ACT Center helps tobacco users say no to nicotine – for good

A tobacco-treatment center that originated with a dentist and a psychologist encouraging smokers to kick the habit has just passed its 10-year milestone while at the same time expanding its services to more locations than ever before.

Located in the Jackson Medical Mall Thad Cochran Center, the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s ACT Center opened in 1999 with a mission to help Mississippians quit using tobacco — and to stay tobacco-free —through education, training and research.

Dr. Karen Crews, director of the center, spearheaded the project while she was on faculty in the School of Dentistry. As a young practitioner working at a

Electronic monitoring debuts 

At 2 a.m., an intensive care unit nurse notices a change in a patient’s condition that could warrant intervention, but she wants another opinion.

A dedicated phone line and an in-room emergency notification button connect her to off-campus critical care physicians and nurses who have been monitoring the patient around the clock. Together they determine the next course of action, whether it’s administering medication or contacting the primary physician.

Beginning Dec. 15, that hypothetical scenario will be reality with the launch of University of Mississippi Health Care’s Intensiview, a Philips VISICU eICU program. The system combines advanced software, two-way audio and video

Majority-female enrollment mirrors national trend in dental education

The 30-year-old School of Dentistry has reached a new milestone. With women dentists becoming more the norm in a profession long dominated by men, the dental school for the first time enrolled a higher number of new female students than male students.

Entering the school this fall, the class of 2013 includes 18 female students and 17 male students.

The majority-female class follows a gradual but steady increase of

Dear Colleagues and Friends:

I know you share my belief that we are extremely fortunate to work at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.  Not only is it a joy and a privilege  to work around a highly skilled, caring group of people who are doing work that really matters, but so far, the Medical Center has been spared from layoffs and severe cutbacks or closings others have experienced over the last year.

That makes it all the more important that we consider the needs of our neighbors in the UMMC Cares campaign.  This year's campaign, which begins Monday, Nov. 2, and runs through Nov. 13, will allow you to