Indiana University School of Medicine Opens Ombuds Office

The state medical school in Perdue has named Joseph DiMicco as its first Ombuds. He will work with about 5,000 students, residents, fellows, graduate students, and faculty and other academic appointees (all but staff), and practice to IOA standards. 

DiMicco has been an Emeritus Professor since 2012 after 32 years of teaching pharmacology. According to the IUSM Ombuds website: 

While the freedom of his Professor Emeritus status sustained him quite happily in retirement at first, he found that, increasingly, he missed his connection to his former colleagues and especially to the students. Consequently, when he was offered the opportunity to serve as the school’s first Ombudsperson, he eagerly pursued it and was ultimately selected. He hopes to cultivate a sense of safety, confidentiality and empathy as he and other key contributors shape the office in these first months and years. 

DiMicco gradauted from Tufts University in 1969, was drafted into military service, and subsequently earned his PhD at Georgetown University. (IUSM Ombuds.)