Top 10 Moments of 2010

THE OU DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY




10. The American College of Surgeons just notified us this week that Children’s Hospital was verified as Level I Trauma Center for pediatric trauma care (previously Level II) and the OU Medical Center was re-verified as the only Level I Trauma Center for adults in the state of Oklahoma. We also anticipate that the Clinical Skills Education and Training Center will be approved as a Level I ACS Accredited Education Institute. The CSETC not only helps residents, medical students and hospital staff to develop and maintain their skills but once certified will be available to surgeons in the community to improve their skills too.


9. P. Cameron Mantor, MD is currently the interim Chief Medical Officer for the OU Physicians


8. In October, Dr. Roxie M. Albrecht, performed the first the diaphragm pacing stimulator procedure in Oklahoma used to treat ventilatory insufficiency in a quadriplegic patient. Injured in a bike accident, the patient is now independent of the ventilator. Dr. Albrecht is also this year’s President of the Midwest Surgical Association.


7. In September, Marvin D. Peyton, MD won the Gold Humanism Society Award. This award sponsored is by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation to a physician that puts humanism into patient care. Humanism in medicine describes relationships between physicians and their patients who are respectful and compassionate. It is reflected in attitudes and behaviors that are sensitive to the values, autonomy, cultural and ethnic backgrounds of others.


6. The Cleft Lip, Palate and Craniofacial Team led by Christian El-Amm, MD is the first and only team in the state accredited by the American Cleft Palate – Craniofacial Association. Benny K.H.Tan, MD, joined the plastic surgery faculty. His expertise is in hand and cancer reconstruction.


5. Tales “From Indian Territory to the 21st Century” or the history of the OU Department of Surgery is the title of an article written by Donald R. Carter, MD in the American Surgeon, volume 76, pages 354-357, 2010. The department continues to grow with the addition of new faculty. This year, Sean A. Nix, DO joined the trauma faculty.


4. Russell G. Postier, MD was named David Ross Boyd Professor, the first to receive this honor in the Department of Surgery. In February, even bad weather did not prevent Dr. Postier from receiving this year’s Dean's Award for Distinguished Medical Service at the Evening of Excellence.


3. In late April the liver and pancreas transplant team of Anthony Sebastian, MD, Harlan Wright, MD, Rajesh Kanagala, MD, and Shi-Feng Li, MD moved to the OU Medical Center. The new team members join the already well established kidney transplant team and our surgeons. The transplant team collectively brings more than a century of transplant experience.


2. Focused microwave thermotherapy, a new breakthrough treatment led by William C. Dooley, MD and research group, kills large cancer tumors and saves breast tissue. Dr. William C. Dooley was honored with several awards this past year: Commission on Cancer/ American College of Surgeons Outstanding Performance Award as Cancer Liaison Physician, and from Hematology/Oncology he was awarded the Top Practice in Service Integration, Top Practice in Clinical Care and the HOPE Award for Best Small Oncology Practice Nationwide.


#1.


No matter near or far, we want to wish YOU warm thoughts and best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Welcome aboard

Benny K.H. Tan, M.D., comes tothe Department of Surgery from previous practice in Orlando, Fla. He is board certified in both general surgery and plastic surgery. Tan’s plastic surgery residency was completed at Cleveland Clinic Florida, Weston. He also completed an orthopedic hand fellowship at Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami. General surgery residencies were completed at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore. He also completed an orthopedic and general surgery residency at Cork University Hospital, Cork, Republic of Ireland, where he also earned his medical degree. Tan is an associate fellow of the RoyalCollege of Surgeons in Ireland. Dr. Tan joined the Department of Surgery in August, 2010.

You are invited!

The Departments of Surgery

at the University of Oklahoma

Oklahoma City and Tulsa and

the University of Oklahoma Surgical Society

and The Frank A. Clingan Surgical Society

Cordially invite you to a Cocktail Reception at the

American College of Surgeons

Clinical Congress

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

6:30 to 8:00 P.M.

Coolidge Room

Marriott Wardman Park Hotel 2660 Woodley Road N.W.

