Dr. Marcelin discusses minorities in medicine on two-part online chat
Jasmine Marcelin, M.D., assistant professor, infectious diseases, and associate medical director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at UNMC, recently moderated the first of a two-part online chat with Physicians Weekly. Called the #PWChat series, Dr. Marcelin discussed issues important to underrepresented minorities in health care using the hashtag #MinoritiesInMedicine, with participation from more than 150 individual Twitter accounts.
Topics discussed included:
- results from a survey on patient bias toward doctors and nurses and participants’ experiences directly with, or witnessing, race-based micro-agressions from patients, colleagues, or support staff and how they handled these situations;
- what can be done to close the gap across racial/ethnic lines, including resources or support to help negotiate fair pay;
- study results indicating that implicit racial bias can affect the diversity of medical school admissions; and
- what steps are or can be taken within individual organizations to address implicit bias and increase minority representation.
You can read the full transcript here. Part 2 of the Minorities in Medicine discussion will be held on Twitter at 2 p.m. (CDT) on July 18. To join the chat and get instructions on how to participate, go to @physicianswkly on Twitter on the day of the chat or follow Dr. Marcelin on Twitter @DrJRMarcelin.
Dr. James O’Dell to be featured speaker at rheumatology conference in Dubai
James O’Dell, M.D., professor and chief of the UNMC division of rheumatology and immunology and chief of rheumatology at the Omaha VA Medical Center, will be one of the featured speakers at the 4th Annual Conference for the Emirates Society for Rheumatology (ESR). The conference will be held Sept. 19-21 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The conference marks a first-time partnership between ESR and the American College of Rheumatology and brings together leaders from both organizations. Dr. O’Dell’s talk will be one of more than 30 featured presentations on emerging research and noteworthy topics within the field of rheumatology.
Registration for the three-day conference is now open. Those interested in attending can find more information at www.esr.ae. All conference sessions and panels will be held at Dubai Festival City.
UNMC's P.J. Schenarts, M.D., is honored by Association for Surgical Education
During Surgical Education Week in May, UNMC's P.J. Schenarts, M.D., professor of surgery, was awarded the Association for Surgical Education's Distinguished Educator Award. Dr. Schenarts also recently completed his presidential year for the Association of Program Directors in Surgery.
Dr. Schenart's wife, Kim Schenarts, Ph.D., professor of surgery and vice chair for student education in the department, was a 2015 recipient of the award, and her father, Richard Dean, M.D., received the award in 2001.
The award is given annually to an individual who has demonstrated excellence as a master educator. In addition to recognized skills as an excellent teacher, nominees need to demonstrate scholarship and significant contributions to surgical education.
Graduate Medical Education Office names House Officers of the Year
The Graduate Medical Education Office recently awarded the following with its "House Officer of the Year" award:
- Large-Size Program — Neil Bhogal, M.D., internal medicine
- Medium-Size — Karisa Hajek, M.D., medicine/pediatrics
- Fellowship — Ryan Mullane, D.O., nephrology
The annual award is given to house officers who stand out as an inspiration to their colleagues and demonstrate academic excellence, scholarly activity, leadership ability and citizenship. The nominees are voted on by faculty, house officers and students.
Dr. Florescu participating in dance competition to raise money for local non-profit
Diana Florescu, M.D., professor, division of infectious diseases, is the UNMC representative in the 2018 Youth Emergency Services (YES) Dance for a Chance competition, to be held Friday, Aug. 3, at the Omaha Design Center. At this event, Dr. Florescu and her dancing partner, Derek Pasqualetto, instructor and owner of Vintage Ballroom, will compete against representatives from other local companies to raise awareness and money for YES, which provides much-needed services to hundreds of homeless youth in Omaha. Teams are awarded for the most votes (money raised) and the best dance. If you would like to purchase a table, contact Dr. Florescu.
UNMC professor wins first place with promising mobile innovation
Stephen Obaro, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., UNMC professor of pediatrics and infectious diseases, is part of a team that won a $300,000 first place award in a competition for the latest connected innovations designed to address critical issues facing the global community.
Vodafone Americas Foundation presented its 10th annual Wireless Innovation Project awards at the Social Innovation Summit 2018 in San Francisco on June 5.
Dr. Obaro's project is called SMART (Sickle and Malaria Accurate Remote Testing). It is a point-of-care device with a mobile app running on smart phones and tablets that links patient data with an electronic medical record system. The result is a connected point-of-care platform for diagnosing, treating, and following up with sickle cell disease (SCD) and malaria patients in low resource communities. It involves Case Western Reserve University, Hemex Health, UNMC, and eHealth Africa.
It is estimated that SCD affects nearly 25 million people globally, and 50 to 80 percent of infants born with SCD in Africa die before age 5, while 3.4 billion people are at risk of malaria, with 212 million cases and 429,000 deaths occurring annually.
Each winner explains their innovation in a video available here. To watch the video about SMART, cue to 2:47.