Produced by the Office of Communications // September 13, 2012

Dr. Patricia Butler appointed to LCME

Dr. Patricia Butler, senior associate dean for educational programs, has been named to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) for a three-year term as an American Medical Association (AMA)-appointed professional member.

The LCME is the nationally recognized accrediting authority for medical education programs leading to the MD degree in the United States and Canada and is sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the AMA.

As a professional appointed member of the LCME, Butler will review and oversee annual survey data and written reports on all of the accredited U.S. and Canadian medical schools and attend meetings on accreditation three times a year. Her term started July 1, 2012, and ends June 30, 2015.

“Being appointed to the LCME is quite an honor and will keep me up to date with medical education on a national level,” Butler said.

This is the first time a member of the Medical School has served on the LCME. The committee is comprised of 15 professional appointed members, three public appointed members, and two student appointed members.

Butler is the only newly appointed professional member.

— Darla Brown, Office of Communications, Medical School

Post Comment

Flu vaccine available for free to students

Influenza season is here. This is a reminder to all students to get your seasonal Influenza vaccine to protect yourself and your patients.

Flu shots will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at no charge to all UTHealth students. If you are interacting with patients, you are in the priority group for receiving the vaccine and are strongly encouraged to do so.

Even if you have no patient interaction, you are still strongly encouraged to receive the vaccine. Students will receive a sticker to place on your ID badge for proof of vaccine.

Student Health Services will have staff on location Sept. 18 at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, GSBS Foyer, 3rd floor, Mitchell Basic Science Research Building, 11 a.m.–1 p.m.

Starting Sept. 19, students may come to Student Health Services Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays between 1:30–4:30 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9:30–11:30 a.m. to receive the vaccine. No appointment is necessary. The office is located in the UT Professional Building, Suite 1010.

Please remember simple measures you can take to protect yourselves and others from viruses such as Influenza:

• Cover your nose and mouth when you cough and sneeze with a tissue and then dispose of tissue in a wastebasket.
• Cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve, if you don't have a tissue.
• Frequently use hand sanitizers or wash your hands, especially after you cough or sneeze.
• If you are sick, please stay at home.

For more information please visit the CDC information page.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Student Health Services at 713.500.5171.

Post Comment

Texas Medical Center Library hosts Medical Ethics series

TMC Library will host a yearlong series of six free lectures in fall 2012 and spring 2013. The theme of the Medical Ethics series is Vaccines, Epidemics, and Ethics. Local and nationally recognized experts in the field will discuss the roles of vaccines in the prevention and control of infectious diseases and epidemics.

• Tuesday, Sept. 18, 12:00–1:30 p.m., The Texas Medical Center Library
  Forgotten People, Forgotten Diseases
  Dr. Peter Hotez, founding dean of the Baylor College of Medicine’s School for Tropical Medicine, will discuss providing access to innovations in biotechnology among the poorest people in developing countries and in Texas and will sign copies of his most recent book: Forgotten People, Forgotten Diseases: The Neglected Tropical Diseases and Their Impact on Global Health and Development. Books will be available for purchase.
• Thursday, Oct. 18, 12:00–1:30 p.m., UT School of Public Health Auditorium
  How will Houston Deal with a Pandemic?
  Dr. David Persse is physician director of the Emergency Medical Services at the City of Houston and a public health authority at the Department of Health & Human Services, City of Houston. Persse will speak about how the City of Houston has prepared to deal with a pandemic and what would happen if there were a virulent disease outbreak.
• Thursday, Nov. 8, 12:00–1:30 p.m., Medical School Building, MSB 3.001
  The Value of Vaccines for Global Health
  Dr. Orin Levine, director of vaccine delivery within the Global Development Program by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will speak about how vaccines provide outstanding value for money, but also serve as a platform for the delivery of a comprehensive package of life-saving interventions. What new technologies will the coming Decade of Vaccines develop?
• Thursday, Jan. 24, 12:00–1:30 p.m., Medical School Building, MSB 3.001
  Immunization in the US—the Best or Worst in its Class?
  Dr. Anne Schuchat, assistant surgeon general, United States Public Health Service, will discuss immunization patterns across the life span, vaccine-preventable disease trends, and analysis of where and why we are failing.
• Thursday, Feb. 28, 12:00–1:30 p.m., Medical School Building, MSB 3.001
  Emerging Zoonotic Viral Infections: Do They Find Us or Do We Find Them?
  Dr. C.J. Peters, director for Biodefense, Center for Biodefense & Emerging Infectious Diseases, UTMB, will discuss the origins of microbial threats. Are they truly “new” or do they arise from mutation or translocation? How many are there? Can we predict them? What strategies can we use to control them?
• Wednesday, April 3, 12:00–1:30 p.m., MD Anderson Cancer Center, Onstead Auditorium, First floor
  Polio: A Look Back at America's Most Successful Public Health Crusade
  Dr. David Oshinsky, professor and Jack S. Blanton Chair in History, The University of Texas at Austin, and Pulitzer Prize winning author of Polio: An American Story, will discuss the history of the polio vaccine and how it revolutionized governmental licensing and testing of new drugs prior to use. This lecture is part of the Houston History of Medicine Society lecture series.

For more information on the Medical Ethics Lecture Series, visit the Medical Ethics Series website.

Lunch will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis, and attendees will be eligible to win a drawing for a Kindle eBook reader by completing a short interactive quiz on National Library of Medicine databases such as PubMed.

This project has been funded in part with federal funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, under Contract No. HHSN-276-2011-00007-C with the Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library.

Additional sponsorship is being provided by UTHealth John P. McGovern, M.D., Center for Humanities and Ethics, and by Elsevier, New England Journal of Medicine, Science, and Ovid, some of the leading providers of science and health information resources available at the TMC Library.

— Beatriz Varman, HAM-TMC Library

Post Comment

Brain video wins first place

A UTHealth group recently won first place in the Society for Neuroscience’s (SfN) Brain Awareness Video Contest, which highlights engaging videos that educate and inspire the public about the wonders of the brain and mind.

The winning video, The Carrot, was created by Ariana Andrei, Anastasia ‘Stacy’ Eriksson, and Marcello Mulas. Andrei is a Ph.D. student studying neuroscience at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; Eriksson is an undergraduate student interested in neuroscience; and Mulas is Level 1 Research Fellow at the Medical School.

Their video follows a girl studying Italian and shows the interworkings of her brain by using sock-puppets to represent different regions of the organ. The puppets animate how visual areas identify an object, language areas find the object’s name and translate it into Italian, and decision-making areas coordinate the girl’s response. The video along with all the other award-winning entries will join the content of BrainFacts.org, a public information initiative of The Kavli Foundation, the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, and SfN that offers nearly 1,000 resources about the brain and nervous system.

As part of their award winnings, the group will receive a cash prize and will attend the SfN’s annual meeting, Neuroscience 2012, in New Orleans.

The video, along with a film created by fellow GSBS student Sarah Baum titled The Journey of Sound, are in the running for the SfN “People’s Choice Award,” which enables the public to select the most engaging submission. Voting closes Sept. 26, and each person can vote for up to two videos.

— Tracey Barnett, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

Post Comment

Salute to students

Students from all UTHealth schools attended the 14th Annual Student InterCouncil Salutation Sept. 11 at the Denton A. Cooley, MD, and Ralph C. Cooley, DDS, University Life Center. The evening featured fun, food, beverages, and free gifts. Students also had the opportunity to spend time with UTHealth deans during Dessert with the Deans and had a chance to meet Ashley Purgason, student regent for The University of Texas System.

— Dwight C. Andrews, Office of Communications, Medical School

 

 

 

---