, in the context of our close relationship to College of Nursing, School of Dental Medicine, the Brody School of Medicine and the creation of ECU Health, was really a unique opportunity to highlight who we are, what we currently do, our successes and what we’re building for in the future.”
The association’s meetings are typically held in urban centers or at a state’s “flagship” university, so Orlikoff said this visit was an excellent opportunity to showcase ECU and its commitment to serving people in rural and underserved communities.
“Most of these deans had never visited Greenville, but they told me that they were so terribly impressed and that none of them wants to volunteer to host the meeting next year because they don’t think that they could reach the bar that ECU set for them,” he said. “So from my perspective, I think we have really placed ECU on the map and we’re at the table when they talk about health professions integrated into a health sciences campus, and we really do rank among the best colleges of allied health at academic health centers.”
Dr. David Brown, senior vice president and dean of The School of Health Professions at University Texas Medical Branch, visited Greenville in 1976 while still in high school as a participant in a National Science Foundation training program in physics and astronomy.
“My recent return to campus left me with a sense of awe at the transformation of the environment to a campus with state-of-the-art science, cultural and medical facilities,” Brown said. “I must congratulate all the people who had the vision to create a world-class learning and health care environment over the past 46 years!”
ECU’s College of Allied Health Sciences recently hosted more than a dozen deans from colleges across the South for a three-day visit to the Greenville. (Photos by Cliff Hollis)