-Thomas Stallkamp
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
Our Very Best Welcome… to a Terrific New Chair
Last week we started with a welcome back to one of our own, Dr. Charlie Linder, our graduate and longtime faculty member who is now our Chair of Pediatrics. Today, we are so happy to welcome to our amazing ranks Dr. Vinata B. Lokeshwar. Come September, she will be with us as our new Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. She comes to us from the University of Miami-Miller School of Medicine where this accomplished cancer researcher co-directs Urology Research in the Departments of Urology and Cell Biology. She is also one of two Directors of the Pilot and Collaborative Translational and Clinical Studies component of the Miami Clinical And Translational Science Institute, one of 61 translational centers in our nation funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.
Our Enthusiasm Is High… For Her and Those She Joins
Dr. Lokeshwar is a terrific addition to our war on cancer – a war fought too often by patients in our state – as well as our already super-strong urology program, thanks to the likes of other great professionals such as Drs. Martha Terris and Ron Lewis. Like them and so many of you, Dr. Lokeshwar has a strong national presence, is an amazing educator and mentor, has a great sense of the essentialness of the team, and, of course, is a great scientist and leader. Please learn more about her here http://bit.ly/1BOF59B and please absolutely join me in a huge congratulations and welcome to her. Please also join in thanking Dr. Shuang Huang, another accomplished cancer scientist, for his service as Interim Chair since last year. All of you are so willing to always rise to the occasion whenever your medical school needs you. It is always hard to find the right words to say how amazing that is – how amazing you all are – and how much stronger you make our medical school. Our Drs. Clinton Webb and Nita Maihle , who co-chaired this extremely successful national search, are two more excellent examples of just that kind of commitment. One again: you all ARE the Medical College of Georgia. Thank you.
We Absolutely Celebrate as Well… 163 New Trainees
We are privileged to be able to deliver on our commitment to you as well, and a couple of weeks back, as we sent our remarkable graduating residents off into the world, we promised to vigorously welcome our new group of residents. Today, we are proud and excited to do just that! There are 163 new trainees coming to us from, quite literally, all over. Our Candice Henderson in the great GME office tells us that our new residents are coming to us from 28 different states and 32 countries – places such as the Philippines, Spain, China, and Bangladesh – and there will be new faces in all of our 42 residency and fellowship training programs. Wow. That is truly another terrific testament to each of you. We absolutely send our best to this talented group – let’s just mention one more time that 46 of our very own medical school graduates are among them! We promise that you have come to us at a particularly great time, a time when a renewed enthusiasm for educating at one of the nation’s first medical schools means that you are our priority and we feel privileged to have you with us in this amazing next step of your professional journey. Welcome, welcome!
And Give Resounding Applause… to Dr. Sayed Who Is Already Here
No doubt we already have some pretty amazing residents among us. How is this for magnanimous? Our Dr. Amer Sayed, a rising third-year internal medicine resident, was still a first-year when he got to thinking how nice it would be if he could take the whirl of medical knowledge constantly surrounding him and package it into a paperback he could carry with him. Since there wasn’t what amounted to CliffsNotes on a variety of symptoms and conditions typically associated with them, he decided to dedicate two years of his “spare” time to coming up with one for those who followed. We just may be seeing a consistent theme this week of awesomeness (and most weeks, frankly). Of course, he had great help, from many of our other colleagues, including Drs. Lee Merchen and David Haburchak, who provided their usual super support. Also, Michael Jensen, a faculty member in and graduate of our College of Allied Health Sciences Medical Illustration Graduate Program – only four of these in the country, by the way – illustrated this super-cool book that can really be of handy help to many, many future health providers and, just maybe, a few of us more “established” practitioners as well. Check it out at http://amzn.to/1BBjWiv.
We Congratulate… Dr. Rawson
We talk a lot about leadership; we really have to since you all are great leaders on so many fronts at home and well beyond. We wanted to share a couple of other great examples with you this week. Our Dr. Jim Rawson has just been elected to the executive body of the American College of Radiology. And, how about this. He also just became President of the Georgia Chapter of that group, The Georgia Radiological Society. How cool is this? In this statewide leadership role he follows 1988 MCG graduate Dr. Robert Rosengart who practices in Macon. If this is a monopoly, we are all for it! Our Dr. Rawson is absolutely no stranger to the work of either his national or state college. There’s quite a list of these leadership items, including serving as Chair for 11 years of the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System/Ambulatory Payment Categories for the college. As you know, this is some seriously complex but absolutely essential work and our hats are off (again) to Dr. Rawson for all that he does. More to come soon on his many years of contributing to patient and family centered care, a hallmark of what so many of you practice every moment.
