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

Grad school alum plays key role in novel H1N1 vaccine deployment

One of the nation’s top scientists and a prominent player in the development of the forthcoming H1N1 swine influenza vaccine is Mississippi native Dr. Robin Robinson, a graduate of what became the School of Graduate Studies in the Health Sciences at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

As director of the Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority, an organization within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Robinson promotes the development of vaccines, treatments and therapies for a range of public-health emergencies.

Since June, the BARDA office has helped develop, license and move the H1N1 flu

Nurse-run clinic celebrates 10 years in midtown Jackson

When asked what he ate for dinner the night before, Jackson resident Jerome Thompson confessed that he violated his dietary guidelines and scarfed down some chicken nuggets. That earned him a lecture from his nurse practitioner on how to properly manage his diabetes.

“It’s not quantity, it’s quality,” explained Dr. Audwin Fletcher, advising Thompson to avoid fried foods and to stick with vegetables and meats that have been baked or broiled.

“It’s a lifestyle change,” he told him. “It’s going to take some time. We need to work on you losing 26 pounds. When was the last time you’ve been to the dentist?” Thompson,

Teaching through simulation comes of age at UMMC

The eyes are open, he’s wheezing and coughing, his fingernails turn blue, he gasps for breath, says he can’t breathe, his airways constrict, and he dies.

This high fidelity patient simulator – going through the cascade of symptoms of anaphylactic shock – is about as real as it gets without flesh and bones. It responds to whatever students do or don’t do in the attempt to save him.

“A real patient near death in the hospital may not be the best teaching moment,” said Dr. Anna Lerant, associate professor of anesthesiology and co-director UMMC’s Medical Advanced Skill and Simulation Education Center.

Simulation is the next big advance in health-care education, but it’s expensive.

New building promises to bolster pharmacy research, clinical practice

In many ways, the School of Pharmacy has felt detached from the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Its degree program is split between Oxford and Jackson, and most local classes are at the Jackson Medical Mall Thad Cochran Center. Faculty, paid through the University of Mississippi in Oxford, didn’t even receive employee numbers here until three years ago.

But the growing school hopes to ease its separation anxiety with the construction of its own building on campus.

Construction of the School of Pharmacy building is scheduled to begin in the

Medical school expands 1st year class

Clad for the first time in waist-length white coats emblematic of medical school, 123 first-year students squeezed onto a student union stairwell for a portrait that’s become a UMMC tradition.

But this year’s class wouldn’t all fit. Vying for the group’s attention, administrators waved their arms and shouted instructions to squeeze each successive row until everyone got into the frame.

For years the University of Mississippi School of Medicine administrators kept class sizes to 100. The increase, of course, is by design.

Mississippi’s rates of heart disease, diabetes, obesity and hypertension remain at or near the nation’s highest. Additionally, the state’s doctor-per-capita ratio of

Success in faculty recruitment supports UMMC’s mission of service

To supply faculty for growth in the medical school, University Hospital and community clinics, University of Mississippi Health Care hung the equivalent of a help wanted sign in the window.

Physicians responded. More than 80 have joined the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s faculty since July 2008; nearly half of them work in the Departments of Radiology and Medicine. Dr. James Glisson, assistant professor of medicine, was among the new hires.

A graduate of the UMMC School of Medicine, Glisson returned to the Medical Center this year from private practice in the state. He said the Department of Medicine provided the best opportunity to pursue all his interests.

UMMC volunteers help Habitat for Humanity turn vacant lots intoneighborhoods

Mary McDaniels wanted to own a home, but at 23, figured she wouldn’t have a shot for years to come.

But on a hot afternoon in early July, she couldn’t stop smiling as she received guests and toured them through her three-bedroom house.

For that early realized dream, she thanks Habitat for Humanity/Metro Jackson and dozens of volunteers from the University of Mississippi Medical Center student body, administration, University Physicians and BancorpSouth.

“I just thought home ownership would be a lot longer off,” she said during a ceremony to dedicate the Georgetown neighborhood house.

New support for a child’s medical journey

Traditionally, treatment for children with life-threatening illnesses is targeted toward a cure through a blur of doctor visits, scans and tests.

While the quest for a cure continues, a new division in the Department of Pediatrics will take an alternate yet complementary approach to caring for these children.

