Mark your calendar for the following grand rounds:
Neurology Grand Rounds
"Neurologic Complications of HIV: Differential Diagnosis
and Management"
William Kilgo, M.D., Assistant Professor of Neurology, USA College of Medicine
8 to 9 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4
USA Health University Hospital, 2nd Floor Conference Center
Contact: Heather Kelly at (251) 445-8292 or hdkelly@helath.southalabama.edu
Neonatal Morbidity & Mortality
"Neurodevelopmental Outcomes for Periviable Infants"
Ramachandra Bhat, M.D., Associate Professor of Pediatrics, USA College of Medicine
Noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5
USA Health Children’s & Women Hospital, Jubilee Room
Contact: Cathy McCurley at (251) 415-1055 or cmccurley@health.southalabama.edu
Cardiology Grand Rounds
"Diversity and Bias"
Franklin Trimm, M.D., Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion, Assistant Vice President of Medical Affairs, USA College of Medicine
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7
Cardiology Conference Room
Contact: Angela Hunt at (251) 471-7923 or arhunt@health.southalabama.edu
Medicine Grand Rounds
"Understanding Renal Pathology Associated with Plasma Cell Dyscrasias"
Guillermo A. Herrera, M.D., Professor and Chair of Pathology, USA College of Medicine
8 to 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 13
USA Health University Hospital, 2nd Floor Conference Center
Contact: Linda Ching at (251) 471-7900 or lching@health.southalabama.edu
Orthopaedic Surgery Grand Rounds
"Ulnar Sided Wrist Pain"
Thomas Barbour, M.D., Elbow, Hand and Wrist Specialist, The Orthopaedic Group
7 to 8 a.m. Friday, Feb. 14
Strada Patient Care Center, 1st Floor Conference Room
Contact: Rhonda Smith at (251) 665-8251 or rhondasmith@health.southalabama.edu
Thursday, January 30, 2020
New members elected into USA Chapter of GHHS
Each year, a select group of students, residents and faculty members are named to the society through a peer-nominated process. GHHS membership recognizes individuals who exemplify compassionate patient care and serve as role models, mentors and leaders in medicine.
“Election to the GHHS is significant because these students, residents and faculty have been identified as individuals who represent the GHHS goal of placing compassion, dignity and human value at the heart of education and clinical practice,” said T.J. Hundley, M.D., associate dean for medical education, who was named a chapter adviser, replacing Susan LeDoux, Ph.D., who recently retired.
Medical student Nkemdi Agwaramgbo said being named to the society was “a humbling recognition.”
“I’ve never considered compassion to be a personality trait; it’s a set of behaviors – listening, encouraging, respecting privacy and others – reinforced by repetition,” Agwaramgbo said. “For me the honor of being nominated by my peers for Gold Humanism is a call to keep practicing these behaviors.”
This year, the following third-year medical students, residents and faculty were selected:
- Nkemdi Agwaramgbo, student
- Grayson Domingue, student
- Dala Eloubeidi, student
- Tyler King, student
- W. Hamilton Moore, student
- Raymond Moosavi, student
- Ravi Rajendra, student
- Jordan M. Smith, student
- Gisella Ward, student
- Zachary White, student
- Linda Ding, M.D.; faculty, department of surgery
- Sara McConnell, D.O.; resident, internal medicine/pediatrics
- Taylor Twiggs, M.D.; resident, department of obstetrics and gynecology
- Jonathan Bernard, M.D.; resident, department of surgery
Moore said he was honored to be elected and excited to serve as president. “I truly believe that compassionate medical care is one of the best ways to serve someone else, so to be recognized by my classmates as a future physician that displays integrity, compassion and clinical excellence is one of the greatest compliments I could ever receive,” he said. “With this recognition comes a responsibility that motivates me to treat all of my patients and colleagues with kindness.”
Medical student Gisella Ward said that, for her, the society represents a class of individuals who genuinely care about the whole patient beyond an office encounter or a disease state. “Humanistic care starts with compassion and is amplified by providers who take the time to listen, educate and empower their patients to be as health as possible,” Ward said. “I’m honored to be selected among practicing and future physicians who exhibit those qualities and plan to continue to do so with enthusiasm.”
The Arnold P. Gold Foundation sustains the commitment of healthcare professionals to provide compassionate, collaborative and scientifically excellent patient care. The society currently has approximately 30,000 members in training and practice.
Each year, the GHHS participates in Solidarity Week for Compassionate Patient Care to remind students and employees of the importance of compassion in medicine. This year, Solidarity Week is set for Feb. 10-14, as the GHHS Class of 2020 will participate in several activities to remind students and employees of the importance of compassion in medicine.
