Human brain dissected live in front of medical school students – The Argus

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A MEDICAL school has become the first in the UK to live-stream a human dissection as part of a new virtual teaching technique.

Year two and medical neuroscience students at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) witnessed a brain being removed.

They also had an introduction session where they explored the muscles and bones of the chest.

Social distancing restrictions as a result of the pandemic have forced universities online, blending curriculum with a mix of face-to-face and virtual teaching.

Staff at BSMS have implemented a blended medical curriculum to ensure students still receive face-to-face teaching in key clinical area and also benefit from digital innovations to support their learning.

One of these innovations has been to bring the dissecting room, a highly regulated space, to students via streaming.

The procedure had been carefully planned, considering the Human Tissue Authority regulations, and only involved donors who had consented to the activity.

Professor Claire Smith, head of anatomy, said: In responding to the current restrictions, it remains imperative that medical and surgical teaching continues.

In anatomy teaching, Covid-related restrictions have been compounded by the medical school only receiving half the number of donated cadavers for teaching. We are so fortunate to have donors and my thoughts are always with those who have suffered loss at such a difficult time.

This new innovation has meant the donors wish to educate and inform future generations can still occur, albeit in a slightly different way.

It is not only medical students who are benefiting.

Last month, a week-long course was arranged by Dr Jag Dhanda, using the live stream to demonstrate surgical procedures on cadavers with virtual reality (VR).

Multiple camera angle perspectives in the virtual reality view were live-streamed to 350 surgeons from 26 countries around the world.

Surgeons were able to view the surgical techniques on cadavers through virtual reality headsets that allowed them to choose the camera angle perspective they wanted by moving their heads.

One student who attended the brain dissection said they gained a lot from the experience.

He said: Its definitely a learning curve with all the new tech tools, but I really felt that I gained incredibly valuable experience by being present during the session.

I know that I speak on behalf of all the medical neuroscience students when I say that we are very grateful for the opportunity to be included in something like this.

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Human brain dissected live in front of medical school students - The Argus

Washington People: Andrew Whitaker | The Source | Washington University in St. Louis – Washington University in St. Louis Newsroom

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Andrew Whitaker has spent his undergraduate career at Washington University in St. Louis giving back.

A biomedical engineering major at the McKelvey School of Engineering, he has danced and played with kids who have cerebral palsy so they can put on a dance recital through Dance CPSR (Cerebral Palsy Sports Rehabilitation).

A two-sport athlete in football and track, he has spent weekends with kids on the autism spectrum, guiding them through exercises to improve coordination and social skills through the Bear Cubs running program.

An Annika Rodriguez Scholar, he has traveled to Honduras for a week, helping doctors assist patients with basic medical needs through a program called Global Brigades. He also has been involved in the McKelvey Takes Responsibility Campaign and WU BLAC.

Yet when Whitaker who recently was selected as one of 22 college football players from all three NCAA divisions for the prestigious Allstate American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team is asked what, if any, of these experiences had the most meaning for him, he responds, Whatever Im doing now.

Right now, that would be his work with the local nonprofit Asthma & Allergy Foundation of St. Louis, helping kids afflicted with a disease of the lungs that is even more dangerous in this time of COVID-19.

What began as an internship this past summer has turned into a project near and dear to this defensive backs heart. With the help of the Gephardt Institute for Civic & Community Engagement, for which he also serves as a Bob and Gerry Virgil Civic Scholar, Whitaker spearheaded a project to send medical supplies to every school district in the St. Louis area. He set up and managed a website through the foundation that school nurses could access and request kits to have on hand. And when the kits were ready to send, he enlisted his football teammates to help assemble boxes.

It was good to know that when schools opened this fall, there were kids with asthma who had a fighting chance against COVID because of these kits, he said.

All from a senior who, like his teammates and classmates, admittedly is having the toughest year of his undergraduate career. Much of his campus life this semester has been experienced from his nearby campus apartment, and the football team only recently began socially distanced practices on Francis Olympic Field. Hes also just starting to work out with the track team.

The whole year has been humbling, and it gives you so much time to reflect on what matters, he said, referring not only to the pandemic but also the social unrest that erupted this summer in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

Im a senior in college, and I dont want to waste any more time, he said. Simply being around friends is meaningful the games we play, the meals we eat together. These things really matter.

And as a senior on the football team, as a captain on the track team, I now feel like if I can inspire someone, I should, he said. If I can share my experiences about being Black and get my teammates to look at things through a different lens in terms of the social injustices going on, I will.

Whitaker, a native of Cincinnati, said medical school is likely in his future, but he hopes to take a year off after he graduates to travel, maybe participate in an international fellowship of some kind, and figure out his next step.

More information about the Good Works nomination is available here, including an opportunity to vote him team captain through Nov. 22. Meanwhile, the honors keep coming. Whitaker also recently was named a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy, awarded by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame. Like the Good Works award, it spans all NCAA divisions and recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership.

He continues to take all the accolades and honors in stride. You never expect to be honored at all when youre simply helping people, he said.

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Washington People: Andrew Whitaker | The Source | Washington University in St. Louis - Washington University in St. Louis Newsroom

Becoming a doctor: Physicians and med students talk about what it takes – Binghamton University

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By Jennifer Micale

October 29, 2020

Pressured by her parents to study medicine, Nisha Gandhi 93 was determined to become an actuary instead. But the math majors equation for life worked out differently after she joined Harpurs Ferry, Binghamton Universitys student volunteer ambulance service.

It became an obsession. I lived in Delaware Hall, next to where the ambulances were kept, she said. I found I really enjoyed doing emergency and critical care more than being at a desk and doing math problems.

To fulfill her new dream, she did a year of graduate school to tackle her pre-med requirements, then enrolled in a Caribbean medical school before training in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Today, Dr. Nisha Gandhi is director of the medical-surgical intensive care unit at Englewood Hospital in New Jersey.

Theres nothing like being at the bedside and taking care of patients. Thats how you learn critical care, she said.

A screenshot from the Harpur Physician Alumni Panel, Greys Anatomy vs. Reality, held Oct. 23, 2020, on Zoom. Image Credit: Jennifer Micale.

Interested in a health career? Check out your options via pre-health professions advising, or listen to first-hand accounts of life in medicine with the Physician Alumni Lecture Series.

Biological sciences is a popular major for future doctors, but as Gandhis story shows, its not the only one. Dr. Adam Fox 92, the event moderator, graduated from Harpur with a degree in political science. Hes currently an associate professor of surgery and section chief of trauma at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and the Eric Munoz Trauma Center at University Hospital in Newark.

Contrary to popular belief, getting a less than spectacular grade in one of your classes wont completely sink your medical school application. However, there are some limits, Fox explained.

I did not do amazingly well in college and I went to podiatry school before I got my grades up, Fox explained. But there is a big push to look at how people do with tests. If they feel you cant pass the boards, its a strike against you because residency and fellowship programs get dinged for it. You have to prove you can succeed in a very rigorous academic environment.

Having a compelling story behind your medical school application can help you stand out, especially if you have a bad grade or two, advised Dr. Desmond Sutton 10. His own story is particularly interesting: both he and his twin brother attended Binghamton and have since become physicians after attending different medical schools. Along the way, Sutton discovered his passion in high-risk obstetrics, and hes now in the last year of a fellowship in maternal fetal medicine at Columbia University.

Many people typically take a gap year or several before medical school, but that wasnt the case for Colin Pritchard and Alexandra Dolgetta. Pritchard, who graduated from Binghamton in May 2020, just started classes this fall at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, where he is part of the Rural Medical Scholars Program. Dolgetta, who graduated in 2018, is now starting her rotations as a third-year medical student at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

If you decide against taking a gap year, be prepared for interviewers to ask you about it, Dolgetta said. Once you get to medical school, the experience will be overwhelming, no matter how well you prepared, she said.

The first two years involve heavy studying; Dolgetta hit the books between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. every day, with few breaks. She is enjoying her third year with its clinical rotations far more.

You do all of this work to get into medical school. None of that compares to the work you do in medical school. It is truly daunting, she said. The hard work truly begins when you get here. Youll be surprised at your capacity.

Sometimes, people decide to go into medicine to make money which is entirely the wrong reason, the panelists said.

While doctors are well-compensated, the debt burden is real, said Sutton, who started applying for 10-year loan forgiveness programs during his residency. That debt burden might influence your choice of specialty; Gandhis husband became an anesthesiologist rather than a pediatrician because he realized that he wouldnt be able to pay off his loans before retirement if he chose the latter path.

Medicine is also immensely stressful. Trauma surgeons such as Fox deal with life-and-death scenarios, all-nighters and grieving families on a regular basis. Gandhi, who has three children, has missed family events and celebrations.

The tests dont end with medical school, either, panelists said. To maintain their board certifications, physicians need to retest for them every 10 years and theyre grueling eight-hour exams, Gandhi explained. She should know: she has four board certifications that she must test for.

Shadowing and internships are good ways to find out if medicine is a good fit for you. Pritchard shadowed a colorectal surgeon in Sayre, Pa., as well as the local doctor in his small hometown. Dolgettas best shadowing experience came through the Summer Physician Mentor Program, which paired her up with a Harpur College alum. After five years, they still keep in touch, she said.

Medicine is immensely challenging, but it is just as fulfilling to people who have the mission and the passion, according to panelists.

You have to want to do it. Enjoy it, live it, love it, Gandhi said of medicine.

