Surgical Notes
From the Chair
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Colleagues,
First and foremost, let me thank each of you for your support in meeting our deadlines for re-credentialing. Though cumbersome, your attention to time and detail ensured a smooth process for our staff and those of Medical Staff Services.
As we roll into March, I really start to look forward to the many events taking place this spring: The annual Trauma Symposium in March; Humera, Research Day, and the Shining Knight Gala in April; commencement and the hooding ceremony in May – all proof that we as a department are actively growing and training the next generation of surgeons.
I sincerely hope to see you at these important events.
Best,
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Children's Hospital Foundation Endowed Chair
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Funded by a $1.5 million gift from the Children's Hospital Foundation, an Endowed Chair in Pediatric Urology has been established. As of July 1, Dr.
Anthony Herndon
, Professor with the Division of Surgical Urology, will be the first physician to hold this prestigious position.
“Children’s Hospital Foundation is very pleased to support the pediatric urology team, led by Dr. Tony Herndon, at Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU,” said Chris Broughton-Spruill, Children’s Hospital Foundation president. “His vision and progress aligns perfectly with our goal to provide all children in our region access to the most advanced pediatric health care possible.”
This endowed chair position will also allow CHoR to ensure successful recruitment and retention of top specialists for many years to come.
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Cardiothoracic in the News
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At the age of 8, Jeni Simonitis received her first heart transplant at VCU due to a birth defect. But years later, her transplanted heart began to fail. Fortunately for her, another heart became available, and nearly 25 years to the day from when she received her first transplanted heart, Jeni underwent surgery to receive her second.
Dr.
Daniel Tang
, Assistant Professor with the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery performed her surgery.
About her experiences, Jeni states, "There are small wins - like medicine decreasing, or being able to stand the entire time in the shower without having to sit, or biopsy results - and you know, just the confirmations along the road to recovery, that this heart is in a new home and it's the right home, and it's hopefully going to give us another 25 years. These are big milestones that we're very thankful for,"
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Just a few weeks ago, several team members from the Department of Surgery ventured back to Rwanda to continue their work with the medical personnel in Kigali in the development of a pre-hospital trauma program. Led by Dr.
Sudha Jayaraman
and with course content developed by CTCCE Assistant Director,
Basil Asay
, the team was joined by an Emergency Medicine fellow, Steph Louka, who beautifully blogged their entire trip.
Their mission, Louka writes, "is t
o help build and solidify a formal EMS system with top-notch Prehospital trauma care"
To read her amazing tellings of their trip,
click here
.
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The Beacon Award recognizes centers and divisions for excellence in patient care and outcomes as well as patient and staff satisfaction and credibility.
Dr.
Michael Feldman
, Assistant Professor and Medical Director of the center states, "This is recognition of the outstanding work that our nursing staff perform on a daily basis. Our patients benefit from their dedication to providing the best care possible."
Well done, team!
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Abstract Presentation at UNOS Transplant Management Forum
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The
United Network for Organ Sharing
(UNOS) Transplant Administrators Committee has accepted an abstract from the Hume-Lee Transplant Center for presentation at the 2018 Transplant Management Forum.
The abstract, written by the Center's Outreach Coordinator,
Katie Mardigian
is titled "Using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to Educate and Engage Patients on Transplantation." There Mardigan discusses using web-based platforms like Facebook to increase patient referrals and general awareness about organ donations and tranplantation.
The forum will be held in Austin, Texas in April.
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Massey Cancer Center Pink Out
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There, breast cancer survivors Carole Johnson and Lisa Bacon were honored during the VCU women's basketball game.
The event raised awareness for breast cancer as participants and attendees filled the Stu with their pinkest attire.
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At the event in early February, we celebrated with supporters, members of the Haynes family, team members, center leadership and President Michael Rao, Ph.D.
Led by Assistant Professor and Medical Director, Dr.
Michael Feldman
, the Evans-Haynes Burn Center is the oldest civilian burn facility in the United States, having been established in 1947 by its namesakes.
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VA-ACS Humanitarian Surgical Resident Travel Grant
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Congratulations are due to General Surgery residents Nina Wickramaratne and Valerie Plant for their receipt of the 2018
Virginia American College of Surgeons Humanitarian Surgical Resident Travel Grant
. Established in 2009, this program helps fund travel for residents interested in presenting at or participating in programs that focus on delivering care as part of humanitarian missions in underdeveloped countries.
Wickramaratne plans to use her funds to go on another mission trip to Ecuador with Dr. Rodas for
Cinterandes
in June. Plant will be traveling to Jamaica where she plans to join
Children's Medical Services, International
in teaching pediatric trauma courses to local surgeons.
Congratulations residents!
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Women in Science, Dentistry, and Medicine
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Dr.
Paula Ferrada
, Associate Professor with the Division of Acute Care Surgical Services, was recently mentioned in a Women in Science, Dentistry, and Medicine (WISDM) story about a recent study regarding positive surgical outcomes with female surgeons.
This study, published in BMJ, noted that "patients treated by female surgeons have a small but statistically significant decrease in 30-day mortality and similar surgical outcomes compared with those treated by male surgeons."
Dr. Ferrada is known for her strong support of eliminating stereotypes relating to male-dominated professions. She is an advocate for the #ilooklikeasurgeon campaign and regularly encourages and supports other female physicians.
Click
here
to read the story.
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National Resident Paper Competition
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Back in November, General Surgery resident Nina Wickramaratne won the state level ACS resident paper competition. Since then, she traveled to Baltimore to compete - and win - the regional level for basic science. And now, she's on her way to San Antonio to compete in the national.
