Archived News and Events - 2011
Department of Family Medicine Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony for Expansion
The Department of Family Medicine at the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine held a groundbreaking ceremony September 19 to commemorate the commencement of Phase I of a three-phase expansion designed to improve the residency training experience and allow Family Medicine's ambulatory clinic, University Family Physicians (UFP), to restructure into a team-structured, patient-centered medical home concept.
Led by James Neutens, PhD, Dean, and Gregory H. Blake, MD, Chair, Family Medicine, several honored guests participated in the ceremony, including testimonies from Congressman John J. Duncan, Jr., and UT softball co-head coaches Ralph and Karen Weekly. Also breaking ground were George Shacklett, MD, former Family Medicine Chair; John Eaddy, MD, Family Medicine Emeritus Professor; Joseph B. Moon, retired Family Medicine Associate Professor; Joseph Landsman, President and CEO, UT Medical Center; and Randal Dabbs, MD, member of the Graduate School of Medicine Board of Visitors and Family Medicine Alumnus. Reverend Steve Sexton provided the blessing of the sight.
The Phase I expansion makes room for an academic area on the ground floor that will include a 60-seat auditorium with state-of-the art audio-visual equipment. This area will also provide private resident and fellow work areas for research and scholarly activity, chief resident offices, and a modern kitchen with a resident lounge.
The first-floor expansion will accommodate two clinical suites. Each suite will contain nine exam rooms, a nurse’s station, a procedure room, and an imaging suite for x-ray and ultrasound. The rooms will include up-to-date computers and diagnostic technology. The new facility will add 3,700 square feet of functional clinical space, and, using existing space, UFP will then operate with two themed suites designed to give patients a comforting treatment setting. Two additional themed suites will be added in Phase II.
Phase I of the expansion has a $2 million budget, raised through the generosity of a local family and through an award from the Health Resources and Services Agency Administration. The additions are expected to be completed in March 2012. Funds for the following two phases, which will renovate existing space to create new exam and procedure rooms, provide a centralized laboratory space and more, are currently being raised through a capital campaign. For more information on the capital campaign, contact the Office of Development at 865-305-6611.
September 22, 2011
Dr. Matteson Presents 'A Tale of Three Cancers' September 13
The University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine Research Seminar Series will kick off at noon on Tuesday, September 13, in Morrison's Conference Center with Karla Matteson, PhD, FFACMG, Professor of Medicine and Pathology, presenting, "A Tale of Three Cancers: It Was the Worst of Times, It Might Be the Best of Times..." Persons interested in learning more about cancer research are invited to attend. Light refreshments will be served.
September 8, 2011
Family Medicine and Its Clinic to Expand; Breaking Ground September 19
The Department of Family Medicine at the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for Phase I of a three-phase expansion Monday, September 19, at 9:30 a.m. in the Graduate School of Medicine visitor parking lot. In addition to providing more space to improve the residency training experience, Phase I of the expansion project will allow Family Medicine’s ambulatory clinic, University Family Physicians (UFP), to restructure into a team-structured, patient-centered medical home concept, providing residents a more integrative curriculum in ambulatory care and patients a more personalized experience with UFP physicians.
Currently, residency and fellowship training, research and patient care take place in the Henry H. Lyon Sr. Family Medicine Center, located on the campus of the University of Tennessee Medical Center and UT Graduate School of Medicine. The 60-year-old structure was built as a nursing dormitory and was renovated in the 1970s for today’s family medicine clinic. The facility measures about 20,000 square feet and serves approximately 20,000 patients. Over the last four decades, the number of patients, physicians and services has doubled within the existing space.
The expanded two-floor facility makes room for an academic area on the ground floor that will include a 60-seat auditorium with state-of-the art audio-visual equipment, including smart boards. This area will also provide private resident and fellow work areas for research and scholarly activity, chief resident offices, and a modern kitchen with a resident lounge. A key aspect to this expanded space will be the opportunity for residents to train in skills labs on equipment currently underutilized due to space limitations, including pelvic models and Noelle, a simulated robot used to practice obstetrics procedures.
The first-floor expansion will accommodate two clinical suites. Each suite will contain nine exam rooms, a nurse’s station, a procedure room, and an imaging suite for x-ray and ultrasound. The rooms will include up-to-date computers and diagnostic technology. The new facility will add 3,700 square feet of functional clinical space, and, using existing space, UFP will then operate with two themed suites designed to give patients a comforting treatment setting. Two additional themed suites will be added in Phase II.
Gregory H. Blake, MD, Chair of Family Medicine, said the greatest outcome of the Phase I project will be what the program is able to fundamentally accomplish. In the suite setting, a faculty member will serve as a “Senior Practice Partner” and faculty and residents will be divided between the suites, in effect creating mini-practices within UFP. This will allow suite physicians to operate more like a team, discussing cases regularly. The setting also will provide residents increased exposure to a breadth of ambulatory issues and give them a better working knowledge of the continuity of care consistent with the practice of family medicine.
Dr. Blake said, “Approximately 70 percent of our graduates stay in Tennessee, and many of them practice in rural locations. We are training doctors who stay in the community. These changes to our program will provide a consistency to our training so that all of our physicians are equipped with skill sets that will prepare them for any practice setting.”
Patients will also benefit from the suite concept. When physicians meet to discuss cases, suite physicians may have insights on cases to share with the primary physician. Also, when patients schedule non-routine visits and their primary physician is unavailable, patients will be able to see another physician within the suite knowing the secondary physician has some familiarity with their medical histories.
“With new services and improved educational offerings, we will have the complete package,” said Dr. Blake. “It will put us equal to some of our peer institutions and put us on the cutting edge of family medicine and residency training.”
Phase I of the expansion has a $2 million budget, raised through the generosity of a local family and through an award from the Health Resources and Services Agency Administration. The additions are expected to be completed in March 2012. Funds for the following two phases, which will renovate existing space to create new exam and procedure rooms, provide a centralized laboratory space and more, are currently being raised through a capital campaign. For more information on the capital campaign, contact the Office of Development at 865-305-6611.
September 7, 2011
The University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine
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