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Surgical Notes
A Newsletter from the VCU Department of Surgery
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Military Training Partnership | |
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Led by Dr. Michel Aboutanos, head of Acute Care Surgical Services, Beth Broering, trauma program manager, and Derrick Alford, Military Civilian Partnership program manager, we are excited to continue and expand our partnership with Navy Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP)! VCUMC is committed to the Military Civilian Partnership (MCP) with NMCP and will continue to grow the relationship in the future. The new Training Affiliation Agreement (TAA) will allow VCUMC and NMCP to explore more opportunities for military medical personnel to train and sustain their medical skills in all disciplines. We are excited to be able to share experiences and contribute to readiness and the military’s goal of “Zero Preventable Deaths” on the battlefield. This relationship will allow us to embed surgeons and other clinical providers into our teams
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ECMO Simulation Course Empowers Pediatric
Surgical Trainees and Staff
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Laura Boomer, MD, was the Course Director for the ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) Simulation Course at the American Pediatric Surgery Association Annual Meeting. The course aimed to benefit both pediatric surgical trainees and staff seeking to improve their ECMO knowledge and expertise.
The faculty comprised 15 individuals from various regions of the country, covering topics such as neonatal cannulation, femoral cannulation, distal perfusion catheter placement, circuit fundamentals including hybrid cannulation and building bridges, circuit troubleshooting, ECPR, and decannulation strategies. There are plans to organize the course annually in the future.
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CHOR Opens Children's Tower | |
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On April 30, 2023, the Children’s Hospital of Richmond opened its inpatient tower. A lot of planning, hard work, and team effort went into the successful opening of this inpatient facility dedicated to children. We wanted to say a special thank you to the divisions of Pediatric General Surgery, Pediatric Urology, Pediatric Plastics, and Pediatric CT. There was immense work by each of our faculty members, APPs, and staff.
In addition, some of our surgeons within the Department of Surgery played key leadership roles within the Children’s Hospital to help lead our inpatient, perioperative, and trauma operations to a successful transition. These were David Lanning, MD, PhD (Associate Chief Medical Officer), Tony Herndon, MD (Surgeon-in-chief), and Jeff Haynes, MD (Pediatric Trauma Medical Director).
Thank you to all of the teams here at VCU Health and beyond who were involved in making this opening a success!
A look into the new CHOR Children's Tower...
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Faculty Role Announcements | |
Amelia Grover, MD, has been appointmented by the Dean's Office as Assistant Dean for Faculty Affairs | |
Lance Hampton, MD, has been appointmented by the Dean's Office as the Faculty Liaison for the VA | |
Nancy Thompson, MS, RN, CPNP (Pediatric Surgery) | |
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Nancy Thompson has been with VCU/CHOR for the past 30+ years, as APP (nurse practitioner) in the Division of Pediatric Surgery
She is recognized as a gastrostomy (G-tube) “expert”, having written the definitive nursing article on G-tube management/ care, and has patented several devices/modifications for them. Her dedication to the care of a wide variety of medically complex children is widely acknowledged, and she has worked and taught in local schools, state nurse’s meetings- even the Virginia state fair!
Nancy designed the Gate clinic to introduce caregivers new to gastrostomy care and spent untold (extra) hours listening to families as counselor, confident and friend; her patients over many years have never ceased to remark how her compassion and concern helped them negotiate the trials attendant to the condition requiring a feeding tube (and its subsequent care).
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Rochelle Murtaza (Pediatric Surgery) | |
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Rochelle Murtaza has been the gentle, guiding influence (as well as the stiff backbone) for the Pediatric Surgery Division for over two decades.
She has supervised the diverse faculty of 8 pediatric surgeons, 3 nurses, and a team of 5 PARs and schedulers in operations and clinics at multiple locations throughout the greater Richmond community (and beyond) as a model of efficiency and poise.
More than that, however, Rochelle’s quiet demeanor and strong faith demand that every child referred for surgical attention remains under the watchful eye of the entire team in every respect of that surgical care. Apart from her myriad roles in the constant scheduling and oversight process, Rochelle keeps close tabs on both the docs and staff throughout the day, monitoring response to the flow of consults and emergencies or checking on staff in ORs and clinics, often answering incoming patient calls herself.
