Spring 2011
From the Chairman Welcome to “The Cutting Edge,” the new newsletter for the Department of Surgery at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences. We plan to publish this newsletter twice each academic year to keep all faculty, former residency program graduates, medical students and friends of the department abreast of news and developments in the department. As our department has grown, we feel it is important for everyone with connections to the department, both past and present, to be aware of the progress and events that occur each year. Each fall, we will send out the newsletter with news from the second half of the previous academic year, January-June, which will include our chief resident graduation, as well as an introduction to our new residents who will start on July 1. Each spring, we will update you on the accomplishments and events that have occurred during the first half of the academic year, from July through December. We welcome input from all who have been part of the department over the years and will plan to have sections for alumni, medical students, and current faculty and residents.
Residency Program Alumni News Joel Harris ('10) and his wife Stephanie Borchardt had a baby girl Arie Joy on October 18, 2010. Teimor Nasirov ('05) started practice in Sacramento, Calif., in July 2009 after finishing two fellowships (cardiothoracic and pediatric cardiothoracic surgery). Teimour also passed his cardiothoracic boards in 2010. Nathan Reuter ('07) started practice in St. Cloud, Minn., in July 2009 after completing his surgical oncology fellowship. David Cox ('09) is the trauma director at St. Mary-Corwin Regional Medical Center in Colorado. William Kendall ('07) finished his transplant fellowship in Florida in June 2010. He passed his general surgery boards February 2011.
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The current academic year has been both challenging and rewarding. Our program has expanded to 18 total residents, with 15 categorical residency positions and three preliminary residency positions. The accrediting body for all U.S. allopathic residency training programs in medicine, the ACGME (Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education) has issued new work hours guidelines for residency training. These guidelines include the requirement that PGY1 residents cannot work any more than 16 hours at a time and that they must have direct supervision (by either an attending physician or senior resident) immediately available whenever they are working. These requirements have been hotly debated by many residency training programs, especially in the surgical specialties. Whether we like them or not, by virtue of the ACGME’s accrediting authority we are bound to abide by these new regulations. Like many surgical programs, implementation of these regulations will be a significant challenge for the UND program, but we will be in compliance by the start of the 20112012 academic year. Despite the recent regulatory challenges, the department has continued to progress with many accomplishments and improvements of which some are listed below. I continue to be impressed and proud of all of our accomplishments and the good that our department does for the school and the communities which we serve. My thanks to everyone for their participation. Robert P. Sticca, MD, FACS Chairman and Program Director
Table of Contents From the Chariman..........................................Page 1 Residency Program Alumni News....................Page 1 Medical School Graduation: May 9m 2010 .....Page 2 Medical sSchool Graduation/End-of-Year.....Pages 2-3 New Incoming Residents: July 1, 2010 ............Page 4 Welcome New Faculty and Staff ......................Page 4 David R. Antonenko, MD, PhD, retirement .....Page 5 Medical Student Alumni News ........................Page 5 Upcoming Events.............................................Page 5 Faculty Accomplishments ................................Page 6 Department of Surgery School of Medicine and Health Sciences University of North Dakota 501 N. Columbia Rd., Stop 9037 Grand Forks, ND 58202-7126 P: (701) 777-2589 ● F: (701) 777-2609 www.med.und.edu/surgery
Medical School Graduation: May 9, 2010 Anesthesiology–4, Otolaryngology–2 and Orthopedic Surgery–2) at some very prestigious institutions including Creighton University, the University of Michigan, Harvard University, and the Mayo Clinic. Department of Surgery awards were given to the following graduating medical students: Department of Surgery Outstanding Student Award: This award goes to the senior student who demonstrates excellence in the specialty of surgery, and is based on a scoring system from both their third- and fourth-year rotations. Miran Blanchard, MSIV of Dickinson, N.D., was the recipient for the 2010 academic year (pictured at right).
The medical school awards luncheon and graduation were held on Sunday, May 9, 2010, at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks and the Chester Fritz Auditorium on the UND Campus. Fifty-five new physicians received their MD degrees, with 16 of them (29 percent) entering General Surgery or surgical subspecialties. The faculty of the Department of Surgery is commended for their continued support and inspiration of the medical students. Our students have entered a wide range of very competitive surgical specialties (General Surgery–8,
Honors Award for third-year medical students: In order for a student to achieve Honors, they must score above the 90th percentile on the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) shelf exam, score 8 or higher on the oral exam, and be recommended for honors by the majority of their preceptors. Honors awarded for the 2009-'10 year: Southwest Campus in Bismarck - David Brown (Larimore, N.D.), Cameron Charchenko (Dickinson, N.D.), Andrew Miller (Bismarck, N.D.), and Elizabeth Rau, (Bismarck). Southeast Campus in Fargo - Fallon Hoverson (Manvel, N.D.), Jared Mahylis (Fargo, N.D.), Ryan Siewert (Grand Forks, N.D.), and Jessi Smith (West Fargo, N.D.).