And Dr. Lyon… For Their Service and Leadership
While we are on an absolute roll with more of your amazing accomplishments, just about the time Dr. Rawson was taking on his new duties, our Dr. Matt Lyon was being named president of the Georgia College of Emergency Physicians. How cool is that on this hot summer day. First we have to proudly say, that Dr. Lyon is homegrown, a 1999 MCG graduate who also completed his emergency medicine residency – including a year as Chief Resident – with us (who wouldn’t want to!) and has been on our faculty since 2003. He has been on the Board of Directors of the Georgia College of Emergency Physicians since 2008, is an expert in the myriad of uses for painless ultrasound in a busy emergency room, and directs our emergency ultrasound fellowship and our Section of Emergency and Clinical Ultrasound. He is Associate Editor of the Internal and Emergency Medicine Journal, an honored educator, researcher, and clinician and, well you get the general idea. Way to go Dr. Lyon. You make us proud.
We Thank Our Community As Well… For Its Commitment to Our Youngest Citizens
We wanted to share more great news in our community this week. Ground was broken in beautiful Lincoln County for Camp Lakeside, a medically safe and super fun camp for children with illness or disabilities that is a collaborative effort of our Children’s Hospital of Georgia and the Family Y of Greater Augusta, which also, absolutely has the wellbeing of our community at its heart. So do the terrific community leaders Duncan N. Johnson Jr. and his wife Kaci who have transformed their own experience with a sick child into an opportunity to help other families and children. That, we must say, is a true giving, community spirit. We also thank our CHOG Administrator Jim Mumford for his leadership on this and so many fronts for children. Our Gov. Nathan Deal was there to share the moment and lend his support as well. You may remember that our Masters Tournament and The Augusta National announced a major gift to this important initiative in February 2014. With this kind of support and such as compelling cause, Camp Lakeside no doubt will be yet another crown jewel for our children and their future.
And Give a Shout Out to Roary…
We so hope that those of you who don’t regularly get over to our children’s hospital will take a few minutes to do just that some time. Talk about an investment in our future and the next generation, our children’s hospital, its patients and families, and the amazing individuals who care for them are no less than inspirational. This week, we unveiled a mascot whose semi-official title is “Chief Fun Officer” for that amazing place and who, we think, is pretty much guaranteed to put a smile on all faces. Roary is appropriately a baby jaguar and this pup is pretty precious! Check him out here http://bit.ly/1GwUhoe or, better yet, go take a look for yourself! We welcome Roary and thank all who make him happen.
Upcoming Events
Tomorrow, June 27 – The first annual GRHealth Alzheimer’s Symposium, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., J. Harold Harrison M.D. Education Commons, will provide an introduction to memory loss and dementia, an update on related research, and practical pointers for patients, families, and caregivers. For registration and more information, please visit grhealth.org/neuroscience-center/memory-disorders-alzheimers-center/first-annual-grhealth-alzheimers-symposium or call neurology at 706-721-2798.
June 27 – Our Equality Clinic will join in the Augusta Pride parade, starting at 11 a.m. on Broad Street. Our clinic and its supporters will meet up between 9:30-10:30 a.m. on Jones Street between 10th and 11th Streets.
July 2 – Southwest Campus 10th Anniversary Kickoff Celebration, noon, Phoebe HealthWorks Gym, 311 W. 3rd Ave., Albany. For more information, contact Peggy Cohen, pcohen@gru.edu or 229-312-1451.
July 14 – Town Hall meeting with students, noon-1 p.m., Harrison Commons, GB 1220A.
Aug. 3 – Freshman Brunch, hosted by the MCG Alumni Association, 10:30 a.m., Augusta Marriott.
Aug. 5 – First day of class for the Class of 2019.
Sept. 12 – MCG Alumni Association Regional Reception in Augusta, 6 p.m., Augusta Marriott.
Sept. 13 – MCG Alumni Association Board Meeting, Harrison Commons, 9:30 a.m.
Oct. 8 – MCG Alumni Association Regional Reception in Albany, Doublegate Country Club, 6 p.m.
Oct. 10 – White Coat Ceremony, Bell Auditorium, 3 p.m.
Oct. 13 – MCG Alumni Association Regional Reception in Rome, Coosa Country Club, 6 p.m.
Oct. 27 – Town Hall meeting with students, noon-1 p.m., Harrison Commons, GB 1220A.
Oct. 29 – MCG Alumni Association Regional Reception in Valdosta, Valdosta Country Club, 6 p.m.
Nov. 13 – Body Donation Memorial Service, 1 p.m., Lee Auditorium.
Jan. 12 – Town Hall meeting with students, noon-1 p.m., Harrison Commons, GB 1220A.
Feb. 25 – MCG Alumni Association Board Meeting, Macon, Idle Hour Country Club, 3:30 p.m.
April 15 – MCG Alumni Association sponsors the Raft Debate. More to come.
April 29-May 1 – Alumni Weekend
May 12 – Hooding 2016, location and time TBD.
Have a great weekend!