Family Medicine Faculty Enhance Program Director Skills
Amy Barger-Stevens, MD, Assistant Professor, and Amy Keenum, DO, Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, recently graduated from the 2006-2007 National Institute for Program Director Development (NIPDD) I: Fundamentals Fellowship. The fellowship is sponsored by the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors (AFMRD).

Drs. Barger-Stevens and Keenum attended three four-day instructional and networking sessions and have completed two longitudinal projects. These projects included a scholarly investigation as well as a finance inquiry, both of which were residency-specific and under the advisorship of an experienced program director.

The NIPDD I: Fundamentals Fellowship provides family physician educators the opportunity to enhance and develop leadership skills in order to become better prepared as effective directors of residency programs. Former residency directors, as well as individuals from medical or professional organizations, lead enrichment courses on organizational leadership, management skills, accreditation procedures, faculty development, medical staff issues and resident development. Dr. Barger-Stevens serves as Residency Program Director in the Department of Family Medicine and Dr. Keenum is the Program Director for the Emergency Medicine Fellowship Program.

Hudson Selected as Board Examiner
Dr. Kathleen Hudson, Associate Professor, Department of Radiology, has been selected to participate as an oral board examiner in the Breast Imaging (Mammography) section for the American Board of Radiology for June 2008. Dr. Hudson is currently serving as Interim Chairman of the Department of Radiology and is the Program Director for the UTGSM Radiology Residency Program.

Nickloes Returns from Iraq
Todd Nickloes, DO, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, returned from 45 days of active duty with the U.S. Air Force during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Dr. Nickloes is a Major in the Air Force Reserve and is based out of the McGhee Tyson Airbase.

 

Surgery Department Welcomes Four New Faculty Members
Keith D. Gray, MD, has joined the Division of Surgical Oncology as Assistant Professor. Dr. Gray completed his surgical oncology fellowship at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in June 2007. He received his MD degree from Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, in 1993. His post-graduate training as a surgery intern, surgery resident and surgical research fellow continued at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville. Dr. Gray is certified by the American Board of Surgery.

John D. Scott, MD, has joined the Division of General Surgery as Assistant Professor. Dr. Scott completed a fellowship in Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 2007. He received his MD degree from the UT Health Science Center, Memphis and completed a general surgery residency at the Greenville Hospital System, University Medical Center, SC. His academic practice and research will focus on laparoscopic gastrointestinal and bariatric surgery. Dr. Scott is certified by the American Board of Surgery.

Jeffrey E. Everett, MD, has joined the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery as Associate Professor. Dr. Everett completed a fellowship in Thoracic Surgery at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, in 1999. He received his MD degree from Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, and completed his general surgery residency, and post-graduate training in surgical infectious disease and surgical research at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. He is board certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.

Alberto Corrales, MD, recently was appointed Instructor in the Division of Surgical Rehabilitation. Dr. Corrales received his MD degree from Chicago Medical School, Rosalynd Franklin University of Medicine and Science, in 2002. He completed an internship at Brockton Hospital/Boston University Medical Center and a residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, in 2006.

Radiology Welcomes New Faculty Member
Geoffrey G. Laing, MD, has joined the Department of Radiology as Assistant Professor. Dr. Laing received his MD degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston in 2001. He completed his radiology residency and fellowship in Body Imaging at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio in 2007. Dr. Laing is certified by the American Board of Radiology.

Fortner Accepts Fellowship to Duke
Kimberly B. Fortner, MD, Instructor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, has accepted a fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. The fellowship begins July 1, 2008, and is a three-year program. Dr. Fortner joined the UTGSM Obstetrics and Gynecology faculty in 2005.

 

Mihelic Paper Studies Smallpox Vaccination Rates and Presidential Election Results
A study recently published in the American Journal of Disaster Medicine (2007 July/August; 2 (4):189-194) shows a link between politics and smallpox immunization rates. Matthew Mihelic, MD, Director of the Family Medicine Fellowship Program, Homeland and Security Studies, co-authored the paper entitled, "A relationship between U.S. healthcare worker smallpox vaccination rates in 2003 and presidential election results in 2004." Co-authors included David G. Schultz, Jr., MPH, and Melinda R. Mihelic.

In 2003, the U.S. government instituted a program to vaccinate healthcare workers against smallpox. The program was in response to a perceived risk of a bioterrorism smallpox attack. Healthcare workers who were immunized could then vaccinate the general population in the event of an attack. The goal was to immunize 500,000 individuals; however, only 39,000 healthcare and related workers were vaccinated.

Dr. Mihelic said, "Our paper statistically explored the finding that states with relatively high per capita smallpox immunization rates for healthcare workers in 2003 tended to vote Republican in the Presidential election of 2004. States with relatively low per capita smallpox immunization rates for healthcare workers in 2003 tended to vote Democratic.  While the appropriateness of deciding whether or not to get the vaccination was beyond the scope of our paper, the fact that there is a relationship between the immunization data of 2003 and the Presidential election results of 2004 indicates that the political views of healthcare workers may have influenced what should have been scientific decisions. The politicization of biosecurity decision-making can best be addressed through independent academic influences, such as the Graduate School of Medicine’s Center for Homeland Security Studies."


Surgery Resident Studies in Africa
Daniel Alterman, MD, resident in the Department of Surgery, is spending his "research year" learning truly rural medicine and surgery in Tenwek Hospital in western Kenya, Africa. Tenwek Hospital is one of the largest mission hospitals in Africa. The hospital provides primary health care to 600,000 Kipsigis people within a kilometer radius and serves as a referral center for a much larger region.

Dr. Alterman frequently emails interesting cases to the department, including the management differences for African penetrating neck wounds.

 

Ob/Gyn Resident Awarded Fellowship
Molly Houser, MD, fourth year resident in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, has accepted a fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO. The program will begin on July 1, 2008.

An Evening in Orange Raises Funds for Medical Simulation Center
Caring individuals from throughout Knoxville and the nation attended An Evening in Orange on October 13 to help raise support for the development of a Medical Simulation Center. The great success of the evening was due to the exceptional dedication of the event’s committee members under the leadership of co-chairs, Beverly Bell and Leslie Klein, and our numerous sponsors. An Evening in Orange raised more than $280,000 to establish the Medical Simulation Center at the University of Tennessee Medical Center and Graduate School of Medicine. The center will be a state-of-the-art training facility, reshaping patient care, facilitating innovative research and modernizing medical education. If you would like more information about An Evening in Orange or the Medical Simulation Center, please contact the Development Office at 305-6611 or email Christopher J. Bray.


Frontiers Magazine Looks at the Stories Within
The fourth quarter 2007 edition of Frontiers magazine, a quarterly publication for alumni and friends, produced by UT Medical Center and UT Graduate School of Medicine, is on newsstands at UT Medical Center and UT Graduate School of Medicine and online. This edition gives readers a glimpse of a few of the many fascinating stories that make our physicians, residents and staff unique in this academic medical center. In particular, Graduate School of Medicine physicians are featured for their extraordinary—sometimes heroic—efforts to help others. David Cassada, MD, Associate Professor and vascular surgeon, is featured for his cutting-edge work in thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, and J.B. Bains, MD, Department of Medicine resident, who happened onto a medical emergency and put his education and experience to work, shares his story. For more information or to request a copy, contact UT Graduate School of Medicine at 305-9190.