The University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, Knoxville

University Anesthesiologists Announces $1.5 Million Philanthropic Commitment

Robert M. Craft, MD, Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology and University Anesthesiologists' Chief Manager, recently announced that the physician group, University Anesthesiologists, has made a four-year $1.5 million philanthropic commitment to The University of Tennessee Medical Center and the UT Graduate School of Medicine. The contribution will fund initiatives including educational and training opportunities for anesthesiology residents and nurse anesthetists, expanded faculty training and development, program and equipment needs at the UT Center for Advanced Medical Simulation and impactful fundraising endeavors that benefit the medical center's Centers of Excellence and other organizational priorities.

Dr. Craft also announced plans to establish an endowed chair in the Department of Anesthesiology. This endowment, once fully funded, will be named for Jerry L. Epps, MD, former Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology and current Chief Medical Officer for The University of Tennessee Medical Center.

The endowed chair will offer additional financial support to further the department's goals, assist the Department of Anesthesiology in recruiting and retaining nationally recognized faculty, and provide discretionary funding to elevate academic programs, propel research, and make innovative advances in the department's scholarly work.

Since its founding in 1979, University Anesthesiologists (UA) has provided the physician leadership for the Department of Anesthesiology and the Anesthesiology Residency Program. As such, the The University of Tennessee Medical Center mission to serve through healing, education and discovery is central to the UA's mission, making UA virtually synonymous with the Anesthesiology Department at the medical center for 38 years.

Forensic Dentistry Fellows Expand Skills After More Than 20 Years in Practice

Twenty years after retiring from the University of Tennessee, Professor Emeritus Bill Bass, founder of the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility, a.k.a., the "Body Farm," is inspiring dentists to develop skills in forensic dentistry.

Three years ago, the UT Graduate School of Medicine at The University of Tennessee Medical Center developed a Forensic Dentistry Fellowship, one of the first U.S. programs of its kind to train a new generation of forensic dentists. This year, both of its fellows are expanding their skills after more than 20 years of practicing dentistry.

In 2014, Beverly Hedgepeth, DDS, a general dentist in private practice, attended a forensic dentistry seminar featuring Bass who inspired her to pursue this field. While dentists are well-versed in noting the tiny differences between people's teeth and restorations, dentists are typically working within their clinical practices noting if patients have cavities, have had injuries, or have other dental needs that need to be addressed. Forensic odontology is the application of dental knowledge to legal matters and includes identifying people through the unique characteristics of their dental structures. While dentists are well-versed in noting the tiny differences between people's teeth and restorations, dentists are typically working within their clinical practices noting if patients have cavities, have had injuries, or have other dental needs that need to be addressed.

Knowing which antemortem dental records to request from suspected decedents, such as with the Gatlinburg fires, may be routine, while at other times the matching can be challenging. Sometimes, according to Hedgepeth, those dental records may be dated and not contain more recent changes such as extracted teeth or fillings done elsewhere.

Hedgepeth hopes to become board certified in the forensic specialty following the fellowship. Certification is a rigorous process requiring expertise in civil litigation, age estimation, disaster victim identification, and bite mark analysis, as well as years of hands-on experience in human identification.

Once board certified, these dentists are called upon for assistance after natural and terrorist mass disasters, such as the recent fires, or asked to render professional opinions regarding age and identity.

William Hartel, DMD, is also a forensic dental fellow. He is an assistant professor for the UT College of Dentistry, is the dental director of Healing Hands Health Center in Bristol, Tennessee, where he supervises dental students. Similarly, he was inspired by Dr. Bass speaking at a dental conference.

Forensic dentistry is actually Hartel's second late-career-related change. After practicing for 26 years, at age 50, Hartel joined the U.S. Army and deployed to Afghanistan, Kuwait and Iraq to provide dental care to service members under a wide range of settings.

He said, "I spent a lot of time in the operating room. Many times, I was the only one who had ever seen inside a mouth, working on teeth and gums and the jaw." Hartel said his work was not limited to service personnel, occasionally treating military work dogs as well.

As a fellow, Hartel adds that the program allows him to apply his dental knowledge to situations outside the clinic, making use of three decades of clinical practice.

Hartel also stated that, "In school we learned that different temperatures burn or melt dental materials, and while these observations may not apply to my patients, in a fire, I have to examine the remnants and consider what type of filling was thermally destroyed.

