Question #1 - Proper format
Your example would be correct. You do not want to mix "Dr." and "M.D." in the same name. If you remove the em dashes, be sure to add a comma after "M.D."
Question #2 - Is a comma needed?
Yes, put a comma there. There's a new subject ("I"), a dependent clause following "twelve," and two conjuctions relating to time ("since" and "when"). The comma helps the reader to separate the thoughts well.
Careful, though. You rightly use "have" but then go to a singular "interest." Better: Media and communications hae been interests of mine since.....
Question #3 - Work speak?
We will call this "work-speak" -- which is more often than not grammatically incorrect. "Pending" in context is a preposition meaning "while awaiting." One would correctly say, "the work is pending submission."
Question #4 - Are my sentences clear?
1. There is no grammatical mistake in your sentence. And our opinion is that no reasonable reader will think Anne is being hopeful. You can assure this, though, by simply recasting your sentence: We hope that Anne will be able to understand that.
2. Again, no reasonable reader will think the dogs are doing the considering. A twit or a person who can only think concretely will reword it as: When one considers the size of dogs, one is surprised to learn how strong dogs are.
But the solution is wordy and unwarranted. Tell your source to take his or her head out of the bucket of concrete and read normally!
Question #5 - Capital or Hyphenate?
We hereby appoint you as the replacement fifth-grade teacher. Please assume your post immediately.
It's clear that "all-around" is a compound adjective in need of hyphenation. The term "all-around competition" is generic. Not that Wikipedia is a primary source, but check out http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnastics_at_the_2012_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Women%27s_artistic_individual_all-around for an example.