Monday, January 27, 2020
Intramural grant allows USA faculty to investigate atherosclerosis
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| Steve Lim, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the USA College of Medicine, investigates the pathological contribution of vascular smooth muscle cells in atherosclerosis. |
Atherosclerosis refers to the buildup of fats, cholesterol and other substances in and on artery walls (also known as plaque), which can restrict blood flow. The plaque can burst, triggering a blood clot. Although atherosclerosis is often considered a heart problem, it can impact arteries anywhere in the body.
Two postdoctoral fellows, James Murphy, Ph.D., and Kyuho “KJ” Jeong, Ph.D., are performing the work in Lim’s lab.
Since most previous studies have focused on the role of macrophages or endothelial cells in atherosclerosis progression, Lim said, the role of VSMCs in the disease is not well understood. Considering that a majority of cholesterol-loaded cells in atherosclerotic plaques are of VSMC origin, the study tackles reducing these phenotypically altered VSMCs.
USA College of Medicine intramural grants provide funds through an annual competition to five full-time basic science faculty members. The grant program is designed to provide the resources needed to develop new or additional preliminary data to bolster success with extramural funding.
“Often, many basic researchers have a good idea but do not have funding to begin with,” Lim said. “I believe this grant opportunity is crucial to develop initiatives of new ideas and to potentially bring extramural funding in the future.”
Fourth year, best year: A day in the life of a fourth-year medical student
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| Fourth-year medical student Malik McMullin presents a case to Kari Bradham, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics at the USA College of Medicine. |
“The fourth year of medical school is vastly different from the other three years,” McMullin said. “It is broken down into 10, four-week blocks where we can have a lot of customization over our schedules.”
Between traveling for residency interviews and studying for the USMLE Step 2 CK exam, McMullin said his days are packed. “It is a rewarding yet exhausting experience,” he said. “We all have worked so hard for this opportunity with the goal in mind – securing the residency program of our choice,” he said.
McMullin said he chose to drive to all of his residency interviews, grouping each program by region to be most efficient. “I actually had a stretch where I was gone from home for four weeks and attended eight interviews during that time. In between interviews, I would stay at family and friends' houses to save money.”
When he’s not on the road traveling for residency interviews, McMullin said he is busy participating in acting internships (AIs). “Our most structured days are probably during our acting internships,” he said. “I completed two acting internships to help prepare for my residency training, one in internal medicine and another in pediatrics.”
6 a.m. – Wake up.
6:45 a.m. – Arrive at the hospital. “Usually I will print a patient handoff list for the entire team, which consists of one attending, one upper-level resident, two to three interns, and two to three medical students,” he said.
7 a.m. – Head to the resident lounge for handoffs. “Usually, the upper-level residents and interns have to be there by 7 a.m. to get check-out from the night time and as acting interns, we will join them,” he said.
7:15 to 9:30 a.m. – Chart check and see patients. “I review labs and imaging before seeing my patients in the morning,” he said. “This all happens before the attending shows up at 9:30. We call this pre-rounding or rounding before the attending arrives. This allows time to start developing a plan for patient care as well as work on writing notes.”
9:30 a.m. – The attending physician arrives and rounds begin. “Many attending physicians round differently,” he said. “For my team, we usually stayed at the table to discuss patients in the rounding room. Frequently, the third-and fourth-year medical students are the ones presenting the patients and the plan of treatment to the attending physicians, which is why we pre-round and discuss plans of care with our residents before the attending arrives.”
Noon to 2 p.m. – Patient rounds end. “One day per week, the interns have something called academic half day which is where they go and learn about a clinical topic,” he said. “Fourth-year medical students will also usually attend academic half day. The upper-level resident takes any pagers so that the interns can learn at half day without interruption. I also use this time to eat, but they usually feed the residents and students at half day. If there is no academic half day, we use that time to write notes and work with the team on discharging any patients.”
2 to 4 p.m. – Admit new patients. “The floor teams usually get new patients starting at 2 p.m.,” he said. “These can be new patients through the emergency department or patients from the ICU who no longer need ICU level care. As medical students, the team will let us see them first and give us time to develop our own thoughts on diagnosis for learning purposes. If we get a new patient from the ED, I will see them, take a full history and physical exam, and write my own patient note with my personal plan of care with assistance from the upper-level resident. We try to finish up admissions by 4:30 to 5 p.m. in order to check out to the team on call.”
4:30 to 7 p.m. – Check out patients to the night team. “As an acting intern, I will inform the night resident about the patients that I am managing while my upper-level resident listens and chimes in when necessary,” he said.
McMullin said the end of his day varies based on what rotation he is on, but most of his days end of with catching up on shows that he doesn’t have as much time to watch early in medical school.
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