USA Welcomes Dr. Anna Foust

Dr. Anna Foust recently was appointed assistant professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine and serves as a hospitalist with USA Health.

Dr. Foust earned her medical degree from USA in 2013. She then completed her residency training in internal medicine and pediatrics at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pa., where she served as chief resident.

Dr. Foust is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Physicians.

Mark Your Calendar: Randall W. Powell Endowed Memorial Lectureship

The 2017 Randall W. Powell Endowed Memorial Lectureship in Pediatric Surgery hosted by the University of South Alabama Department of Pediatrics will feature Dr. Michael G. Caty, Robert Pritzker Professor and Interim Chair of Surgery at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn.

Dr. Caty will present his first lecture on Oct. 12, 2017, at 4:30 p.m. in the first floor conference room at the Strada Patient Care Center. His second lecture, titled “Management of Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia,” will take place Oct. 13, 2017, at USA Medical Center in the second-floor conference room.

Dr. Caty also serves as the surgeon-in-chief at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital. He completed his residency training in pediatric surgery at Children’s Hospital of Boston and Harvard Medical School, where he also served as chief resident.

Dr. Caty has contributed over 130 articles and chapters to pediatric surgical literature and is the editor of the multi-author textbook, Complications in Pediatric Surgery. He has been involved in the leadership of several pediatric surgical societies, including serving as president of the Pediatric Surgery Biology Club, chair of the Organization of Children’s Hospital Surgeons-in-Chief, and chair of the Surgical Section of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He also is a member of the American College of Surgeons, American Pediatric Surgical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, Association for Academic Surgery, and the American Surgical Association.

Dr. Randall Powell, former professor of surgery and pediatrics at the USA College of Medicine, passed away in 2017. As a pediatric surgeon, Dr. Powell belonged to a very small group of surgeons who trained beyond general surgery residency in order to care for neonates and children with all the complex congenital defects and the different physiology of the growing child. While at USA, Dr. Powell was director of the division of pediatric surgery and professor of physician assistant studies. He touched the lives of countless medical students, residents and patients through his work as a faculty member and pediatric surgeon at the USA College of Medicine.

For more information on both lectures, contact the USA Department of Surgery at (251) 445-8230.

Basic Medical Sciences Graduate Program Student Receives Edwin R. Hughes Award

Lina Abou Saleh, a second-year student in the University of South Alabama College of Medicine Basic Medical Sciences Ph.D. Graduate Program, recently received the annual Edwin R. Hughes Memorial Award.

Dr. Mary Townsley, senior associate dean of the USA College of Medicine, presented Saleh with the award on Aug.16, 2017.

The award is named in memory of Edwin R. Hughes, who served as director of the Basic Medical Sciences Graduate Program at the USA College of Medicine from its inception in 1978 until 1990.

The award recognizes the student with the best performance in the first-year core curriculum.

Saleh is completing her graduate studies under the direction of Dr. Wito Richter, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the USA College of Medicine. She earned her bachelor of science degree in biochemistry at Temple University in Philadelphia.

The Edwin R. Hughes Memorial Award was established through donations from the Basic Medical Sciences Graduate faculty members and graduates of the program. To make a contribution to the Edwin R. Hughes Memorial Award, call (251) 460-7032.

October Med School Café - ‘I’m Short of Breath - Let’s Talk About Asthma’

The October Med School Café lecture will feature Dr. Philip Almalouf, assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine and a pulmonologist with USA Physicians Group.

His lecture, titled “I’m Short of Breath - Let’s Talk About Asthma,” will be held on Oct. 20, 2017, at the USA Health Strada Patient Care Center Conference Room on the first floor. Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m., and the presentation begins at noon.

During the lecture, Dr. Almalouf will discuss the characteristics of asthma and how it is diagnosed. He will also review the current treatment options.

Dr. Almalouf earned his medical degree from the University of Damascus School of Medicine in Damascus, Syria. He completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich. He then completed his fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at USA.

The Med School Café lecture and lunch 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 College of Medicine Business Office Shows School Spirit with Jagfeast

The University of South Alabama College of Medicine Business Office recently held a Jagfeast to celebrate Jaguar football season at USA.

The most recent event, which is always held the day before a home game at USA, was held on Sept.23 before the Jags played the University of Idaho.

Jagfeast is an all-day tailgate party held in the USA College of Medicine Business Office breakroom. Food is served at 7:45 a.m. and continues through a potluck lunch ending at 2:30 p.m.

Sue Reinhardt, faculty resource specialist at the USA College of Medicine Business Office and Susan Sansing, assistant dean of finance and administration at the USA College of Medicine, lead efforts to coordinate the events every year.

Both women are proud USA employees with a strong connection to the school and community.

Reinhardt has worked for USA for 22 years. Her two children attend USA and will both graduate in May. Sports and band have an important place in their family as her daughter Rebecca is a music education major who plays in the Jaguar Marching Band and her son David is a javelin thrower for the USA track team.

Sansing has worked for USA since 1991. Her husband and daughter are both alumni and her son is in his first year at South in the Jaguar Marching Band. The entire family feels strongly about the sense of family and community the school has given them.

The office’s Jagfeast started during the beginning of the football program at USA in 2009 and has been popular every year since. Both women view the events as a wonderful way to boost morale in the office and to show students and the team that they are supportive of the Jags.

As the safety coordinator of the building, Reinhardt stays in contact with everyone in the building on a regular basis and said it was a natural fit for her to coordinate her efforts into the tailgate events. She said she enjoys cheering on the Jags and coordinating the tailgate because she feels like it brings her closer to coworkers.

“Since we spend so much of our lives at work, it’s nice to take a little time to share stories, recipes and a few laughs,” Reinhardt said.

Sansing said cheering on the Jags is one of those moments when everyone is focused on the same purpose and outcome, which brings everyone together. She said she loves the Jags because it is a young program and the majority of fans have been cheering on the team together since the beginning.

Employees decorate the hallways with posters and banners painted with Jag colors and messages of school spirit. Breakfast is a popular affair, with Belgian waffles being made by David Wiik, radiation safety officer for the College of Medicine, and bacon-wrapped conecuh sausage with a brown sugar topping prepared by Reinhardt.

“Our Jagfeast would not be complete without these two staples,” Reinhardt said.
Reinhardt and Sansing hope to continue the tradition of Jagfeast for many years to come.

“As long as there is football at USA and there are people enthusiastic about participating in Jagfeast, we plan to continue our tradition,” Reinhardt said.

Jagfeast Bacon-Wrapped Conecuh Sausage

1lb conecuh sausage
1lb bacon
A few handfuls of brown sugar

Cut a pound of bacon in half to make short strips.  Cut the conecuh sausage into bite-sized pieces (as wide as the bacon).  Wrap the bacon around each conecuh sausage piece and place in a glass baking dish.  Generously sprinkle brown sugar on each piece. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour until golden brown and caramelized. Reinhardt advises transfering the cooked pieces to a crock pot to keep warm. She then sprinkles them again with brown sugar for an extra-sugary crunch.