Wow! I can hardly believe that it has been nearly a year since I took over as Director of the program… how quickly the time has flown by. Major events of the past season included writing the renewal application for our NIH MSTP grant and working with the MD/PhD Admissions process.

Ross Cagan, PhD, took up the post of Associate Dean of the Mount Sinai Graduate School of Biological Sciences last summer.

Do you think the current curriculum strikes a good balance between educating well-rounded scientists and preparing students for specific fields? What would you do to change it?

When I first took the Associate Dean position my most immediate priority – after meeting with the students – was to look in on the curriculum. It is better than I feared but not as effective as it could be. Every system runs down and needs to change periodically, and those running the courses have already taken several steps to improve it. In addition to canvassing the medical school, I assembled a team of Sinai colleagues and students to discuss improvements. We have taken a fresh look and developed a set of specific improvements. Basically, the goal has been to develop more coherence between the different sections and to make it more relevant to today's trainees. You’ll be hearing more about our plans shortly. Further down the line, I personally would like to see the curriculum shortened and intensified.