Mark your calendar for upcoming grand rounds

OB-GYN Grand Rounds
"Radiology Basics: A Case-Based Approach"
J. Coleman Bahakel, M.D., PGY-5 radiology resident, University Hospital
7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 19
Zoom Registration: https://southalabama.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUuf-Gsrz0oH9PNDQgKTE4Fh6h_j4keBDJL
Contact: Heather Glass at 251-415-1492 or hglass@health.southalabama.edu

Pediatric Grand Rounds
"Hepatitis C in Children and Adolescents"
Rene Romero, M.D., professor of pediatric gastroenterology, Emory University School of Medicine
8 to 9 a.m. Friday, Feb. 19
Zoom Registration: https://southalabama.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJItdOygrj8tH93jP8djpWhgMND3NEAvcVAk
Contact: Jessica Petro at 251-415-8688 or jpetro@health.southalabama.edu

Cardiology Grand Rounds
"Perioperative Planning for Intracardiac Device Placement"
Nilarun Chowdhuri, M.D., PGY-5 cardiology resident, University Hospital
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19
Zoom Registration: https://usahealthsystem.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJApceGsrzMsHt2gFsBT02ShnccVZpx-dS3-
Contact: Donna Gregory at 251-471-7923 or dgregory@health.southalabama.edu  

Psychiatry Grand Rounds
"Mindfulness in Psychotherapy"
Kent Welsh, Ph.D., and Cay Welsh, Ph.D., retired clinical psychologists
Noon to 1 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 23
Zoom Registration: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIvfuitrj4jGtHwIwJw_9OtmCW5HkIVIqo_
Contact: Angela Pope at 251-706-5553 or apope@altapointe.org

Cardiology Grand Rounds
"Acyanotic Congenital Heart Disease"
Marc Cribbs, M.D., associate professor of internal medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Noon to 1 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 23
Zoom Registration: https://usahealthsystem.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUkdeGgqjsiGNOGM4prlerZGErLOE8mNBWv
Contact: Donna Gregory at 251-471-7923 or dgregory@health.southalabama.edu  

Alumni Grand Rounds
"Social Determinants of Health: A Focus on Poverty"
Errol Crook, M.D., professor and chair of internal medicine, USA College of Medicine
6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24
Zoom Registration: https://medicalalumni.southalabama.edu/pages/social-determinants-of-health
Contact: Ann Eleece Kouns at 251-460-7369 or aekouns@southalabama.edu 

Surgery Grand Rounds
"Surgical Management of Urological Injuries"
Christopher Keel, D.O., FACS, University Urology
7 to 8 a.m. Friday, Feb. 26
Zoom: https://usahealthsystem.zoom.us/j/99475039340
Contact: Tyronda Rogers at 251-445-8230 or tmrogers@health.southalabama.edu. 

See the full schedule of grand rounds on CME tracker. 

USA COM faculty reacts to elimination of Step 2 clinical skills exam

The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) has permanently discontinued the clinical skills portion of Step 2 (Step 2 CS) for medical students, a move seen as mostly positive by faculty members and students at the USA College of Medicine.

Step 2 CS was an exam that assessed medical students’ ability to apply their clinical knowledge and skills in a simulated office setting with multiple standardized patients. The exam was held at only six testing sites across the United States and required students to travel on their own dime to attend. 

Step 2 CS was suspended indefinitely in May 2020 because of the COVID risks of the testing format, which required face-to-face interactions with standardized patients and air travel to the testing sites. The USMLE had intentions to reintroduce Step 2 CS with a modified, web-based format in the future; however, on Jan. 26, 2020, plans to relaunch Step 2 CS were discontinued.

Elizabeth Minto, M.D., director of clinical skills at the USA College of Medicine, said the overall reaction to the decision from students and faculty has been positive. 

“For the students, it removes an expensive, inconvenient, stressful experience that has always been of questionable value for actually demonstrating clinical effectiveness,” she said. “For those of us that teach and assess students’ clinical skills — their ability to collect a history, perform a physical exam, and utilize effective communication skills and patient-centered decision making — it is liberating to no longer feel required to ‘teach to a test,’ but rather to teach the best practices for real world clinical practice.”

