This Week@WesternU, Oct. 25-29, 2010
Announcements
Distinguished Lectureship
Kimberly Belshé, Secretary of Health and Human Services for the state of California, will be the keynote speaker for the second annual Dr. Philip Pumerantz Distinguished Lectureship at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 27 in the Health Education Center. Click here for more information.
Federal Grants
WesternU programs received more than $1.3 million in federal funding to enhance learning and bring critically-needed care to vulnerable populations. The Department of Physician Assistant Education, part of the College of Allied Health Professions, received about $100,000 in Health Resources and Services Administration grant funding, the College of Dental Medicine received about $180,000, and the College of Graduate Nursing received about $1.05 million.
From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:
Kudos on accomplishments
Brian Kraatz, Assistant Professor in Anatomy, recently presented a paper titled, “Mimotonid Tarsal Bones from the Eocene of China and the Evolution of Locomotion in Duplicidentata” at the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Pittsburgh, Pa.
From the College of Allied Health Professions:
Department of Physician Assistant Education News
For the last two weeks, PA students have provided vision screenings to kindergarten, second, and fifth grade students in conjunction with the Claremont Unified School District’s nurse. The students are not just applying their new diagnostic skills, they are developing their communication skills with pediatrics. The nurse commented that the PA students are very good with the children and are extremely helpful.
This past week the Physician Assistant Education Association held their annual conference in Baltimore, Md. Assistant Professor Tim Wood and Department Chair Roy Guizado gave a presentation titled “Student Performance Monitoring and Outcomes Assessment: An Access Database Example in PA Education.” The talk was well attended and generated a lot of enthusiasm from other PA programs in the United States.
At the same conference, College of Allied Health Professions Dean Stephanie Bowlin and Roy Guizado presented a workshop titled “Interprofessional Education: Implementation from Your University to Your Department.” This talk was also well attended and impressed other PA Programs with how advanced the IPE program is developed and how it incorporates nine health professions. The accreditation body in March mandated some sort of interprofessional education in PA Programs. It is nice to see that Western was well ahead of the curve.
Congratulations to PA professors Tina Boykin and Paige McNamara for the news release regarding their federal grant. The grant funded 10 simulation manikins that produce heart, lung, and bowel sounds. The PA department looks forward to implementing the manikins into the PA curriculum.
Department of Physical Therapy Education News
Assistant Professor Janet Konecne, PT, DPT, OCS, CSCS, performed with the La Mirada Symphony for an evening of “Music of the Masters” this last weekend at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. Dr. Konecne, an established expert in physical therapy for performing artists, plays principal bassoon with the orchestra. More information on future performances is available at www.lamiradasymphony.com.
From the College of Pharmacy:
Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. Sheryl Chow published an article with her collaborators: Chow SL, Ng TM, Litwinski RA, Kangavari S, Weiss, M. Effect of iodixanol and ioxilan on QT interval and renal function in patients with systolic heart failure. Int J Cardiol. 2010 Sep 24. [Epub ahead of print]
Dr. Shankar published an article with Dr. Carol Yuan, his current resident and WesternU alum (PharmD 2008). Gollapudi Shankar, PharmD, and Xiaojuan Yuan, PharmD. Monitoring and Counseling of Metabolic Complications and Antipsychotic Pharmacotherapy, Premier Education Solutions- CE Journal for Mental Health Professionals.
Congratulations to Dr. Anandi Law and her recent fellow, Dr. Amir Zargarzadeh, who is first author on the paper that co-authored by Dr. Law. Click here to view the article. Amir H. Zargarzadeh, PharmD, and Anandi V. Law, BPharm, PhD, Access to multilingual prescription labels and verbal translation services in California. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy. doi:10.1016/j.sapharm.2010.08.001 epub ahead of print.
From the College of Veterinary Medicine:
Kudos on accomplishments
Veterinary virologist Dr. Ellen Collisson presented two papers at the 2010 Avian Immunology Research Group meeting that was held Oct. 7-10, 2010 in Budapest, Hungary. Both presentations described current research activities and results resulting from her teams of collaborators at Texas A&M and at Western University of Health Sciences.
