Nicholas Tinker Elected President of Alabama Academy of Family Physicians Student Chapter

Nicholas Tinker, a second-year medical student at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, was recently elected president of the student chapter of the Alabama Academy of Family Physicians. He is the first USA medical student to hold an office in this organization.

After meeting with medical students at the conference and learning more about family medicine, Tinker decided to run for president of the student chapter. Every summer at the annual Alabama Academy of Family Physician conference in Destin, Fla., a new president is elected.

The responsibilities of president include being the voice for the student members from Alabama at the statewide board meetings, which are held three times a year, as well as having a vote on the board for all other elected topics and discussions. Tinker will also inform people, especially his fellow medical students, of the organization and continue to spark interest in family medicine among students. In addition, he will emphasize the need and benefits of being a family physician in the state of Alabama.

“I am most excited about the opportunity to lead an organization that I am passionate about and to have the opportunity to spread interest in family medicine in the state because I know there is a great need for it,” Tinker said. “I believe this position will enrich my experience in medical school by allowing me to gain experience in leadership and also allowing me to gain more knowledge in a field of medicine that I am very interested in.”

USA Research Team Awarded $87,000 in Statewide Competition

The Alabama Launchpad Competition awarded SpectraCyte $87,000 for its research into creating advanced endoscopic imaging technology for cancer detection. From left, Dr. Thomas Rich, USA associate professor of pharmacology; Gov. Robert Bentley; Jim Byard Jr., director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs; and EDPA President Bill Taylor. Photo courtesy of Gary Tramontina for Alabama Launchpad.

A University of South Alabama research team recently was awarded $87,000 by the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama for research into creating advanced endoscopic imaging technology for cancer detection.

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Mobile Medical Museum Lecture Series Continues with 'Creek Indian Medicine'

The second lecture of the Mobile Medical Museum's Fall/Winter Lecture Series will take place Oct. 21, 2014, at 7 p.m. at the USA Archaeology Museum.

The lecture, co-sponsored by the USA Archaeology Museum, will feature Robert Thrower, tribal historic preservation officer, Poarch Creek tribal member, and traditional practitioner. His lecture, titled "Creek Indian Medicine," will focus on indigenous plants used by the Creek for healing and health.

For more information, call 460-6106.

USA Biomedical Librarian Attends NLM Biomedical Informatics Course

Andrea Wright, information services coordinator and technology librarian at the USA Biomedical Library, recently attended the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Georgia Biomedical Informatics Course in Young Harris, Ga. The course, designed for medical educators, medical librarians, medical administrators, and clinical practitioners, was a week-long experience applying informatics theory and hands-on practice to solving current health care issues.

“Some of the courses on information resources will help me directly in my work as a reference librarian, connecting faculty and students to available biomedical data and information,” said Wright. “While it’s hard to pick a part of the week that was most informative,” Wright believed that “being able to connect the people at USA with innovative methods and ideas in their research is the most exciting part of the experience.”

The course covered topics from genomics, to natural language processing, to electronic health records and health information exchanges. “There were other courses dealing with management and processes for technology implementation that will be useful as I perform my work engaging with technology in the library, and consulting with patrons about technology in research, teaching, and practice,” Wright added.

USA Welcomes Julie Day

Julie Day, HTL, was recently appointed as a pathologists’ assistant at the University of South Alabama Medical Center. She is the first board certified pathologists’ assistant in the USA Health System.

Day earned her American Society for Clinical Pathology board certification from Duke University in Durham, N.C. She also received her Master of Health Science from Duke University and her certificate in health assistance at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C.

A pathologists’ assistant is a highly trained allied health professional who provides various services under the direction and supervision of a pathologist. In 2005, pathologists' assistants became eligible for certification by the ASCP. As of January of 2013, there were 1,770 certified pathologists' assistants in the United States.

Day received her certification in histotechnology from the American Society for Clinical Pathology in 2012. She is a member of the American Association of Pathologists’ Assistants and the American Society for Clinical Pathology.