April 20, 2017
Hello,
This weekend, concerned citizens from around the world will be gathering to focus attention on the importance of science. The March for Science, a series of marches and rallies scheduled for Saturday, April 22, coincides with Earth Day and was organized to show public support for science, scientists, and for the importance of research. The day is an opportunity to highlight bipartisan support for science– the foundation of our medical school, of ever changing best care for our patients, and of the public health of our communities.
Speaking of science, I was impressed by the research on display at the Department of Internal Medicine’s second annual Edward Randall III Quality Fair April 14, organized by Dr. Luis Ostrosky-Zeichner, vice-chair of the department and professor of internal medicine. Dr. Ostrosky-Zeichner tells me the event was designed to showcase the valuable performance improvement projects taken on with our partners at Memorial Hermann, Harris Health, and UT Physicians clinics. This year 31 projects were presented—work of internal medicine faculty and house staff spanning all areas of performance improvement, including patient safety, clinic efficiency, high reliability clinical care, and patient outcomes, at both the hospital and clinic settings.
The top entries were: First place: Michelle Narat, et al., “Code Sepsis for Surviving Sepsis; “Second place: Alexandris Aman, et al., “Correlation and Halo Effect Analysis to Improve Outpatient Wait Time in Internal Medicine Department;” and Third place: Ricardo Hernandez, M.D., et al., “Evaluation of Chronic Care model in Primary Care Clinics: The Economic Outcomes of Utilization of Medication Therapy Management for Chronic Diseases.”
It is always a special treat to host visiting lecturers on our campus. Last week the fourth annual Ertan Lecture was presented by Dr. Bruce Sands, the Dr. Burrill B. Crohn Professor of Medicine and chief of the Dr. Henry F. Janowitz Division of Gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. He spoke on “Inflammatory Bowel Disease: New Targets, New Agents.”
This week I am delighted to be invited to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in New York, a school that is particularly special to me as my father was an early faculty member there and my sister-in-law is a graduate of the school. Yesterday I gave the keynote address during their pediatric research day and served on a very interesting panel on advocacy for pediatrics, child health, and science.
Spring at the medical school means it’s time for budget meetings. We have started to meet with all of the chairs and their DMOs. We have our pencils sharpened as we are anticipating cuts from both the state and the National Institutes of Health. We live in complex times, but the medical school is very strong, and I am optimistic for our future.
On the topic of meetings, the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation hosted an external review of its department at chair Dr. Gerard Francisco’s request. I am delighted that they did this—a great approach to ensure best practices within our competitive academic environment as we all strive for improvement. I am hoping to have external reviews of all departments in the coming years.
April is more than halfway through, but it is not without its important health awareness—it is both Alcohol Awareness Month and National Minority Health Month, and it’s National Infant Immunization Week April 22-29.
Finally, Sunday April 23 is the March for Babies of the Houston Chapter of the March of Dimes. Faculty, staff, and students from McGovern Medical School will be marching to support the work of the March of Dimes to reduce prematurity and to improve the health and well-being of mothers and babies. A special thank you to Leslie Zachariah, Mary Tijerina, and Scottie Wahlstrom for getting the team together.
Warm regards,
Barbara
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