"In forensic dentistry, we're not examining teeth to fix a problem. You're taking pieces of a puzzle to tell a story. Sometimes you have a nice corner piece, but sometimes all you have is a piece of the sky."

To learn more about the Department of General Dentistry or the Forensic Dentistry Fellowship, call the Graduate School of Medicine at (865) 305-9440 or visit http://gsm.utmck.edu/dentistry/fellowship.cfm#forensic.

New Online Breast Cancer Nomogram Predicts Oncotype DX Breast Cancer Recurrence Score

Amila Orucevic, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Pathology, has created a nomogram to predict the Oncotype DX breast cancer recurrence score in collaboration with John Bell, MD, Professor and Director of the Cancer Institute; Alison McNabb, MS, Director of Health Information and Management Services; and Eric Heidel, PhD, Biostatistician and Assistant Professor. This nomogram can be used to help clinicians and patients evaluate the probability that a patient's breast cancer has a low-risk or a high-risk Oncotype DX recurrence score. The nomogram uses readily available clinical surrogates to predict a recurrence score otherwise obtained by pathology analysis.

Oncotype DX is a commercially available 21-gene breast cancer test that predicts the 10-year likelihood of breast cancer recurrence for patients treated with tamoxifen. It also helps determine the benefit of using chemotherapy along with anti-estrogen therapy for the same patients. Oncotype DX test is an expensive test and is used in approximately 30% of eligible breast cancer patients in the United States and in less than 20% of breast cancer patients in Europe. The nomogram created at the UT Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Medical Center helps predict the Oncotype DX breast cancer recurrence test results without actually performing the test.

The team's project was published in the May issue of Breast Cancer Research and Treatment (DOI: 10.1007/s10549-017-4170-3) and outlines the utilization of this nomogram. The nomogram uses clinicopathologic variables readily available from any breast cancer patient pathology report to predict the Oncotype DX recurrence score.

"The use of breast cancer genomic prognostic assays, such as Oncotype DX, MammaPrint, EndoPredict and others, is an ideal way of practicing personalized medicine for each breast cancer patient. These assays provide prognosis for breast cancer patients while identifying ones for which chemotherapy treatment may not be necessary based on the analysis of the genetic makeup of the breast cancer cells of each individual breast cancer patient. Unfortunately, these tests are expensive and are not affordable or available for many breast cancer patients," said Dr. Orucevic.

"Therefore, our nomograms may be useful tools to help doctors worldwide select patients for which further Oncotype DX testing may or may not be necessary. They can also be used for patients who can't afford or access this testing," said Dr. Orucevic.

View the nomogram or learn more about the Cancer Institute.

Dr. McConville Named Anesthesiology Residency Program Director

Patrick O. McConville, MD, Assistant Professor Anesthesiology, assumed the role of Program Director for the Anesthesiology Residency Program in March.

After completing his residency training in 2009 with the UT Graudate School of Medicine, followed by fellowship training in Obstetric Anesthesia at Wake Forest University, he returned to the Department of Anesthesiology in 2010 to join the faculty.

He has actively participated in student and resident education since returning to the Graduate School of Medicine, most recently serving as an Associate Program Director for the residency program. Dr. McConville has also been the recipient of numerous honors, including the Excellence in Teaching Award in 2011 and again in 2014.

Dr. Matthew Mancini Named TMA President-Elect

The Tennessee Medical Association, the state's largest professional organization for physicians, has announced that Matthew Mancini, MD, FACS, Associate Professor and Chief of Surgery's Division of General Surgery, has been named 2017 President-Elect.

Dr. Mancini has been a member of TMA since 1999. He has served on the TMA Board of Trustees, the Membership Committee and the Continuing Medical Education Advisory Committee. He is also a graduate of TMA's John Ingram Institute for Physician Leadership. Locally, Dr. Mancini is president of the Knoxville Academy of Medicine and serves as governor of the KAM Foundation.

Dr. Mancini received his medical degree from Mercer School of Medicine in 1994 followed by his General Surgery Residency with the UT Graduate School of Medicine from 1994-1999. Upon graduating from his residency, he joined the Graduate School of Medicine faculty and began practicing with University Surgical Associates, PC.