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Becoming a doctor: Physicians and med students talk about what it takes - Binghamton University

As med ed goes remote, gross anatomy offers in-person learning – American Medical Association

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The first semester of medical school aims to lay a foundation of knowledge on which medical students can grow into physicians. Among the key foundational pieces laid in those opening months of training is a familiarity and understanding of the human body, often introduced through anatomy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted much of the opening months of medical school from in-person learning to online learning for many preclinical medical students. Still, at some schools, when it comes to anatomy, there is no digital replacement for the real thing.

At the Heritage College, cadaveric anatomy is a priority, said Isaac J. Kirstein, DO, a dean at the Cleveland campus of Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OUHCOM), which is a member school of theAMAsAccelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium. There are two key reasons for this. First, the cadaver is the medical students first patient; the students engage with the humanism of the experience, and it forms their professional identity. Second, to truly learn osteopathic principles requires an understanding of anatomy that simulation alone cannot provide.

Learn five tips to survive first-year anatomy.

Opting to offer in-person anatomy meant putting in place several safety protocols. Students spend less time in labsroughly a half day per weekand learn in smaller groups. Instead of performing dissections, cadavers are dissected prior to students arriving in the lab.

Theres a lot to be said for learning the art of dissection to help students pick up some basic techniques, Dr. Kirstein said. We are confident that can be learned during their second year.

OUHCOM first-year medical students began anatomy in late August. Even without dissection, working with a cadaver, rather than attempting to learn the body via some sort of simulation medium, has proven valuable.

Its really important that we learn the 3D aspect to a body versus simply learning from a textbook, said Ashley Aslo, a first-year student at OU. Trying to conceptualize in our brains, its really important to understand that theres layering. And on the other hand, not just science but also being introduced to our first patient and understanding that these people donated their bodies for us to learn fromlearning how to respect them was really important. By doing anatomy in person, we have learned all of those aspects.

As far as any potential safety concerns students might have, Aslo said the systems put in place have largely negated them for her.

Its a scary time, Aslo said, but she believes the university has done an amazing job of adhering by social distancing rules while providing the opportunity to get a good education.

Medical schools will continue to adjust to disruptions related to COVID-19, balancing safety concerns with ensuring that students are appropriately trained to care for patients, families and communities.

The AMA has curateda selection of resourcesto help residents, medical students and faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic manage the shifting timelines, cancellations and adjustments to testing, rotations and other events at this time.

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As med ed goes remote, gross anatomy offers in-person learning - American Medical Association

LETTERS: Medical school merits support; Hoping for other rallies; Questionable information; Trump good to minorities – Monitor

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Medical school merits support

Although there is a need for exploratory discussion and civil debate on city budgets, it was with chagrin and incredulity that I read that during a City Council meeting, Edinburg Councilman Gilbert Enriquez entertained the idea to axe the annual contribution to the UTRGV Medical School. It was also reported that Councilman Jorge Salinas agreed and stated that these millions of contribution dollars were unnecessary.

Budgets are essential and staying within the budget is also essential, especially during our pandemic times; however, as someone who has been educated in the Rio Grande Valley as well as taught science here as a result of this education, I fear that todays dollars and cents of a balance sheet would never be able to equate to the long-term health and education of our community.

What have our contributions to UTRGV Med School through our tax money already secured? According to Veronica Gonzalez, UTRGV vice president who defended the contribution from Edinburg at a later Edinburg meeting:

More than 1,000 faculty and staff members hired and 221enrollment and graduated in its fist class.

Opened several medical clinics in Edinburg.

Set up a COVID-19 lab for testing and drive-thru sites that are still operating, and the lab can give results in 24 hours.

Contract tracers for the coronavirus have also been hired.

Nowhere will our tax money be spent better and receive higher dividends and long-term rewards than in the continued support of the UTRGV Medical School through the annual donations as promised from all the RGV cities. Our local cities as Edinburg have already contracted their support with a memorandum for 10 years, and we should stay committed as the current pandemic has proven that investment to be sound investment.

Diane Teter

Edinburg

Hoping for other rallies

I read about the area rallies in support of the guy convicted of running a fake university con; convicted of using a fake charity to pay for his legal bills and a fulllength portrait of himself; puttingterrified little Mexican kids in cages and losing track of their parents; being accused of multiple sexual assaults; stirring up racial hatred and violence nationwide; gassing peaceful protesters to create a photo op holding up a bible to dupe credulous evangelicals; asking the U.S. Supreme Court to end health care for 20 million people; being personally responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people by lying about the pandemic; etc. Yeah, that guy.

Hope soon to read about rallies in support of his victims.

Ed Chaney

Laguna Vista

Questionable information

The New York Times recentlyran an extensive storyexposing the state ofTexas incredibly flawedsystems in place to trackand report COVID-19 deaths.Essentially, the evidenceshows that because ofan archaic system thatvaries from one countyto another, we are notprovided accurate informationabout the number of COVID-19cases, the number of deathsand the manner in whichthe various health departmentsclassify a COVID-19death.

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LETTERS: Medical school merits support; Hoping for other rallies; Questionable information; Trump good to minorities - Monitor

How CrossFit Prepared Me for Medical School in-Training, the online peer-reviewed publication for medical students – Pager Publications, Inc.

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A few years ago, I found CrossFit. Since then, I have spent a large share of my free time training and improving my health and fitness. As with any sport, there was a large learning curve. However, as I trained, my mind and body adapted. I made strides both athletically and mentally that I never thought were possible. I never imagined that this preparation and development would translate to a seemingly opposing task: medical school.

The Triumph of the Generalist

No one will deny that specialists are important. You dont want a general surgeon performing surgery on your high grade astrocytoma. Specialists spend decades of their lives honing in on the very specific and detailed task they perform. As a result, they push the boundary of human capabilities and are no doubt the best at their specific task.

CrossFit is different. It is centered around constantly varied movements. Unlike the three point shooter who can rely on his shot or the offensive lineman and his strength, to succeed in CrossFit one has to be good at many things. It combines Olympic weightlifting with running, gymnastics with swimming and demands such a breadth of training and talent that it defies specialization. Given this, an athlete cannot rely on their strengths to push them to success, but has to instead focus on their weaknesses. In order to be successful, one cannot shy away from their weaknesses they must attack them.

When I began medical school, I quickly saw the similarities. Students are thrown into such a breadth of content that there is no way to be an expert. In our short pre-clerkship years, we have to learn the anatomy, physiology, embryology, biochemistry, pathology, genetics and the pharmacology of one of the most complex machines in the universe: the human body.

As I began my studies, I quickly found that although it was easier to study the subjects I was already competent in, this is not what would help me improve. If I wanted to really move the needle on my academic success, I would have to instead make the choice to lean into my weaknesses. For me, this was my clinical skills and comfort in a medical environment. Because of this, I tried to gain extra hands on experience as soon as my schools curriculum allowed. Just like getting extra reps in the gym, I knew the more times I practiced, the more comfortable I would become.

In medical training, we work to learn about the big picture before we can narrow in. We have to spend our time taking lessons from the generalists of the world and lean into the skills that we struggle with. This is the way to improve and have a well-rounded medical education. While my time may come in the future to specialize, Im going to spend the next few years chipping away at my weaknesses as I know it will make me a better physician no matter what specialty I enter.

Being Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

As a sport that prides itself on pushing the body to its physical limits, CrossFit athletes have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. The hours spent at the gym, track, pool and lake are draining. The workouts where your legs are screaming and youre gasping for any breath of air to fuel your body are daunting, pushing your body to the brink of its capabilities.

As CrossFit athletes push through the pain, the body adapts in many ways, from the muscles to the lungs. In science we call this hormesis, or an organisms ability to adapt to challenges and improve its fitness. The most important adaptation, however, happens between the ears. In Alex Hutchinsons book Endure, about the physical limits of performance, he says that the body sets the limits, and the brain dictates how close you can get to those boundaries. It is the mind that ultimately leads to success.

While there isnt the same level of physical pain preparing to become a physician, the mental toughness required is equally as daunting. As medical students, we spend years working to learn all we can with the end goal of helping patients live better lives. We sacrifice and study when we dont want to. We miss out on enjoyable experiences. But each of us has the power to adapt and thrive in times of discomfort.

Channeling the Voice in Your Head

In every CrossFit workout, there is a moment of time when your brain says to stop. As the body pushes itself to its limits, a voice in your head says that youre pushing too hard. It will use scare tactics to tell you that youre not in good enough shape or that you cant continue to push on. Even though these thoughts are not wanted, they continue to flood into our minds. In these moments, you have to make a decision. Do I stop? Or do I keep going?

When Dr. James Gills, a renowned ocular surgeon and endurance athlete who has completed six Double Ironman Triathlons was asked how he keeps his mind strong enough to endure such lengthy competitions, he responded by saying that, Ive learned to talk to myself instead of listen to myself. What Dr. Gill means is that when we are left to our own thoughts, we hear the voice in our head that says we arent good enough that we dont have the skills or the motivation in order to be successful. While we would not willingly choose to have negative thoughts, they often flow effortlessly into our consciousness. We can try to suppress them, but ultimately they continue to win. However, trying to suppress them is not our only method of defense. If we choose to talk to ourselves with positive affirmations instead, we gain back some of that control.

Research is now being conducted on the benefit of positive thoughts and affirmations. Self-help experts have even begun to suggest exercises such as gratitude journaling and positive affirmation walks. We are beginning to realize that we have the power to combat our negative thoughts by consciously speaking out against them.

In medical school, there are many pressures placed on us, and it is common to have self-doubts. Imposter syndrome is endemic and if we dont take an active role in working against our thoughts, they can easily take over our consciousness. This is where we can begin to talk to ourselves instead of just listening. By doing this, we can begin to recognize how our negative thoughts distort our thinking, and work to change the narrative we tell ourselves each day.

