Mississippi Medical News August 2015

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PHYSICIAN SPOTLIGHT PAGE 2

Malinda Prewitt, MD FROM THE EDITOR:

The Times They Are a-Changin’ Undergoing transformative change, this industry has been tasked with fundamentally altering delivery methods and asked to meet heightened consumer expectations and increased demands for interaction and engagement.

While the above statement is certainly representative of the healthcare industry … in this case, we are actually referencing the media’s role in the dissemination of information.

The way we consume news has dramatically changed over the past decade. Yet, how, when and where we receive information is often a matter of personal choice. Some people love the feel of newsprint between their fingers. Others like to get information on their tablet. Still others want the highlights in 140 characters or less, giving them control of whether or not the topic is worthy of a click through to more information.

Recognizing our readers embody these varied preferences, Mississippi Medical News is excited to announce major changes to our product.

If you love the monthly paper (and we certainly hope you do), no worries … you’ll still receive it faithfully each month in the mailbox.

However, we’ve long realized the static nature of

Recovery Workouts

Pilot Program Offers Benefits for Cancer Patients

By JONATHAN SCOTT

Cancer patients who incorporate more physical activity into their lives stand to gain a variety of benefits in return, including better health, more confidence and a vastly improved overall quality of life.

These are some of the encouraging results of a recently completed pilot program conducted at Merit Health Central in Jackson. The program, a joint project between Merit Health and Mississippi College, highlights the importance of introducing some sort of exercise program into the lives of cancer patients.

Previous studies that examined the link between exercise and cancer patients have established evidence that programs such as this one can offer a wide variety of positive outcomes in cancer patients, said Lisa Byrd, PhD, and a nurse practitioner in family and geriatrics and a gerontologist at Merit. She is also a lead member of the Merit Health Central’s oncology team.

“If you look at cancer research, leading a healthy lifestyle as well as incorporating exercise into the life of a cancer patient can (CONTINUED ON PAGE 4)

WHO’S TENDING OUR DOCTORS?

The Plight of Physicians-in-Training Starting in medical school, stress and depression impact a rising percentage of students; profession-wide, suicide claims a doctor a day

By JULIE PARKER

On the night of June 21, 2012, Greg Miday, MD, scribbled a note before settling in for a hot soak with candles flickering, music playing – and a scalpel in hand: “This is just the end of the line for my particular train,” he wrote in a goodbye note. The following morning, his body was discovered, major arteries severed.

Miday, 29, an instructor of medicine for the Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) and a hospitalist with Barnes-Jewish Hospital, was days from beginning an oncology fellowship when he committed suicide. In his obituary, his parents – both MDs – wrote: “With all his talents and accomplishments, he struggled in a world that didn’t fully understand him.”

“Greg knew it was a career killer to ask for (mental health) help,” said his mother, Karen Miday, MD, a psychiatrist from Ohio. “At the end, he must’ve felt there was no way out.”

Every day, a medical student or doctor calls it quits in the most permanent way.

Because of the stigma surrounding mental health issues, medical students remain

continued on page 4

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PhysicianSpotlight

‘You Have to Expect the Unexpected’ Infectious Disease Specialist Balances Patient Care, Hospital-Wide Efforts

By LUCY SCHULTZE

Malinda “Mindy” Prewitt, MD, was raised on a farm in rural Pontotoc County, where her ancestors were among the area’s first settlers in 1836.

Today, the chance to raise her twin sons as the eighth generation to walk those hills and pastures enhances her decision to practice in Tupelo as part of North Mississippi Medical Center.

“I had a good opportunity at North Mississippi Medical Center to practice infectious disease medicine the way I wanted to practice it,” said Prewitt, who joined NMMC nearly 10 years ago.

After training in Jackson, there were both personal and professional reasons to return to northeast Mississippi.

“My partner, Max Taylor, MD, was a great draw and has been a tremendous mentor,” she said. “NMMC offers a lot of depth, including physician support from different specialties. I also enjoy being part of a medical community in which the physicians have a good rapport.

“And the broader community is also a nice place to live: Everybody knows everybody, and Southern manners prevail.”

Prewitt was open-minded during her training about where she might end up.

But her husband Brad, an attorney from the Delta, suggested returning to her home place would be a good idea.

“I’m an only child, and he anticipated JNLMSMed-2 JNLMSMed-2

it might be good for me to come back and be near my parents as they got older,” she said. “And when you have kids, you want them to be raised around family. Coming back to this area was the best choice allaround.”

Today, her twins, Brooks and Shaw, are active 7-year-old boys. “I’ve learned more about pediatric infectious disease from them than from my textbook,” Prewitt quips.

At NMMC, Prewitt’s roles range from caring for patients to overseeing hospital-wide practices for infectious-dis-

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ease control. She sees patients for consults across a broad range of diseases, from meningitis and cellulitis, to infections of the bone or heart.

“Every system is affected by infectious disease,” she said. “Since I am hospital-based, and we have more than 600 patient beds, there is plenty to keep me busy.”

In addition to seeing patients in the hospital and making recommendations on their care, she also arranges for outpatient antibiotics and monitors patients as they recover.

Additionally, Prewitt works closely with nurses in the hospital’s infection control department, to ensure monitoring of any infection events or cluster outbreaks within the hospital.

“We’ve had influenza strike before, and we try to get education out to the staff and visitors and do appropriate isolation to keep it from spreading,” she said. “We do a lot of quality measures in the hospital, making sure we are keeping up with appropriate hygiene and anything we can do to protect people and prevent infection.

“Additionally, we are always on the front line if there is any kind of measles or Ebola scare going on. We try to do education and sort out the things that are legitimate.”

In the case of the Ebola scare of 2014, Prewitt was thankful both to have a response plan in place – and not to have to use it.

“Ebola forced hospitals, particularly major medical centers such as NMMC, to consider ‘What if?’” she said. “This was

an exhaustive but essential exercise. We learned a lot, such as from our Tupelo Fire Department-led demonstrations on the use of personal protective equipment.

The result was a much better prepared and more vigilant hospital and clinics system that realizes it must continue to train and institute best practices in light of such threats.

“Being prepared is never a one-man or one-woman job. It really takes a large team of highly trained professionals to head off something like an outbreak.

Doing drills is like doing a driving simulation; it’s never the same as actually getting a car on the road.”

The unpredictability of the infectious disease field was actually among its attractions for Prewitt, who became interested during her medical rotations. She also read “The Hot Zone,” about the origins of the Ebola virus, and was intrigued.

“The history of infectious diseases is very interesting, going all the way back to the plagues,” she said. “The diseases themselves, although very terrible at times, were interesting to study and learn about. And now we have the ability to treat people and see them get better. It’s an encouraging field today, because of the potential to cure many infections.”

