News

Quick Takes: Medical College Group to Study Conflicts of Interest, Virginia Professors Object to Semester at Sea Link

February 22, 2006

The Association of American Medical Colleges announced Tuesday that it would create a special panel to examine potential conflicts of interest in the relationships between pharmaceutical companies and medical schools, teaching hospitals and their employees. Jordan J. Cohen, the association's president, said its executive committee had agreed to establish the committee in the wake of an recent studies suggesting that the drug industry's marketing efforts could undermine the objectivity of medical educators and future doctors.
Some University of Virginia professors are protesting the institution's decision to become the new academic home of Semester at Sea, The Daily Progress reported. The program moved to Virginia from the University of Pittsburgh and some U.Va. faculty members say that they were not consulted -- a statement disputed by university officials.

— Doug Lederman

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Posted by Larry on February 22, 2006 at 10:50am EST
Well, it is about time people start discussing whether SaS is just a cash-generating machine, or really adds anything to scholarship beyond being a collegiate love boat. I don’t have a position on this, but I think that people will need to prove (not just via student testimonials and balance sheets) the worth of putting classrooms on ships.

Larry ... No Position???
Posted by RWH on February 22, 2006 at 12:40pm EST
Come on Larry, one term of Semester at Sea is just a small fraction of the eight terms of Matriculation at Malibu (see http://www.pepperdine.edu/ and be sure to take the Virtual Tour).
So, what will it be ... one semester of SaS ... or eight semesters of MaM?

Posted by Larry on February 22, 2006 at 4:20pm EST
Well, I obviously don’t know enough about the SaS to come to a conclusion about it, but here is what I know. Ships, by their very nature are 1) small; and 2) not conducive to having professors with families inhabit them. Therefore, the ship probably lacks a large library and other facilities that students need to learn. (Yes, even undergraduate students need libraries and labs.) Likewise, it is doubtful that the SaS can attract mid-level and above full-time professors, who, like most are surrounded by families who need to do family-like things. Now, it may be possible that the SaS makes up for these inherent shortcomings, but I don’t see how it does it. Instead, it looks like a party boat. But, I might be wrong.
Now, I know, and you know that many schools are really party schools. But even they have large libraries and full-time faculties and such.

Posted by Katelyn on February 23, 2006 at 8:35am EST
Larry,
Large libraries and full-time faculty? That's what makes a strong program? Doubtful. Put some ownership on the student - a college education is greatly affected by what resources the student chooses to take advantage of during their collegiate career.
SAS provides an opportunity of a lifetime - a learning experience you simply can't gain from a textbook. Education is not as linear as textbooks and labs. There's a lot more to learn out there...

puzzeling
Posted by Brown on February 23, 2006 at 11:20am EST
It is puzzeling that prior to recently becoming partners with Sem at Sea, UVA faculty and administration did not consider Semester at Sea a valid international experience to be categorized among study abroad options for UVA students. The international office neither promoted, nor approved Sem at Sea. Any UVA student who demanded to participate in Sem at Sea was directed through a maze of hush-hush back doors to get transfer credit after taking an official leave from campus. Now it is being publicized as a means of internationalizing UVA. This is puzzeling to students and faculty alike.

Posted by Larry on February 28, 2006 at 3:50pm EST
Katelyn, Can you be a bit more specific than saying that SaS is the “opportunity of a lifetime.” Students are on a tour with other students, pretending to learn. Is there ANYTHING on this boat that can’t be done elsewhere. You also dismissed by arguments by saying, “doubtful.” Can you tell me why libraries are not important to colleges. I am genuinely interested in what a professor or graduate student (not a partying undergrad) has to say.