The Power of Habit

Change doesnt happen overnight. As much as we want to be the person that bursts onto the scene and immediately succeeds, more often than not, it takes years of continual effort and dedication to reach your goals. This is true in CrossFit, and even more so in medicine.

Social reformer Jacob Riis once said, When nothing seems to help, I look to the stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did itbut all that had come before. In order to be successful, we must give continual effort for sustained periods of time. We might not get immediate feedback, but we must continue to press on.

Whenever we begin something new, we are flooded with motivation and energy, but that inspiration only lasts so long. Soon, we settle into the mundane and begin to struggle to put consistent energy into being successful. This is where the power of habit comes in. In James Clears book, Atomic Habits, he explains that, you do not rise to the levels of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. As humans, we are habitual creatures. We build routines that can either propel us to success, or leave us always wishing we could be more.

As soon as you receive your white coat as a medical student, the motivation to become the best physician you can be is at an all-time high. Unfortunately, the long days of studying begin to wear on us. Reading textbooks becomes mundane and motivation begins to dwindle. This is where we need to build habits to stay on track. Whether its setting a block off each day to study, or placing your phone and distractions in the other room, building habits when motivation begins to fail is how we will continue to move towards our goals.

When I began CrossFit, I always heard people talk about it being a transformative experience, but I now know first hand that the lessons I have learned from this sport have improved my ability to weather the storms of a career in medicine. Something that began as a way to stay fit and enjoy my free time, has altered how I experience the world around me. I now have a unique frame to face the challenges and opportunities that medical school brings.

Image Credit: Photograph provided by Caleb Sokolowksi.

Writer-in-Training and Columnist

Wayne State University School of Medicine

Caleb Sokolowski is a second-year medical student at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan. In 2018, he graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of science in Human Biology. Caleb is interested in medical ethics, policy, and education. In his free time, Caleb participates in number of activities including sports, CrossFit, paddle boarding and cycling.

Leading the Rounds: The Medical Leadership Podcast

As physicians, we are immediately thrust into a leadership position from the moment we finish medical school. Despite this, most medical students will obtain little formal leadership training. We seek to improve our leadership abilities as burgeoning physicians. We developed this podcast to challenge ourselves to explore ideas in leadership development and how they apply to medical training. We hope to educate and motivate others to further develop themselves as leaders in healthcare.

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How CrossFit Prepared Me for Medical School in-Training, the online peer-reviewed publication for medical students - Pager Publications, Inc.

Sorrento Therapeutics Releases Positive Results of Phase 1B Trial of Resiniferatoxin (RTX) Epidural in Cancer Patients with Reported Intractable Pain…

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SAN DIEGO, Sept. 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SRNE, "Sorrento") announced the public release of the results of its multicenter, open-label, Phase 1b Study to Evaluate Safety and MTD of Epidural Resiniferatoxin Injection for the Treatment of Intractable Cancer Pain, at the 14th Annual Pain Therapeutics Summit held virtually from September 21 to 22, 2020. Data was presented by Srdjan Nedeljkovic, MD, Associate Professor of Anesthesia,Harvard Medical School/Brigham & Women's Hospital.

We are extremely encouraged by the results of this initial study. Even in patients with high levels of pain, RTX given via an epidural injection has been found to reduce pain intensity without having any long-term adverse safety consequences, said Associate Professor of Anesthesia, Srdjan S. Nedeljkovic, M.D. from the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Brigham and Womens Hospital at Harvard Medical School. The patient population had intractable pain that did not respond to other standard therapeutic approaches, including opioids. The addition of RTX to the management of patients with intractable advanced-stage cancer pain offers the prospect of reducing suffering and improving quality of life for this underserved patient population.

This multicenter, open-label study enrolled 17 adults with intractable moderate to severe cancer pain. Subjects were treated with a one-time epidural administration of RTX at escalating dose level cohorts, ranging from 0.4 g to 25 g in 3 ml saline, in seven cohorts. The first participant in each cohort served as the Sentinel subject. The first two dosing cohorts (0.4 g and 1.0 g) each included one subject. Subsequent cohorts proceeded with three subjects each (2, 4, 8, 15 and 25 g).

Enrollment of dose escalation cohorts has completed, with 17 subjects receiving RTX. 65% were women and 35% were men. The median age was 58 years (range 28-82 years). The baseline numerical pain rating scale (NPRS) average score was a mean of 6.8 (standard deviation (S.D.) of 1.65), and the baseline NPRS worst score was a mean of 7.9 (S.D. of 1.26).

No dose-limiting toxicities were reported. Dose escalation was completed at 25 ug. The most frequently reported treatment-emergent adverse event was transient post-procedural pain that was described in 47.1% of subjects. Post-injection-associated pain was managed with traditional short-term pain medications on the day of RTX injection. Typically, the RTX-associated pain following injection subsided before the 8-hour post-injection assessment and resolved within 24 hours in all subjects. Transient and reversible adverse events reported in at least two RTX-treated subjects were nausea (17.6%), vomiting (17.6%), and headache (17.6%). A total of 15 serious adverse events (SAEs) were reported, but none were deemed by the investigator to be related to RTX treatment. Most adverse events were attributed to the underlying cancer diagnosis.

Clinical efficacy (CE) was assessed at three efficacy levels: CE30, CE50 and CE70, defined as a 30%, 50% and 70% decrease in pain, respectively, for three consecutive days from the original baseline NPRS score of 6/10.

A positive outcome was observed in the lowest dose of RTX administered (0.4 ug) at the CE30 efficacy point. A dose-response relationship was observed, with the majority of responders at the 15 ug and 25 ug dose levels. Of the 17 subjects, 11 achieved the CE30 prespecified efficacy end-point using NPRS scores. Day 90 results for all RTX doses pooled are shown below:

PK data revealed no detectable drug in plasma in 15 of the 17 subjects. Minimally detectable levels of RTX were seen in 2 of the 17 subjects, in each case only at the initial post-injection time point.

RTX administration was well-tolerated when given as a one-time epidural injection at doses up to 25 ug. Preliminary clinical pain improvement was observed in the dose-escalation phase. Based on the results, though the protocolallowed exploration of a 35 mcg dose for this indication, adose beyond 25 mcg was not deemed necessary to qualify the safety and clinically meaningful efficacy of the drug. These preliminary data support further study of epidural RTX in a broader patient population with what would be considered moderate to severe pain associated with cancer in this orphan indication.

For access to the poster associated with the scientific presentation, please visit Sorrento Investor Relations Site

Sorrento intends to rapidly advance to larger scale trials and expects to submit a request to proceed with a multicenter, blinded, controlled Phase 3 trial to the FDA in the upcoming weeks.

About Resiniferatoxin (RTX)

A thousand times hotter than pure capsaicin (16 Billion Scoville units versus 16M), and with a high affinity for afferent pain nerves, resiniferatoxin binds to TRPV1 receptors and selectively ablates the nerve endings responsible for pain signals experienced by patients1. Delivered peripherally (into the joint space) the transient nerve ending ablation effect can have profound clinical benefits lasting for months to years (as shown in canine studies2).

RTX-001 was a multicenter, open-label dose escalation Phase 1b study to assess the safety and define the maximally tolerated dose of resiniferatoxin administered via the epidural route for the reduction of moderate to severe pain signal intensity associated with advanced cancer.The Phase 1b study was a dose-escalation protocol in which cohorts of patients received increasing doses of resiniferatoxin until the maximum tolerated dose was achieved. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the safety of resiniferatoxin and identify the recommended Phase 3 dose. The secondary objective was to assess the preliminary efficacy of resiniferatoxin measured by assessing changes in the intensity of pain using the NPRS score, a widely used proprietary validated pain scale.

RTX is not approved for clinical use by regulatory authorities. Safety and efficacy have not been established.

More information on this trial can be found at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03226574).

About Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.

Sorrento is a clinical stage, antibody-centric, biopharmaceutical company developing new therapies to treat cancers. Sorrento's multimodal, multipronged approach to fighting cancer is made possible by its extensive immuno-oncology platforms, including key assets such as fully human antibodies (G-MAB library), clinical stage immuno-cellular therapies (CAR-T, DAR-T), antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), and clinical stage oncolytic virus (Seprehvir, Seprehvec).Sorrento is also developing potential antiviral therapies and vaccines against coronaviruses, including COVIDTRAP, ACE-MAB, COVI-MAB, COVI-GUARD, COVI-SHIELD and T-VIVA-19; and diagnostic test solutions, including COVI-TRACK and COVI-TRACE.

Sorrento's commitment to life-enhancing therapies for patients is also demonstrated by our effort to advance a first-in-class (TRPV1 agonist) non-opioid pain management small molecule, resiniferatoxin (RTX), and ZTlido (lidocaine topical system) 1.8% for the treatment of post-herpetic neuralgia. RTX is completing a phase 1B trial for intractable pain associated with cancer and a phase 1B trial in osteoarthritis patients. ZTlido was approved by the FDA on February 28, 2018.

For more information visit http://www.sorrentotherapeutics.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and any statements made for and during any presentation or meeting contain forward-looking statements related to Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc., under the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the expectations for Sorrento's and its subsidiaries' technologies and product candidates, including, but, not limited to, resiniferatoxin (RTX), the clinical potential of RTX, timing for commencing larger scale trials for RTX, timing for completion and submission of a request to proceed with any Phase 3 trial for RTX and the possibility of proceeding to a Phase 3 trial. Risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in our forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited to: risks related to Sorrento's and its subsidiaries', affiliates and partners technologies and prospects, including, but not limited to, RTX; risks related to seeking regulatory approvals and conducting and obtaining results of clinical trials; costs associated with clinical trials; risks that prior test, study and trial results may not be replicated in future studies and trials; the clinical and commercial success of RTX; the viability and success of using RTX for treatments in certain therapeutic areas, including for the treatment of intractable pain associated with cancer; risks related to the global impact of COVID-19; and other risks that are described in Sorrento's most recent periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Sorrento's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risk factors set forth in those filings. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement in this press release except as required by law.