Even so, she said, the ability that people have today to travel across the world opens new doors for diseases to travel, too.

Additionally, multi-drug-resistant organisms and antibiotic stewardship are probably some of the biggest challenges for the future.

“You just never know what’s going to happen with infectious diseases,” she said.

“There are so many unknowns. You just have to expect the unexpected.”

Prewitt’s current practice also includes caring for HIV patients and working with the nurse practitioners who staff an HIV clinic.

“Our nurse practitioners do an excellent job of providing primary care for these patients and adjusting their medications,” she said. “They also see our hospital follow-ups and help us with outpatient antibiotic therapy.”

At NMMC, Prewitt was recently joined in infectious disease practice by Kristie Nowak, MD. Their senior partner, Taylor, is set to retire this fall.

Prewitt holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Mississippi College and a medical degree from the University of Mississippi School of Medicine. She completed her internal medicine residency and infectious disease fellowship at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

She is a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine, Infectious Disease Society of America, American Medical Association and Mississippi State Medical Association. mississippimedicalnews

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Can’t Catch a Break

Jackson Tops List Of 2015 Allergy Capitals

By JONATHAN SCOTT

Mississippians sensitive to allergens are painfully aware that the Magnolia state doesn’t so much have an allergy season as it has a nearly never-ending battle with those tiny airborne particles that can make life unpleasant 12 months out of the year.

That helps explain why Jackson, the state capital, was ranked as the No. 1 city in the U.S. considered the most challenging place to live for people with allergies on the 2015 Spring Allergy Capitals listing. Based on higher than average pollen levels and higher than average medication use, Jackson earned the dreaded top spot on the list published annually by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) after being ranked fifth on the 2014 list.

“In Mississippi, pretty much year round, we have some pollen in the air,” said James M. Hodges, MD, with Hattiesburg Clinic Ear, Nose & Throat.

“Ragweed starts in August, and continues until the first killing frost, and that often doesn’t occur Dr. James M. Hodges at all in winter. So, we

have ragweed all winter and then we get to the spring when trees start to pollenate, and that’s followed by weeds and grasses pollenating. And then we’re into ragweed again.”

Following Jackson, the allergy capitals earning a spot on the top 10 list are: 2. Louisville, Ky. 3. Oklahoma City, Okla.

4. Memphis, Tenn.

5. Knoxville, Tenn.

6. McAllen, Texas 7. Wichita, Kan. 8. Dayton, Ohio 9. Providence, R.I. 10. Richmond, Va. Jackson probably earned the No. 1 ranking because of a combination of factors, Hodges suggested.

“You have the weather and you have a metro area that is near a river where you have moisture, and as a result you also have more mold,” he explained. “A lot of the time it is the way the wind currents fly around the area and the city that hold pollen and allergens in. Plus, you get the pollutants that are in the air that can irritate the nose and make you more susceptible to allergens that are in the air. There is a lot of mold in the Jackson area in addition to all the other allergens and pollens.”

An estimated 45 million Americans

suffer with seasonal allergies, including allergic asthma, making allergies a leading cause of chronic disease in the U.S. Allergies are caused when a person’s body reacts abnormally to ordinarily harmless substances or allergens. Typically, allergic reactions result after an allergen has been inhaled or swallowed, or comes in contact with skin.

The most common allergens are pollen, mold spores, dust mites, animal dander, feathers, foods, medications and insect stings.

“The reaction to allergens is called hay fever or allergic rhinitis,” said Hodges, who added that the most common symptoms include nasal congestion, a runny nose, sneezing, nose and eye itching.

“The symptoms are a result of inflammation in the nose in response to the allergy triggers,” he noted.

While it may not be practical for some allergy sufferers, Hodges said one way for patients to avoid falling victim to these allergens is to simply stay indoors during the peak of allergy season, or least during the peak times for pollen during the day, which is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“If you have to go outside, wear a mask when you can,” he said. “Often times, when the weather gets better, people like to leave their doors and windows

open and the pollen just comes inside. So, if you are allergic to pollens, it’s better if you leave the windows and doors closed.”

He also recommended that allergy sufferers consider using electronic air filters and purifiers in their homes, or perhaps just in their bedrooms so they will have at least one room in their home that is free from a lot of allergens.

While there are a lot of over-thecounter medications available to allergy sufferers, such patients are urged to visit an ENT. “Even though it seems like you can get all the answers at a drug store, you really can’t manage allergies alone, you need to work with a doctor,” said allergist Cliff Bassett, MD, AAFA ambassador and medical director of Allergy & Asthma Care of NY. “Allergy sufferers who wish to avoid allergy misery need to know their allergic triggers by visiting an allergist and having the proper testing done. This enables patients to have a specific, proactive treatment plan in place before symptoms hit.”

ENTs note that unfortunately, not all conditions worsened by allergens can be cured by the use of OTC medications or simple procedures. For instance, asthma, a chronic, inflammatory disease noted for (CONTINUED ON PAGE 8)

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Recovery Workouts, continued from page 1 decrease the recurrence of cancer and increase the patient’s stamina as well as increase their overall quality of health and their quality of life,” Byrd said.

“It is in increasing the quality of their health that Dr. Lisa Byrd makes them better able to tolerate any future treatment they might have to get, should that happen, due to their diagnosis.”

Suzanne McDonough, PhD, a member of the Mississippi College faculty and the leader of the pilot program, hopes the results of this joint exercise training initiative will help convince doctors, treatment centers and patients of the need to routinely institute some sort of physical activity program as part of a cancer patient’s rehabilitation.

“Our pilot program started with four initial patients, and we have had tremendous results from the participants,” said McDonough, who was putting the outcomes of the program into a paper at the time of her interview with Mississippi Medical News in June.

“We had measureable improvements in the patients’ health and well-being, along with reductions in body fat and lower fatigue scores. We knew the program would work, but the hard part was implementing the program,” she explained. “This is kind of like where cardiac rehab was 20 years ago. Now, we need to start getting exercise programs into the system of usual care for cancer patients.”

And this is exactly why Merit Health was so enthusiastic about being a partner in this program, said Byrd, who also credited Jan Cossitt with being another key person who brought the program together. Cossitt previously worked at Mississippi College and knew McDonough, an associate professor and applied physiology laboratory director in the kinesiology department at Mississippi College in Clinton, Miss., before

Cossitt recently joined Merit as the coordinator of the hospital’s volunteer program.

