Thursday, August 4, 2011

Medical Student Research Day Set for August 5

The University of South Alabama College of Medicine’s 38th annual Medical Student Research Day will take place Friday, Aug. 5, 2011, in the Medical Sciences Building. Oral presentations will begin at 9 a.m. and poster presentations will begin at noon.

The event will feature Dr. Talmadge King, the Julius R. Krevans Distinguished Professor in Internal Medicine and chair of the department of medicine at the University of California in San Francisco. His lecture, “Physician-Scientist: Pursuit of a Career in Patient-Oriented Research,” will take place at 11 a.m. in the Medical Sciences Building Auditorium.

The USA Summer Research Program is a 10-week program that allows medical students to gain a better appreciation for biomedical research and the contribution it makes to the applied science that is needed to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

For more information, click here.

USA College of Medicine Assistant Dean Co-Authors Book

Carl Taylor, assistant dean of the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, director of the Center for Strategic Health Innovation and director of the National Center for Disaster Medical Response, co-authored a book titled “Getting It Done: Experienced Healthcare Leaders Reveal Field-Tested Strategies for Clinical and Financial Success.” The book was published June 30, 2011.

“When asked if I would be one of the 16 chapter authors, I accepted right away,” Taylor said. “My chapter is on the keys to successful disaster response. Hospitals are faced with challenges due to disasters and I wanted to offer some simple practical steps to help readers in preparedness and response.”

“Getting It Done” provides real-life examples and recommendations for health care professionals on how to react to disruptive challenges. Taylor applies his experiences from the disasters in Haiti and on the Gulf Coast to help health care leaders plan for an uncertain future.

“In some respects, disasters are simply our day jobs under far more stress,” he said. “However, disasters put health care professionals under a tremendous burden to manage far more patients without the things we take for granted such as working phones, full power to run diagnostics, supplies and other tools.”

“The chapter was several months in the drafting in part because it’s based upon experiences in disaster response, and as a disaster occurs we learn or at least observe more,” Taylor said. “Even now if I were writing the chapter again, I would add some of the wonderful stories we have seen from the hospitals in Alabama impacted by the tornadoes of late April.”

The Center for Strategic Health Innovation also runs the Advanced Regional Response Training Center (ARRTC), a federally funded disaster response program housed on USA’s campus.

“Through ARRTC, we have trained more than 8,000 health care professionals over the past seven years,” Taylor said. “‘Getting It Done’ is really a compilation of our teaching. More importantly it is a compilation of the stories of our attendees, many of whom have worked in the health care field for numerous hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and oil spills.”

For more information visit http://www.ncdmr.org/.

New Administrative Appointments Announced

Dr. Jonathan G. Scammell, professor and chair of the department of comparative medicine at the University of South Alabama, has been appointed assistant dean for admissions, effective Aug. 1, 2011.

He will lead the effort to review and modify the admissions policies, procedures, and practices towards the goal of admitting a diverse group of students who will successfully enter the practice of medicine.

Dr. Scammell joined the faculty in the USA College of Medicine in 1986 as assistant professor of pharmacology. In addition to his position as professor and chair of comparative medicine, Dr. Scammell also serves as professor of pharmacology and a member of the graduate program in basic medical sciences.

He has served on and chaired the admissions committee and has been involved in the interview process and recruitment of new students for the University’s Early Acceptance Program (EAP).  Dr. Scammell brings a faculty perspective, extensive academic and administrative experience, and a strong record and commitment to excellence to this new position.

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The USA College of Medicine has created a new Office for Diversity and Cultural Competence that will be headed by an assistant dean. Dr. Johnson Haynes, professor of internal medicine at the USA College of Medicine, will oversee this office, effective Aug. 1, 2011.

Dr. Haynes will provide the leadership needed to improve the recruitment and retention of a diverse group of students, faculty, and staff, together with enhancing the curriculum and training programs in order to improve the cultural competence of our graduating students and residents.

The new assistant dean will work with the Center for Healthy Communities to maximize efforts toward enhancing the pipeline of students drawn from underserved communities, especially those suffering from health disparities; the Admissions Office of the College of Medicine to ensure that the admissions process provides increased focus on admitting students who will add to the diversity of the school; and the Offices of Student Affairs, Undergraduate Medical Education and Graduate Medical Education  to improve retention and performance of students and residents and enhance awareness and understanding of issues of cultural competence in preparing them to enter the practice of medicine in the 21st Century.

Dr. Haynes is a 1980 graduate of the USA College of Medicine and joined the faculty in 1984 following completion of a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in pulmonary medicine. He currently holds the positions of professor of internal medicine in the division of pulmonary and critical care medicine, as well as director of the USA Sickle Cell Center. He brings a wealth of academic and administrative experience and both the interest and commitment to this new and expanded effort to improve diversity and enhance cultural competence of students, faculty, and staff within the College.

Free Community Lecture On Weight Loss

Dr. William O. Richards, professor and chair of surgery at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, will present a free community lecture, titled “Bariatric Surgery for Morbid Obesity,” on August 5, 2011, at 12 p.m.

The lecture, open to anyone interested in learning more about bariatric surgery for weight loss, will take place in the Mastin Professional Building Room 203 at 2451 Fillingim St. in Mobile.

Dr. Richards’s clinical interests focus on surgical treatment for Type 2 diabetes and treating motility disorders of the gastrointestinal tract using minimally invasive surgical procedures. He has performed thousands of laparoscopic procedures since 1990, including numerous laparoscopic bariatric procedures.

For more information on the lecture, call (251) 471-7413 or e-mail vheinl@usouthal.edu.

College of Medicine Welcomes Dr. Salil Gulati

Dr. Salil Gulati was recently appointed assistant professor of surgery at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine. A plastic surgeon, Dr. Gulati will support the USA Burn Center and the USA Plastic Surgery Center.

Prior to his appointment to USA, Dr. Gulati was chief house staff in plastic surgery at the Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, N.Y. He also completed a clinical and research fellowship in burns at the division of plastic surgery at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield, Ill.

Dr. Gulati earned his medical degree from Grant Medical College at the University of Bombay in Maharashtra, India. He completed his residency training in surgery at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y.

Dr. Gulati is board certified by the American Board of Surgery. In addition, he holds memberships with the American Burn Association, International Society for Burn Injuries, American Medical Association, and the American College of Surgeons.

Dr. Gulati is accepting new patients. For appointments, call (251) 445-8282.