“Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country’s cause.” -Abraham Lincoln
It Starts… With Great Students
We’ve all marveled many times recently over the terrific, new J. Harold Harrison M.D. Education Commons. We just have to take a moment to acknowledge again as well the amazing individuals on our Admissions Committee who select the students who will truly give it life. Our 29-member Admissions Committee does important, amazing, and nearly endless work to ensure the best and brightest medical school class. And like the best of us, they, along with the help of our Admissions Office, are always working to do an even better job. Our new members this year include Drs. David Cearley, Howard Cohen, Sam Kini, Bobbilynn Lee, Putur Prasad, Barbara Robinson, Suash Sharma, as well as Joseph Dolensky.
Selected by Great Committee Members…
As we welcome new members, we also just have to acknowledge some of our long-timers. Our Dr. Greer Falls has just moved off the committee where he has served for 24 years- including 22 as Vice Chair! Remarkable. Those with seven-plus years of service include our Drs. Walter Moore, Iqbal Khan, Kathryn Martin, Charles Green, John Thornton, Bruce LeClair, and Paul Dainer along with our Linda James. It would be seriously hard to find a harder working or more committed or important group. We simply cannot thank them enough for their stellar service to our medical school and to a healthier future for us all.
A State… Committed to Medical Education
We were privileged to have another hard-working group with us recently that’s also looking out for the health of our state. The Georgia House of Representatives Medical Education Study Committee met on our campus to discuss topics such as the need for more residency programs in Georgia and loan forgiveness as a way to encourage students to stay in our state to practice, particularly in more underserved areas. Powerful presenters included Augusta Class of 2017 President Katherine Menezes, fourth-year Nicholas Fitzpatrick from our Medical Partnership in Athens, Narra “Santosh” Reddy, also a fourth-year, at our Southeast Campus, and Emergency Medicine Resident – and MCG graduate – Dr. Lashon Sturgis. Learn more about the membership and charge of this important group here: http://1.usa.gov/1oNqLHr and read more about the Augusta meeting here: http://bit.ly/1BbzNUd.
Patient Advocacy… And Innovation
Another important and newer legislative group, the Joint Study Committee on the Prescription of Medical Cannabis for Serious Medical Conditions, met on our campus this week, see: http://bit.ly/11kNFMd. Once again, we so appreciate the leadership of our governor and legislators in ensuring that our state takes a major role in determining the true potential of this drug for problems such as intractable seizures. We appreciate the opportunity for Georgia’s public medical school to contribute to this effort and we are most grateful for the leadership of our Dr. Michael Diamond for organizing the initiative here and State Government Relations Director Margie Miller for bringing this group to our campus.
Faculty and Staff… Committed to Our Medical School
This fast-paced world makes it tough but probably all the more important to celebrate major milestones. We did just that with a recent Staff and Faculty recognition dinner for 209 folks with 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years of service to our university and medical school. So many great individuals were honored for their commitment, folks such as our Dr. Abdullah Kutlar and Senior Medical Sonographer Sharon Willis, both for 30 years. We must note that our Dr. Joseph Hobbs celebrated 40 years! As we’ve said before, there is no doubt he rocks! In fact, we are beyond fortunate to have such dedication from so many. We thank Susan Norton, Debra Arnold, and particularly Wanda O’Brien for the fitting tribute.
Brilliant Individuals…
One more winning-lineup to celebrate this week: the new members of the national honor medical society AOA. New student inductees include: Jennifer Anderson, Aubrey Armento, Elliott Burdette, Mary Burriss, Christopher Caughman, Andy Chang, Kimberly Dao, Robert Dunlap, Andrew Heffernan, Jessica Howell, Daniel Johnson, Thomas Johnson, Matthew Powell, Harold Rivner, Devin Rogers, Rebekah Shaw, Robert Shelley, Michael Simmons, Sandra Stepp, Christopher Wallace, Sarah Wetherington, Jennifer White, and Michael Whitlow and, from the Medical Partnership campus, Rocco Cannistraro, Andrew Miller, and Thomas Olinger. Residents inducted were: Drs. Feroze Afzal, Qiang (John) Li, and Mohamad Masoumy. Faculty include: Drs. Matthew Diamond and Ian Heger from Augusta and W. Scott Richardson in Athens. Awesome alums inducted include: Drs. George McCluskey, William “Bill” Brooks, and David Gose.