“I was talking with Susan McDonough and she told me her idea for this pilot program and that she would love to partner with somebody,” Cossitt recalled. “I had met Dr. Byrd and I knew her work and what she wanted to do, and I said, ‘I’ve got somebody you need to meet.’ After I introduced them to one another, I stepped out of the way and the rest is history. They took it and ran with it and turned it into this great pilot program.”

While the results of this pilot program could potentially benefit countless cancer patients in the future, the effort initially began because of one particular cancer patient.

McDonough got the idea for the program after one of her closest friends was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013.

As the only person in Mississippi to have the Rocky Mountain Cancer Center Rehabilitation Institute certification as a cancer exercise specialist, McDonough was familiar with some of the previous work done in this area that had confirmed the health benefits of exercise training to recovering cancer patients. However, after her friend started her battle with breast cancer, McDonough discovered that no such rehabilitation programs were available to patients in the Mid-South.

She and Byrd got together, and Merit Health Central agreed to provide its cardiopulmonary unit as a location for the pilot program and agreed to provide the necessary exercise equipment. Four breast cancer patients were recruited, and McDonough selected two graduate students from Mississippi College to administer the actual exercise training. The exercise program closely followed the protocols set forth by the American College of Sports Medicine.

“It was a 12-week program and the four participants were pre-tested and posttested and monitored during each exercise

Impressive Results The results of the cancer rehabilitation exercise training pilot program are being examined and reviewed by other doctors.

When Suzanne McDonough, PhD, met with one of the reviewers this spring, they remarked at how amazing what exercise can do.

“And that is the truth because we forget what an amazing tool the body is,” McDonough said. “When we exercise, we just turn on all the gears and it helps with everything, it strengthens Dr. Suzanne the immune system – just everything.”

McDonough The initial results of this pilot program confirms the human body’s amazing response to an exercise program.

The average age of the four female participants was 66 years. All of the exercise testing and sessions were completed in the cardiac rehabilitation center at Merit Health Central Hospital and were conducted from Jan. 3 - May 10, 2015. The participants started the pilot program at different times, but each one had 24 sessions lasting 40 - 50 minutes each.

By the end of the program, the following physical improvements were recorded: • Chair squats improved by 88 percent • Plank duration time improved by 185 percent • Unipedal balance test (eyes closed) results climbed by 60 percent • VO2 Peak increased by 29.2 percent • Quality of life index went up 16.7 percent However, not listed on the data collection forms are the percentage of body fat changes for the group, which was a reduction of 3.4 percent.

“This was definitely not a program designed to reduce body fat, but it happened anyway,” McDonough noted.

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training session,” McDonough noted. “The exercise training program was like most any other, except it was tailored more for people who had just had surgery or chemo radiation or some combination.”

The Mississippi College team completed pre- and post-measurements in areas such as muscular strength, endurance and cardio fitness/balance. The participants self-reported a decrease in fatigue and depression and an increase in quality of life.

For instance, one of the women participating in the pilot program couldn’t lift herself out of a chair and into a standing position more than four times before she began the exercise training program. By the end of the program, McDonough said, the patient had gained far more strength and, perhaps just as important, she had also gained more confidence.

“When the program was over, this patient said, ‘Watch me stand up out of this chair. I am going to do my age,’” McDonough recalled. “This is a 67-year-old woman, and she sat and stood 67 times.

Developing the confidence to sit or stand that many times means a lot to a 67 year old. This means they can walk more and go more places and do more things. She said before the program that she wasn’t confident that she could attend one of her grandson’s baseball games. Now she says, ‘I can go and stay all day.’ That is how an exercise rehabilitation program can make a cancer patient’s quality of life better.”

The primary focus of this cancer exercise training program’s protocol was to develop the patient’s core strength and postural muscle strength because cancer patients are not as active during the treatment phase due to the side effects of treatment such as fatigue. They also spend a lot of time sitting and waiting for treatments or meetings with their physicians. As a result, their postural muscles can become weakened, McDonough said. This exercise program concentrates on teaching the patient how to do warmups as well as some stress training and some cardio.

The program features four primary phases: • determine how much exercise a patient can do; • develop an exercise program specifically for that patient; • teach the exercise program to the patient, monitor the results and instruct the patient how they can maintain the program; • give the patient the knowledge and confidence they need to continue the program either at home or at a gym once the program concludes.

Shirley Donelson, one of the participants in the pilot program, volunteers at Merit Health Central where she is a member of the medical center’s breast cancer survivor group. She learned about the pilot program at one of Merit’s breast cancer support group meetings.

Prior to participating in the pilot program, Donelson said she exercised a little.

However, after completing the more intense and focused exercise program, she’s continued to devote more time to physical activity.

McDonough and Byrd hope to see this program, which is now being offered at no charge to those who agree to participate in this on-going pilot program, continue. They want to gather more data and spread the word to others in the medical community.

Perhaps, one day, the program will be one that insurance companies will reimburse some or all of the costs to patients, and the rehab program will be available for cancer patients at healthplexes and wellness centers throughout the state and region.

“I really do see this being something like cardiac rehab,” McDonough added.

“We all know what cardiac rehab is and we know the confidence it builds in patients after they have a cardiac event. I think cancer patients will have the same thing available to them very soon.”

The Times, continued from page 1 our websites left much to be desired from both an aesthetic standpoint and the ability to adequately offer information between print cycles. Additionally, the editorial and publishing teams have looked at various solutions to quickly alert our readers to major breaking news stories and to have a platform to put important information in your hands in the immediate fashion audiences have come to require.

To achieve these goals and meet your personal expectations, we are debuting our new website this month and offering you the flexibility of following us on social media platforms to receive updates. Knowing how many journals, magazines and e-mails you receive on a daily basis, we promise not to flood your devices with a constant stream of data. Instead, we will format key information into brief updates and breaking news alerts as warranted.

For many of you, we already have your email addresses on file so you will automatically receive an e-blast. If you aren’t currently receiving electronic notifications from us, feel free to contact me at editor@ MississippiMedicalNews.com with your email address, and I’ll make sure you are added.

Our mission … as it has always been … is to make sure we get the latest clinical, business, research and regulatory news in your hands, in addition to updating you on industry events and happenings among colleagues. The new format of the website makes it easier than ever for you to see the latest information in each of these categories, find related content, and share articles on your own social media platforms.

Additionally, the design was created to be scalable to desktop, tablet and smartphone formats.

As Bob Dylan aptly noted – The Times They Are a-Changin’ – and we’re excited to embrace that change with enhanced capabilities to deliver the best possible product to you in a manner that suits your busy life.

We hope you enjoy the new look, flexible formats, and ability to receive industry updates in between print cycles. Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments with us. As always, we’re open to suggestions on how to continue to improve our publication and our performance.

