TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. Richard Hoppmann, associate dean for medical education and academic affairs at the University of South Carolina’s School of Medicine, will be the featured presenter at the sixth annual Susan and Gaylon McCollough Medical Scholars Forum Feb. 1 and 2 on The University of Alabama campus.
The forum begins at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 1 in 107 Shelby Hall.
This year’s forum, titled “The Arts and Medicine,” addresses the integral role the arts play in educating doctors and practicing medicine. Hoppmann will also discuss how physical and mental diseases impacted the work of artists and how the masters of art show pathology in their art work.
“So often with medical education we focus so much on the sciences,” Hoppmann said. “The humanities have so much to bring in the education and practice of medicine and the enjoyment of medicine. For example, the observation skills one uses in looking at a painting are similar to those used when diagnosing a patient or reading an x-ray.”
Hoppmann has a national reputation in the field of medical problems of performing artists. He has authored numerous journal articles and book chapters in the field and has served as president of the Performing Arts Medical Association.
Hoppmann earned his Doctor of Medicine from the Medical University of South Carolina and his bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina, Columbia. He completed his residency in internal medicine at East Carolina University School of Medicine and a fellowship in rheumatology at Wake Forest University. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and is board certified in internal medicine and the subspecialty of rheumatology.
He has been honored with multiple “teacher of the year” awards from students and medical residents, has been listed in “Best Doctors in America,” and received the School of Medicine’s Dean’s Distinguished Service Award. He has also been actively involved in the South Carolina Medical Association, having recently served as president of the association’s foundation.
He played a critical role in fostering and implementing a partnership between the USC School of Medicine and GE Healthcare regarding ultrasound units, making the medical school one of two worldwide selected by GE Healthcare to participate in this program. Through the arrangement, USC students use ultrasound units provided by GE and then give feedback to GE engineers. The engineers then use the information to make design changes to the ultrasound units to better accommodate clinical uses.
Other guests of the McCollough Forum include Dr. Charles Ford, an authority on the psychology of deception, and Dr. Alan Blum, a professor at UA’s College of Community Health Sciences and founder of the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society at UA.
The McCollough Medical Scholars Forum, sponsored by UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, was established by UA alumni Dr. Gaylon McCollough and his wife, Susan.
Gaylon McCollough is an Alabaman physician, the president of the McCollough Plastic Surgery Clinic, and the founder of the McCollough Institute for Appearance and Health in Gulf Shores. A 1965 honors graduate of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, he served as an offensive center for the Crimson Tide football team and was named to the All-American Football Team in 1964. Since entering practice, he has obtained international recognition as a surgeon and teacher through his affiliation with the largest association of specialty plastic surgeons in the world.
The forum’s purpose is to give students an understanding of the importance of the scientific and humanistic aspects of healthcare. High school students, UA pre-health professions students, and past forum participants will join UA faculty representing diverse disciplines for the event.
Check-in and registration begins at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 1 and continues on Feb. 2 at 10 a.m. in 107 Shelby Hall. The forum is free and open to the public.
The College of Arts and Sciences is Alabama’s largest liberal arts college and the University’s largest division with 350 faculty and 6,600 students.
Contact
Sarah Colwell, College of Arts and Sciences, 205/348-8539, sccolwell@as.ua.edu