Committed to Doing… The Right Thing…
Evidence suggests that patients want and even expect an explanation and an apology when medical errors inevitably occur, but the reality is that often does not happen. Dr. James W. Pichert of Vanderbilt’s Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy, will cover this difficult and important topic from noon-1 p.m. (lunch provided) and again from 5:15-6:30 p.m. (hors d’oeuvres) this Wednesday, Nov. 19, in the Lee Auditorium. We encourage faculty and residents to take advantage of this important conversation provided by our practice group’s Risk Management Committee and earn a continuing medical education credit for doing it. Please RSVP today to PPGRSVP@gru.edu.
Including Sharing Their Expertise…
And finally today, speaking of continuing medical education, our Dr. Jim Rawson has just been named to the Medical Association of Georgia CME Committee. The committee makes accreditation decisions on about 40 CME providers and does some limited policy review as well. Dr. Rawson is an experienced hand at this through similar work with the Georgia Radiology Society, American College of Radiology, and others. BTW, he also has been selected as a TEDxAugusta speaker and his topic is social media! That will be coming up Jan. 30 at the Imperial Theater. More to come!
Upcoming Events
Today – Open enrollment for university employees ends today, see: http://bit.ly/1shwBwR.
Tonight – Screening and Fundraiser of The American Nurse, sponsored by the GRU College of Nursing and Christ Community Health Center with proceeds benefitting Health Center operations and student scholarships. Red carpet experience, food and live music, 6:30 p.m. Maxwell Performing Arts Theatre, Summerville Campus.
Nov. 20 – The Great American Smokeout, Commit to Quit stations will be available from the GRU Cancer Center, Georgia Prevention Institute, and the GRHealth Respiratory Therapy Program, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. GR Medical Center West Lobby, Cancer Center Outpatient Clinic Lobby, Medical Office Building Lobby, Children’s Hospital of Georgia Lobby, and Terrace Dining. 10 a.m.-2 p.m., First Floor of the Health Sciences Campus Annex; Health Sciences Campus Student Center; and Summerville Campus Jaguar Student Activities Center.
Through Nov. 21 – Group exhibition, We Should Talk to Each Other, The Cloud and I, inspired by the Jorge Armenteros novel, The Book of I, about a painter struggling with schizophrenia. GRU Mary S. Byrd Gallery of Art, see: http://bit.ly/1rZZZri.
Dec. 17 – Annual Medical Staff Meeting, 5:30 p.m., Children’s Hospital of Georgia, first-floor conference room, BT 1810.
Dec. 19 – MCG Faculty Senate, noon, Lee Auditorium
Jan. 15 – MCG Faculty Senate, 5 p.m., Lee Auditorium
Feb. 6 – MCG Faculty Senate, noon, Lee Auditorium
Feb. 24 – MCG Alumni Association Planning Committee, Nominating Committee, Board Meeting and Regional Event, starting at 2:30 p.m., Idle Hour Country Club, Macon.
March 5 – MCG Alumni Association Regional Reception, 6 p.m., Northeast History Museum, Gainesville.
March 12 – MCG Faculty Senate, 5 p.m., Lee Auditorium
March 20 – Match Day, noon, location to be determined.
April 17 – Raft Debate, sponsored by the MCG Alumni Association, 6 p.m., Lee Auditorium.
April 23-26 – Alumni Weekend.
May 1 – State of the Medical College of Georgia address, noon, Lee Auditorium, lunch provided.
May 4 – MCG Graduation Dinner, 6:30 p.m., location to be determined.
May 7 – Hooding Ceremony, 2 p.m., location to be determined.
May 8 – Graduation, 2 p.m., James Brown Arena.
Have a terrific weekend.