Dr. Marks to Discuss Treatment Options for Ankle Arthritis at January Med School Café

Med School Café for January will feature Dr. Richard Marks, professor and chair of orthopaedic surgery at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine and a foot and ankle orthopaedic surgeon with USA Physicians Group.

His lecture, focusing on joint preservation techniques for the treatment of ankle arthritis, will be held Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, at the Strada Patient Care Center in the first-floor conference room. Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m., and the presentation will begin at noon.

Dr. Marks earned his medical degree at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He completed an internship in general surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia and an orthopaedic surgery research fellowship at Pennsylvania Hospital-Rothman Institute in Philadelphia. He then completed residency training in orthopaedic surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and an orthopaedic surgery foot and ankle fellowship at The Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore.

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

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

USA Pediatrics Honors Retiring Nurse Vista Woodruff

Vista Lee Woodruff, a licensed practical nurse with USA Physicians Group, is retiring after 44 years of service to the University of South Alabama Department of Pediatrics. A retirement reception recently was held in her honor at the Strada Patient Care Center.

View more photos from the reception on Flickr.

USA Microbiology and Immunology Honor Retiring Faculty

Dr. David Wood, left, and Dr. John Foster speak at the retirement reception held in their honor.

The University of South Alabama Department of Microbiology and Immunology recently hosted a retirement celebration for Dr. David Wood, professor and chair of microbiology and immunology, and Dr. John Foster, professor emeritus of microbiology and immunology.

Dr. Wood joined the USA College of Medicine faculty in 1979, and he will officially retire on Dec. 31, 2018. He earned his Ph.D. in microbiology from the Medical College of Georgia. He completed postdoctoral studies at the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Dr. Wood, whose research focuses on the obligate intracellular parasitic bacterium Rickettsia prowazekii, has been honored with a Research Career Development Award and a MERIT award from the National Institutes of Health. He has served as president of the Southeastern Branch of the American Society for Microbiology and the American Society for Rickettsiology, as well as a member of the Bacteriology and Mycology Study Section of the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Foster retired in October 2017, after serving the Department of Microbiology and Immunology for 30 years. He earned his Ph.D. in microbiology from Hahnemann University College of Medicine (now part of Drexel University) in Philadelphia. He completed postdoctoral studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. 

Dr. Foster was named 1994 Hahnemann University Alumnus of the year, and received the 2007 Southeastern ASM branch “Robert Eagon Award” for accomplishments in microbial physiology.  He has served in the American Society for Microbiology as the Chair of Division K (Microbial Physiology and Metabolism) and as an invited ad hoc member of the Microbial Physiology and Bacterial Pathogenesis Study Sections for the National Institutes of Health.

View more photos from the event on Flickr.

USA Welcomes Dr. Paul Henning to Emergency Medicine

Dr. Paul Henning recently was appointed associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine and serves as an attending physician and associate program director for emergency medicine with USA Health.

Dr. Henning completed his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science at USA before receiving his medical degree from St. George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada, West Indies. He completed his first residency training in emergency medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York, N.Y., and  received additional residency training in anesthesiology/critical care at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, Ark. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Emergency Medicine.

He served the Mobile community as firefighter and paramedic before attending medical school. Prior to joining USA, Dr. Henning served as an emergency medicine physician at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Fla., and served as an associate professor of emergency medicine at Florida State University College of Medicine in Tallahassee, Fla.

Three Employees Retire from USA Health

Beverly Kellen and Ron Ori

USA Health recently hosted a retirement reception for three employees: Beverly Kellen, Linda Klein and Ron Ori.

"Each of these individuals leaves behind a legacy of commitment to our organization, and we wish them the best of luck in the future," said Michelle Dudley, executive director of practice management for USA Health.

Beverly Kellen, director of operations for the departments of internal medicine, psychiatry and student health, has been key to the growth and development of these departments over the last 14 years. She also has assisted with operations in the family medicine department.

Linda Klein, clinical operations coordinator for USA Physicians Group, has been with USA Health for more than 25 years, and has worked with several departments including internal medicine, neurology and neurosurgery.

Ron Ori, director of operations for emergency medicine, pathology and radiology, also has served USA Health for more than 25 years in both inpatient and outpatient operations.

View more photos from the event on Flickr.

Lifesouth Blood Drive Dec. 21

Lifesouth Community Blood Centers will host a blood drive from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 21, at the Strada Patient Care Center, room 1206.

For every blood donation, a Beau the Bloodhound stuffed animal will go to USA Pediatrics Clinic. Donors will receive a Fandango movie ticket and a free cholesterol screening.

Donors must be 16 or older and weigh at least 110 pounds.

Med School Café - Expert Advice for the Community

Dr. Meir Mizrahi, assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine and a gastroenterologist with USA Physicians Group, presented December's Med School Café lecture, "How to Treat Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease."

Dr. Mizrahi earned his medical degree from the Bologna School of Medicine in Bologna, Italy. He completed his residency training and a fellowship in gastroenterology at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel. He then completed a research and clinical fellowship at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, in the Center of Advanced Endoscopy in Boston.

Watch December Med School Café - Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) on YouTube or below.

USA College of Medicine Welcomes New Emergency Medicine Faculty

Dr. Alan Heins recently was appointed associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine and serves as an emergency medicine physician at USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Heins received his medical degree from the University of South Florida College of Medicine in Tampa, Fla. He completed his residency training in emergency medicine at the University of Maryland Medical System in Baltimore. After completing his residency training, he served as an attending physician at USA University Hospital and USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital while completing his master’s in public health at Emory University in Atlanta.

Dr. Heins is a member of the American Medical Association and the American College of Emergency Physicians. He also is a chair of the American College of Emergency Physicians Public Health and Injury Prevention Committee.