USA College of Medicine to Host Retirement Reception for Dr. Hattie Myles

The University of South Alabama College of Medicine will host a retirement reception honoring Dr. Hattie Myles, assistant dean for student affairs and educational enrichment at the USA College of Medicine, on March 31, 2017. The event will be held from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Terrace on the second floor of the Student Center on USA’s main campus.

Dr. Myles joined the USA College of Medicine in 1992 and has made significant contributions to higher education and the community, particularly in the area of diversity and inclusion.  She has been involved with the USA College of Medicine in numerous capacities, serving as minority outreach officer and co-director of the community engagement core of the USA College of Medicine Center of Excellence.

In addition to her leadership roles at the College of Medicine, Dr. Myles has served as adjunct graduate professor in the College of Education, an integral investigator for the Pipeline Program at the Center for Healthy Communities, as well as principal investigator for the Summer Research Apprenticeship Program grant and the Health Careers Opportunity Program grant.

Dr. Myles earned her associate’s degree from Southwest Mississippi Junior College in Summit, Miss., and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Miss. Her educational career continued in 1978, as she earned her master’s degree in education from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La., and her doctorate in higher education administration and student personnel in 1988 from the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss.

Dr. Myles has been recognized on numerous occasions for her achievements in higher education and the community.  She was recognized in 2013 as an outstanding community leader with the Health and Humanitarian Award given by the Gulf Region Organization of Nigerians and Americans.  She is also a graduate of both Leadership Mobile and Leadership Alabama. In 2014, Alabama Governor Dr. Robert Bentley appointed Dr. Myles to the Board of Trustees for Alabama Agriculture and Mechanical University in Normal, Ala.

She has also played an active role in the community, serving on the Allocations Board for the United Way of Southwest Alabama; chairperson of the Greater Mobile Big Brother Big Sister Board; Quality Assurance Board of Mobile DHHR; and board member of the Mobile YMCA.

Dr. Lee Grimm Talks Compassionate Care

The University of South Alabama chapter of the Gold Humanism in Medicine Honor Society (GHHS) recently hosted a lecture and lunch featuring Dr. Lee Grimm, assistant professor of surgery at the USA College of Medicine.

At the event, Dr. Grimm presented “Compassionate Care in the Medical Field” to first-and-second-year medical students.  He discussed the importance of humanism, compassion and medical care in developing nations.

Dr. Grimm said compassionate care is realizing that patients are not strange vehicles carrying a disease that physicians are tasked to eradicate, but they are dignified human beings fully worthy of respect.“Compassionate care is recognizing the whole person— their sorrows, joys, fears and beliefs,” he said. “Most importantly, it is a desire and action to help, heal and enter into a moral friendship based on wisdom, candor and respect.”

According to Dr. Grimm, practicing compassion in health care is beneficial because it can prevent lawsuits, improve business and help prevent burnout. “Numerous studies in medical literature over the years all point out that the best way to avoid a lawsuit is not to be a perfect physician that never makes a mistake or has a bad outcome,” he said. “Instead, being perceived by your patient as an honest, compassionate and engaged communicator that clearly has their best interest at heart is the best protection against lawsuits.”

Dr. Grimm recently returned from a medical mission trip to Rwanda, which he said forced him to step outside of his comfort zone and emphasized the importance of demonstrating compassion in health care. “Rwanda is an amazing experience, and I would strongly encourage everyone to consider participating in mission trips,” he said. “If you really want a crash course in compassionate care, you will learn it in a Third World country.”

The lecture was an extension of Solidarity Week, an annual movement that encourages medical schools and patient care facilities around the country to show the importance of kindness to patients.

Last month, GHHS members participated in several activities to remind students and employees of the importance of compassion in medicine during Solidarity Week.

Watch Dr. Grimm's presentation here.

Learn more about GHHS here and Solidarity Week at USA here.

Mobile Medical Museum Opening New Exhibit

The Mobile Medical Museum will open the Josiah Clark Nott Pathological Specimens, an exhibit of historical artifacts from the Alabama Museum of the Health Sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham on March 24, 2017. Dr. Charles Rodning, professor of surgery at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine and Mobile Medical Museum board of trustees president, is hosting the exhibit.

The Josiah Clark Nott Pathological Specimens will be on display through Sept. 29, 2017, in the Mobile Medical Museum’s newly named Mary Elizabeth and Charles Bernard Rodning Gallery. The exhibit will provide visitors of all ages with a rare encounter of extraordinary anatomical art and a deep insight into one of the most important eras in our region’s medical history.

The Josiah Clark Nott Pathological Specimens includes 12 wax anatomical models that were purchased by Dr. Nott in 1859 for the Medical College of Alabama in Mobile. These lifelike models - still sealed in their original glass containers - represent common diseases of the 18th and 19th century such as smallpox, gout, impetigo and vaccinia. They were created by the English artist Joseph Towne, whose anatomical works in wax and marble are now collected and exhibited throughout the world.

The Mobile Medical Museum will offer educational and public programming during the exhibit to help visitors engage on many levels with its content. Programming will include tours, hands-on activities and public talks by distinguished guest speakers. The exhibit will be particularly useful in teaching visitors about nine medical conditions, many of which are still common threats throughout the world.

The exhibit and related programming are generously supported by Dr. Charles Bernard and Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Rodning, Dr. Samuel J. Strada, dean emeritus of the USA College of Medicine; and Dr. Elizabeth Manci, professor of pathology at the USA College of Medicine.

Click here for more information.