Above: Dr. Iyer and Music Therapist Hannah Oakes, facilitate a recital for a patient in the MICU using a telehealth cart. Photo by University Relations/Steve Wood.
Since June, six ASO musicians have performed roughly 70 live, private, solo and virtual recitals for patients in the MICU who have respiratory failure due to COVID-19. The innovative musical therapy is a collaborative effort between Anand Iyer, MD, MSPH, (Assistant Professor, Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care), and Maria Wilson, educational initiatives manager for the ASO, who were high-school classmates. Together, they have managed to bring a bit of musical respite to these critically ill patients and boost morale for the health care team at the same time. They use the secure UAB eMedicine platform and telehealth carts — the same secure UAB eMedicine platform used for family meetings for ICU patients — for the virtual concerts.
More Good News for November 4, 2020
Karla Williams, MD (Assistant Professor, GIM and Hospital Medicine) has been appointed as an Assistant Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program. This former Chief Resident joins our talented team of Residency APDs, and she will continue to advance our work in diversity and inclusion.
Stefan Kertesz, MD (Professor, Preventive Medicine & GIM) and colleagues have launched a new survey to recruit family members of people who have died by suicide after a change in prescribed pain medications. The study seeks to understand this change as one of multiple factors contributing to a national rise in the rate of suicide.
Last week, UAB highlighted its extraordinary investigations in COVID-19 immunology, treatments, basic science, and health disparities at a virtual symposium, with the Department of Medicine scientists represented in every category. We are so grateful for all who rigorously and collaboratively advance this important work.
Joseph Barney, MD (Professor, Pulmonary, Allergy, & Critical Care) and his team have received recognition as a Sarcoidosis Center of Excellence by the World Association for Sarcoidosis and Other Granulomatous Disorders, in light of his team’s steadfast efforts to improve clinical care for patients with sarcoidosis.
Assistant Professor Nicholas Hoppmann, MD, joins our faculty as a transplant hepatologist in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. His interests include healthcare delivery and quality of care for patients with advanced liver disease as well as the incorporation of palliative care into the management of chronic liver disease. Welcome, Dr. Hoppmann!
Ravi Kalhan, MD, MS, Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care at Northwestern University will present “Studying Lung Health Instead of Disease” at Medical Grand Rounds at noon on Wednesday, November 11, via Zoom.
Touch can be a valuable component of the process of providing comfort. In the second part of a series of reflections, Dr. Well-Be looks back on one of his own experiences as a patient, and offers ideas on how comfort can be shared as the pandemic restricts how we communicate through touch. Read more.