Sincerely, Julie Parker Editor@MississippiMedicalNews.com www.MississippiMedicalNews.com mississippimedicalnews

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WHO’S TENDING OUR DOCTORS?

Missouri Leads States on Medical Student Well-Being Advocacy

Proposed State Legislation Could be Model for Proactive Mental Health Measures at Medical Schools Nationally

By JULIE PARKER

On an unusually chilly spring day, a fourth-year medical student in northern Missouri completed his mission with such surety that only dental records could identify his remains.

“He was going to get it right this time,” lamented his father, who declined to have the family identified. His son, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was weeks away from earning a DO. More than 300 mourners were on hand for the premature burial Dr. Keith of the 26-year-old, inFrederick cluding state lawmakers attempting to push through legislation to deter the alarming rate of depressions and thoughts of suicide amid medical students in Missouri. Among them, Keith Frederick, DO, one of four doctors serving in the Missouri Legislature, and a state repre-

sentative (R-Jefferson City) who proposed House Bill 867, the “Show-Me Compassionate Medical Education Act” in the 2015 regular legislative session.

By the time Frederick’s bill had churned through the legislative process and was awaiting a final look acknowledging the acceptance of a conference committee report, a Senate filibusDr. Lisa ter over a Right-to-Work Moscoso vote killed it, along with a couple of dozen bills awaiting similar action during the volatile last week of session.

“This topic – a dirty little secret of medical education for decades – badly needs the light of day,” said Frederick.

“One of the biggest problems is that medical schools say, ‘we’ve got this covered,’ but they don’t.”

Even though HB 867 nearly crossed the finish line, medical school deans

balked early on. As originally drafted, the bill would have established an anonymous online survey to screen medical students for depression and provided for access to immediate help through an existing 24hour hotline for students in crisis. It would have also required the state’s six medical schools – two public, four private – to conduct the screening. Results would have been made public after three years.

Strong opposition came from the Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) in St. Louis, consistently ranked among the nation’s top medical schools by U.S. News & World Report, and world-renowned for its 124-year history of groundbreaking research.

“Washington University’s primary concern – voiced by all six Missouri medical schools – was a provision that would have required the State of Missouri to publish the rates of depression among MD students at each of the state’s medical schools,” said Lisa Moscoso, MD, PhD, associate dean for students affairs at

WUSM. “In its earliest form, House Bill 867 would’ve required the Missouri Department of Mental Health to determine rates of depression using a state-mandated survey tool, though student participation in the survey would’ve been optional. We noted that a voluntary survey instrument would give schools an unreliable view of the scope of any mental health challenges.

We also worried that a government-mandated survey and reporting process for what is unquestionably a sensitive matter would undermine the culture of trust each school strives to build with its student body.”

Frederick modified the bill while it was held for more than a month in the Social Services Committee, and then medical schools unofficially removed their opposition to the bill, which Frederick plans to pre-file this fall.

“The measure that was before the Senate in the final weeks of the session represented a reasonable approach to (CONTINUED ON PAGE 10)

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The Plight of Physicians-in-Training, continued from page 1 wary of seeking help.

“We must see change to de-stigmatize mental illness,” said Miday. “From the beginning, medical students should be allowed to seek help if they’re struggling. Unfortunately, medical people seem to be the most judgmental when it comes to mental illness.”

Colin West, MD, PhD, co-director of the Mayo Clinic Department of Medicine Physician Well Being Program, told The New York Times: “If this is the way that students view each other – survival of the fittest – how do they view their patients who are depressed or struggling with mental illness?”

Medical students are prone to maladaptive perfectionism and imposter syndrome disorders, cautioned Stuart Slavin, MD, MEd, director of curriculum for Saint Louis University School of Medicine, where he successfully implemented program changes to improve the wellbeing of medical students and received a national teaching award for restructuring medical education.

“Maladaptive perfectionism is always setting the bar so high for yourself that you’re continually disappointed,” explained Slavin. “Imposter syndrome is the belief of being incompetent despite overwhelming objective evidence to the contrary. Both maladaptive perfectionism and imposter syndrome are particularly risky when medical graduates are starting residency. All of a sudden, they have their MD, they’re writing orders and making decisions for which they may feel terribly unprepared. They’re terrified of doing something wrong. Both can

be setups for emotional distress and potentially suicide. The fear of being ‘discovered’ or disappointing those who have supported you along the way … suicide is sadly an out as having potential advantages when you’re desperate.”

Haunting Actions

Because of their intrinsic knowledge of medicine, suicide success rates are alarmingly high among medical professionals.

Nearly every physician knows of colleagues who took their own life.

Many remain haunted by their actions.

Jay Bitar, MD, FACC, an interventional cardiologist at Cardiology Care Center in Lake Mary, Fla., recalled an intern – Brent Branham, MD – from Detroit, Mich., who committed suicide in 1985.

“On the night Dr. Branham was on call (alone), he’d start having anxiety as my time to leave approached,” said Bitar, then Branham’s rounding resident on the infectious disease floor of a medical complex in downtown Detroit. When Branham’s one-month rotation ended without incident, Dr. Jay Bitar Bitar wrote a favorable evaluation.

Two months later, as he was about to take night call on another medical floor, Branham had a meltdown at the nurses station. A psychiatrist called to evaluate Branham determined he wasn’t suicidal and recommended the night off, calling for

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further psychiatric evaluation.

Branham didn’t return home that night. Instead, he checked into a hotel room, injected himself with insulin he’d stolen from the hospital, and lapsed into a hypoglycemic coma.

“The next morning, when the hotel maid found him unconscious, he’d already sustained permanent brain damage,” lamented Bitar. “He lived for a few months in a vegetative state before succumbing.”

Over the years, Bitar has wondered what went wrong, how the signs were missed, who was to blame, and if actions could have been taken to positively impact Branham.

“Each one of us has a Brent Branham inside,” said Bitar. “The system is quick to weed out physicians who cannot survive long, sleepless nights, withstand the pressure, and take abuse from senior staff … with pride. The system of residency training doesn’t address collateral damage like the physician’s marriage getting destroyed, or when the children become neglected, or when the physician’s physical or mental health is permanently degraded.”

After hearing about a nearby physician who committed suicide, Pauline Chen, MD, wrote in The New York Times that his death came up repeatedly in conversations for days afterward.

“It wasn’t the details of his life that haunted us; it was the details of his death,” she noted. “He’d locked himself in a room in the hospital, placed a large needle in his vein and injected himself with a drug that so effectively paralyzed his muscles, he was unable to breathe. Or call for help.”