Media and Investor Relations

Alexis Nahama, SVP Head of RTX Program.

Telephone: 1.858.203.4120

Email: mediarelations@sorrentotherapeutics.com

Sorrento and the Sorrento logo are registered trademarks of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. G-MAB, COVI-GUARD, COVI-SHIELD, COVIDTRAP, T-VIVA-19, COVI-MAB, ACE-MAB, COVI-TRACK, and COVI-TRACE are trademarks of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.

ZTlido is a trademark owned by Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc..All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 2020 Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC398431/ 2 Sorrento Therapeutics (Ark Animal Health) internal data (on file)

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Sorrento Therapeutics Releases Positive Results of Phase 1B Trial of Resiniferatoxin (RTX) Epidural in Cancer Patients with Reported Intractable Pain...

$25 million gift for TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine – Fort Worth Business Press

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The late Anne Marion and the Burnett Foundation have made a $25 million gift to establish The Anne W. Marion Endowment in support of the operations of the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine in perpetuity.

This transformational gift will provide funds to support students, faculty and programming for the medical school, the school said in a news release.

With a mission to transform health care by inspiring Empathetic Scholars, the gift is a catalyst that will enable the School of Medicine to be a leader in medical education, delivery of care and scholarship and necessary skills for complex health care issues, including the challenges of providing care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

I am inspired by the vision of the School of Medicine to transform medical education. This school is bringing considerable advances and innovations that are reshaping curriculum and preparing its graduates to better serve the community. I am pleased to make this gift, Mrs. Marion said before her death in February.

Mrs. Marions family ties to the Fort Worth community date back nearly a century and include a long history of supporting the priorities of the city and its institutions. The Burnett Foundation has been a generous patron of the city investing significant resources to enhance the community in myriad ways.

I am beyond thrilled and grateful for this incredibly generous gift, said Stuart D. Flynn, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine. This historic gift will help us empower current and new generations of talented and diverse students and faculty to address the complex health care issues challenging our world. The foundations generosity supports our efforts to create physicians who are highly skilled and knowledgeable yet compassionate care givers.

The TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine received preliminary accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) in 2018 and started its first class of 60 students in July 2019. This support comes at a time when the medical school is beginning preparations for the next step of LCME approval, provisional accreditation.

The gift will support the operations of the school, which offers a novel educational experience, tailored to how students learn best, capitalizing on teamwork and active application sessions and assisting students to retain the knowledge they are learning, with the patient always at the center, the news release said.

This new medical school is training future physicians who will not only care for patients, but will provide care, empathetic communication with patients, and the critical thinking skills to lead in an industry that is always evolving and innovating, TCU Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr. said in the announcement. This gift will contribute greatly to current and future faculty and students. I am humbled and thankful that our late colleague and dear friend Anne Marion and the Burnett Foundation embraced our goal of creating Empathetic Scholars with this generous gift to support the School of Medicine.

UNTHSC President Michael R. Williams said at a time when innovation in medical education is not only needed, but also demanded, the gift will ensure that the M.D. School continues to grow its innovative curriculum.

This gift recognizes the vision we had to create a new and different school. I am appreciative of this generous support and thank both Anne Marion and the Burnett Foundation, Williams said.

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$25 million gift for TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine - Fort Worth Business Press

He speaks their language: UW medical student trained in Brewster this summer – wenatcheeworld.com

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BREWSTER Second-year University of Washington School of Medicine student Antonio Guadamuz spent part of his summer serving the largely Latinx population of Brewster.

Born in Nicaragua and raised in Miami, Guadamuz knows exactly what racism looks and feels like.

Its the open stares in grocery stores. Its the awareness of being followed by store employees while doing your shopping. And unfortunately, it can lead to difficulty in getting a correct diagnosis when youre sick. Thats what drew the 33-year-old to medical school.

Five years ago, I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, but it was a circuitous, complicated process because as a person of color, they assumed I had Type 2 diabetes, said Guadamuz, who explained current medical algorithms indicate Hispanics are at greater risk of developing the Type 2 form of the disease.

The frustration he experienced as a patient propelled him toward a career as a physician.

I see the potential to address the inadequacies in society, he said. Medicine meshes with my worldview and ideals about what I want to do with my life.

At the end of his first year at UWSOM in Seattle, Guadamuz had the opportunity to participate in a summer training program known by the acronym RUOP: Rural Underserved Opportunities Program; its open to all medical students between years one and two of medical school.

During the four-week summer program, students live in rural underserved communities, working alongside local physicians in hospitals, clinics and private practices.

Our students develop a profound appreciation of what life is like for physicians practicing rural medicine, said John McCarthy, MD, assistant dean for Rural Programs at UWSOM.

Guadamuz served in Brewster, population 2,300, working with Dr. James Wallace at Family Health Centers.

We serve all of Okanogan County and part of North Douglas County, said Dr. Wallace. Brewsters population doubles in size during harvest season. We have a huge influx of migrant workers from Mexico, Central America and even Jamaica. It adds a unique flavor to the cultural melting pot of the town.

Wallace, a North Carolina native, was drawn to underserved communities while in medical school at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

My medical school class voted me, Most Likely to Practice Rural Medicine in North Carolina, he laughed.

Okanogan County is a long way from North Carolina, but it meshed with Wallaces goals.

I was drawn to the needs of rural areas, he said. And serving in a community health center fits my vision of how I want to practice.

He was delighted to work with Guadamuz.

Antonio is one of the best students Ive had, said Wallace. He was thirsty for experience and very intentional in the clinical skills he wanted to learn.

While Wallace learned Spanish during his residency, he said watching Guadamuz converse easily with patients was eye-opening.

Seventy-five percent of my patients speak Spanish. They really appreciate someone who speaks their language, he said. Because Spanish is his first language, Antonio could convey empathy, humor and a depth of cultural understanding that I cant. Seeing him work with our Spanish-speaking patients was an experience that drove that home for me.

McCarthy understands how vital that kind of doctor/patient interaction is.

Its incredibly important to have providers with whom patients can identify. Much of what we do is based on trust and relationships, he said. This is easier when we have shared experiences.

Guadamuz was glad to be of service while he was learning about rural medicine.

I really enjoyed my time and training in Brewster. Its a beautiful area. he said. I received a great clinical education, and I was able to use Spanish frequently to help patients feel more comfortable.

But because of earlier small-town experiences, Guadamuz had some reservations.

I was apprehensive about being in a rural, conservative area, he said. Id already experienced stares and being followed in stores in my travels to smaller communities throughout the state. Rural areas often feel like unsafe, unwelcoming places for people of color.

Its a conundrum McCarthy is well aware of.

Our goal is to develop students into physicians who appreciate and respect diversity, said McCarthy. At the same time, its important to cultivate a workforce which mirrors the populace of the communities we serve. Ive seen patients light up when they see a provider who mirrors their culture and experiences.

However, attracting minority physicians to places they may feel unwelcome can be difficult. Wallace says conversations with medical students like Guadamuz are an important place to start.

Antonio helped me to recognize my own deficiencies and to explore ways to make up for them, Wallace said. Traditionally, the best health care wasnt available to people of color which led to worsening health outcomes. Were trying to hire health workers who are part of these communities to provide feedback about how to better serve our patient population.

To be clear, Guadamuz didnt feel unwelcome everywhere he went. Patients felt at ease with him, and the medical staff was very open to important dialog.

Racism is an uncomfortable topic, he said. But its an uncomfortable experience too, and its important to keep talking about it.

He valued observing how Family Health Centers is actively meeting the needs of the communities it serves.

When you are among only a handful of doctors in a small town, its important to build long-term relationships with patients, Guadamuz said. That was a key takeaway from my RUOP experience.

His hope is that conversations about discrimination will become part of a larger dialog that centers on the voices of the people most marginalized.

Wallace agreed, citing the dire need for physicians that fit their cultural population.

Antonio gives me hope that there are students out there who are endeavoring to explore rural areas despite the expectation that they might experience racism, he said. I appreciate that through RUOP and other rural programs, UWSOM is addressing two of the most vexing problems facing our societyracism and improving the physician workforce in underserved areas of our state.

Guadamuz feels its way to early in his medical education to know what kind of medicine he will one day practice, or where he and his family will settle, but he does know this: Wherever I practice I hope to have real conversations about how to address inequities in health care, and how physicians can better meet the needs of the entire community.

Cindy Hval is a freelance writer who writes for the University of Washington School of Medicine.

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He speaks their language: UW medical student trained in Brewster this summer - wenatcheeworld.com

OPINION, Rob Zapple: 10 reasons we don’t have all the facts needed to vote on NHRMC sale – StarNewsOnline.com

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By Rob Zapple| For StarNews Media

Late Friday afternoon, officials released a 160-page agreement detailing the final terms for selling county-owned New Hanover Regional Medical Center to Novant, a private, non-profit health-care system based in Winston-Salem.

Well over a year after a possible sale was announced, important questions remain. Though there are many, here are 10 essential questions I believe must be addressed before the county moves forward with the proposed $1.5 billion sale.