Beginning in July, the Division of Pediatric Palliative Medicine will focus solely on providing the best possible quality of life for patients and their families, according to Dr. Rick Boyte, associate professor of pediatrics.

“It’s at the heart of what we’re supposed to be doing in health care,” Boyte said.

IHL Board appoints Jones chancellor of Ole Miss

The day began like any other for Dr. Dan Jones and his wife, Lydia – up at 5:30 a.m. followed by quiet time and prayer together.

But June 15 was no ordinary day. At the end of it, after daylong meetings with students, faculty, staff and alumni, Jones became the 16th chancellor of the University of Mississippi.

Members of the Board of Trustees of Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) announced his appointment at 4:24 p.m. on the Oxford campus.

Jones thanked the board for its confidence in him, for the support of “all of you who love Ole Miss,” especially outgoing Chancellor Robert Khayat.

More than 500 degrees conferred at Commencement

In his last presiding role at UMMC Commencement, University of Mississippi Chancellor Robert Khayat, who is retiring next month, told graduates of the health sciences campus, “most of what is said here today will be forgotten, but you must record in your memory your place in this happy event.”

So with speech-making at a minimum, 515 students received degrees at the Mississippi Coliseum in less than two hours.

“My memory of this Commencement will always be tinged with a degree of sadness because it marks the final ceremony in which our dear friend (Khayat) will confer degrees to our graduates,” said UMMC vice chancellor Dr. Dan Jones.

UMMC pandemic ready

The now-dwindling call for alarm over a new flu strain that claimed nearly 50lives internationally leaves the state anticipating cases, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center ready to respond.

Call it H1N1, Swine Flu or North American Flu, the strain that first surfaced in Mexico and went on to dot the globe will spread farther, for sure. The question is, how quickly?

“This could be no more than the garden-variety flu we see annually. But we’ve planned and prepared for the worst and we’ll work from there,” said Dr. Rathel “Skip” Nolan, interim director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Medical Center.

New service reduces turnaround time, length of stay

Physicians in the Department of Radiology know trauma and emergency services don’t fit conveniently into a 9-to-5 shift.

That’s why a new team of radiologists are here from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.

At a time when many academic medical centers rely on residents for night work and other large hospitals hire private, out-of-state firms to handle after-hours needs, the University of Mississippi Medical Center is among a small number of academic institutions with an overnight emergency radiology section, said Dr. Timothy McCowan, radiology chairman. The service launched in March with Dr. Erick Blaudeau as chief of emergency radiology.

JACKSON, Miss. – A bed bug article Dr. Richard deShazo co-authored for The Journal of the American Medical Association landed him an interview on NBC’s Today Show.

The Today Show featured Dr. deShazo, chairman of the University of Mississippi Medical Center Department of Medicine, on April 15.

Amid a resurgence of bed bugs nationwide, deShazo and Mississippi State University Professor Jerome Goddard conducted a review of previously-published articles on the insects. They found little evidence bed bugs transmit disease, contrary to long-held beliefs.

DigitalHuman simulator prepares for blastoff

With a few keystrokes in DigitalHuman, a computer program developed at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, researchers can create an overweight and diabetic virtual patient, run him up a flight of stairs, give him a heart attack, then analyze thousands of moment-by-moment metrics to better understand the human body.

Scientists at NASA using a version of the program are predicting health problems astronauts could encounter three years into a mission to Mars.

Dr. Tom Coleman, professor emeritus of physiology and biophysics, estimates between 50-100 medical schools around the world use DigitalHuman for training.

Collaboration creates “homegrown” pediatric cardiac surgery program

The parents of most newborns look forward to milestones like first smiles and the first time sleeping through the night.

Jennifer and Jared Chance of Brandon celebrated other more serious milestones in their daughter’s infancy.

Laney Chance was born without a coronary artery, making her little body unable to get the oxygen it needed.

So instead of anticipating the usual events in a newborn’s life, the Chances spent a week in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children.

One out of every 100 infants born each year in Mississippi dies before his or her first birthday.

Could the solution be as simple as providing primary care and social support to mothers?

Sponsors of a new program launching this month plan to find out.

The Interpregnancy Care Project of Mississippi is a combined effort between University of Mississippi Health Care, the Mississippi State Department of Health and the World Health Organization’s Collaborative Center for Reproductive Health. ICPM addresses one of the leading causes of infant mortality in the state: very low birth weight – less than 3.3 pounds.

