I hope everyone had some well deserved downtime over the summer and enjoyed the great weather in August. I know that several of you have been busy writing up your grant applications and please make sure that these are appropriately peer reviewed. Over the summer the STAR reports were completed and I had the opportunity to discuss them with your division/section heads. Those who have been selected to receive ARP merit increments will soon be informed by Dr. Grundy. Overall, this year the STAR reports seemed to have worked well, and

Dr. Subrata Ghosh, Zone Clinical Department Head, Department of Medicine

the majority have been completed comprehensively. The ARO provided me with a great opportunity to meet up with all the GFT members of the department and I enjoyed it. I appreciate the fact that many accommodated a very early morning appointment to meet me at very short notice. These have now been completed and passed on to the Faculty of Medicine. Those who filled up only 2010-11 will have their 2009-2010 data transferred from APR to ARO and Dr. Patel has been instrumental in organizing this process and contacting you. I thank her for all the work she has put into making this transition possible within such a short time-frame. In general, the feedback was positive for the new ARO, but the overwhelming request was to have the STAR and ARO integrated into one report –Dr. Patel is working on this important issue.

I am really pleased to welcome back Larry Neufeld who is now easing back into his position. His return will greatly strengthen the Department. My sincere thanks also to Mischelle Van Thiel who worked hard to complete the ARP budget as interim business manager in Larry's absence. I must also thank Steven Lansdell- Roll who provided support and help to Mischelle and the ARP team in completing the ARP budget, which is a formidable task.

I am looking forward to the Department of Medicine Retreat in December – we had to move the meeting to December to allow full participation of external invited speakers and moderators. This is a critical retreat which will formulate Department strategies in the short, medium and long term. Access, South Health Campus, Research College and ARP are all critical issues that we need to address.

I am really pleased that we have been able to appoint Dr Mustata as the Department of Medicine Site Chief at Rockyview – we now have a very strong team of site chiefs who are integral to co-ordination of department activities strategically. Over the Fall and Winter, I will attend as many divisional meeting as I can and also meet department members who I have not personally met. We are entering a very busy period and I am confident that this will be a very fruitful time.