This Week@WesternU, Sept. 29-Oct. 3, 2014
Together We Read
The Pomona Public Library Foundation will present “”A Tribute to Ray Bradbury”” at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12 in WesternU’s Health Education Center.
The “”Together We Read”” event will feature a screening of the 1998 film “”The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit”” and a panel discussion with cast members Joe Mantegna, Edward James Olmos and Liz Torres, director Stuart Gordon and official Bradbury biographer Sam Weller.
Admission is $25 at the door, $20 if purchased online at
www.pomonalibraryfoundation.org, or $20 at the door with a valid Pomona Library card or student ID.
Click here to read more.
From the College of Allied Health Professions:
WesternU to host softball games against the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team
The Physical Therapy Department at Western University of Health Sciences will host a double-header softball game against the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team (WWAST) on Oct. 4, 2014.
Gates open at 3 p.m. Games will be at 4 and 7 p.m. at San Manuel Stadium, 280 South E. St., San Bernardino, California – home of the Inland Empire 66ers minor league baseball team.
Click here to read the full story.
From the College of Dental Medicine:
WesternU and ICE Health Systems launch VirtualU@WesternU
Western University of Health Sciences’ College of Dental Medicine and ICE Health Systems are launching a distinctive entry into the digital learning arena, VirtualU@WesternU.
VirtualU@WesternU,
www.virtualu-westernu.com, will provide courses for practicing health care providers and digital curriculum for academic institutions. The initial offerings will include continuing education courses primarily centered on oral health for all types of health care providers.
Click here to read the full story.
“”Bodies”” exhibit
College of Dental Medicine and College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific students enjoyed an object lesson in anatomy when they toured “”Bodies: The Exhibition”” in Buena Park with Drs. Mathew and Vicki Wedel. A photo is posted on
From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:
COMP news
Last week, the Second Annual COMP-Northwest Hospital Day took place on the Oregon campus. Representatives from nine residency programs in Oregon, Washington and Alaska met with first-, second-, and third-year medical students to learn about available programs across the Northwest.
“”Hospital Day is important event for medical students to help them shape their future plans,”” said Katherine Fisher, DO, COMP-Northwest Director of Clinical Education. “”Nowadays, everyone does a residency after medical school. Whether you are going to be a family practice doctor or a neurosurgeon, there is so much to learn that it requires anywhere from three to seven years of additional training in a residency program after completing medical school,”” she said. “”Students have to start thinking about what area of practice they want to do during medical school. Hospital Day lets them talk directly with residency program directors.””
COMP-Northwest students, faculty and staff participated in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s in Timber Linn Park in Albany on Sept. 28. The inaugural Linn-Benton walk brought together more than 100 participants, raising $15,000 for the Oregon chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Glen Kisby, PhD, OMS II Blaine Massey, and Communications Coordinator Michelle Steinhebel serve on the planning committee for the Walk and coordinated participation from COMP-Northwest for the event.
The Recreation Networking Club at COMP-Northwest hosted the third annual 10K Scrubs Run on Sept. 27 at Cheadle Lake Park in Lebanon. Approximately 75 runners, many donning scrub tops, participated in the run. Proceeds from the event went to the East Linn Community Clinic.
In August 2014, COMP-Northwest Professor Brion Benninger, MD, and Adam Burch, OMS III, were the first to successfully assess medical students anatomy knowledge using Google Glass during anatomy lab examination identifying cadaver structures without the traditional use of pins, flags and strings. Dr. Benninger feels the traditional way biased the structures students were being asked to identify and was unhelpful in representing anatomy as it would be experienced during physical examinations and invasive techniques. This work has been accepted for presentation at this year’s Annual Osteopathic Medical Education conference in Seattle, Wash. in October 2014. They will publish this work following the conference presentation.
Dr. Benninger revealed his success combining Glass with the SonicEye finger ultrasound linear and biplanar transducers using a Fukuda-Denshi ultrasound system to utilize his Triple feedback technique while identifying structures and spaces on donor cadaver patients and live subjects at the Vesalius Continuum, Zakynthos, Greece Sept. 4-8, 2014. He is teaching medical students, residents and practicing physicians how to apply triple feedback during anatomy in the McDaniel Surgical Radiological and Medical anatomy research lab.
Dr. Benninger was the first to successfully combine Glass with DirectVision urinary catheter by PercuVision in September 2014. Professor Benninger is able to view the urethral contents through the Glass while placing a urinary catheter. COMP-Northwest medical students are learning how to place catheters using DirectVision on an advanced urinary simulator and then on donor cadavers. Dr. Benninger feels combining Glass with the advanced technology equipment developed from PercuVision will diminish the trauma inflicted from blind catheter placement, ultimately improving the quality of care to our patients.
COMP/Advancement news
On Saturday, Sept. 27, the Oregon ACOFP Seminar at COMP-Northwest concluded with a session of student-doctor speed networking and a reception hosted by the WesternU Alumni Association. About 50 alumni, students, faculty, staff, and guests participated. Pictures can be found online at
http://westernu.smugmug.com/WesternU-Alumni/Oregon-ACOFP-2014.
From the College of Podiatric Medicine:
Unicycling helps keep WesternU student’s life balanced
Unicycling is an extension of Laura Poindexter’s desire to learn and do interesting things, which helps the College of Podiatric Medicine second-year student stay balanced.
“”It’s a more compact form of bicycling, it’s easy for me to pick it up and carry it over my shoulder, I can fit it in my car, and when I ride past people it brings out interesting comments,”” she said.
Click here to read the full story and to view a slideshow.
From the College of Veterinary Medicine:
Kudos on accomplishments
CVM Assistant Professor Jijun Hao was recently notified that he was awarded the ReproCELL’s innovative Research Grant. ReproCELL Inc. will provide $10,000 support for Dr. Hao to develop a novel, cost-effective and chemically-defined growth medium for human pluripotent stem cells. Right now, the commercial available growth media for human pluripotent stem cells require use of animal-derived products and expensive recombinant proteins which led to batch-to-batch variability and the risk of xenoantigen introduction for clinical application.
From the College of Pharmacy:
Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. Jeffrey Wang is invited to be part of the NIH Botanical Dietary Supplement Research Centers (BDSRC) (P50) Review Meeting organized by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM/NIH) and the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS/NIH).
Work from Dr. Arbi Nazarian’s lab on rewarding effects of hydrocodone were cited by U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, Office of Diversion Control, Drug and Chemical Evaluation Section to support their rationale for the reclassification of hydrocodone products to Schedule/Class II drugs: “”Schedules of Controlled Substances: Placement of Hydrocodone Combination Products into Schedule II. Background, Data, and Analysis: Eight Factors of Determinative of Control and Findings Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 812(b).””
Click here to view the report.
From University Advancement:
Alumni news
Photos of the Alumni Association’s Sept. 20 reception at Vision Expo West in Las Vegas can be found at
http://westernu.smugmug.com/WesternU-Alumni/Vision-Expo-West-2014-Alumni.
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