Pam Wible, MD, a family physician from Oregon and a national voice for physician suicide prevention, pointed out the ripple effects of such tragedies. A year after Kaitlyn Elkins, a third-year medical student at Wake Forest School of Medicine, died by asphyxiation due to helium inhalation, Wible attended the funeral of Kaitlyn’s mother, who chose the same method to end her life.

Miday was so devastated by her son’s suicide that “the first year after Greg died, I don’t think I could string three words together,” she said.

Wible admitted: “Many of us have considered suicide, but we’re so resilient that we smile and head back into the next room to see the next patient.”

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Editor’s Note: Please see series companion articles in this month’s edition: “Missouri Leads States on Medical Student Well-Being Advocacy” and “The Saint Louis University School of Medicine Experiment.”

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Missouri jumped ahead as arguably the first state to introduce legislation aimed at facilitating change at the medical school level. Keith Frederick, DO, one of four doctors serving in the Missouri Legislature, and a state representative (R-Jefferson City), proposed the “Show-Me Compassionate Medical Education Act” in the 2015 regular legislative session. House Bill 867 raises awareness about medical students’ mental health and encourages Missouri medical schools to collaborate to identify best practices, particularly those efforts most effective at de-stigmatizing mental illness and encouraging students to seek support and services to cope with mental health issues.

In June, the American Medical Association (AMA) launched an ambitious new initiative to address physician burnout, a step toward addressing mental health wellness in the profession. The interactive practice transformation series, AMA STEPS Forward, was developed after research revealed the overall burnout rate of U.S. physicians approaching 40 percent.

That’s “more than 10 percentage points higher than the general population, which is why the AMA is taking a hands-on approach to meeting their day-to-day concerns,” said AMA CEO James L. Madara, MD. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires that programs assess fatigue and burnout among trainees and provide access to confidential counseling, “but these regulations should go further to require specific strategies to promote mental health among all trainees,” according to an article published March 4 in JAMA Psychiatry by Matthew Goldman, MD, of Columbia University Medical Center and New York State Psychiatric Institute and colleagues.

Depression and burnout are separate entities, some medical professionals cautioned, noting that some overlap exists.

West believes that mental health wellness begins eroding with “first-years”: “We have to assume that starting in medical school, a pipeline of experiences leads to an increased risk of suicide,” he said. “That’s where we need to start.”

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WHO’S TENDING OUR DOCTORS?

Medical School Answers: The Saint Louis University Experiment

Program Helps Medical Students Build Resistance to Stress, Maintain Happiness

By JULIE PARKER

Two years ago, Stuart Slavin, MD, MEd, stepped onto the podium at the Association of American Medical Colleges’ annual meeting to pick up one of the nation’s most prestigious teaching awards for his career accomplishments, most notably spearheading a plan to restructure Saint Louis University’s medical school curriculum to help students reduce stress, depression and anxiety – and to make a dent in reversing the national trend of rising medical student suicides.

The revised four-year curriculum has been heralded as a national model.

“Dr. Slavin is very courageous,” said Keith Frederick, DO, a Missouri state representative who proposed legislation

also aimed at reversing the trend via the “Show-Me Compassionate Medical Education Act.” “Academics were concerned about test scores going down as a result of changes, but it didn’t happen. In fact, it

had the opposite effect and blew the lid off this problem.”

Slavin took an interest in medical students’ mental wellbeing soon after joining Saint Louis University (SLU) School of Medicine as director of curriculum, after a 21-year run at UCLA, where he logged 75 to 80 hours a week as a professor of pediatrics and full-time pediatrician.

“No singular event occurred to pique my interest,” said Slavin, who gave up a pediatric practice to focus on his administrative role. “I kept reading in medical education literature about problems with mental health issues among students, interns, residents and physicians. I viewed medical student mental health as my responsibility. Medical schools place a great deal of emphasis

on academic outcomes … if a medical student comes out of four years with good clinical skills, has done well on all exams, but they’re depressed and suicidal, what’s really been accomplished?”

Slavin began walking the campus, talking to students about their medical school experiences. “Our students seemed really happy,” he said. “They smiled a lot, seemed pleased with administration and education. I developed good relationships with them.”

Still, Slavin wanted hard numbers.

“Trying to understand what students are experiencing traditionally hasn’t been part of the medical education culture,” he said.

In May 2008, he dispatched program evaluation questionnaires to SLU’s 175 medical students to be answered anonymously.

“I remember the day I got the survey results,” he said, shaking his head. “It was like a kick in the gut. It was devastating to see how many negative mental health (CONTINUED ON PAGE 8)

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Medical School Answers, continued from page 7 outcomes we had in the school. Medical students are very good at hiding the pain they’re suffering. It can be very invisible from faculty and administration, and they’re hiding it from each other. I felt a sense of urgency with this problem.”

Survey results showed that, in the first year of medical school, 57 percent of students expressed moderate-to-high symptoms of anxiety; 27 percent reported moderate-to-severe symptoms of depression. Similar results were found for second-year students. They cited the volume of material, level of detail of material, and competition for grades among their greatest stressors in the first two years of the curriculum.

“I really started thinking about ways to design and implement curricular changes that would directly address these stressors and produce a less toxic educational environment,” said Slavin. “I knew if we let students get further down the road without addressing this issue, the problem would only grow worse.”

With the blessing of SLU leaders, Slavin implemented initial curricular changes in the 2009-10 academic year for the incoming class of 2013. First, a pass/ fail grading system for preclinical courses replaced the existing grading system. Second, contact hours were reduced across the first two years of the curriculum by 10 percent to allow students more time to participate in new learning communities and longitudinal electives. Third, longitu-

dinal electives were instituted.

“Before, electives for first- and second-year students included a half-day per week over seven weeks,” said Slavin. “In the new system, electives extended across the majority of years 1 and 2, with a halfday session every two weeks for a total of 12 days per academic year. This change allowed students more freedom to explore their interests, to create mentorship relationships with faculty and School of Medicine alumni, and to engage in service and/ or research with more continuity. We retrofitted existing electives to fit the new system and developed new electives designed specifically to take advantage of the longitudinal nature of the experience.”

Fourth, five learning communities were established – service and advocacy, research, global health, wellness, and medical education – to include students and faculty who share common interests and passions for research and/or service beyond the classroom.

“We charged the learning communities with designing and implementing new electives, developing a lunch lecture series, identifying faculty mentors, and expanding service and research opportunities,” said Slavin.

In the 2010-11 academic year for the incoming class of 2014, Slavin implemented additional curricular changes.

A required resilience and mindfulness (R/M) program, spanning six hours of curricular time in the fall semester, was

added to the Applied Clinical Skills 1 course. R/M sessions, Slavin explained, focus on energy management, mindfulness cultivation, stress reduction, cognitive distortions/restructuring, optimistic explanatory styles, and character strengths.