In the announcement detailing the discontinuation, the USMLE noted the importance of assessing clinical skills for medical licensure: “In the absence of Step 2 CS, elements of clinical reasoning and communication will continue to be assessed on other exams (Steps) in the USMLE sequence. Computer-based case simulations in Step 3 and communication content recently bolstered in Step 1 are examples of these efforts that will continue. While not a replacement for Step 2 CS, these formats continue to contribute positively.”

“I think we will see a lot of creativity and innovation in this area of medical education in the coming months and years,” said Minto. “I’m very happy about this change.”

For more information on the discontinuation of Step 2 CS and future USMLE announcements, visit the USMLE website. 

Meet a Med Student: Jesse Stutzman

Jesse Stutzman

Age: 26

Class of: 2023

Hometown: Kutztown, Pa.

Undergrad/grad institutions: Taylor University (Upland, Ind.), University of Alabama at Birmingham

Degrees earned: Bachelor of Arts in biology, Master of Public Health with a concentration in epidemiology

Interests, hobbies: I spend a lot of time with family! My wife, Julie, and I have two boys, Jack, 2, and Charlie, 3 months, so they keep us pretty busy. Currently, I am building bunk beds for the boys (slowly but surely).

Something unique about me: I was born in the Philippines and grew up in Thailand, so I have spent most of my life overseas.

Three of my favorite things: Going on trips with the kids (even if it's just down the road for some doughnuts), hot summer weather and a good bowl of Thai curry.

Med School Café to address breast cancer

Rachel Hunter, M.D., assistant professor of surgery at the USA College of Medicine and a breast surgical oncologist with USA Health, will present "Breast Cancer: Risk Factors, Screening Guidelines, and Risk Reduction" at the Med School Café lecture on Thursday, Feb. 25, at noon. The event will be held virtually via Zoom.

To register for the lecture, visit https://usahealthsystem.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0rde6grT4qHtSnFLonBbvVwIH_or3ESxhA.

Med School Café is a free community lecture series sponsored by USA Health. Each month, faculty and physicians share their expertise on a specific medical condition, providing insight on the latest treatment available.

For more information, contact Kim Partridge at kepartridge@health.southalabama.edu.

A message from the Gold Humanism Honor Society

A letter to the USA College of Medicine:

This week is Solidarity Week, a week hosted by the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) nationwide. This week celebrates the principles of kindness, compassion, clinical excellence and unity in healthcare. To celebrate this week, the University of South Alabama College of Medicine’s chapter of GHHS has performed acts of kindness such as providing gift baskets, and dispersing kindness rocks around the USA Health hospitals, clinics, and College of Medicine, but the hope of this week is to celebrate all of the many people who have shown us the principles that this week emphasizes. This letter is for you all.

Medical school can be an incredibly stressful time, from beginning to end. The thrill of being accepted is countered with the realization that you are being thrust into a lifestyle that will be unlike any you have faced before. It can be draining mentally, emotionally, physically, socially and spiritually. In many cases, this may even worsen as Step 1 approaches, transitioning to the clinical years, and applying to residency programs through the match process. Medical school feels like only the beginning even when it nears its end as the demands of residency and clinical practice loom. On top of this, a worldwide pandemic has happened. Many of us have felt the toll of COVID-19 and have agonized over how it has affected our loved ones, patients, education and entire lives. This can be an incredibly exhausting reality, but we have found it helpful to reflect on the many good things that have happened.

An overwhelming sense of appreciation fills us as we reflect on the many incredible things that have happened in our lives over these past few years. We have many people to thank for this, and we couldn’t possibly list them all, but it’s obvious to us that the USA College of Medicine is special. There have been countless times when people in the College of Medicine have shown us the principles that Solidarity Week celebrates. From the time we were granted admission to now, we have experienced kindness and compassion in the times that we needed it most. We have received excellent advice from mentors and been made to feel important when perhaps we have felt lost. Residents and attendings have prioritized our education, and pre-clinical professors have invested greatly to ensure we understand difficult concepts. The Office of Student Affairs has been on our side and made us feel listened to and appreciated. We feel incredibly grateful to be a part of the USA College of Medicine and USA Health system. So thank you all. 

As we celebrate this week, we hope that you all will feel appreciated for all that you do. The USA College of Medicine is made of a collection of some really incredible people, and our lives have been made better because of it. Our hope as we celebrate this week is that we would all be encouraged to be a little bit kinder and more compassionate to all people we come across. Thank you for all that you have done for us and for making the USA College of Medicine so great.

Sincerely,

The Gold Humanism Honor Society University of South Alabama Chapter