Residency Program Graduation/End-of-Year Activities: June 25, 2010 Dr. Sticca presented the Edwin James Lectureship plaque to Dr. Green (pictured at right).
The 7th Annual Edwin C. James Lectureship was established in honor of Edwin C. James, MD, who was professor and chairman of the Department of Surgery from 1980-'89 and was the founder of the Surgical Residency Program. Each year, we invite a nationally recognized speaker to honor this lectureship. This year’s lecturer was Frederick L. Greene, MD, chairman of surgery from the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C., and past chair of the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. His talk was on Cancer Staging and Prognostic Factors–2010 and Beyond. Afterward,
The 9th Annual Surgical Resident Research Colloquium is the annual Department of Surgery conference where the PGY 2-5 Categorical Surgery Residents give a 10-minute presentation on their required research project. This is held on the same day as the Edwin C. James lecture and Chief Resident Graduation Banquet. These presentations are judged by a panel of invited physicians, including the Edwin James lecturer. This year's judges were Dr. Greene; Dr. Gwen Halas, senior associate dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs; Dr. Nathaniel Reuter, clinical instructor of surgery and former surgical resident; and Dr. Robert Wroblewski, clinical instructor of surgery and former surgical resident. The top two presenters are honored at the Chief Resident Graduation Banquet that follows that evening. This year, we had a number of excellent presentations, many of which will be subsequently submitted for publication or presentation at regional or national meetings. 2010 resident winners: • First place: Joel Harris, MD PGY-5, “Trauma in the Elderly” • Honorable Mention: Jay MacGregor, MD PGY-4, “Performance and Fatigue: Are Residents Wimps?” (continued on next page)
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Click on this link to see the Edwin C. James Lectureship and the Surgical Resident Research Colloquium brochure. The 26th Surgical Chief Resident Graduation Banquet was held on Friday, June 25, 2010, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Grand Forks. The graduating residents were: Joel Harris, MD, MPH, has entered general surgery practice at the Wilkinson Medical Clinic in Hartland, Wis., with two past UND Surgery Residency program graduates Dr. Tom Derrig (2001) and Dr. Peter Garza (2003). Joel is originally from Fergus Falls, Minn., and received his MD degree at the University of Minnesota. After graduation, Torfi Hoskuldsson, MD, began a fellowship in Surgical Critical Care at the University of Minnesota. He is originally from Reykjavik, Iceland, and received his MD degree at the University of Iceland.
Julie Lorber, MD, entered general surgery practice at St. Joseph Hospital in Breese, Ill. She is originally from St. Louis, Mo., and received her MD degree at the Saba University School of Medicine in Netherlands, Antilles.
To view additional photos from the Graduation Banquet, visit the SMHS Flickr account.
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New Incoming Residents: July 1, 2010 Arun A. Andrews, MD: PG I Preliminary; New Orleans, La.; Kasturba Medical College Manipal, India
Christopher J. Maki, MD: PG I Categorical; Bremerton, Wash.; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Tracy B. Boschee, DO: PG I Preliminary; Minot, N.D.; Des Moines UniversityOsteopathic Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa
Matthew J. Nielsen, MD: PG I Categorical; born in Bemidji, Minn.; went to medical school at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, East Lansing, Mich.
Noelle A. Thomas, MD: PG I Preliminary; San Diego, Calif.; University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle
Julie A. Zohner, MD: PG I Categorical; Idaho Falls, Idaho; University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle
Welcome New Faculty and Staff Enej Gasevic, MD, has joined the department as associate program director and assistant professor of surgery at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Southeast Campus in Fargo. He received his MD from the UND SMHS. He completed his general surgery residency at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. Dr. Gasevic also completed a critical care fellowship at Henry Ford Hospital. Dr. Gasevic is board certified in general surgery and surgical critical care.