Slavin also refined the pass/fail grading system by eliminating normreferenced exam performance data from feedback given to students.

In the 2011-12 academic year for the incoming class of 2015, SLU implemented a third set of changes. For example, after students identified the Human Anatomy course as the most demanding and challenging in the preclinical curriculum – and a major source of stress – Slavin made two changes to the course. The medical school dean instructed course directors to produce exams that yielded a higher mean score, to be consistent with other courses in the preclinical curriculum “so that fewer students would feel at risk of failing,” Slavin noted. Also, the course was moved from its traditional position as

the first course in the first year to follow courses in Cell Biology and Metabolism.

Because students typically have less than three months to choose a specialty, “we allowed them more time,” said Slavin.

Slavin has continued surveying students with questionnaires, resulting in improvement every year.

“In first year students, we have it down to 8 percent (moderate-to-severe symptoms of depression),” he said. “Moderate-to-severe symptoms of anxiety are down to 23 percent in our first-year students.”

“We wanted to impact the curriculum in a completely different way to give students better coping skills and to reduce stressors in the environment,” said Slavin. “Other medical schools haven’t looked at (this issue) hard enough.”

Editor’s Note: Please see series companion articles in this month’s edition: “Missouri Leads States on Medical Student Well-Being Advocacy” and “The Plight of Physicians-in-Training.”

Can’t Catch a Break, continued frompage 3 recurring breathing problems, is one of those conditions.

“People who suffer with asthma have moments when their air passage inside the lungs become smaller and breathing becomes more difficult,” explained John D. Sobiesk, MD, also with Hattiesburg Clinic ENT. “These moments may be triggered by allergens. The most effective treatment for asthma is prescription inhalants that help to open the air passage.”

Many cities in the South are also listed among the most challenging metro areas to live in for those with asthma, according

to another annual list published by AAFA. On its recently released Asthma Capitals list, Jackson ranked No. 30 in the nation.

Asthma sufferers could also benefit by seeking assistance from an allergist, Hodges said.

“A lot of asthma sufferers have allergies, and if we can control the allergies, it makes it easier to control their asthma as well,” he said. “You have a lot of patients with chronic or recurring sinus infections that can be related to allergies. So if you treat the allergies, a lot of time that can clear up the sinus problem.”

State Tough on Asthma Sufferers, Too

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Mississippi can be a tough state to catch your breath in, especially for those with breathing problems.

Not only does the state take the top spot in the recently released Allergy Capital list with Jackson ranked No. 1 in the nation, it also is headed in the wrong direction on the annual ranking of Asthma Capitals.

On the 2015 list of Asthma Capitals, Jackson came in at No. 30. On last year’s list, Jackson held the No. 42 spot, which means conditions in the state appear to be getting worse for those with asthma. Both lists are compiled by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA).

“Each year for our report, we look at the largest cities across the country and measure the things that people with asthma care about the most,” said Mike Tringale, senior vice president of external affairs and principal investigator for AAFA’s report. “Obviously, we look at pollen, pollution, and ozone because nature affects adults and kids with asthma. But we also look at poverty, uninsured rates and city smoking bans because public policies matter, too.”

The annual report, Tringale pointed out, provides communities with a blueprint for change, along with data on 13 critical factors relating to asthma prevalence, environmental conditions and healthcare usage. Teva Respiratory (TEVA) and QVAR Inhalation Aerosol sponsored the report, an independent AAFA research project.

“Communities can work to make progress of many of these factors,” said Tringale.

As far as Southern cities being challenging places for asthma sufferers to live in, Jackson is not alone. This year’s list, like most of the previous annual rankings, tends to be crowded with cities located in the South. The compilation contains six southern cities in the top 10, including Memphis, Tenn., and Richmond, Va., which claimed the unwanted No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively, on the list.

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Research, Relationships Road to Reducing Health Disparities UMMC and Wake Forest Baptist Health Focus on Significant Population Health Project A new collaboration between two programs dedicated to eliminating health disparities, both named for female African-American civil rights leaders, isn’t your traditional agreement.

“So many groups work in silos,” said Bettina Beech, DrPH, MPH, University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) associate vice chancellor for population health and professor of pediatrics and family medicine.

She says that won’t be the case in a budding research relationship between UMMC’s Myrlie Dr. Bittina Beech Evers-Williams Institute for the Elimination of Health Disparities and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center’s Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity in Winston-Salem, N.C. The two entities have recently signed a memorandum of understanding that details their plans to together perform health disparities research across multiple platforms.

Here’s why it’s different and why it matters, Beech said.

“It’s one thing to say you are partners. It’s another to sign a MOU,” she said. “This is an agreement between a public and a private institution. Both of the programs are named after internationally regarded African-American women.

That’s unique.”

Myrlie Evers-Williams, a civil rights activist and widow of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, and the late Maya Angelou, hailed globally for her poetry and commitment to civil rights, “are two individuals with very strong voices in human rights and social justice,” Beech said.

The two programs will exchange resources and people in an effort to address health risk factors, among them obesity and diabetes, that are common to Mississippi and North Carolina. The exchange will include a co-sponsored research lecture series; health disparities research, training and education programs; collaboration on research grants; and a research exchange program for medical and biomedical science students and faculty.

“People throw around the word ‘partnership,’ but we are bringing together resources to address very complex issues,” said Beech, who also serves as executive director of the Myrlie Evers-Williams Institute.

For Beech, the collaboration is the culmination of a vision several years in the making. She served as co-director of the Maya Angelou Center at Wake Forest

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Baptist before coming to UMMC in January 2013.

There, she and Ronny Bell began discussing a possible long-term affiliation between UMMC and Wake Forest Baptist. At the time, Beech was the principal investigator for a study examining risks of obesity, diabetes and other metabolic conditions in AfricanAmerican youth in a Ronny Bell collaboration between Wake Forest Baptist and UMMC’s Jackson Heart KIDS Study.

Beech said those conversations continued after she came to UMMC. “That’s when we decided to solidify our relationship.”

“We developed a good working relationship, and we felt like we had a lot of great initiatives going on,” said Bell, professor in Wake Forest Baptist’s Division of Public Health Sciences and co-director of the Maya Angelou Center.

“When she moved down there, we thought we could continue to work together,” he said of himself and Beech.

“We have similar missions to address health disparities.”

The collaboration “gives us the opportunity to bring together other researchers and resources to improve the health of Mississippians, and to decrease the health disparities that occur by race, ethnicity, income, gender, geographic location and sexual orientation,” said Jennifer Robin-

son, PhD, RN, associate professor in the UMMC School of Nursing.

