Florida State University College of Medicine - Electronic Medical Review

Monday October 10, 2005

STUDENT REUNITES WITH FATHER AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA
	Dr. Oscar Ballester, center, visited with the Pediatrics Interest Group Sept. 6 to tell of his experience helping patients at Louisiana State University’s University Hospital in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Ballester and his wife, Dr. Gabriela Ballester, second from left, both hematologists, were finally evacuated from the hospital five days after the storm, after all of their patients had been evacuated. Oscar Ballester is the father of second-year medical student Paola Dees, second from right. With them are medical students Jessica Walker, left, and Kristin Burns, far right. Burns is holding $900 raised by the Pediatrics Interest Group for the American Red Cross for hurricane relief.

PENSACOLA CAMPUS LENDS A HAND
	Still recovering from Hurricanes Ivan and Dennis, which struck less than a year apart, Pensacola opened its arms to its struggling neighbors from the west in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Patients beaten down by the storm showed up at the Health & Hope Clinic, a free clinic established by the Pensacola Bay Baptist Association and supported by volunteer physicians. Most of those with chronic conditions had run out of their medications, said Dr. Paul McLeod, dean of the Pensacola campus and a Red Cross volunteer. (MORE)

RESIDENCY INTERRUPTED FOR ONE FSU GRADUATE
	Watching the news reports on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Sachin Parikh (M.D. ’05) assumed his home in Orleans Parish was a total loss, but he still felt fortunate. “I am just thankful for our health, after what I have heard and seen on television,” he said. Less than two full months into his otolaryngology residency at Louisiana State University in New Orleans, Parikh found himself among the tens of thousands of people fleeing the city ahead of the storm. (MORE)

CLASS OF 2009 HOLDS "TRIBUTE TO OUR FIRST PATIENTS"
	Students in the Class of 2009 held a memorial service Sept. 30 for the human cadavers dissected in their anatomy class this summer. They organized “A Tribute to Our First Patients” to show their gratitude and respect for those who willed their bodies to medical education. Efrain Arias, left, was among the students who lit candles for the 22 cadavers. Among those first-year students who made remarks at the ceremony was Wendell Bobb.

DALKE NAMED NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE CORPS SCHOLAR
	First-year student Kara Dalke has become the first FSU medical student to receive a National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Scholarship. The NHSC offers a loan repayment program for students who commit to practicing in designated health professional shortage areas of greatest need. Prior to medical school, Dalke conducted immunization outreach in New York City with the international charity HOPE Worldwide and participated in a polio drive in Somaliland with the World Health Organization. She also participated in HIV/AIDS awareness outreach in Kenya and South Africa. FSU medical students first became eligible for NHSC scholarships this year, after the medical school achieved full accreditation in February.

FSU COLLEGE OF MEDICINE HELPS LAND $2 MILLION GERIATRICS GRANT
	Health care for the elderly in northern Florida, southern Alabama and southern Georgia is about to get better through a new $2 million Geriatric Education Center involving departments at Florida State University, Florida A&M University and the University of South Alabama. “While it is unlikely there will ever be enough geriatric specialists in every field of health care, an achievable goal is to ensure that all providers have the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to provide quality care for older people,” said Dr. Kenneth Brummel-Smith, GEC project director and the Charlotte Edwards Maguire professor and chair in the FSU College of Medicine’s department of geriatrics. (MORE)

DOCTORS GO MOBILE THANKS TO NLM GRANT
	For 15 doctors involved in teaching FSU’s first- and second-year medical students, the future of medicine is now. Thanks to a National Library of Medicine (NLM) grant secured through the Office of Medical Education, the physicians received Dell Axim Pocket PCs similar to those used by medical students. The grant covers the cost of hardware and the latest medical reference software used to diagnose and treat patients. Read more about the program in the coming issue of FSU MED, the new magazine of the FSU College of Medicine. Coming soon to a mailbox near you and to med.fsu.edu!

ARCHBOLD, FSU MEDICAL SCHOOL JOIN FORCES
	The Florida State University College of Medicine is joining forces with Archbold Medical Center in an agreement through which a number of medical students will receive their clinical training in Thomasville, Ga. College of Medicine Dean J. Ocie Harris today announced that Archbold and the college have signed an affiliation agreement that allows FSU's third- and fourth-year medical students to train at the Thomasville hospital. FSU medical students will begin clinical rotations at Archbold next July. (MORE)