“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
– Helen Keller
April 26, 2013
Dear Colleagues and Friends:
“Capitol” Idea … Doctor of the Day!
We send a round of applause to Dr. Ramon Parrish, who was the Medical Association of Georgia’s Doctor of the Day March 14 at the Capitol. He manned the Medical Aid Station, providing minor medical care to legislators and their staff. Thank you Dr. Parrish for your time and service to our state this day and every day. We have some other great faculty who have stepped up for this. To learn more about MAG Doctor of the Day, click this link – http://bit.ly/14715KZ
Inter-Disciplinary Care … and Kudos …
Our Dr. David B. Flannery, Chief of the Section of Genetics and Vice Chairman in the Department of Pediatrics, is the only physician appointed to serve on the nine-member Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling, a newly developed organization that sets standards for and accredits master’s degree programs in genetic counseling. As you likely know, certified genetic counselors work with physicians such as Flannery, a medical geneticist, to provide great inter-disciplinary care to patients and family. This is a new council, formed in January 2013 to replace the accrediting arm of the American Board of Genetic Counseling. Way to go Dr. Flannery for taking such an important leadership role.
Our Students doing us PROUD … HealthSTAT Conference …
Please join me in congratulating 18 of our students from the GRU/UGA Partnership on their well-done presentations at this year’s HealthSTAT conference on April 13 in Atlanta.
Many congrats to: Monica Gavalier, Chris Jackson, Natalie Giles, and Alison Ruch for their oral presentation, Helping Prisoners with Severe Mental Illness Transition Back into the Community; Roberto Aguilera, Clay Hartley, and Eric Wang for their poster presentation, A Call for Adherence to CDC Recommendations for Immunization Against Shingles (Herpes Zoster) at Athens Regional Medical Center and St. Mary¹s Hospital in Athens, Georgia.; Kristina Falkenstrom, Nick Fitzpatrick, Boris Kovalenko, and Michael Schecter for their poster, Increasing Breastfeeding Rates in Georgia: Brett Magner, Andrew Miller, Parker Smith and Alexandra Whitaker-Lea for their poster, Addressing Healthcare Disparities among Hispanic Immigrants in Athens-Clarke County and Georgia; and finally to Ari Levine, Evan Jones, and Brian Brewer for theirs’, Reducing Fall Risk in the Elderly. Click here to see photos- http://on.fb.me/15HyYlL and here to learn more about HealthSTAT –http://www.healthstatgeorgia.org/
Pride Abounds … Honor Society … Great Ceremony
The Spring Induction Ceremony is quite a proud day for our medical school and our incredibly talented students, residents, faculty, and alums. This year was certainly no exception with 21 new inductees! Those honored include Students Paul Baker, Richard Burgner, Rebecca Carter, Curran Daigle, Peter Daniel, Colby Duckett, Erik Hansen, Dylan Lovin, Kenyatta Mireku, Margaret Monette, Yashesh Shah and Saman Vojdani. Our residents Dr. Zachery Klaassen, Dr. Emmanouil Palaios and Dr. William Randazzo; our faculty, Dr. Vadivel Ganapathy, Dr. Thomas A. Samuel and Dr. Nirupma Sharma and our alums Dr. William “Scott” Bohlke, Dr. Joseph Hobbs (of course a faculty member as well) and Vice Admiral Matthew L. Nathan, the 37thSurgeon General of the Navy. What a lineup! Thanks SO much to Dr. Clarence Joe for always taking a leadership role in this incredible program.
President’s Lecture Series… Dr. Javier Cevallos
An invigorating lecture for the recent Presidential Lecture Series. Dr. F. Javier Cevallos, President, Kutztown University, discussed “Paradise Lost? Higher Education in the 21st Century.” The talk focused on challenges in higher education regarding external forces demanding higher accountability, transparency, and a clear return on investment for educators. This was a fantastic talk and everyone who attended learned something more about educating future students. Great job!
Faculty Forward Survey… Encouraging as we Commence our Strategic Planning …
As many of you already know, most of our results from the AAMC’s Faculty Forward Survey this year exceeded our 2009 results. These days our results are way more in line with our peers across the country – even better than some and, of course, below in others. It’s gratifying and hopeful news for our college and these observations will help inform our strategic planning. Faculty and staff satisfaction are paramount to who we are and what we do. Let’s work together to keep it moving forward. We again send our thanks to Dr. Jack Yu, Dr. Kent Guion, and other task force members for tackling this tremendous undertaking. To learn more go here- http://bit.ly/10dLelB
Inspiring Meeting… Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center … Reinvigorating our Vital Partnership
Many of our medical leaders joined Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center leaders recently for a partnership strategy meeting. The meeting helped set the foundation for advancing the partnership we have with the VA hospitals here in Augusta. The meeting covered essentials like better understanding the relationship we already have, how we support each other and how we can do better in the future. We appreciate the partnership and the work to move forward together. We also congratulate our colleagues for a very impressive Joint Commission survey recently.