“As a nation, we’ve been working on health disparities and inequalities for a long time. It’s complex. It’s an inces- Dr. Jennifer sant problem,” she said.

Robinson “It will take that critical mass of scientists and policy makers who are focused on it to make the difference in achieving health equality.”

At a time when research dollars can be scarce at both public and private institutions, the agreement makes sense, Beech said. “It’s best to bring the two together, rather than competing for resources,” she said.

It also allows both institutions to take advantage of educational offerings that the other does not have. “Wake Forest Baptist has a Division of Public Health Sciences that’s as big as some schools of public health,” Beech said.

“I’m excited about our young researchers going to Wake Forest Baptist to work with researchers there. They have different types of research than we have, and only a small number of our faculty focus on population studies. Every place can’t have every program, so these partnerships are important so that we can have economies of scale.”

Bell said about 70 of Wake Forest Baptist’s faculty members are affiliated with the Maya Angelou Center, and about a quarter of those are obesity or diabetes

researchers. “We’ve also done work in cancer and HIV,” he said.

The collaborative research provides an opportunity to focus on the varied populations in Mississippi and North Carolina, Bell said. “In Mississippi, you have a larger portion of the population that is African American than here, but we have a fairly sizeable American Indian population, and our Hispanic population is growing,” he said. “And, like in Mississippi, our challenges include having a pretty large population living in rural areas.”

It’s important, Robinson noted, that “other institutions want to partner with UMMC. Sometimes, we don’t appreciate what we have to offer in resources, expertise and different perspectives. I see a real institutional commitment to achieve better health for the people of Mississippi.”

Bell and Beech say now more than ever, universities and academic medical centers should join together to conduct research and exchange information.

“In our age, just from a technological standpoint, there’s more of an emphasis in science and education to not work in silos,” Bell said. “We want to be respectful of that, and that we are able to work together and to utilize the resources we each have.”

What makes the collaboration so solid, Beech said, is that the MOU makes it permanent.

“So often, they’re based on personalities,” Beech said. “If I leave here, the partnership still exists.”

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GrandRounds Gonzales Inducted As Fellow Michael C. Gonzales, MD, ECNU, CCD, FACE, an endocrinologist with Hattiesburg Clinic, was recently inducted as a fellow of the American College of Endocrinology (ACE).

The American College of Endocrinology is a non-profit organization Dr. Michael C. that aims toadvance the Gonzales care and prevention of endocrine, diabetes and metabolic disorders by promoting clinical research, providing professional educationand guiding the future of clinical Endocrinology. Additionally, ACE recognizes excellence in education, research and service through the induction of fellows.

The criteria for an ACE fellow is measured by the physician’s certification, training, continued education and professional experience. Recognition as afellow demonstrates Dr. Gonzales’ dedication to continuing education and advancing his medical knowledge. Dr. Gonzales was honored with induction at the 2015 American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists’ Annual Meeting.

Hattiesburg Clinic Cardiology Receives Accreditation Hattiesburg Clinic Cardiology recently received a three-year term of accreditation in Echocardiography in the area of Adult Transthoracic by theIntersocietal Accreditation Commission

(IAC). Accreditation by the IAC means that Cardiology has undergone a thorough review of its operational and technical components in the area of Echocardiography. The IAC grants accreditation only to those facilities that are found to provide quality patient care in compliance with national standards through a comprehensive application process including detailed case study review.

IAC accreditation is a “seal of approval” that patients can rely on as an indication that the facility has been carefully critiqued on all aspects of this service.

Candace J. Worsham, DO, Joins Medical Staff of Merit Health Biloxi Candace J. Worsham, DO, has joined the medical staff of Merit Health Biloxi.

Worsham attended Jackson State University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She attended Ohio University College Dr. Candace J. of Osteopathic Medicine Worsham and completed an internship and residency at Doctors Hospital in Columbus Ohio. She is board certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Family Medicine.

Worsham’s awards and recognitions include Spirit of Caring Award nominee in 2009, Galaxy of Stars in 2008, Cambridge Who’s Who for 2008-2009 and 2011-2012 and the Power of One Award

Missouri Leads States, continued from page 5 raise awareness about medical students’ mental health and to encourage Missouri medical schools to collaborate to identify best practices, particularly those efforts that are most effective at de-stigmatizing mental illness and encouraging students to seek support and services to cope with mental health issues,” said Moscoso.

Margaret Wilson, DO, dean of A.T. Still University’s Kirksville School of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Mo., expressed concern about “confidentiality and potential to cause stigma to students.” Since modifications have been made, “the bill meets with my school’s support,” she said.

In its final form, HB 867 dropped the requirement that medical schools undertake this study, but protected medical students and medical student organizations from interference or retribution from the medical schools when planning or conducting screening for depression or other mental health issues among medical students.

Britani Kessler, MD, immediate past president of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), traveled from Virginia to testify before the Social Services Committee that “mental wellness” is the organization’s most frequently clickedon website link.

“The culture of the current medical education system is that you can’t show 10

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weakness,” said Kessler. “The rigors of medical school make you sometimes think this sustained high level of stress is normal.”

The AMSA Board of Trustees has expressed interest in launching a national pilot program to survey medical students anonymously at various intervals of their educational training. To Kessler’s knowledge, Missouri is the only state to have attempted to pass legislation relating to medical students’ mental well-being.

“The purpose of the AMSA is to help pre-med and medical students learn things they aren’t taught in traditional medical education,” said Kessler. “We’re very feisty about medical education reform and making sure the social determinants of health are included.”

Frederick said more changes are needed in medical education, like national award-winning modifications made to the four-year curriculum at Saint Louis University (SLU) School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo., to reduce the damage rather than emphasize that medical students need to learn to cope with the existing medical education structure and harshness.

“As SLU’s groundbreaking study revealed, medical education can greatly reduce the harm inflicted on medical students,” he said, “without adversely affecting achievement and board scores.”

in July 2007, April 2008 and January 2009.

Her professional affiliations include the American Osteopathic Association, American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, Mississippi Osteopathic Medicine Association and the National Health Service Corp.

Worsham will be located at Merit Health Medical Clinic, in D’Iberville.

Memorial Physician Clinics Welcomes Dr. Bart Edmiston Memorial Physician Clinics welcomes Bart Edmiston, MD, in the practice of Pain Management in Biloxi.

Dr. Edmiston earned his medical doctorate from the University of Florida, College of Medicine in Gainesville, Florida. He completed his medical internship and general anDr. Bart esthesiology residency at Edmiston Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. Dr. Edmiston completed his fellowship in pain management at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Dr. Edmiston is Board Certified in Anesthesiology and Pain Management.

