Miller School Students Teach Campers how to be “Fit to Play” at UHealth-sponsored Summer Program
7/21/2008

Third year medical student Lauren Camille Goldstein sings about the importance of exercise in building strong minds and bodies while the young campers show their muscles.   Summer camp participants study their health and wellness passports as they learn important lessons in good nutrition, exercise, tobacco prevention, sun protection and stress reduction.

Hundreds of summer campers learned how to keep their minds and bodies healthy and strong when third-year Miller School medical students brought their own special brand of health education to the Goulds Park in South Miami-Dade County last Thursday.

Armed with their Health and Wellness Passport they received when they arrived at the park, the youngsters rotated through five health stations with names like “Kick Butt!,” “Stop Smoking,” and “Snack Attacks! They’re Not ‘All That,’” receiving a special stamp each time they finished a lesson.

The health education program put together by Medical Education, the Medical Wellness Center and the Mitchell Wolfson Sr. Department of Community Service (DOCS) is all part of the “Fit to Play” summer program sponsored by UHealth-University of Miami Health System and the Miami-Dade County Parks and Recreation Department.
 

The Miller School, a Major Player in the Health District, Hosts Miami Partnership Meeting to Discuss Plans for the Area
7/23/2008

Bright future: Stakeholders in the Miami Health District met at the Miller School to discuss plans for the area. From left, Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, UM President Donna E. Shalala, Public Health Trust Chairman Ernesto de la Fe, Miller School Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., and Bart Chernow, M.D., Miller School vice president for special programs and resource strategy.   Lillian Rivera, R.N., M.S.N., Ph.D., administrator for the Miami-Dade County Health Department and José Szapocznik, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health and associate dean for community development at the Miller School made presentations to the Miami Partnership.

With a prime location near major highways and within easy reach of millions of people in the state and Latin America, the Miami Health District is poised to become a bustling town center with more homes and businesses, including retail establishments and possibly a hotel, a new headquarters for Camillus House, landscaped walking paths, and a revamped Metrorail station—all anchored by University of Miami Health System where plans to grow in size and scope promise to boost everything from the area’s employment to translational science and medical tourism.

Local leaders, including UM President Donna E. Shalala, Miller School Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, Miami City Manager Pete Hernandez, and Public Health Trust Chairman Ernesto de la Fe, all stakeholders in the Miami Partnership group that’s championing the project, gathered on July 21 to give updates on the plans and priorities for the Health District.

“We have an opportunity to become a medical destination, a place where people will want to work and live, a place where people will want to fly to because of the high quality of health care they will receive,” said Dean Goldschmidt, also CEO of UHealth- University of Miami Health System, in his opening remarks to the more than 80 participants who met in the Miller School’s Lois Pope LIFE Center, seventh-floor auditorium.

University of Miami’s Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Again Ranked Nation’s No. 1 Eye Hospital by U.S. News & World Report
7/11/2008

Three additional programs at University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center receive high rankings

For the fifth year in a row the University of Miami’s Bascom Palmer Eye Institute was ranked the Number One hospital in the country for ophthalmology in the 19th annual survey of “America’s Best Hospitals” to be published in the July 21 issue of U.S. News & World Report.  And for the third year in a row ear, nose and throat has been the top ranked specialty operating at Jackson Memorial Hospital, coming in at No. 18 on the survey.  Two other specialties at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center were also ranked as among the nation’s best.

“Bascom Palmer is proud to be recognized as the country’s leader in ophthalmology,” says Eduardo C. Alfonso, M.D., professor and interim chairman of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.  “We are committed to providing superior, patient-centered eye care and finding a cure for blindness.  This dedication also propels the extensive medical education programs and comprehensive research advances continually made in our clinics and laboratories.”

Miller School at FAU Welcomes First Residents at JFK Medical Center and West Palm Beach VA
7/2/2008

The inaugural group of Miller School at FAU internal medicine residents.   Dean Goldschmidt, M.D., presents “The Human Decision Making Process” to new residents at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University welcomed its first class of 49 residents during a luncheon and news conference at the Atlantis Golf Club on June 30.

In fulfillment of a three-year planning and approval process, the inaugural group has officially begun training at JFK Medical Center and the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center. Representatives from the program’s leadership team welcomed them with enthusiasm and high hopes.

“These physicians represent the future of medicine in Florida and, in particular, Palm Beach County,” said Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., senior vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Miller School, prompting the room to give the new residents a standing ovation.

