Catherine Fuchs, MD, has been named co-chair of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Admissions Committee effective July 1.
Fuchs will succeed Alice Coogan, MD, professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, who is completing her four-year term as co-chair. Coogan was recently appointed to serve as the vice chair for Anatomic Pathology; executive medical director of Anatomic Pathology and director of the Division of Anatomic Pathology in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology.
“Alice has done a phenomenal job in her four years as Admissions Committee co-chair. Under her constant, committed and skilled leadership we have recruited a diverse pool of gifted and inspiring students who will become physician leaders of the future. I am truly grateful for her outstanding service,” said Bonnie Miller, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Health Sciences Education for Vanderbilt University and Executive Vice President for Educational Affairs for Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Fuchs has been on the faculty since 1998 and serves as the director of the Child and Adolescent Consult-Liaison Service to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. She teaches in both the general psychiatry residency and the child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship as well as in the medical school, and her clinical research is in the area of pediatric delirium.
She is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (DFAACAP) and serves on their national committee for Transitional Age Youth, with a special interest in the developmental transition to young adulthood. Fuchs is the former training director for both child and adolescent psychiatry and for general psychiatry.
“Vanderbilt University School of Medicine provides a unique learning environment with an innovative curriculum; it is a setting of tremendous opportunity for integrating diverse ideas in a setting that challenges the learner to work collaboratively while growing in knowledge and experience,” Fuchs said.
“I am excited about the opportunity to participate in the recruitment and development of medical students, each with a unique background, interests and skills, with the goal of a class consisting of individuals committed to individual and team learning and to the opportunity to contribute to shaping the future of health care.”
Fuchs will serve on the Admissions Committee with co-chair Joey Barnett, PhD, professor of Pharmacology.
The admissions committee has the responsibility of reviewing medical school applications and recommending those applicants considered most qualified for admission. The chairs continually review the entire admissions process, recruit committee members, conduct training sessions and lead committee meetings.
VUSM receives approximately 6,000 applications from across the U.S. and internationally each year for fewer than 100 spots in the first-year class.
