Sneak Peek - USA Health System Patient Shares His Story

William Bosarge, a patient at the University of South Alabama Medical Center, will be featured in an ad in this weekend's Press-Register. His wife, Latisha Bosarge, is a charge audit specialist with the USA Health Services Foundation. Click here to view William's story.

February Med School Café - 'New Developments in the Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis'

The February Med School Café lecture will feature Dr. Christopher Eckstein, assistant professor of neurology at the USA College of Medicine.

His lecture, titled “New Developments in the Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis,” will take place Feb. 23, 2012, at the Mobile Museum of Art in Mobile. Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m., and the presentation begins at noon.

Dr. Eckstein will discuss multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. During the talk, he will cover signs and symptoms of the disease, as well as provide information on novel treatments and therapies.

Dr. Eckstein earned his medical degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham. He completed neurology residency training at UAB and served as chief resident in neurology from 2008-2009. In addition, Dr. Eckstein completed a clinical fellowship at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in the division of neuroimmunology and infectious disease.

The Mobile Museum of Art is located at 4850 Museum Drive in Mobile.

The Med School Café lecture and lunch are provided free of charge, but reservations are required. For more information or to make reservations, please call Kim Partridge at (251) 460-7770 or e-mail kepartridge@usouthal.edu.

Med School Café is a free community lecture series sponsored by the USA Physicians Group. Each month, faculty from the USA College of Medicine share their expertise on a specific medical condition, providing insight on the latest treatment available.

USA Chapter of Gold Humanism Honor Society to Focus on Compassion

In honor of the Gold Humanism in Medicine Honor Society's (GHHS) 2nd annual Solidarity Day for Compassionate Patient Care, the University of South Alabama chapter of GHHS has several activities planned to remind students and employees of the importance of compassion in medicine.

Last year, over 40 schools and medical facilities across the country responded with their acts of solidarity on February 14. This year, USA's chapter will hold a "Focus on Compassion" week from February 13-17.

On February 14, medical students are asked to wear red to symbolize unity and to act as a reminder of the importance of compassion and love in health care. Other activities are also planned such as providing puzzles at hospital waiting rooms and distributing small bags of candy and treats to patients.

The senior medical students of the USA chapter of GHHS are Britni Bradshaw, Travis Harris, Antwan Hogue, Stephen Marbut, Cody Penrod, Melissa Reimer, Dianna Thomas, Ashley Weil, and Ryan Weldon.

Click here to learn more about the USA chapter of GHHS. For more information on the "Focus on Compassion" week, contact Britni Bradshaw at bmb802@jaguar1.usouthal.edu.

AAMC Representatives to Present Two Workshops

The University of South Alabama College of Medicine will host two workshops featuring representatives from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

The first workshop, titled "MedEdPORTAL: Advancing Learning Through Educational Scholarship," will take place Feb. 28, 2012, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The workshop will provide an overview of the educational scholarship framework that supports MedEdPORTAL, a free peer-reviewed publication service and repository for medical and oral health teaching materials. In addition, the workshop will provide a walk through of the author submission experience and a website demonstration.

The second workshop, titled "Preparing Materials for Submission," will take place Feb. 29, 2012, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The workshop will guide participants through the process of preparing their materials for the MedEdPORTAL copyright/patient privacy screening and peer review process.

Both workshops will be held at the College of Medicine Learning Center adjacent to the Baugh Biomedical Library.

The workshops will be presented by Emily Novinskie, managing editor of MedEdPORTAL, and Matt Matarozza, staff editor of MedEdPORTAL.

Novinskie joined AAMC in 2008 as the quality control specialist for MedEdPORTAL. As the quality control specialist, she was responsible for screening MedEdPORTAL submissions for potential copyright and patient privacy violations.

Currently, Novinskie serves as the managing editor and works closely with the MedEdPORTAL director, editor-in-chief and peer review staff to ensure the goals for the online publication service are met. She oversees the peer review process and manages 30 associate editors and over 800 peer reviewers.

Prior to joining the MedEdPORTAL team, Novinskie received her B.S. degree in biology from Villanova University and earned her M.P.H. degree in healthcare management and policy from Drexel University.

Matarozza is responsible for the entire life cycle of a publication, conducting the copyright screening, ferrying it through peer review, and publishing the resource online. Before joining the MedEdPORTAL team, Matarozza spent several years as a professional journalist, serving as editor on trade publications and online newsletters.

MedEdPORTAL is an open educational resource and publication service provided by AAMC in partnership with the American Dental Education Association. MedEdPORTAL's mission is to promote educational scholarship and collaboration by facilitating the open exchange of high quality, peer reviewed health education teaching and assessment resources.

All College of Medicine faculty members are welcome to attend. Interested participants are encouraged to bring potential materials for submission. Please bring your laptop for interactive purposes.

For more information, contact Dr. Susan LeDoux, associate dean for medical education at the USA College of Medicine, at 460-6762.

Retirement Reception Honors Edna Douglas

The University of South Alabama Health System hosted a retirement reception honoring Edna Douglas, manager of clinical operations for the department of internal medicine. The reception was held on Feb. 3, 2012, at the USA Medical Center.

Douglas retired after 42 years of service to the university. Snapshots from the event are shown below.

Douglas (in pink) greets guests at her retirement reception.