Upcoming Events…
April 26 – Dr. Delos Cosgrove, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cleveland Clinic, will give a guest lecture in honor of Drs. Robert & Lois Ellison in the Lee Auditorium, 3 to 4 p.m. Earlier that day, Dr. Cosgrove will make a special presentation to GRU leadership, community leaders and key alumni at the Marriott Hotel and Convention Center from noon to 1 p.m.
April 27 – MCG graduates will gather at the Alumni Weekend for our institution. The MCG classes of ’48,’53,’58, ’63,’73,’78,’83, ’88, ’93, ’98 and ’03 are having reunions this year. Please remember to register – http://www.gru.edu/alumniweekend/
April 27 – Come out to enjoy the President’s Cookout on Saturday, April 27 at the D. Douglas Barnard, Jr. Amphitheatre on the Summerville Campus. Alumni, families, and students will enjoy a live band, food, and various activities for children including an inflatable slide and balloon artists.
April 29 – MCG Faculty Awards Ceremony starts at 5:15 p.m. in the Lee Auditorium.
April 30 – Like to row? Come out and join the Augusta Rowing Club in Learn to Row Classes this spring. The program is designed primarily for working adults and area college students (age 18 and up) who would like hands-on experience. Classes are from 6-8 p.m. To learn more, please contact Michael Cobb at 706.432.0022 or email augustarows@gmail.com
April 30 – The Annual Sydenstricker Society Medicine Grand Rounds will occur at noon in the Lee Auditorium. Dr. Arthur M. Feldman, Executive Dean of Temple University School of Medicine, is this year’s speaker and will present on “The Genetics of Dilated Cardiomyopathy: Is It Time for Personalized Heart Failure Therapy?”
April 30– Georgia Regents University President Ricardo Azziz will give an address from noon to 1 p.m. in the Lee Auditorium on the Health Sciences Campus. Lunch will be provided for the first 300 attendees.
May 1 –Congratulations to our colleagues Dr. Florentino, Dr. Nichols, and Dr. Munroe for Being Caught in the Act of Great Teaching! A celebration of excellence in teaching reception hosted by GRU VP of Faculty and academic Affairs and the university’s Center for Teaching and Learning will occur at the Pinnacle Club from 6-7:30 p.m. If you would like to attend, please RSVP by Monday, April 29 to judycooke@gru.edu.
May 3 – The annual State of the Medical College address is at noon. .
May 4 – Put your walking shoes on and come to join our medical students for the 2013 March of Dimes Walk for Babies at Lake Olmstead Park at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 4. To register go here– http://bit.ly/ZroYIM and the events page here–http://bit.ly/Zs06AN
May 5 – Calling all GRU faculty, if you like Cinco de Mayo, come out to join your fellow faculty members to celebrate the end of the semester. The event begins at 5 p.m. at Mi Rancho on Washington Road. Click here to learn more – http://bit.ly/grufc
May 6 – Save this date, too! Please come to congratulate our colleagues at the Annual Spring Faculty Assembly on May 6 at 5:30-7:30 p.m. The location is TBD, the invite — http://bit.ly/springfaculty
May 9 – MCG Hooding begins at 2 p.m. in the Bell Auditorium.
May 10 – Medical College of Georgia at GRU will graduate 200 medical students at 2 p.m. at the James Brown Arena.
May 13 – The Office of Diversity Affairs is set to host a special presentation by Dr. Geoffrey Young, Senior Director for Student Affairs and Programs for the Association of American Medical Colleges. The presentation, Student Mental Health, will be held at 12:15 p.m. in room EC 1211 in the Health Sciences Building on the Health Sciences Campus. Lunch will be provided. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Angela Scott at ascott@gru.edu by Monday, May 6.
May 24 – Summit on Global Health, hosted by the Fulbright Academy of Science and Technology, May 24-27, Montego Bay, Jamaica. See http://bit.ly/YJasZD
June 13 – MCG Chair Investiture Ceremony, starts at 5 p.m. in the Lee Auditorium.
Have you checked out our new MCG Facebook page at www.facebook.com/grumcg? We also have a Twitter page as well#Follow.
Enjoy the weekend!