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Cindy Stromme, administrative secretary for the General Surgery Residency Program, joined the UND SMHS Department of Surgery on Nov. 1, 2010. She has worked for UND since August 1988 after graduating from the University of Minnesota, Crookston with an associate degree in dietetics. After working 17 years at the Human Nutrition Research Center, she worked at Dining Services Administration for one year and four years at the Counseling Center. She and her husband Scott enjoy spending time with family, are huge UND hockey fans and also like to attend UND football games.
David R. Antonenko, MD, PhD, retirement Dr. David Antonenko, former chairman of the Department of Surgery retired from UND on July 15, 2010. Dr. Antonenko is originally from Alberta and was educated at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, where he received his MD and PhD degrees, and surgical training in general surgery. He then completed a trauma/critical care fellowship at Wayne State University in Detroit. Dr. Antonenko became a member of the department in 1986 while in practice in Thief River Falls, Minn. He became chairman of the department in December 1989 and is the longest-standing chairman in the Department
of Surgery since its inception. Throughout his more than 24 years of service to the UND Department of Surgery, he served many roles and was a dedicated teacher for both medical students and residents. Although Dr. Antonenko is officially “retired,” he will continue to work with the department on a part-time basis as the director of the surgical simulation program, a program which he helped to build and develop over the past three to five years. Dr. Antonenko’s contributions to the department will long be remembered. Read more about Dr. Antonenko and his contributions to the Department of Surgery in North Dakota Medicine.
Upcoming Events
Medical Student Alumni News
The Edwin C. James lectureship, Surgical Resident Research Colloquium and Graduation Banquet will be held June 24, 2011, at the Ramada Plaza Suites and Conference Center in Fargo. More detailed information to follow.
Former medical students who trained in general surgery outside of North Dakota have returned to North Dakota to practice in surgical specialties: Dr. Robert D. Guttormson (general surgery) and Dr. Billie Jo Grieve (general surgery) are practicing at Altru Health System in Grand Forks. Dr. John Eickman (neurosurgery) is now at Sanford Health in Fargo, and Dr. Josh Gebur (general surgery) is at Essentia Health in Fargo.
Faculty Accomplishments Publications Zhu W, Qin W, Hewett JE, Sauter ER (faculty). Quantitative evaluation of DNA hypermethylation in malignant and benign breast tissue and fluids. Int J Cancer. 2010 Jan 15;126(2):474-82.
Pavlou MP, Kulasingam V, Sauter ER (faculty), Kliethermes B, Diamandis EP.Nipple aspirate fluid proteome of healthy femailes and patients with breast cancer. Clin Chem 2010 May;56(5):848-55.
Deutscher SL, Dickreson M, Gui G, Newton J, Holm JE, Vogeltanz-Holm N, Kliethermes B, Hewett JE, Kumar SR, Quinn TP, Sauter RE (faculty). Carbohydrate antigens in nipple aspirated fluid predict the presence of atypia and cancer in women requiring diagnostic breast biopsy. BMC Cancer. 2010 1;10:519.
Barbara A. Pockaj, MD, Nabil Wasif, MD, Amylou C, PhD, Dennis A. Wigle, MD, Judy C. Broughey, MD, Amy C. Degnim, MD, Richard J. Gray, MD, Sara A McLaughlin, MD, Donald W. Northfelt, MD, Robert P. Sticca, MD (faculty), James W. Jakub, MD, and Edith A. Perez, MD: “Metastasectomy and Surgical Resection of the Primary Tumor in Patients with Stage IV Breast Cancer” Ann Surg Oncol Sept 2010 17:2419-2426.
Ruhlen R, Sauter ER (Faculty). Plant based therapies to prevent/treat cancer. Expert Reviews in Clin Pharmacol 3: 13, 2010. Grisanti SL, Evanson J, Marchus E, Jorissen H, Woster AP, DeKre W, Sauter ER (Faculty), Combs CK, Porter JE. Proinflammatory responses in human moncytes are beta1-adrenergic receptor subtype dependent. Mol Immunol. 2010 Mar;47(6):1244-54. Sauter ER (Faculty), Klein-Szanto A, MacGibbon B, Ehya H. Nipple aspirate fluid and ductoscopy to detect breast cancer. Diagnostic Cytopath, Diagn Cytopathol 2010 Apr;38(4):244-51.
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Sauter ER (faculty), Patel N. Circulating proteins predict liver fibrosis in hepatitis C infection. Biomark Med 2010 Oct;4(5):751-2. Sauter ER (faculty), Patel N. High clusterin levels predate evidence of Alzheimer’s disease. Biomark Med 2010 Oct;4(5):753. Sauter ER (faculty), Patel N. Unique Tumor-assocaited molecule supports the growth and progression of oral carcinoma. Biomark Med 2010 Oct;4(5):752. (continued on next page)
Sauter ER (faculty), Patel N. Vascualr dysfunciton biomarkers are elevated in children with HIV. Biomark Med 2010 Oct;4(5):751.