1. Why are local taxpayers giving Novant $200 million?

The agreement requires the county to pay $200 million to go toward future benefits for current NHRMC employees. Once the sale closes, those workers will be employed by Novant and will have no direct connection to the government of New Hanover County. If Novant buys NHRMC, it becomes responsible for all aspects of ownership. If compensation for employees needs to be enhanced, that is the responsibility of Novant, not of New Hanover County taxpayers.

2. Why is NHRMC negotiating a sale of county assets?

NHRMC is not a county agency. It is a nonprofit organization that leases facilities and other assets from the county to operate a healthcare system. The land, buildings, equipment, and cash reserves all are owned by the county. The sale is a deal between New Hanover County and Novant Health. Why has NHRMC and its executive team played such an outsized role in advocating for a sale and negotiating an agreement? Who is advocating for the citizens of New Hanover County?

3. When will UNC partnership begin?

After Novant brought on UNC Medical School as a partner in the proposal, there has been extensive discussion about its role, including increasing graduate education at NHRMC and establishing a UNC Medical School branch here. Although the agreement specifies a financial commitment, there is no timeframe, meaning theres no guarantee when any of the new programs/services will begin or if they will happen at all.

4. Who will control $1.25 billion?

Of the $1.5 billion sale proceeds, $1.25 billion will be used to establish a nonprofit community foundation. The initial board members who will oversee the foundation must be identified in the final agreement and made public prior to the final vote. The diversity and regional representation of this board are of great interest to the public. Residents of New Hanover County have the right to know who will be managing the fund and how the proceeds from investments it earns will be used.

5. Will Novant have undue influence?

Under the agreement, a new local board will be established to oversee NHRMC. Appointments to the board will be subject to the approval of the larger Novant Health corporate board. One duty of the local board will be to appoint six of the 11 members of the Community Foundations board -- a group that will control $1.25 billion of New Hanover County taxpayers money. Since the Novant Board must ratify all nominations to the local board, it effectively has majority control of the new Community Foundation. Why would we give Novant Health, a Winston-Salem based private corporation, that much influence? How do we guarantee local interests are protected?

6. Why is NHRMCs strategic plan not public?

The majority of the financial commitments made by Novant are based on the nearly $2 billion NHRMC officials say is needed to fund initiatives in the plan. The public, however, has not been allowed to see it. This plan has been in the works for three years. There likely are areas that need to be updated or even removed, possibly changing important financial elements of any sale. Are we sure the price is accurate? Why not redact details on competitive health-care activities as allowed by state law and make the plan public?

7. Why is local control not an option?

NHRMC is a nonprofit corporation. It operates the health-care system, but the county owns the assets and appoints NHRMCs board. That makes NHRMC a component unit of New Hanover County and means it is subject to state laws that tie its hands in certain cases, such as expanding into other counties. But if the county were to transfer all assets to NHRMC and get out of the hospital business, an independent NHRMC could combine its cash and reserves -- estimated at $550 million -- and focus on a revised strategic plan. It could negotiate directly with UNC School of Medicine and UNC Health on expanding that partnership, grow at a slower pace, live within its means, and serve the needs exclusively of Southeastern North Carolina, not the needs of Novants three-state region.

8. What if Novant changes hands?

The current language in the Letter of Intent allows Novant Health to sell NHRMC at any time without approval of the new local Hospital Board, if Novant merges or is acquired by another entity. After ten years, Novant Health has the unrestricted right to sell any or all of NHRMC assets to any other healthcare system without the approval of the local Hospital Board. A sale or merger of NHRMC to another healthcare system would mean the contractual guarantees Novant Health is providing to New Hanover County could be renegotiated by a new Owner.

9. Medicaid expansion would change everything

What happens if the legislature passes Medicaid expansion? With the upcoming election, it is a possibility. That would pump billions of health-care dollars into North Carolina and provide a major financial shot in the arm for NHRMC. Why are we rushing to finalize a sale in October when something will take place a few weeks later that could dramatically change NHRMCs financial outlook? Wouldnt waiting until after Nov. 3 to see if the political landscape changes be the responsible thing to do?

10. The timing is bad

Why are we rushing to sell NHRMC at this time? The possibility of a sale was announced in July 2018. Since that time, our nation has become gripped by an unprecedented health crisis and periods of civil unrest. We face extraordinary challenges on many fronts. No homeowner would sell their house in the middle of a hurricane. Why are we selling our countys most valuable asset in the middle of a national crisis?

Why we need to wait

I want to be absolutely clear. I am not opposed in principle to selling NHRMC to Novant Health. There is much in the proposal to like, including the financial windfall, which, if governed wisely and inclusively, could be transformational for our community. But it is an incredibly complex transaction with many interwoven and moving parts. We need to spend as much time as is necessary to thoroughly -- and publicly -- address some very important issues that remain. We need an agreement that the entire community can embrace.

If in six months we reach a deal that's in the overall best interest of county residents, I will support it. But we are not there yet. This is perhaps the most consequential decision in the countys history. We have to get it right.

Rob Zapple serves on the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners.

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OPINION, Rob Zapple: 10 reasons we don't have all the facts needed to vote on NHRMC sale - StarNewsOnline.com

Less Anxiety And More Connection To School For Teens During Remote Learning – Theravive

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Teenagers experienced less anxiety and felt more connection to school during lock down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A study from the University of Bristol examined how 1000 teenagers across 17 schools in the South West of England coped during lockdown when they werent attending school in person.

The students involved in the research were first surveyed in October of 2019, prior to the pandemic, as part of a wider piece of research into social media use and mental health and wellbeing in teens. In October, more than half (54 per cent) of 13-14 year old girls who did the survey showed signs they were at risk of anxiety, while 26 per cent of boys in the same age range showed signs they were at risk.

When the survey was repeated in May of 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic which saw schools in the UK shut, the percentage of teens who were at risk of anxiety dropped by almost 10 per cent among girls to 45 per cent and dropped to just 18 per cent of boys.

The study authors had expected to see an increase in anxiety due to the pandemic, and were surprised by what they found.

Due tothepandemic, resultant lockdown and school closures, it was really important to understand how young people had been affected by these changes.Thestudy provided a unique insight into how many younger teenagers feel withouttheday-to-day pressures of school life, Emily Widnall, lead author of the study and Senior Research Associate in Population Health Sciences at the University of Bristol's Medical School told Theravive.

Overall we found reductions in anxiety and rises in wellbeing but no large changes in depression inthemajority of students. We saw larger improvements in mental health and wellbeing for students who had poor mental health and wellbeing before lockdown. Students with low school, peer and family connectedness pre-pandemic, sawthebiggest improvements in mental health and wellbeing during lockdown. Students school connectedness also increased overall for both girls and boys, indicating that some ofthemeasures put in place by schools during lockdown were successful at nurturing connectedness, she said.

Boys were found to have a greater improvement in sense of well-being than girls. The students who had the lowest level of wellbeing prior to the pandemic saw the greatest benefit during lockdown, with their wellbeing scores increasing by 14 per cent.

The results of the study raise questions around the impact the school environment can have on the mental health of teenagers. Widnall says the findings shine a light on how younger teens may feel without the daily pressures they have at school like difficult peer relationships or academic pressures.

Improvements in mental health and wellbeing may be due totheremoval of stressors withintheschool environment, such as pressure of academic work, and challenging peer relationships. This study raises questions abouttherole oftheschool environment and its impact on teenage mental health, she said.

Although the students surveyed didnt attend school in person due to lockdown, both girls and boys said they felt a stronger connectedness to their school during this time. There were also significant increases in the number of teens who reported having opportunities to talk to their teachers.

Widnall says further research will be important to explore why young people felt more connected to their school during lockdown. One possible explanation is the use of digital platforms to engage with students.

The reduction in anxiety and improvement in well-being experienced by the students surveyed also coincided with notably greater usage of social media among girls. During lock down, 55 per cent of the girls surveyed said they spent more than three hours every day on social media.

Widnall argues this challenges the commonly held view that social media has a negative impact on the mental health of young people. She says her findings suggest that social media can help teenagers feel connected with others during a period when they are physically isolated.

Based on the findings of the study, Widnall says that when schools return to face to face learning, it will be important to address how the school environment can impact the mental health of students.

I think our take home message from this research would betheimportance oftheschool environment on teenage mental health and wellbeing and how we can support schools to make school culture more supportive of mental health, she said.

As schools fully reopen students mental health and wellbeing may have to be prioritised before catch up on academic work can be achieved. Our findings also reemphasisetheneed for more investment in resources for mental health support in schools.

Categories: Anxiety , Coping , Teens | Tags: teens, covid19, lockdown, remote learning, school closures, anxiety, connection, social media

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Less Anxiety And More Connection To School For Teens During Remote Learning - Theravive

WSU College of Medicine receives accreditation to launch first residency program in Everett – WSU News

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Providence Regional Medical Center Everett

SPOKANE, Wash.Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine today announced that it has earned accreditation to launch its first residency program and is accepting applications immediately.

The WSU Internal Medicine Residency Program-Everett, based at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, is a three-year residency training program with a focus on primary care. Sixteen resident positions have been approved for the first year; 12 categorical and four preliminary positions will be welcomed in June 2021 with 12 more added each year over three years to cap at 40 total residency positions when fully supported.

This is an extremely proud moment for the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine and is something weve been working toward since the day we started the college, said Dr. John Tomkowiak, founding dean of the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. More residency programs in Washington increases the likelihood that students will remain in our state to practice medicine, and were so excited to launch this program in time for our first graduating class of medical students to apply and potentially continue their training with WSU.

Residency, also known as graduate medical education, is the three- to seven-year phase of medical education following graduation from medical school that prepares physicians for independent practice in a medical specialty. While about 43percent of medical school graduates practice in the state where they graduate, that number increases to 70 percent when they complete both their medical education and their residency in the same state.