Washington, DC

G. Rainey Williams Lecture and Oklahoma Chapter of the American College of Surgeons

Off and running

July 1, 2010 marks the beginning of the new academic year, and the new Chief residents are off and running, at least Steven Carter MD, the administrative chief  is on the go at Presbyterian Tower.  Hard at work with him is Aimee Levy Devine, MD.  While across the street at the VA Hospital, Jennifer McEvoy MD and Linsay Pena are keeping an eye on our Veterans and training the newest residents joining us.  We are off to a good start.

He might be nuts, but for a good cause.

Josh Barton, MD ('04) has developed a way to combine his passion for cycling with his passion for pancreatic surgery. From July 9 to July 18, he will be in France to follow the Tour de France. Josh and friends make this trip every five years or so, but this year they are taking on a new challenge known as the “Nuts of Ventoux”. They ride up Mont Ventoux on bikes over all 3 passes that cross the mountain. Mont Ventoux is considered to be one of them most difficult cycling climbs in the world and they plan to do it three times in one day. This requires 68 km of climbing and will then be eligible to be part of the French club called "The Brotherhood of the Nuts of Ventoux". They will also be raising money for pancreatic cancer.

Does he have his own zipcode?

Gary D Myers, MD ('85) travels near and far, from Stilwell, OK to Haiti for surgical care and Monrovia to train physicians.  He was recently elected to the Board of Directors of 'Arzte Ohne Grenzen', which is the Austrian Board of  Doctors Without Borders thus travels to Vienna, Geneva and Prague four times a year.  Catch him if you can.

Great things to look forward to...

There are alot of great things to look forward to in July; but for every good there is some bad.  As we say good-bye and good luck to the 2010 Chief residents, they look forward to new adventures.

Valerie Jolly, MD and Kristi Prejeant, MD are both going into private practice; San Angelo, Texas and Morgan City, Louisiana. Jay Snow is heading to a minimally invasive fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. Tim Vavricka is going the check out his sea legs, as he will be stationed in Norfolk, VA with the Navy.

Beating tumors at their own game

Barish Edil, M.D. (2006), now on the faculty at Johns Hopkins is involved with the development of a pancreatic cancer vaccine.  See the complete story at the Johns Hopkins Medicine Update Newsletter.

Newer news.  (Fall 2010).  The Heat that Healed.
More.  (Winter 2010).  Judgement Day.

A new honor

Dr. Russell G. Postier added another feather to his cap in April, when he was named as a David Ross Boyd Professor, the first in our department to achieve this distinction. 

To qualify for a David Ross Boyd Professorship, a faculty member must have consistently demonstrated outstanding teaching, guidance, and leadership for students in an academic discipline or in an interdisciplinary program within the University.

New kids on the block

Match Day 2010 - Congratulations and welcome to the newest members of the Department of Surgery who will join us July 1, 2010.

To the end of the earth

Twelve runners from the Neurofibromatosis (NF) Endurance family including John Steinberg (1991) and Carl Price (1991) and his wife Kathy took a challenge to help raise money for children's tumors by running a marathon in Antarctica, “End of the Earth for a Cure.”

Carl described it as running in frozen peanut butter. John said it was the hardest thing he had ever done but worth the effort. 

For more about their adventures, see the  NF Endurance blog.

Ski Oklahoma or ride the newest roller coaster in Oklahoma City?

Not sure if the latest construction at the new Children's Hospital is a ski slope, a roller coaster or the atrium that will serve as the new front entrance.

The atrium's family-friendly design makes a visit to the doctor's office or a trip to the hospital more pleasant for both patients and their families. Key elements include:

• A nature-inspired interior including water features, natural light and calming décor
• Retail and food service
• A rooftop garden
• Easy access to doctor's offices, hospital rooms and other destinations
• Easy-to-navigate halls
• Simplified signage to guide patients and visitors

It will expand, update and improve the facilities available to Oklahoma's children and their families.

Behind the current construction is the recently completed 14-story pediatric multi-specialty OU Children's Physicians Building.

New Therapy for Breast Cancer - Focused Microwave Thermotherapy

A new treatment developed and tested by University of Oklahoma researchers not only killed large cancer tumors, but reduced the need for mastectomies by almost 90 percent. Researchers at the OU Health Sciences Center are now planning the next phase of clinical trials this year to test the therapy on even larger tumors.


“This therapy is a major advancement for women with later stage breast cancer. