RECENT EVENTS

Steve Quintero, M.D., medical director of the Charlotte Edwards Maguire, M.D., and Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Center for Clinical Simulation, said it’s one example of how the College of Medicine contributes to improving public health. “To my knowledge, this is the first time that high-fidelity simulation has been included in a master’s-level public-health training, at least in the state of Florida,” Quintero said. “I think it has broader implications and ramifications for the future of health-care training in this state and perhaps nationally.” The training exercise took place as part of the Florida Public Health Institute (FPHI) master course in applied public health. Nine universities across the state, along with state and local health departments, participated. Such an exercise requires significant behind-the-scenes preparation. Quintero said people had to be taught the medical histories of these simulated patients and actually speak for them through an offstage microphone. And the simulated patients, or manikins, had to look the part. Quintero said the special effects of radiation burns, trauma, smallpox and anthrax were achieved with putty, wax, makeup and a lot of creativity.

“The simulations were amazing,” said participant Chuck Wells, assistant director of public health research for the Florida Department of Health. “Those of us participating were in awe. For a brief moment we got the opportunity to walk in the shoes of the health-care providers. It awakened us to the seriousness of treating a fellow human being, and the challenge of unraveling a medical mystery to arrive at a diagnosis and plan of treatment.”
 
On the main campus: Some students at the College of Medicine this summer were much younger-looking than usual. They were high-schoolers participating in the Summer Institute, a weeklong event designed to encourage students from diverse backgrounds to imagine themselves as physicians.

“Our goal for the Summer Institute is to recruit students from rural, underserved and minority backgrounds and, at the same time, recruit students from other parts of Florida who have a desire to work in medically underserved areas,” said Thesla Berne-Anderson, M.S., director of college and pre-college outreach. The first week of the institute (June 13-20) brought in 15 participants, all of whom will enter 11th or 12th grade this fall. The students were from Gadsden, Volusia, Madison, Orange and Leon counties. The second week had 17 participants from nine counties.

The students got to shadow physicians and med students, visit rural health centers and get college testing and application advice. They also attended faculty lectures on topics such as medical ethics, migrant health care and doctor-patient relations. In one activity, they trained in the simulation center, examining the “manikins” with med students as guides.
 

In Daytona Beach: About 20 people – including Dean Luckey Dunn, students from the Classes of ’09 and ’10 and others – formed a team for May’s Relay for Life. It was held on Manatee Island, on the Halifax River, and was great fun.
According to Andrea Leech, regional campus administrator: “Our senior secretary and her hubby made his famous ‘Arkansas Pork,’ and we made sandwiches to order. We packaged it with chips, drinks and cookies. Between what we raised and what we sold, it totaled over $1,300 for our regional campus. (We raised money through bake sales, blue jeans on Fridays and general donations.)” Things must have been pretty tasty, because the College of Medicine pavilion won the “Best Food” award. Next up for Daytona Beach: Gearing up for “Making Strides” in October.

ONGOING EVENTS: WANT TO TRY TAI CHI?

During the spring, Mercury got to watch up to 15 faculty, staff members and friends of the College of Medicine as they practiced the graceful moves of Tai Chi during lunch hour Tuesdays. The Taoist Tai Chi Society even sent two teachers, Tonya Harris and Lois Sojat.

This summer, in the privacy of Room 1303, a handful of stalwarts have continued to practice their movements together: Barbara Shearer, Becky Shiveler, Gail Bellamy and John Agens (all from the College of Medicine), plus Kathy Makinen (from the College of Social Sciences). As they look toward fall, they hope to have a teacher return. And that could happen, if a fair number of the rest of us will join them.

Agens, a geriatrician, knows well the ways in which Tai Chi can benefit your circulation, blood pressure, balance and more. And all of these participants talk about ways in which it benefits their mental and emotional health. If Shearer weren’t at Tai Chi, she said, she’d be at her desk – one hand on her keyboard, one hand on her lunch. Going to Tai Chi removes her from the day-to-day stress, she said, and even provides a lot of laughs. Agens said he often tells his students that exercising can be as valuable as studying; Tai Chi is a chance for him to take his own advice.

Sean Dennison, at the Taoist Tai Chi Society on Thomasville Road, said he would happily send another teacher to the College of Medicine in the fall if enough people were interested. The group is open to changing the day of the week for practice if that will increase the number of participants. Spread the word to your colleagues elsewhere on campus. To provide time to plan for a beginning session in early fall, please send Shearer an e-mail by Sept. 1.    

UPCOMING EVENTS