School of Rural Public Health students Julie Parrish and Caesar Ricci spent Summer 2003 working in the Dominican Republic as part of the L.T. Jordan Institute for International Awareness International Service Program. Activities such as conducting door-to-door health interviews for the implementation of a new social security system; teaching health sessions to a women's development group; and conducting surveys on teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and contraceptive use filled their time.

The Joint Admissions Medical Program (JAMP) is a program created by the Texas Legislature to identify and recruit highly qualified, economically disadvantaged students who want to be physicians. The program provides these students with scholarships, offers mentoring and summer enrichment experiences and guarantees admission to one of the eight Texas medical schools to participating students who meet the requirements. In 2003, the College of Medicine hosted 10 JAMP students, offering them an intense five weeks of study and clinical exposure.

Baylor College of Dentistry second-year dental student Sarah Pollan was named a winner of a 2003 Summer Dental Student Research Award from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR). She completed an eight-week internship at NIDCR's Oral Infection and Immunity Branch in Bethesda, Maryland, where, under the guidance of an institute mentor, she conducted research on proteasome inhibition's impact on oral cancer.

College of Medicine students at the A&M Health Science Center were recognized by the Texas Department of Health for their Health Circus Program. It was described as the "most non-traditional, more unique program" of all programs providing immunization services. Health Circus is designed to educate rural communities about the importance of immunizations, regular health and dental care, better dietary habits and financial options for providing care for one's family.

The School of Rural Public Health celebrated the first graduation of students from its distance education sites in Corpus Christi, Kingsville, Laredo and McAllen in May 2003. The school initiated its distance education program in 2000. Thanks to interactive video technology, many students who would have been unable to attend class in a traditional setting earned a graduate degree.

Third-year Baylor College of Dentistry dental student Joe Rawlins received a National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research Individual Predoctoral Dental Scientist Fellowship in June 2003. The fellowship allows Rawlins to pursue a dental degree and a doctorate of philosophy in an integrated dental and graduate research training program offered through the college and its graduate program in biomedical sciences. Rawlins is the third student at the college to receive the honor since the program's inception in 1999.

In one of several accomplishments marking the School of Rural Public Health's fifth-year anniversary, the school received approval in December 2002 to establish the Alpha Rho chapter of Delta Omega, the honorary society for graduate studies in public health. Membership in Delta Omega reflects the dedication of an individual to quality in the field of public health and to protection and advancement of the health of all people. SRPH Alpha Rho inductees for 2003 included one faculty member, seven graduating students and six alumni.

An integral part of the Institute of Biosciences and Technology's mission is graduate education. Reflecting the strength and growth of IBT's faculty, the number of graduate students has more than doubled since 1999.

For the 10th year in a row in 2003, Baylor College of Dentistry's Lambda Lambda Chapter of Delta Sigma Delta International Dental Fraternity received first place in the annual Chapter Awards Contest from the Supreme Chapter, which governs the fraternity internationally. By recognizing the chapter's participation in national, regional and local activities, the award signifies the chapter is one of the best in the nation.

Two graduate students at the Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Yi Jeremy Cai and Lewis Joe Stafford, received the competitive Graduate Student/ Postdoctoral Travel Award from the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology to present their work at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology meeting held in April 2003 in San Diego, California. At IBT they are in the laboratory of Associate Professor Mingyao Liu, Ph.D.

At a meeting in January 2003 in Austin, the medical student section of the Texas Medical Association selected the College of Medicine's chapter as Chapter of the Year. The Chapter of the Year award was presented at the TexMed Conference in April 2003 in San Antonio.

Special Olympics Special Smiles was a rousing success for athletes and volunteers alike when Baylor College of Dentistry sponsored the event for the fourth year in May 2003. Dental and dental hygiene students interacted with the athletes and became more aware of the oral health needs of this special patient population. The event drew 328 Special Olympics athletes who were given dental screenings by student teams of two. Baylor College of Dentistry volunteers included 41 students, 33 staff members and eight faculty members.

Graduating medical students enter a nationwide matching program that determines where they will serve as medical residents following graduation. Match results for the College of Medicine's Class of 2003 came in March 2003. All 68 graduates received matches with residency programs nationwide with the highest percentage, 49 percent (33 students), headed to primary care, which includes family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology. Texas remains the home of 33 resident doctors from the class, with others traveling as far west as California, and as far east as New York.

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