Complete citations for these presentations are: Collisson EW, Toro H, Tang D, Briles WE, Yates L, Kopulos R and Singh S. Avian influenza virus hemagglutinin and nucleocapsid proteins induce chicken effector, memory and effector memory CD8+ T lymphocytes. XI. Avian Immunology Research Group Meeting, October 2010.
Ellen W. Collisson, Ghida R. Banat, Lisa Griggs, Maisie Dawes, Suzana Tkalcic, Miguel Saggese, Worthie Briles, H.L. Shivaprasad, Mark W. Jackwood and Yvonne Drechsler. Resistance of B2 lines to avian coronavirus compared with B19 lines correlates with monocyte function. XI. Avian Immunology Research Group Meeting, October 2010.
Veterinary avian specialist and microbiologist Dr. Miguel Saggese has published his methods and findings related to diagnostic methods. The complete citation is: Saggese MD, I Tizard and DN Phalen. Comparison of Sampling Methods, Culture, Acid Fast stain and Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay for the Diagnosis of Mycobacteriosis in Ring-neck doves (Streptopelia risoria). Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery 24:4 (December 2010).
Spay-ghetti Dinner
The Student Chapter of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians is hosting a Halloween themed “Spay-ghetti” Masquerade dinner to raise money for the San Gabriel Humane Society and the Upland Animal Shelter to buy supplies (vaccines, snap tests, meds, etc.) and funds for spay/neutering programs. The dinner will take place from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 29 in the HPC Student Commons. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door and will be on sale in the Vet Med Atrium during lunch, noon to 1 p.m., through Oct. 29. The club is asking for donations of food items, table decorations and silent auction items. For more information, including a list of donation requests, e-mail tgossard@westernu.edu or SCASVclub@westernu.edu. Click here to see a flier.
From the Harris Family Center for Disability and Health Policy:
Kudos on accomplishments
CDHP Associate Director June Isaacson Kailes, MSW, LCSW, and Christie Mac Donald, MPP, published an article titled “The ADA in action at health care facilities” in Disability and Health Journal.
The article documents June and Christie’s work to assist defendants in legal actions to comply with settlement agreements, consent decrees, and memoranda of understanding. The work involved surveying medical center facilities and interviewing the staff and, based on the results, developing recommendations for compliance. Recommendations are offered for exam tables and chairs, weight scales, and ancillary aids. Guidance on interior design barriers and communication barriers is also provided. Recommendations regarding facility policies and procedures and staff training are also outlined.
From the Pumerantz Library:
Library Resource Trials
The library has been participating in two different resource trials and would love some feedback.
The trial on R2 Digital Library, containing eBooks on Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, ends on Saturday, Oct. 30. For more information about this trial, please see the Pumerantz Library News & Events blog.
The trial on Rehabilitation Reference Center, an evidence-based clinical reference tool for use by rehabilitation clinicians at the point-of-care, will end on Monday, Nov. 15. For more information about this trial, please see the Pumerantz Library News & Events blog.
Please send feedback to reference@westernu.edu
National Medical Librarians Month
October is National Medical Librarians Month. The library is celebrating by having workshops, displays and events. Book Repair Day on Oct. 19 was a success with 34 books handed in for repair. For more information on the activities, see the Pumerantz Library News & Events blog.
Library Activities
Pumerantz Library is having a book sale on human and veterinary medicine items. The sale runs today, Oct. 25, to Sunday, Oct. 31. Prices range from 25 cents to $10.
Fine Free Friday! Come in on Oct. 29 and the library will forgive a fine on a book that you currently have checked out. Sorry, we can’t forgive previous or existing fines.
The library staff will be wearing pink on Oct. 27 in support of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Join us and wear pink!
Workshops this week include “PowerPoint® for students” by David Peterson on Oct. 27 and “Researching using Embase®” by Ruth Harris on Oct. 28. Check out the Workshops Guide for more information and to sign up.
