Medicovan: VCU new publications
Medicovan, the monthly newsletter for the MCV Campus from 1948-73 has now been added to the digital collection VCU News Publications. This collection also includes VCU Today, VCU Voice, VCU News, and UniverCity News–all of which were official university news sources.
According to the Digital Collection’s website, in the years following World War II, the administration of the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) sought to enhance communication among its growing faculty and staff through the publication of a monthly newsletter. The publication first appeared in February of 1948 under the masthead “Name Me, Please!” Ann Blanton, secretary in the St. Philip Hospital administrator’s office, won the naming contest with her suggestion of The Medicovan. For the next 25 years. Medicovan carried announcements, administrative messages, personnel updates, and news from the hospitals, departments, schools and other units at MCV. Following the creation of Virginia Commonwealth University in 1968, the Medicovan broadened its scope to include news of people and events on the Academic Campus of VCU. With the appearance of the new University newsletter, VCU Today, in May of 1972, the Medicovan was phased out.
The VCU News Publications collection contains a wealth of information on the University’s past. In addition to news stories, feature articles and event calendars, there are hundreds of images of campus life and of former students, staff, faculty and administrators. What might be most significant is the wide range of University reports that were published. Departments and schools also submitted articles and other news items of interest to the University community. Letters to the editor, editorials, and formal messages from deans and presidents are examples of some of the content found in this digitized collection.
The print issues of The Medicovan are housed in Special Collections and Archives at the Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences on the MCV campus. VCU Today, VCU Voice, UniverCity New and VCU News are available in Special Collections and Archives departments on both campuses.