We are thrilled to partner with the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine on this new program and welcome our first class of residents next summer, saidDr.Jay Cook, chief medical officeratProvidenceRegional Medical Center Everett. The mission to train medical students to serve our rural and underserved communities and increase the likelihood they will remain right here in Washington is well aligned with our goals and we look forward to making a marked impact on both through this residency program.

While residents of the WSU Internal Medicine Residency Program-Everett will primarily be based at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, they will have rotations with several area clinics and physician groups including The Everett Clinic,Snohomish Kidney Institute,North Sound Emergency Medicine, Western Washington Medical Group, and Providence Medical Group Northwest. Residents will divide their time between general medicine and subspecialty ward services, intensive care units, ambulatory care experiences, consultation rotations, emergency rooms and long-term care settings.

This program offers a unique opportunity for residents to gain experience treating patients from a wide range of racial, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as from the surrounding rural communities, which aligns with the colleges focus on serving Washingtons rural and underserved, said Dr. Jonathan Espenschied, associate dean of graduate medical education and continuing medical education. Providence Regional Medical Center Everett has been a terrific partner throughout this process and, as the primary clinical site for the residency program, it allows for the possibility to branch out into other rural and underserved areas in the region.

Dr. Matthew Hansen, an internal medicine specialist treating patients in the Everett area for the past six years, will serve as the program director leading operations, recruitment and education for the residency program.

I am honored to be WSUs first residency program director and to use my expertise and passion for medical education to expand internal medicine training in Washington, said Hansen. Like the inaugural class at the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, this first class of residents will get to help mold and shape this program for years to come, leaving a legacy for every future resident in this program.

The program received accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) after a rigorous two-year development process following the colleges initial ACGME accreditation as a sponsoring institution in 2018.

For more information about applying to the WSU Internal Medicine Residency Program-Everett or to learn more about the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, visit medicine.wsu.edu.

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Wayne State makes up nearly 40 percent of student presentations accepted to American College of Physicians annual meeting – The South End

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Students from the Wayne State University School of Medicine will make up more than one-third of the student projects accepted to the Michigan chapter of the American College of Physicians Annual Scientific Meeting next month.

Of 84 student posters accepted from the seven allopathic and osteopathic medical schools across the state, 32 of them, or 38%, will be presented by School of Medicine physicians in training. The meeting will be held virtually Oct. 15-18. Students will present in categories that include quality improvement, clinical vignette and research.

Our students have always been exceedingly active, and the trend is for increased involvement of our students, said Professor of Internal Medicine Diane Levine, M.D., FACP. The joyous thing is, I believe that many of these represent people who are interested in going into Internal Medicine, and this helps advance their career.

Dr. Levine is the departments vice chair for Education, directs the Internal Medicine Clerkship and advises the Internal Medicine Interest Group at the school of medicine.

Weve always had wide participation in the American College of Physicians, but I think this year we seem to have done really well in acceptances in the abstract section for students, she said. Im really proud of our students and our faculty who have mentored them.

This years mentors include recent Wayne State University School of Medicine graduates who are now residents.

Our students are working collaboratively with residents as well as with faculty, she said. In addition to the usual rare cases and unusual cases, we did also see some aspects of medical error in a couple of these cases, as well as a significant number of fourth-year students participating, which may reflect the new curriculum with early clinical exposure.

ACP is a national organization of internists, the largest medical specialty organization, and the second-largest physician group in the United States. Its 163,000 members include internists, internal medicine subspecialists, medical students, residents and fellows.

Students scheduled to present work include:

Fouad Abdole

Madeline Adelman

Abdelwahab Ahmed

Noel Akioyamen

Joshua Brady

Connor Buechler

Fiona Clowney

Sawsan Edriss

Bassem Farah

Aria Ganz-Waple

Megan Harrison

Luke Horton

Inara Ismailova

Janice Lau

Eric Lisznyai

Lucia Luna Wong

Ahila Manivannan

Arif Musa

Hailey Olds

Aaron Panicker

Kelley Park

Jaya Parulekar

Dhruvil Patel

Daniel Quan

Tyler Russeth

Siri Sarvepalli

Vinoja Sebanayagam

Kathren Shango

Rebecca Sturgis

Bhavana Tetali

Chloe Theeuwes

David Tran

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Wayne State makes up nearly 40 percent of student presentations accepted to American College of Physicians annual meeting - The South End

On The Move: New hires and promotions in the metro Augusta business community – The Augusta Chronicle

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New hires and promotions in the metro Augusta business community.

Kelly McCauley

Employer: Cherry Bekaert LLP

Title: Senior Manager

Responsibilities: Provide comprehensive tax compliance and provision services, particularly in the manufacturing and technology industries

Experience: Is a licensed as certified public accountant in Georgia and has more than 13 years of public accounting experience working with clients throughout the Southeast

Mallory Eickhoff

Employer: Cherry Bekaert LLP

Title: Senior Manager

Responsibilities: Serving clients representing nonprofit organizations, manufacturing and distribution companies, financial institutions and captive insurance companies

Experience: Was previously a manager for the firm; has more than 10 years of experience in both public accounting and private industry; is licensed as a certified public accountant in Georgia

Timothy Lansdowne

Employer: Cherry Bekaert LLP

Title: Manager

Responsibilities: Providing tax compliance services for individuals, partnerships, S-Corporations and C-Corporations

Experience: Was previously a tax senior with the firm; has more than five years of public accounting experience for clients in sectors including real estate, construction, manufacturing, distribution, technology and professional services

Dr. Michael Hocker

Employer: Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University

Title: Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education

Responsibilities: Develop, implement and assess programs and services to meet strategic goals for residency and fellowship programs; also will serve as MCG's designated institutional official, leading the medical school and health system's 51 residency and fellowship programs

Experience: Was previously vice chair of clinical operations and business management for the Department of Emergency Medicine

Dr. Michael Groves

Employer: Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University

Title: Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education

Responsibilities: Develop, implement and assess programs and services to meet strategic goals for residency and fellowship programs; also will serve as MCG's assistant designated institutional official, helping leading the medical school and health system's 51 residency and fellowship programs

Experience: Is an otolaryngologist who directs the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgerys residency training program

Dr. Stephen Shiver

Employer: Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University

Title: Vice Chair of Clinical Operations for the Department of Emergency Medicine

Responsibilities: Supervising all clinical care provided within the department, including the emergency rooms at AU Medical Center and the Childrens Hospital of Georgia, pre-hospital clinical care and emerging telehealth initiatives

Experience: Previously served as the department's residency program leader

Dr. Natasha Savage

Employer: Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University

Title: Vice Chair for Academic Affairs for the Department of Pathology

Responsibilities: Oversee the departments academic endeavors, including continuing to direct the residency program, engaging residents in scholarly pursuits, advising medical students who are pursuing a career in pathology and helping build out the pathology and hematology parts of MCGs new curriculum; will also serve as chief of staff elect for Augusta University Health

Experience: Serves as residency program director in the Department of Pathology

Submit your news: Send in On The Move and Biz Bits items to augustachronicle.com/send-us-your-news.

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On The Move: New hires and promotions in the metro Augusta business community - The Augusta Chronicle

EDGE: On the Move – Chattanooga Times Free Press

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Dr. Alan Koffron joins Erlanger Kidney Transplant Center as its new surgical director. Dr. Koffron works alongside Dr. Kenneth Kokko, kidney transplant center program and medical director. Dr. Koffron earned his medical degree from the University of Iowa College of Medicine. Following medical school, he completed residency training in general surgery at Chicago Medical School University of Health Sciences. Dr. Koffron completed two fellowships a multiple-organ transplant surgery and hepatobiliary surgery fellowship at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago and a pediatric liver transplant surgery and hepatobiliary surgery fellowship at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Matthew McKenney joins HHM Wealth Advisors, LLC as client service administrator. With deep roots in the community, McKenney joined HHM Wealth Advisors after earning a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Rhodes College. He had several internships over the last four years, preparing him to serve as client service administrator. Matthew supports HHM Wealth's lead advisors with research, trading, and retirement analysis. He is also dedicated to ensuring customer satisfaction in every encounter he has with clients.

E'tienne Easley joins Family Promise of Greater Chattanooga as the director of development. Easley leads the work of fundraising and grant writing, as well as managing communication efforts. Family Promise is a nonprofit organization that offers four programs to prevent, reduce and end family homelessness in the Chattanooga area. Easely has extensive experience in leadership, managing grant funds, strategic planning and implementation, volunteer recruitment and building effective and long-standing community partnerships. She is a certified grant writer, and her background includes being Hamilton County Department of Education's family partnership specialist, community engagement manager and health program manager, as well as the employment career specialist at Signal Centers.

Joel Henderson is named as the new executive director for Volunteers In Medicine of Chattanooga. VIM serves the health and wellness needs of the medically underserved by providing quality, compassionate, personal care in a faith-based environment. Henderson previously served as director of communications and marketing since 2017 at the Cleveland/Bradley County Chamber of Commerce and previously served as vice president of communications at North American Credit Services Inc. Henderson is a 1994 graduate from Southern Adventist University and a 2013 graduate of Leadership Chattanooga.

Anne Najjar joins the team at Second Story Real Estate Management, Chattanooga's full-service property management group. A skilled negotiator with a reputation for creating successful outcomes for investors, tenants and landlords alike, Anne Najjar brings over 15 years of commercial investment, development and brokerage experience. In 2018, CoStar awarded Najjar their Power Broker award for being a top broker for the Chattanooga MSA area. Her experience ranges from acquisitions and dispositions to leasing and financial and market analysis for clients. She played an integral part in the redevelopment of the Southside from acquisitions of historical buildings, becoming knowledgeable on grants, understanding the conservation of buildings and finding tenants to fill the newly refurbished buildings. Najjar will be mainly working on retail, restaurant, medical and office representation, as well as investment, acquisition and disposition with Second Story.