The nursing profession claimed center stage at Mississippi’s 2009 Nightingale Awards ceremony, where the University of Mississippi Medical Center delivered a strong performance with five wins.

The awards spotlighted the Medical Center’s skill in nursing practice and teaching and included top honors for the School of Nursing.

Medical Center nurses who took home awards were Michelle Burnes, nursing workforce specialist, Educator of the Year; Claire Durst, bone marrow transplant unit, Rookie of the Year; and Jan Robinson, orthopedic surgery nurse, Clinical Practice Nurse of the Year. Dr. Jean Walker, professor of nursing and director of the graduate nurse educator track, won

With the $787 billion economic stimulus package starting to spread into the U.S. economy, leaders of the University of Mississippi Medical Center say they’re ready to put the money to work.

Want to create permanent, high-skill jobs? We’ve got lots for researchers and teachers awaiting funding.

Want to improve health care in the nation’s poorest state? We’re building an electronic-records system that can be replicated statewide.

Want to employ contractors and get middle-America back to work? We’ve got projects.

A faculty member and a student in the School of Health Related Professions recently were recognized by the state legislature for their outstanding contributions to education and academic excellence.

Dr. Hamed Benghuzzi and Merry Claire Ballard were honored during the 22nd annual Higher Education Appreciation Day – Working for Academic Excellence Program Feb. 26 at the Jackson Marriott. Seventy-two honorees representing 36 schools were recognized.

A native of Libya, Benghuzzi is chair of the Department of Diagnostic and Clinical Health Sciences in SHRP.

“I know that there are so many faculty members on our campus that are more than deserving of this prestigious award,” he said, “and I am humbled by the

Associate professor Zelma Cason started her career at the Medical Center and she says she’ll end it here, too.

Cason, who serves as director of the cytotechnology program, was named a 2009 Black History Honoree by the Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning in a presentation during the board’s Feb. 19 meeting. She was among 11 other educators around the state recognized by the board.

A native of Meadville, Cason arrived at UMMC as a student in 1966, receiving her certificate in the Cytotechnology Training Program at the end of that year. “I loved it here from the start,” she said.

The JHS Expands Research Boundaries

It’s a massive problem, cardiovascular disease in African- Americans, one being met with a massive response: The Jackson Heart Study.

As the mammoth, nine-year-old study prepares its cast of thousands for a third round of medical examinations, its director and principal investigator, Dr. Herman Taylor, insisted its scope rockets beyond exam rooms and Excel sheets.

It’s given jobs to doctors, launched careers of researchers and improved public health. With all its offshoots, aspects and affiliations, it branches out like a blood-vessel system.

Biomedical materials science hits stride despite setback

Dr. Jason Griggs was still new to the University of Mississippi Medical Center when disaster struck the Department of Biomedical Materials Science.

In October 2007, just two months after Griggs joined UMMC to take over as chair of the department, a fire broke out on the fifth floor of the School of Dentistry and consumed the metallurgy lab. It was an inauspicious start for the Texas researcher.

A year-and-a-half later, the department has bounced back, and by springtime, the fifth floor will be home not only to a more advanced metallurgy

UMHC offers first aid at new Jackson complex

When three people were hurt in separate incidents during the opening ceremonies of the brand-new Jackson Convention Complex, they didn’t have far to go to find treatment.

University of Mississippi Health Care had staff nurses on site ready to help. That’s because UMHC has partnered with the convention center to provide medical services at large events -– those attended by 500 or more.

Within the building’s folded-glass facade and behind the cavernous exhibit hall, the Medical Center has set up a first-aid center in a small room to treat anything from sprains to lacerations to chest pain.

Too many times, Mississippi ends up on the bottom of nationwide health rankings. Our health care problems stem, in part, from poverty, lack of education, the state’s rural nature and even the foods we traditionally eat.

Recently, the Mississippi State Medical Association and the Mississippi State Department of Health collaborated on a list of health-care rankings. Their “Public Health in Mississippi Report Card” indicated how Mississippians have fared in health status.

Health-care providers and educators work every day to change Mississippi’s status. As the state’s only academic health sciences center, the University of Mississippi Medical Center engages directly with medical challenges and works with community, private, state and federal partners to improve the lives of Mississippians.