Lane Lee, DO (faculty): “Coagulopathy in the Trauma Setting” 13th Annual North Dakota State Trauma Conference, Fargo, North Dakota.
J. Esquivel, MD, T.C. Chua, MD, A. Stojadinovic, MD, J. Torres Melero, MD, E.A.Levine, MD, M. Gutman, MD, R. Howard, MD, P. Piso, MD, A. Nissan, MD, A. Gomez-Portilla, MD, L. Gonzalez-Bayon, MD, S. Gonzalez-Moreno, MD, P. Shen, MD, J.H. Stewart, MD, P.H. Sugarbaker, MD, R.M. Barone, MD, R. Hoefer, MD, D.L. Morris, MD, A. Sardi, MD, and R.P. Sticca, MD (faculty) “Accuracy and Clinical Relevance of Computed Tomography Scan Interpretation of Peritoneal Cancer Index in Colorectal Cancer Peritoneal Carcinomatosis: A Multi-Institutional Study” Journal of Surgical Oncology Nov 2010; 102:565-570.
David Montes, DDS (faculty): “Maxillofacial Injuries” 13th Annual North Dakota State Trauma Conference, Fargo, North Dakota.
Nathaniel P. Reuter, MD, MPH (faculty), Matthew Bower, MD, Charles R. Scoggins, MD, Robert C.G. Martin, MD, Kelly M. McMasters, MD, PhD, Anees B. Chagpar, MD, MPH. “The lower incidence of melanoma in women may be related to increased preventative behaviors”. The American journal of Surgery (2010) 2010, 765-69. Robert Sticca, MD (Faculty); Jay MacGregor, MD (Resident); Randolph Szlabick, MD (Faculty): “Is the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education resident/fellow survey a valid tool to assess general surgery residency programs compliance with work hours regulations?” Journal of Surgical Education November/December 2010, Vol 67, No 6, pgs 406-11. Robert Sticca, MD (Faculty); Jay MacGregor, MD (Resident): “General Surgery Residents’ views on work hours regulations.” Journal of Surgical Education November/December 2010, Vol 67, No 6, pgs 376-80. Joel Harris, MD (Resident); Robert Sticca, MD (Faculty); CC Hosford, PhD: “A Comprehensive Analysis of Surgical Procedures in Rural Surgery Practice.” The American Journal of Surgery (2010) 200, 820-26. Presentations (regional/national) Steven Briggs, MD (faculty): “Case Presentation/Trauma Treatment Guideline” 13th Annual North Dakota State Trauma Conference, Fargo, North Dakota.” Donald DeBeltz, MD (faculty): “When Animals Attack” 13th Annual North Dakota State Trauma Conference, Fargo, North Dakota. Enej Gasevic, MD (faculty): “Mangled Extremities” 13th Annual North Dakota State Trauma Conference, Fargo, North Dakota. Derek Kane, MD (faculty) and Randolph Szlabick (faculty): “Chest Tube/Intraosseous Lab (Mid-Level Practioners and MDs)” 13th Annual North Dakota State Trauma Conference, Fargo, North Dakota.
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Fady Nasarallah, MD (faculty): “Rapid Fire: Management of Uncommon Injuries” 13th Annual North Dakota State Trauma Conference, Fargo, North Dakota. David Schall, MD (faculty): “Pelvic Fractures” 13th Annual North Dakota State Trauma Conference, Fargo, North Dakota. Randolph Szlabick, MD (faculty): “Trauma in the Elderly” 13th Annual North Dakota State Trauma Conference, Fargo, North Dakota. Robert Sticca, MD (faculty): “HIPEC for Peritoneal Carcinomatosis: Is It Justified?” Surgical Oncology Core Curriculum/Grand Rounds. Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York. Dewing BD, Sticca Robert (faculty), MacColl C. “Clinical Significance of Gastric Emptying in Diabetic Bariatric Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Gastric Banding.” Midwestern Surgical Association, Mackinac Island, Michigan. August 1-3, 2010. Awards William E. Altringer, MD, Clinical Professor of Surgery, Mid Dakota Clinic in Bismarck received the Alumnus Membership of the AOA Honor Medical Society - April 2010.