Kira Wheat joins HHM Certified Public Accountants, a CPA and consulting firm with locations in Chattanooga and Memphis. Wheat brings more than 16 years of experience to the firm's tax practice. As a senior tax manager, Wheat will assist high net worth and closely held business clients in the areas of tax compliance, tax planning and staff and project management. Wheat comes to Chattanooga from a Chicago-based public accounting firm where she worked her way up to Senior Tax Manager. Wheat is a graduate of North Central College and is a Quickbooks Proadvisor.

Tim Cook, who joined the Legacy Senior Living family as director of chaplaincy earlier this year, is promoted to executive director of its hometown facility, Legacy Village of Cleveland, after a successful expansion of the network's chaplaincy program this summer. In his new role, Cook oversees the day-to-day operations of Legacy Village of Cleveland, which provides a home-like environment to more than 70 Bradley County seniors and is part of a network of 14 senior living communities based in Cleveland.

Amir Hamad, BSN, MHA, RN, CCRN, is named chief nursing officer of Parkridge East Hospital. Hamad brings 12 years of healthcare experience to the position, including nursing roles in emergency medicine and cardiac critical care. Most recently, Hamad served as associate chief nursing officer at Reston Hospital Center, in Reston, Virginia. Prior to that, he served as director of the cardiac and medical Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at LewisGale Medical Center, in Salem, Virginia, where he also served as clinical team lead in the cardiac ICU and as clinical coordinator of the Emergency Department. Hamad earned a master's in healthcare administration from Grantham University, in Lenexa, Kansas, and a bachelor's in nursing from Radford University, in Radford, Virginia. He also earned a bachelor's in biology from Virginia Tech University.

Sam Montgomery, a certified financial planner and certified Kingdom advisor, is promoted from paraplanner to associate financial advisor. at Riggs & Associates, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. that is led by Jody B. Riggs. Montgomery started working for Riggs & Associates in July 2017. As an associate financial advisor, he will provide comprehensive financial planning services to clients, and provide investment solutions to meet clients' financial needs. Montgomery holds a bachelor's in Financial Planning from Liberty University.

Tony Sanders joins the board of Habitat for Humanity in Chattanooga, which works to provide affordable housing in the area. Sanders is a certified public accountant and certified fraud examiner with more than 30 years of experience in the public and private sectors. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and an MBA from Tennessee Tech University. He currently works for Unum as a manager in the Benefits Financial Services area. Sanders serves a commissioner for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

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EDGE: On the Move - Chattanooga Times Free Press

Allergists offer reassurance regarding potential allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccines – YubaNet

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BOSTON, January 2, 2021 Reports of possible allergic reactions to the COVID-19 vaccines produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, both recently approved for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), have raised public concern. A team of experts led by allergists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has now examined all relevant information to offer reassurance that the vaccines can be administered safely even to people with food or medication allergies. The groups review is published in theJournal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: InPractice.

In response to accounts of potential allergic reactions in some people following COVID-19 vaccination in the United Kingdom, that countrys medical regulatory agency advised that individuals with a history of anaphylaxis to a medicine or food should avoid COVID-19 vaccination. After closer review of the data related to allergic reactions, however, the FDA recommended that the vaccines be withheld only from individuals with a history of severe allergic reactions to any component of the COVID-19 vaccine, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised that all patients be observed for 15 minutes post-vaccination by staff who can identify and manage such reactions.The U.S. agencies do not recommend that people with food or medication allergies avoid vaccination.

To provide insights from allergists perspectives, Aleena Banerji, MD, clinicaldirector of the Allergy and Clinical ImmunologyUnit at MGH and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, and her colleagues have summarized whats currently known about allergic reactions to vaccines like those developed against COVID-19, and they have proposed detailed advice so that individuals with different allergy histories can safely receive their first COVID-19 vaccine. They also outline steps on safely receiving the second dose in individuals who develop a reaction to their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

As allergists, we want to encourage vaccination by reassuring the public that both FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines are safe. Our guidelines are built upon the recommendations of U.S. regulatory agencies and provide clear steps to the medical community on how to safely administer both doses of the vaccine in individuals with allergic histories, says Banerji.

The experts note that allergic reactions to vaccines are rare, with a rate of about 1.3 per 1 million people. They stress that COVID-19 vaccine clinics will be monitoring all patients for 15 to 30 minutes and can manage any allergic reactions that occur. Banerji and her co-authors recommend that individuals with a history of anaphylaxis to an injectable drug or vaccine containing polyethylene glycol or polysorbate speak with their allergists before being vaccinated. They stress that patients with severe allergies to foods, oral drugs, latex, or venom can safely receive the COVID-19 vaccines.

Cosenior authors of the review are MGHs Kimberly G. Blumenthal, MD, MSc, and Elizabeth Phillips, MD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Other co-authors include Paige G. Wickner, MD, of Brigham and Womens Hospital; Rebecca Saff, MD, PhD, Lacey B. Robinson, MD, MPH, Aidan A. Long, MD, and Anna R. Wolfson, MD, of MGH; David A. Khan, MD, of the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center; Cosby A. Stone Jr., MD, MPH, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center; and Paul Williams, MD, of the University of Washington School of Medicine.

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Allergists offer reassurance regarding potential allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccines - YubaNet

Medical schools pivot to prepare and protect students for front-line work – The Globe and Mail

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Years of medical school, graduate school and clinical hours are meant to make doctors ready for anything. But no number of disaster-scenario trial runs or years of on-the-ground experience could have prepared health care professionals for the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nothing like whats happened with COVID-19 prepared us for what was coming, says Parveen Wasi, associate dean of postgraduate medical education at McMaster University.

Even in Toronto, with its handling of SARS1 in 2003 and H1N1 flu in 2009, the learning curve has been steep.

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The disease and the pattern [of the viruses] are different, but the principles were familiar, and we had some structures in place, explains Glen Bandiera, associate dean of postgraduate medical education at the University of Toronto. The magnitude of this response was bigger and the threat [the pandemic] posed to the system was greater because of the sheer numbers of [patients], the lack of personal protective equipment and the impact on the health work force.

Medical schools were doubly hit: Not only were they responsible for the continuance of studies and keeping student residents safe, they also had to change the way medical education was being delivered, and quickly. Medical students were pulled from all clinical settings in March across Canada and didnt start returning until August, which meant a large number of training hours had to be made up.

And while residents are still in training, theyre also hospital employees and, therefore, essential workers. We had to start from ground zero in terms of how we protected our residents and then how we planned education around the pandemic, Dr. Wasi says.

This meant identifying gaps in the system, such as issues around PPE. For example, health care professionals using N95 respirators are required to be fitted every two years. At some hospitals, many of the residents had never been fitted and there was no documentation to confirm who had. As PPE use is exacting, protocols must be followed to protect patients and health care workers; how its done changes, depending on the level of exposure to infectious agents.

I mask-fitted two years ago, but when I actually had to use one, I wasnt 100 per cent sure how to, Dr. Wasi says. Training for PPE how to don and doff appropriately, how to put on an N95 mask was hit and miss prior to this.

The pandemic has also highlighted the need for more training in infection control for postgraduate students. We just assumed it would also occur in the hospital setting, Dr. Wasi adds. So, lesson learned.

Over all, the response by medical schools to the new world has been overwhelmingly swift and often innovative. While U of Ts medical school includes pandemic planning in its curriculum, a specific COVID-19 curriculum was constructed for third-year students returning to clinical environments in the summer. The new program includes PPE instruction, a mask-fit for N95 and an in-depth study of the virus itself.

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Dr. Patricia Houston, vice-dean of medical education at the University of Toronto.

Thomas Bollmann/The Globe and Mail

Patricia Houston, vice-dean of medical education at U of T, says students learn about ethical concepts, palliative care and virtual delivery of health care. We give them tips about how the hospital [is] different in these pandemic times. We also help them to deal with it personally and talk about being resilient.

Within a week of COVID-19 being declared a pandemic, Dr. Houston says the school had moved lectures, small-group learning sessions and even clinical skills courses online. Our pivoting is all strategic, and [the changes] will form the new normal, which have to be robust enough and responsive enough to future needs.

Since mid-March Roger Wong, vice-dean of education at the faculty of medicine at the University of British Columbia, has been adapting the curriculum, beefing up sections on public health, social determinants of health and disease-specific treatment strategies, as well as developing COVID-19-specific sessions for final-year medical students.

UBC also moved to a blended mode of curriculum delivery, virtual and in-person when possible. It developed a free online learning module for medical and health professional students on how to use PPE appropriately. And over the summer, Dr. Wong and his team created a virtual anatomy lab, offering students three-dimensional scans of specimens to study at their leisure.

Its fair to say that everyone around the world is learning actively as the situation evolves, he says. [The pandemic] has catalyzed a large number of innovations in medical education that would have taken decades to happen otherwise. It would be almost unimaginable.

Alim Pardhan, assistant professor of emergency medicine at McMaster, says flexibility for medical schools, doctors and hospitals is key, for example, changing the focus of the health care system from a single discreet event with lots of patients to a longer-term event that might last a year or two where you have higher volumes, fewer beds available and extra precautions with certain patients.

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All agree that COVID-19 will have an enduring impact on health care. Dr. Houston hopes the experience of the past six months will increase the support for, and understanding and appreciation of, public health.

