Department of Medicine Welcomes New Fellows
L to R: Laura Hughes, MD; Elizabeth McAlister; Fellows Amanda Schnell, Maggie Guthrie, Marcum Collins and Lee Day; and Angelo Gaffo, MD, from the Division of RheumatologyThe Department of Medicine is delighted to celebrate 47 new fellows for the 2018/19 academic year. Our subspecialty training currently comprises 14 ACGME accredited programs and 3 non-ACGME programs with 152 total fellows. Welcome aboard!
Bradley Reports MIND Trial Findings That Lowering Blood Pressure Can Reduce Dementia Risk
Virginia Wadley Bradley, PhD (Professor, Gerontology, Geriatrics and Palliative Care) co-led the group that administered the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial’s (SPRINT) Memory and Cognition in Decreased Hypertension (MIND) study. Preliminary results reported at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference indicate that lowering systolic blood pressure reduces the risk of mild cognitive impairment, often a precursor to dementia. These benefits are in addition to the previous findings of the SPRINT study that cardiovascular complications, from heart attacks to heart failure and even death, were significantly reduced with the same treatment. These findings and others inform new guidelines that normal systolic blood pressure (<120 mm Hg) reduces risk of cardiovascular disease.
Learning Communities Program Honors Internal Medicine Residents
Front L to R: Ashley Vorenkamp, Lauren Pacheco, and Stacey Watkins. Back L to R: Eduardo Mulanovich and Jeremey Walker (CMR). Not pictured: Madeline Eckenrode.The Learning Communities Program honored Internal Medicine residents Madeline Eckenrode, MD, Eduardo Mulanovich, MD, Lauren Pacheco, MD, Ashley Vorenkamp, MD, Jeremey Walker, MD (CMR), and Stacey Watkins, MD, who served as housestaff mentors in the Program over the past year. The Learning Communities Program is a four-year course with a focus on professionalism, wellness, and ethics. It was one of several efforts that resulted in an improvement in the percentage of students who were satisfied with the overall quality of their medical education last year!
The Acute Care for Elders Unit Celebrates 10 Years!
Pictured Above: Kellie Flood, MD; Vicki Nelson, MSN, RN; Seth Landefeld, MD; Katrina Booth, MD (ACE Unit Medical Director); and Terri Middlebrooks, RN.Alabama’s first Acute Care for Elders (ACE) Unit celebrates its tenth year at UAB! The ACE Unit utilizes an interdisciplinary care team trained in geriatrics to provide acutely ill older adults with holistic care of the highest quality. Promoting health, preventing complications, optimizing function and preserving dignity are all important components of the Unit’s mission. Happy 10th Birthday to the team that makes ACE amazing!
DOM Launches Tele-ICU Program in Selma
Jim Johnson, MD, is able to listen to patients remotely via high-performance electronic stethoscope.Thanks to the new Tele-ICU initiative led by Steve Stigler, MD (Assistant Professor) and Jim Johnson, MD (Professor) in Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care, patients in the Intensive Care Unit at Vaughan Regional Medical Center in Selma can be remotely monitored and treated by UAB physicians. Using a secure internet connection and digital diagnostic tools such as the electronic stethoscope, UAB pulmonologists will operate the Tele-ICU service 24/7. They will also train Vaughan’s family medicine residents in critical care medicine. The telemedicine approach is an exciting new means of patient care that is advantageous both for patients and health care providers.