And if that wasn't already awesome enough, the VA-ACS has also asked Wickramaratne to present her presentation, titled "Microcirculatory Effects of Polyethylene Glycol 20,000 (PEG 20k) During Resuscitation of Hemorrhagic Shock," at the VA Chapter meeting in April which includes a $500 prize.
Well done, Nina! Outstanding work!
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Dr.
Rahul Anand
, Associate Professor with the Division of Acute Care Surgical Services, has been invited to be one of the Special Honorary Hooders at the VCU School of Medicine Hooding ceremony.
The ceremony, to be held on Friday May 11th in the Stuart Siegel Center, recognizes medical students for their official completion of their graduate level medical education.
For those hoping to attend, note that it will be held from 3:00 to 5:00 pm.
Congratulations Dr. Anand!
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Humera Weekend
April 27 - 29, 2018
The Tides Inn
Irvington, Virginia
REGISTER NOW!
Meeting registration and payment information can be found
here
!
Hotel rooms may be booked in advance by calling The Tides Inn directly at (855)420-9316. Reference Humera for the discounted rate.
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Publications from Bariatric & GI
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Dr.
Guilherme Campos
, Professor and Division Chair for Bariatric and Gastrointestinal Surgery has had two papers accepted for publication in high-ranking journals.
The first
, co-authored with Drs. Jad Khoraki (Postdoctoral Fellow),
Martin Mangino
(Professor and Associate Chair for Basic Research), and
Luke Wolfe
(Assistant Professor), shows that black patients have a different pathophysiology
response to obesity in
development of
non-alcoholic fatty liver disease than white patients and points to the importance of race in the pathophysiology and treatment of these diseases.
The second paper
, titled "Roux en Y gastric bypass hypoglycemia resolves with gastric feeding or reversal: Confirming a non-pancreatic etiology," discusses the reversal of gastric bypass as an effective treatment option for severe postprandial hypoglycemia.
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VCU ABSITE High Scorers and Honor Roll
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PGY1
Hae Sung Kang
PGY2
Brianna Ruch
Lab
Jon DeAntonio
Kristine Kenning
Ben Rothstein
Nina Wickramaratne*
PGY3
Matthew George
PGY4
Nathaniel Lee
PGY5
Ashley Limkermann
Krista Terracina
* Highest Score
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In partnership with the Richmond Ambulance Authority, faculty and staff with the
Division of Acute Care Surgical Services
and
Level 1 Trauma Center
helped train assistant principals across Richmond in bleeding control techniques, something even more timely and necessary after last week's fatal shooting in Florida.
At the session, a continuation of the RPS mandiate last year that all Richmond elementary, middle, and high schools be equipped with bleeding control kits, school personnel were shown how to seal wounds, apply pressure, and properly apply a tourniquet.
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Back in November, two VCU Chrone Scholars, Dr. Menelas Nkeshimana (Head of the Emergency Department in Rwanda) and Christine Uwineza (Head Nurse of the same ED) visited VCU under the sponsorship of Dr.
Sudha Jayaraman
, Associate Professor with the Division of Acute Care Surgical Services
.
The Crone Scholars are Rwandan physicians and other medical personnel from the Rwandan hospital where Dr. Jayaraman provides care and is helping to develop a pre-hospital trauma program. The scholars visit VCU to observe and learn about our health system as well as share their experiences from their own institution.
The next round of Chrone Scholars will be visiting next month.
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Health System employees - Did you forget to attend the Department of Surgery's I-9 Pop Up on the 20th?
No worries! There are other options:
1.
As of mid-March, employees can go to the front reception desk at Critical Care Hospital near the escalators and ER;
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Meet LaTanya Shelly, administrative assistant with the Division of Acute Care Surgical Services! A member of the team since December 2014, LaTanya assists the physicians with administrative tasks so they can "teach, train, and save lives."
When asked about the most exciting part of her role, LaTanya was quick to respond:
"The most exciting part of my position is seeing the transformation from a patient who needs surgery for whatever reason, and seeing the process come to fruition. We, as administrative assistants, speak to the patient, before, during and after their surgeries and they become a part of us. The Shining Knight Gala puts the “icing on the cake” by the heartfelt videos and testimonies of the medical staff who see the patient and their families throughout the process."
Outside of West Hospital, you will find her spending time with family which includes 2 nephews, a niece, and another on the way!
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19th Annual Rao R. Ivatury Trauma Symposium
Friday March 23
Downtown Richmond Marriott Hotel
500 E. Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
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VCUHS Learning & Development
Click here
to view available Learning Events through the Office of Training & Development for the month of February.
For more information or to register, visit the Learning Exchange or email educationmatters@vcuhealth.org
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Research Day!
April 26, 2018
7:00am - 12:00pm
Dr. Jennifer Lawton, Professor and Chief Division of Cardiac Surgery at Johns Hopkins University will be the visiting judge.
Dr. Lawton will present at Grand Rounds at 7:00 AM.
Research presentations will begin at 9:00 am. Continental breakfast provided.
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Grab 'n Go CME - Management of Obesity
April 28, 2018
7:30am - 11:15am
Larrick Student Center
Management of Obesity will focus on:
- Surgical and non-surgical treatment for obesity
- Review of new diabetes medications
- Challenging obesity paradigms and diet
- Managing cardiovascular co-morbidities in obesity
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Upcoming Guest Lectures
March 29, 2018
Dr. Nancy Asher
H.M. Lee Transplant Visiting Professor
Professor & Chair, Department of Surgery
University of California - San Francisco
June 21, 2018
Dr. L. Scott Levin
Theogarah Plastic Surgery Visiting Professor
Paul B. Mangnuson Professor of Bone & Joint Surgery
Chairman, Orthopedic Surgery, Penn Medicine
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Department of Surgery | Virginia Commonwealth University | (804)828-7874 | surgweb@vcu.edu
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