Stuart Yablon, MD, Joins Methodist Rehabilitation Center Stuart A. Yablon, MD, of Madison has rejoined the staff of Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson as medical director for the brain injury program.

He is board certified in brain injury medicine and physical medicine and rehabilitation and was projDr. Stuart A. ect medical director of Yablon the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research Traumatic Brain Injury Model System of Mississippi from 1998 to 2007.

Yablon received his doctor of medicine degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. He completed his residency training with the Department of PM&R at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey/ New Jersey School of Medicine, where he served as academic chief resident. He then completed a two-year Rehabilitation Research Center Development Fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine and the brain injury program at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) in Houston, Texas, specializing in brain injury rehabilitation.

He has served as a principal or senior investigator on numerous studies involving pharmacologic therapies for TBI rehabilitation and neuromedical complications of acquired brain injury.

Dr. Yablon is an author of 75 peer-reviewed articles that have been published in scientific journals. He is on the editorial board for the journal PM&R, and is an ad hoc reviewer for a number of scientific journals.

PUBLISHED BY: SouthComm, Inc. GROUP PUBLISHER Dennis Triola dtriola@southcomm.com 310.422.6637 ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Kathy Arich karich@mississippimedicalnews.com Ad Sales: 601.941.3075 ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Perry Patterson LaCour placour@mississippimedicalnews.com Ad Sales: 601.941.1603 NATIONAL EDITOR Pepper Jeter editor@medicalnewsinc.com LOCAL EDITOR Julie Parker jparker@medicalnewsinc.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Susan Graham susan@medicalnewsinc.com GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Katy Barrett-Alley, Amy Gomoljak James Osborne, Christie Passarello CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Julie Parker, Cindy Sanders, Lucy Schultze, Jonathan Scott CIRCULATION subscriptions@southcomm.com —— All editorial submissions and press releases should be emailed to: editor@medicalnewsinc.com —— Subscription requests or address changes should be mailed to: Medical News, Inc. 210 12th Ave S. • Suite 100 Nashville, TN 37203 615.244.7989 • (FAX) 615.244.8578 or e-mailed to: subscriptions@southcomm.com Subscriptions: One year $48 • Two years $78

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GrandRounds Dermatology Center of North Mississippi Announces New Physician Dermatology Center of North Mississippi, P.A., announces that Bradley Greenhaw, M.D., has joined the practice as a dermatologist and Mohs Micrographic Surgeon.

He joins Dr. John Burk and Dr. Jeffrey Houin at the clinic.

Dr. Bradley A native of BoonevGreenhaw ille, Dr. Greenhaw earned a bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in chemistry from Millsaps College in Jackson. He completed medical school at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine in Jackson in 2010.

He completed an internship in internal medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and a dermatology residency at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, where he also served as chief resident. He completed Procedural Dermatology Fellowship training at Zitelli & Brodland, P.C., in Pittsburgh, Pa., in July.

Dr. Greenhaw garnered several honors in medical school, including the Robert A. Mahaffey Award for research, Alpha Omega Alpha, the Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation Scholarship, Medical Alumni Scholarship and Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins Book Award for Anatomy.

He is a diplomate of the American Board of Dermatology and a member of the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery and American Academy of Dermatology. He has applied for associate membership in the American College of Mohs Surgery following the completion of his Procedural Dermatology Fellowship.

St. Dominic’s Center for Women’s Health Earns Breast Accreditations The American College of Radiology recently awarded St. Dominic’s Center for Women’s Health two accreditations for Stereotactic Breast Biopsy and Breast Ultrasound Biopsy. With these designations, St. Dominic’s Center for Women’s Health is now recognized as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence (BICOE).

The BICOE designation is awarded to breast imaging centers that achieve excellence by seeking and earning accreditation in all of the ACR’s voluntary breast-imaging accreditation programs and modules, in addition to the mandatory Mammography Accreditation Program.

Breast imaging services at the St. Dominic’s Center for Women’s Health are fully accredited in the areas of mammography, stereotactic breast biopsy, breast ultrasound and ultrasound-guided breast biopsy. Peer-review evaluations conducted in each breast imaging modality by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field have determined that this facility has achieved high practice stanmississippimedicalnews

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dards in image quality, personnel qualifications, facility equipment, quality control procedures, and quality assurance programs.

Lunch. Dinner...

Lunch. Dinner...

New Inpatient Nursing Director Named at Baptist Golden Triangle Bridgett Alexander has recently been named director for inpatient nursing at Baptist Memorial Hospital – Golden Triangle. She will oversee the overall operation of the hospital’s medical/surgical, medical oncology and surgical/pediatrics units; transitional Bridgett care; trauma care; wound Alexander care; administration/house supervisors; float pool; inpatient dialysis; and patient placement departments.

Alexander has served as nurse manager for the hospital’s surgical/pediatric floor and transitional care unit since 2009.

She began her new duties in late May and replaces Lisa Bailey who has taken a faculty position in the nursing department at Mississippi University for Women.

Originally from Columbus, Alexander received both an associate and bachelor’s degree in nursing from Mississippi University for Women. She also received an executive masters of nursing degree from the University of Memphis Loewenberg School of Nursing. She received a Certified Nurse Manager and Leader (CNML) credential through the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and (AACN) and the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE).

Alexander began her career at Baptist Golden Triangle in 2001 and since then has worked in several different nursing roles including patient care assistant, unit clerk, staff RN, charge nurse, head nurse and nurse manager before her most recent promotion to director of inpatient nursing.

Two Biloxi Eye Doctors Sweep Four Awards Biloxi ophthalmologists Dr. Joel Knight and Dr. Rainna Bahadur each received four awards for excellence in patient care.

Both doctors are owners/partners of Eye Associates of the South, a comprehensive eye care practice that has clinics in Biloxi, Ocean Springs and Gulfport, Miss.

Bahadur and Knight’s dual honors are the Top Doctor Award from Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., the Patients’ Choice Award, the Compassionate Doctor Award and the On-Time Physician Award.

All four are national awards groups with merit based fully or in part on local patients’ evaluations, typically gathered from internet reviews concerning doctors’ expertise and quality of care.

A Castle Connolly physician-led research team reviews and screens all of their nominated physicians before selecting those regarded as most outstanding healthcare providers to be Top Doctors, according to Castle Connolly.

Did you miss out on our Foie Gras season?

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Celebrations.

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Specialty Catering & Events

115 W. Capitol St • Jackson, MS 39201 601.360.0090 events@parlormarket.com www.parlormarket.com AUGUST 2015

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