Patient safety focus of national conference

The Medical School has been invited to participate in the Millennium Conference 2009: Patient Safety – Implications for teaching in the 21st Century. Co-sponsored by the Carl J. Shapiro Institute for Education and Research at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the conference will focus on patient safety educational initiatives.

The Medical School was one of 10 medical schools selected via a competitive process and will participate with colleagues from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Drexel University College of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Ohio State University College of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, and the University of Kentucky College of Medicine.

“We have developed a team of educators and experts in patient safety that together will generate educational strategies to teach and evaluate the learning of patient safety throughout the undergraduate and graduate medical education curriculum at UT,” said Dr. Patricia Butler, associate dean for educational programs.

Attending the three-day meeting on behalf of the Medical School will be Butler, Dr. Philip Orlander, Dr. Eric Thomas, Dr. Matthew Harbison, and Dr. Bela Patel.

“Dr. Eric Thomas is a nationally acknowledged expert in patient safety, and Drs. Matthew Harbison and Bela Patel are active physician-educators and graduates of the Physician Quality and Safety Academy. As a team, we will explore the most effective ways of teaching patient safety using team building, technology, and various modes of simulation,” Butler said.

- D. Brown

Barning named Volunteer of the Year

Kenneth Barning, a medical school graduate from Ghana, has been named the 2009 Volunteer of the Year for UT Volunteers, Tender, Loving Care Program.

Barning assists the UT Physicians staff in a variety of duties, such as office and organizational projects in the UT Internal Medicine Clinic, the Urgent Care Clinic, and the Otolaryngology Clinic, and operating the coffee cart for patient hospitality.

“As a volunteer, I greet incoming patients, offer assistance to patients needing wheelchairs, and escort and direct visitors to various clinics in the TMC,” he said, adding that he also helps with the information desk and distributes magazines throughout the UT Physician clinics.

He moved to Houston with his wife, who is an obstetrics/gynecology resident at Baylor College of Medicine.

“It is a great honor for me to have been nominated as the Volunteer of the Year for UT Houston’s TLC program. This was a program that granted me the opportunity to follow my passion of trying to be of help in any little way possible to people who need it. Having been able to have had this opportunity to serve people in this wonderful community in this small way while I was still working on writing my medical licensing exams was a dream come true,” he said.

The volunteer award has been given since 2006 and has gone to Lou Ann McKinney, Dr. Jack and Janice Levine, and Linda Vong.

Since the UT Volunteers program began in 2005, thousands of hours have been donated to the patients and staff of the UT Physician clinics. To volunteer with the program, contact Sonia Chabolla at 832-325-7650.

-D. Brown

Volunteers needed for House Medics

Volunteers and experienced carpenters are needed for the UT House Medics Spring Home Repair Program.

It’s the 17th year that UT House Medics will lend a helping hand to elderly homeowners whose dwellings need some repair, repainting, additions of ramps, and more to allow them to age in place in their homes. In recent years, program participants have renovated up to five homes during the spring home repair. UT House Medics have renovated the exterior of more than 65 homes since 1991.

UT House Medics is looking for volunteers to participate in the Spring Home Repair Program. There's something for volunteers of all ages to do. Don’t like to work with your hands? Not a problem! We need volunteers to visit with the homeowners, help us work safely, coordinate various tasks, and teach our young ones how to paint and beautify a garden.

Work days (volunteers can work one or both days):

• Saturday, April 18
• Saturday, April 25

Each home requires a team leader and 50-60 volunteers. No experience necessary. Potential team leaders should contact Krysti Suarez, 713.500.2241, or Dennie Clemons, 713.500.2235, to sign up.

To submit a sign-up form online, see photos of previous workers in action, or get more information, visit UT House Medics.

Infectious diseases conference set April 17-18

“The Emerging Infectious Diseases: Ethics, Law and Professional Obligation” conference will offer an opportunity for exchange and dialogue among scientists and bioethics, humanities, and legal scholars from national and international institutions in an effort to facilitate new approaches to pandemic preparedness.

The course will be held April 17-18 at the Galveston Convention Center at the San Luis Resort, and continuing medical education credits will be offered. Registration is available online at www.utcme.net.

First-year students volunteer with AIDS Foundation Houston

More than 110 first-year medical students volunteered with the AIDS Foundation Houston’s (AHF) 20th Annual Houston AIDS Walk March 15, the largest event of its kind in the country.

The walk was a monumental success, in part from the help provided from the UT-Houston student community.

The activities are part of the immunology course for the students, directed by Dr. Jeffrey Actor, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine.

“This is an excellent opportunity for students to develop as community leaders as they learn to become compassionate physicians, enabling them to give back to Houston as they continue to meet their educational goals,” he said.

Marc Cohen, director of volunteer activities at the AFH, indicated his tremendous gratitude for the student participation.

This spring, more than 75 percent of the first-year medical school class participated in volunteer activities between The University of Texas and the AFH. Other opportunities include assisting with the associated foundation’s Stone Soup Food Bank and rendering pediatric assistance to families participating in their Friendly Haven program.

Students Brian Y’Barbo and Jessica Heestand serve as the class coordinators for the program, which combines community awareness and educational information about Houstonians living with HIV/AIDS.

UT seeks support for March for Babies

The UT Health Science Center is supporting the March of Dimes’ March for Babies Sunday, April 26. Team UT has joined with Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital to be a co-sponsor of the walk this year and is pleased to support such an organization that is affecting healthy change for women and their babies.

The March for Babies walk is 9 a.m., April 26, at the University of Houston Robertson Stadium. Team UT walkers will be served a light breakfast and then a barbeque lunch after the walk.

Visit the UT March for Babies Web site for more information. If you want to participate, contact Rose Betancourt-Trevino, 713.500.3209, or visit Team UT to register for the walk.

 

2009 Latin Heritage Festival

Latin culture and lifestyle were celebrated with music, food, and dance during the Latin Heritage Festival Wednesday, April 1 in the 5th Floor Gallery. The event was sponsored by the National Network of Latin American Medical Students.

 

Location & Contact

6431 Fannin Street,
Houston, Texas 77030

PO Box 20708,
Houston, Texas 77225

713.500.4472