In doing so, her inherent optimism and quiet determination have left a mark on all of us - patients/families and staff alike.
“I have never known anyone as even-tempered and unflappable as Rochelle; I have come to rely on her insight and guidance in many key decisions. She will not often say out loud what she thinks about problems that arise, but I can tell. And she is almost always right. Her legacy will remain long after retirement, in the way she has taught so many of us to look at our patient’s needs through different eyes- and care more for them in the process. Her retirement leaves big shoes to fill.
Thank you, Rochelle."
-Charles E Bagwell, MD
Arnold M. Salzberg Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics
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Luke G. Wolfe, MS (Department Biostatistician) | |
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This June 30th, the Department of Surgery joyfully celebrates the retirement of Luke G. Wolfe, who dedicated 34 years of faithful, diligent, expert, and precise work as the Department's Biostatistician. Luke embarked on his journey with our Department on July 1, 1982, joining during the tenure of Dr. Lazar Greenfield as the Department Chair and Dr. Heber "Dick" Newsome Jr. as the Chair of the Division of General and Trauma Surgery.
During his affiliation with the Division of General and Trauma Surgery (now Division of Bariatric and Gastrointestinal Surgery), Luke collaborated with numerous faculty, fellows, residents, and medical students, providing invaluable assistance for hundreds of publications, thereby propelling them forward in their scientific pursuits and career advancements.
His remarkable achievements are exemplified by his impressive record of 12,189 Google Scholar Citations and an h-index of 49. Throughout his tenure at VCU, Luke selflessly dedicated himself to the Department, leaving an indelible mark on VCU and the academic community. We express our deepest gratitude for his invaluable impact and wish him an extraordinary retirement.
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Register Now for ASSET Course | |
The ASSET course uses human cadavers to teach surgical exposure of anatomic structures that when injured may pose a threat to life or limb. A course manual with DVD is distributed to students prior to taking the course to provide an overview of key surgical exposures in five key anatomic areas: neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis, and upper and lower extremities.
The one-day, cadaver-based course follows this modular, body region approach. Each section begins with a short case-based overview, followed by a hands-on exposure performed by students under the guidance of faculty. The student-to-faculty ratio is low, allowing extensive faculty guidance and interaction with students. The student assesses his or her ability to perform each exposure independently and is evaluated on knowledge and technical skills.
Read More and Register...
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Dr. Kirsty Dixon, PhD
Associate Professor
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How long have you worked here?
Dr. Dixon has worked here since 2014
What is your favorite thing about working for the department?
Being surrounded by outstanding departmental leadership and an even better administrative team.
What do you do outside of work for fun?
Community engagement with the Virginia Lions Footy Team
Other?
"When not being a dedicated scientist I participate in (my version of) community service by being the mascot (Clawde the Lion) for a developing local non-profit amateur “Aussie Rules” football club in Richmond call the Virginia Lions (Aussie Rules, aka Australian Football League, which is a different football code to rugby). Last month the Virginia Lions (including my very self as Clawde) did a photo shoot with the Richmond Flying Squirrels' mascot Nutzy at The Diamond stadium in preparation for the following week where we did a a pre-game demo of “Aussie Rules”.
Clawde even got to throw the first pitch that evening (turns out Clawde doesn’t know how to throw a baseball but had a ton of fun trying). Last month Clawde attended the MACup, which is a one day USAFL tournament attended by up to 15 different USAFL clubs from across the US, and hosted by the Virginia Lions here in Richmond VA. Clawde also often makes appearances at the Virginia Lions practice events held at Quioccasin Middle School Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings, and supports team members by traveling to MD, NC and DC for regular games, as well as to Sarasota Fl in October for the USAFL Nationals."
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Dr. Dixon dressed as Clawde the Lion with a Virginia Lion’s team member
at an event outside The Diamond stadium in April
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Department of Surgery | Virginia Commonwealth University | (804) 828-7874 surgweb@vcu.edu | | | | |