New Residents Receive Training at UM-JMH Center for Patient Safety
6/19/2008

Barry Gelman, M.D., associate professor of clinical pediatrics, with first year pediatric residents during their patient safety training session.   Chief patient safety officer David Birnbach, M.D., M.P.H., professor of anesthesiology and director of the UM-JMH Center for Patient Safety, debriefs a group of first year anesthesiology residents after a simulation exercise.

Even the most basic lessons taught in medical school – to introduce yourself to every patient when you walk in a room, to wash your hands before and after interacting with every patient, to call for help if you need it – can vanish from memory when a first-year resident is in a crisis situation.

Recognizing this, the UM-JMH Center for Patient Safety, led by David Birnbach, M.D., M.P.H., professor of anesthesiology, chief patient safety officer for the Miller School and director of the UM-JMH Center for Patient Safety, created a daylong training program for new residents designed to foster teamwork, decrease communication errors and prepare the new members of the house staff for their first days at Jackson Memorial, one of the few hospitals in the country that requires participation in such a program.

This week, more than 200 first-year residents, grouped by specialty, will participate in this primer on patient safety, delivered through the use of video reenactments, simulations, group discussions and debriefing sessions with attending physicians. Next month a session will be held for advanced level residents who are transferring to Jackson Memorial from another medical center. Training focuses heavily on teamwork, communication and professionalism. The course begins with a formal lecture by Dr. Birnbach and two required on-line modules. After an introduction to the center, residents move on to three more learning modules.

Innovative UM Physician Garners Politician’s Praise, Anonymous $1.5 Million Donation
6/23/2008

Raymond J. Leveillee, M.D., (right) chief of the Division of Endourology, Laparoscopy and Minimally Invasive Surgery, explains the radiofrequency ablation (RFA) technique he used to excise a cancerous kidney tumor from State Senator Steven A. Geller (D-Cooper City) (left) six months ago.

Six months after undergoing an innovative cancer treatment Florida State Senator Steven A. Geller (D-Cooper City) returned to the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center last Friday for a checkup and to sing the praises of his surgeon. Raymond J. Leveillee, M.D., chief of the Division of Endourology, Laparoscopy and Minimally Invasive Surgery at the Miller School, and a member of the Prostate, Bladder and Kidney Site Disease Group at UM/Sylvester, performed a unique procedure to remove the cancerous tumor embedded deep in the Democratic leader’s left kidney.

After the checkup, Geller and Leveillee met with newspaper and television journalists to discuss the surgery, which not only eradicated the politician’s tumor but enabled him to avoid chemotherapy and radiation.  The two men also revealed that an anonymous philanthropist has made a $1.5 million donation that will enable Leveillee to continue to conduct his surgical research.

“It’s miraculous,” Geller said of Leveillee’s minimally invasive operation, which was performed on an out-patient basis. “With this procedure, I was in and out on a Wednesday and back at work the following Monday!”

UHealth Joins with Miami-Dade Parks to Launch Fit to Play Summer Health and Fitness Program
6/16/2008

Dean Goldschmidt takes a moment to talk one-on-one with a participant at the launch of Fit to Play, a summer camp health and fitness partnership between UHealth and the Miami-Dade Parks and Recreation Department.   A group of summer campers proudly display their UM gift bags at the the launch of Fit to Play at Gwen Cherry Park on Monday.

In loud voices that reverberated through the sports facility at Gwen Cherry Park, about 300 eager children started their summer camp season by singing praises to the University of Miami. The chorus came at the prompting of Miami-Dade Commissioner Dorrin Rolle, who urged the children to give thanks to the University of Miami Health System (UHealth) for partnering with the Miami-Dade Parks and Recreation Department to provide them with a summer health and fitness program.

Commissioner Rolle was joined at the event by UM President Donna E. Shalala, Miller School Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., county parks and recreation director Jack Kardys and several other government officials, and special guest Darrin Smith, the former UM Hurricane and two-time Super Bowl champion, for the morning pep rally and official launch of the program known as Fit to Play.

When Dean Goldschmidt took to the stage, he told the group he has three sons – including a five-year-old who thinks he is Superman. Laughter turned to amazement when Goldschmidt said he also has a second family of 800 children. He explained: “These 800 children are the Miller School of Medicine medical students that will be checking you out to make sure you’re fit and healthy all summer.”