Faculty Spotlight: Randall Harrison Trammell, D.O.

Randall Harrison Trammell, D.O.

Academic title: Clinical director of the Stanton Road Clinic; assistant professor of internal medicine 

Joined the USA College of Medicine faculty: I did a chief year after graduating from the Internal Medicine Residency Program here at South and was offered a position to be the clinical director of Stanton Road Clinic this past year. 

What does your position in the USA COM/USA Health entail?
In addition to having my own personal clinic at the Mastin Patient Care Center, I work together with some amazing people to improve quality measures and optimize clinic workflow for our outpatient medicine services. Most days of the week, I also serve as an outpatient attending and assist residents with the care of their patients. 

What is your favorite or most rewarding part of your position?
There are too many to count! I would say most of all, I enjoy seeing residents progress throughout their time in this program. Just watching the evolution of a resident from the time they begin up until the day of their graduation and knowing that you played a part in that transition is extremely rewarding. The same can be said for patient care. I love meeting new people, learning their stories and partnering with them to help them lead a healthier, more enjoyable life. 

What research or other initiatives are you involved in?
Late in my chief year I began working with an amazing group of people as one of the Internal Medicine representatives to help with the Primary Care Pathway Program within the USA COM. This has been a rewarding experience and I continue to learn a great deal from all involved. Dr. Brian Persing is also leading a group of physicians on a Tobacco Cessation Initiative that I hope to be a part of in the near future. I've also been fortunate to work alongside Allison Helmer, Pharm.D., for the past few months to incorporate continuous glucose monitoring into Stanton Road and we are excited to have our first few patients scheduled for their appointments in August! 

What is your advice for medical students?
MSl-MS2 years: Take some time or even meet with an advisor to determine how you learn best. Most students cannot read and remember the insane amounts of information needed, and there are many tools to help determine how you learn most effectively. In general, finding an active learning strategy tends to help the information stick so you can recall it when you need it. 

MS3-MS4 years: Try to fully understand the pros and cons of each field (specialty/subspecialty) you rotate through. Ask your preceptor what they like/dislike about their chosen field. Are there any changes they expect in their field of practice in the upcoming years? These are important questions to understand before you make your final decision. Enjoy your time on each rotation as you will likely never get to do some of those things ever again. TRAVEL before starting intern year. Planning a big trip gets much harder once you've started residency. 

What are your hobbies/interests outside of work?
If you've met me, you've probably seen pictures of my Boston terriers. You can usually find me at HopHounds playing fetch with them. Otherwise, I enjoy playing/fixing guitars, woodworking and kayaking. 

Alumnus named governor of Mississippi Chapter of the American College of Physicians

Otis Gowdy Jr., M.D., M.B.A., FACP, a 1999 graduate of the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, has been named governor of the Mississippi Chapter of the American College of Physicians (ACP), a national organization of internal medicine physicians.

Gowdy, a nephrologist, runs his own private practice affiliated with the Internal Medicine Clinic of Meridian, Miss. 

After earning his medical degree from USA, Gowdy completed residency training in internal medicine, followed by a fellowship in nephrology, at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. He received a Master of Business Administration from Auburn University. He is board-certified in internal medicine/nephrology by the American Board of Internal Medicine. 

Gowdy became a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP) in 2017. Fellowship is an honorary designation that recognizes ongoing individual services and contributions to the practice of medicine. Gowdy previously served as the chair of his chapter development committee in 2018 and 2019. 

He serves on the board of the Mississippi Kidney Foundation and is associated with the Mississippi Nephrology Task Force.

The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization and the second-largest physician group in the United States. Governors are elected by local ACP members and serve four-year terms. Working with a local council, they supervise ACP chapter activities, appoint members to local committees, and preside at regional meetings. 

Faculty Spotlight: Walker Plash, M.D.

Walker Plash, M.D.