Were always looking for the next cutting-edge medicine, she says, but we need to understand how we can better take care of not just individuals, but populations and communities. And thats something public health teaches us to do.

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Medical schools pivot to prepare and protect students for front-line work - The Globe and Mail

Whitaker Featured in The Record – WUSTL Athletics – Sports News from Washington University in St. Louis

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By Leslie Gibson McCarthy

Executive News Editor

St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 28, 2020- Senior football and track & field student-athlete Andrew Whitaker was featured in the "Washington People" section ofThe Record on this date.

Whitaker has spent his undergraduate career at Washington University in St. Louis giving back.

Abiomedical engineering majorat the McKelvey School of Engineering, he has danced and played with kids who have cerebral palsy so they can put on a dance recital through Dance CPSR (Cerebral Palsy Sports Rehabilitation).

A two-sport athlete infootballandtrack, he has spent weekends with kids on the autism spectrum, guiding them through exercises to improve coordination and social skills through the Bear Cubs running program.

AnAnnika Rodriguez Scholar, he has traveled to Honduras for a week, helping doctors assist patients with basic medical needs through a program called Global Brigades. He also has been involved in the McKelvey Takes Responsibility Campaign and WU BLAC.

Yet when Whitaker who recently was selected as one of 22 college football players from all three NCAA divisions for the prestigiousAllstate American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team is asked what, if any, of these experiences had the most meaning for him, he responds, "Whatever I'm doing now."

Right now, that would be his work with the local nonprofit Asthma & Allergy Foundation of St. Louis, helping kids afflicted with a disease of the lungs that is even more dangerous in this time of COVID-19.

What began as an internship this past summer has turned into a project near and dear to this defensive back's heart. With the help of the Gephardt Institute for Civic & Community Engagement, for which he also serves as aBob and Gerry Virgil Civic Scholar, Whitaker spearheaded a project to send medical supplies to every school district in the St. Louis area. He set up and managed a website through the foundation that school nurses could access and request kits to have on hand. And when the kits were ready to send, he enlisted his football teammates to help assemble boxes.

"It was good to know that when schools opened this fall, there were kids with asthma who had a fighting chance against COVID because of these kits," he said.

All from a senior who, like his teammates and classmates, admittedly is having the toughest year of his undergraduate career. Much of his campus life this semester has been experienced from his nearby campus apartment, and the football team only recently began socially distanced practices on Francis Olympic Field. He's also just starting to work out with the track team.

"The whole year has been humbling, and it gives you so much time to reflect on what matters," he said, referring not only to the pandemic but also the social unrest that erupted this summer in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

"I'm a senior in college, and I don't want to waste any more time," he said. "Simply being around friends is meaningful the games we play, the meals we eat together. These things really matter.

"And as a senior on the football team, as a captain on the track team, I now feel like if I can inspire someone, I should," he said. "If I can share my experiences about being Black and get my teammates to look at things through a different lens in terms of the social injustices going on, I will."

Whitaker, a native of Cincinnati, said medical school is likely in his future, but he hopes to take a year off after he graduates to travel, maybe participate in an international fellowship of some kind, and figure out his next step.

More information about the Good Works nomination is available here, including an opportunity to vote himteam captainthrough Nov. 22. Meanwhile, the honors keep coming. Whitaker also recently was named a semifinalist for theCampbell Trophy, awarded by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame. Like the Good Works award, it spans all NCAA divisions and recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership.

He continues to take all the accolades and honors in stride. "You never expect to be honored at all when you're simply helping people," he said.

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Whitaker Featured in The Record - WUSTL Athletics - Sports News from Washington University in St. Louis

Students and faculty praised for collaborative project transforming curriculum amid pandemic safety concerns – The South End

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John Sherwood, left, and Daniel VanZweden, are second-year medical students who co-wrote the winning poster.

Service learning is an integral part of the curriculum at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. While the COVID-19 changed the way medical students at WSU approach the subject, the pandemic gave students the opportunity to be part of the team behind the retool.

The efforts, presented in poster format, were nationally recognized at the 17th annual Learning Communities Institute Conference as the best student presentation by unanimous vote.

Learning Communities: Service Learning amid COVID-19, was written by second-year students Daniel VanZweden and John Sherwood, with assistance from Director of Community Engagement Jennifer Mendez, Ph.D., an associate professor of Internal Medicine; and Co-Director of Service Learning LaTonya Riddle-Jones, M.D., an assistant professor of Internal Medicine.

The poster describes how, in less than a month, faculty and students worked together at the School of Medicine to transform the service-learning curriculum into a safe and structured telecheck-in experience. Learning Communities, or LCs, comprised of six students each, used telecheck-ins to contact families in the community and used a standardized questionnaire as a guide for assessing needs. LCs then designed a resource guide and presented it to their families. A reflection was completed to share what they learned about telecheck-ins in general. Survey results show most teams spent 10 to 30 minutes with their family. Food-related resources were one of the most common requests.

The virtual conference was hosted by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School on Oct. 24. Designed for faculty, students and administrative staff, the conference featured a plenary address, workshops, oral presentations and a poster session. This years theme was Supporting Learning Communities in a Virtual Setting.

Service learning is part of the School of Medicines Patient, Population, Physician course, which includes clinical hours, project hours, outreach hours and seminars with reflections. The projects demonstrate the ability to work as a team, educate clients and/or patients during a health-screening event and reflect on the experience of care.

The poster details how we scrapped the original plans for service learning and over the course of a month designed a new curriculum that would engage medical students with community members while maintaining social distancing, VanZweden said. Telehealth was used to connect teams of students, organized by their learning communities, with the local community, and students identified any needs that families and members of the community had. They then compiled a resource guide to help families and members of the community with any problems they had during COVID-19. This was a valuable experience to serve the community, as well as educate students about social determinants of health and problems in the local community during COVID, as well as the resources available to solve some of those problems.

The winning research also was accepted by theAmerican Medical Association Health Systems Science Student, Resident and Fellows Impact Challenge and will be includedin the 2020 edition of Medical Students, Residents and Fellows Making an Impact. In June, it was featured in a keynote presentation at the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education, where it also received a special mention from the conference organizers.

All medical schools in the United States are required by the Association of American Medical Colleges to incorporate service learning into curriculum, but the School of Medicine takes the requirement several steps further, seeing it as an opportunity to make a real difference in the community while also bolstering longitudinal mentorship among the four classes, including pairing first-year learning communities with second-year students.

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Students and faculty praised for collaborative project transforming curriculum amid pandemic safety concerns - The South End

What kind of person should the physician be? – American Medical Association

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Medicine always needs good people, but never more so than during a pandemic.

During a recent Ethics Talk videocast from the AMA Journal of Ethics (@JournalofEthics), the journals editor-in-chief, Audiey Kao, MD, PhD, revisited a video interview he conducted with the late Edmund Pellegrino, MD, then-professor emeritus of medicine and medical ethics at Georgetown University and widely considered to be one of the founders of American bioethics. The 2003 interview provides enduring reminders of what makes a good physician in times of crisis.

The question is often asked, Whats the most important thing in the ethics of medicine? And I always say it's the character of the physician, Dr. Pellegrino said. The kind of person the physician ought to bethats what virtue ethics concerns itself with.

Virtue ethics emphasizes the centrality of moral character, in contrast with the other normative ethics of deontology, which specifies duties or rules, and consequentialism, which focuses on the outcomes of actions. Principlismwhich encompasses the familiar four key ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence and justiceis an applied ethics approach.

The virtues I've been talking aboutnamely, fidelity to trust, compassion, intellectual honesty, courage, benevolence, for exampleare necessary because without those personal characteristics, the physician cannot truly heal, cannot make whole again, Dr. Pellegrino said.

Read the AMA Principles of Medical Ethics.

By the time of his 2013 death, Dr. Pellegrino had written or co-written more than 600 articles and 23 books on medical science, philosophy and ethics, and helped pioneer the teaching of humanities in medical school. He also served as chair of the President's Council on Bioethics under President George W. Bush. Watch this AMA video about Dr. Pellegrino, whose career was marked with distinction.

Dr. Pellegrino was particularly critical of the commercial nature of medicine in the U.S., noting that health care is seen as a commodity, which presents challenges to the physicians character.

I've been challenged by physicians who say, Dr. Pellegrino, youre a fool an idealistic fool. You know it's a business. Why don't you call it such and stop all of this blather about ethics and virtue? he said. A significant number of physicians feel that way. I'm happy to say a large number do not and still want to do the right thing. They are the hope for the future.

Read the AMA Declaration of Professional Responsibility.

Young people contemplating a career in medicine should be aware that physicians are not defined by their credentials, but also by their commitments, Dr. Pellegrino noted.

We enter the profession of medicine not when we get the degree of medicinethats only a certificate of exposure to an education, he said. We enter the profession when we take an oath, and we say, I declare to everyone here that I am committed to the ideals of medicine.

Before embarking on their medical education, aspiring physicians should ask themselves some diagnostic questions, Dr. Pellegrino advised.

For the young person contemplating medicine today, they should step back and ask themselves what kind of life they want to lead in a general way, he said. More important than that, ask themselves: do they want to do something which is more challenging than they can ever meet fully in their whole livessomething which will lead them to a body of information which is bigger than they can encompass, which will bring them into duties and obligations which are larger than most people in this world face?

This includes needing to understand that as a physician you can do much good, but also enormous harm, he added.

If they can say yes to those things, they want to think about medicine.

This Ethics Talk videocast is CME activity designated for 0.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit. Check outprevious episodesof the Ethics Talk podcast or subscribe to the series iniTunesor other services.

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What kind of person should the physician be? - American Medical Association