Family Medicine Serves Knoxville with Team Building

The Department of Family Medicine held its first Department Volunteer Day, organizing 75 of its faculty, residents and staff into four teams to participate in volunteer activities at four local non-profit organizations. In addition to serving Knoxville, the goal of the day was to give Family Medicine team members a chance to meet and connect with physicians, nurses and staff they don't get to interact with on a day-to-day basis. The day of activities was organized by Maylea Arthur, Residency Coordinator, and included lunch and games at a local community center. Organizations served included the Love Kitchen, Keep Knoxville Beautiful, Second Harvest Food Bank, and Young Williams Animal Shelter. See more photos on the UT Family Medicine Residency - Knoxville Facebook page.

Beeler Recognized as Distinguished Health Information Specialist

Congratulations to Cynthia Beeler, MLS, AHIP, for her Distinguished Membership into the Academy of Health Information Specialists (AHIP). The AHIP credential represents the highest standards of professional competency and achievement in the field of health care information.

Beeler serves as an associate professor and clinical librarian at the Health Information Center-Preston Medical Library. Her research focus includes health literacy, reference trends, clinical librarianship's impact on patient care, and the impact of consumer health information training on public library staff. Mentoring interests include teaching methods of literature searching, research assistance in literature searches for evidence-based medicine, and construction of literature searches for systematic reviews and IACUC. Beeler joined the UT Graduate School of Medicine team in 2005.

Dr. Jackson Wins UTHSC COM Golden Apple Award

Lesley Jackson, MD, second-year Internal Medicine Resident, was awarded a Golden Apple teaching award for Internal Medicine Resident by the UT Health Science College of Medicine students. Golden Apple awards are awarded to faculty and residents for their dedication and commitment to teaching and for their contributions to the medical education of all students in the College of Medicine. These outstanding teachers of medicine were honored at the College of Medicine Caduceus Ball, an annual event to honor graduating seniors and faculty/resident teachers in the UTHSC COM. In addition to Dr. Jackson, winners are:

Knoxville Forensics Conference for Dental Professionals Offers Hands-On Forensics Training

A unique conference in Knoxville, Tennessee, gives dental professionals exposure to current forensic dentistry methods and provides hands-on training for individual and mass-disaster casualty identification in death investigations. The week-long conference, Forensic Odontology National Conference: All That Remains, July 30-August 4, offers training in real-life settings and meets some of the prerequisites for certification as a forensic odontologist. Dentists with specialized training in forensics often use their skills to aid first responders following mass disasters such as 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and more recently, the Smoky Mountain fires.

All That Remains is led by forefront forensics faculty including officers in the American Board of Forensic Odontology national organization as well as Dr. Bill Bass, a renowned forensic anthropologist who founded the original "Body Farm."

This 42.5-hour dental credit hour course is a stepping stone to challenging the American Board Forensic Odontology credentialing examination at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences meeting. During the course, attendees will visit a variety of settings including a courtroom, forensic anthropology laboratory, hospital laboratory, and regional forensic center office. This course also includes the opportunity to perform an oral autopsy, including a jaw resection; witness a forensic autopsy; visit and archaeologically-excavate a clandestine grave; and learn to use entomological evidence for time-since-death estimation.

These 42.5 hours are also accepted by the Tennessee Board of Dentistry for re-licensure credit.  Participants licensed outside of Tennessee should check with their licensing board. 

All That Remains is presented by the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine Department of General Dentistry Division of Forensic Odontology and Human Identification. For a full course overview and to register, visit: http://gsm.utmck.edu/cme/AllThatRemains2017.

UT Medical Center Named Among 100 Great Hospitals in America

Becker's Hospital Review released the 2017 edition of its list of 100 Great Hospitals in America. The University of Tennessee Medical Center is one of only three Tennessee hospitals to make the list. Vanderbilt University Medical Center and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital are the other two Tennessee hospitals.

"Every team member at the medical center played a role in this accomplishment through their service and dedication to our patients, their families and our community," said Joe Landsman, President and CEO of The University of Tennessee Medical Center. "It is an honor to be named in Becker's Hospital Review list of 100 Great Hospitals in America."

The hospitals included on this list are renowned for excellence. They are industry leaders in innovation, quality patient care and clinical research, and have received recognition across various publications and accrediting organizations.

Becker's Hospital Review has published a version of this list since 2012.

The Becker's Hospital Review editorial team selected hospitals for inclusion based on analysis of several ranking and award agencies, including U.S. News and World Report's 2016-17 Honor Roll and specialty rankings, CMS star ratings, Leapfrog grades, Truven Health Analytics top hospitals, Most Wired hospitals and Magnet accreditation. Organizations cannot pay for inclusion on this list.