Academic title: Assistant professor of emergency medicine

Joined the USA College of Medicine faculty: August 2020

What does your position in the USA COM/USA Health entail?
I have several roles at USA. I am one of the moderators for Emergency Medicine Residency Program weekly didactics. I am also the well-being coordinator for the residency – organizing well-being events and education for our residents. Lastly, I am the associate director of wilderness medicine for our department. I help run the wilderness medicine student elective for USA COM fourth-year medical students, our resident elective, and an adventure CME course for local physicians. Oh, and I take care of patients in the emergency department at University Hospital and Children’s & Women’s Hospital!

What is your favorite or most rewarding part of your position?
There are two things that really stand out amongst the many things I love about my job. Firstly, I love taking care of patients on their worst day. There is no other field that impacts so many people during challenging times across such a breadth of medicine. I also love helping residents and students grow. It is so rewarding to coach a learner through a first-time procedure and then watch them do it on their own the next time, or help teach them the art of resuscitation, and ultimately watch them flawlessly run multiple resuscitations at the same time.

What research or other initiatives are you involved in?
I am involved in research on snake envenomations, especially copperheads. I also am involved in curriculum design, both for emergency medicine education and wilderness medicine.

What is your advice for medical students?
Find a niche within whatever specialty you ultimately choose. Taking care of patients day in and day out is rewarding but also can be hard. If you have an area of interest you can pursue outside of patient care, that can help you recharge and make your life even more enjoyable.

What are your hobbies/interests outside of work?
I enjoy backpacking, hiking, hunting and fishing. I also love cooking and eating new foods, and I dabble in bread baking.

Student-Run Free Clinic seeks volunteer preceptors

The University of South Alabama Student-Run Free Clinic (SRFC) is looking for volunteer preceptors for the months of August and September. The clinic plans to see patients every Friday afternoon from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Salvation Army clinic site.

The responsibility of the volunteer preceptor is to supervise clinical care at the SRFC. Student volunteers from various medical disciplines see patients and then report their findings to volunteer preceptors, who then validate the students' assessment and plan for the patient and sign off on the patient's chart.

If you are interested in volunteering as a preceptor, please fill out the Volunteer Preceptor Interest Form.

USA COM graduate researcher examines relationship between bacteria and their vectors

Hanna Laukaitis, a graduate researcher, and Kevin Macaluso, Ph.D., professor and chair of microbiology and immunology, work in the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases in this file photo.

With an ultimate goal of developing more effective ways to stop the spread of certain diseases, Hanna Laukaitis, a graduate researcher at the USA College of Medicine, has compiled a comprehensive review of the relationship between bacterial pathogens and their vectors. 

“Unpacking the intricacies of Rickettsia–vector interactions” is being published through Trends in Parasitology, a high-impact journal that examines medical and veterinary parasites. Laukaitis’ review is available on ScienceDirect.com. The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Bacteria belonging to the Rickettsia genus causes human diseases through transmission by blood-feeding arthropod vectors, such as ticks, fleas and lice. Both Rocky Mountain spotted fever and murine typhus are prominent examples of such diseases that can be transmitted to humans by these parasites. 

“The prevalence of vector-borne pathogens identified in nature is rapidly increasing.” Laukaitis said. “In addition to the pathogens that we work with in our lab that are associated with historical diseases, others are considered emerging.”

Laukaitis’ review, which was co-authored by Kevin Macaluso, Ph.D., professor and chair of microbiology and immunology, focuses on the relationships between Rickettsia bacteria and their arthropod vectors. By gaining a better understanding of their interplay and vector transmission, more efficient ways of preventing the spread of rickettsial diseases can be explored. 

“Different vectors can feed on the same animal, so one tick feeding on an animal does not limit another tick or flea from also feeding on that same host,” Laukaitis said. “This is one way bacteria can use arthropod vectors to spread to different hosts, which is a problem, because most of the vectors are not picky about which host they bite next. It is a very complicated but efficient way for bacteria to spread throughout the population.”

Laukaitis is originally from Pennsylvania, where she earned bachelor and master’s degrees in biology at Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, Pa. She began work for her Ph.D. at Louisiana State University in 2017. Two years later, she relocated to Macaluso's Lab at the USA College of Medicine.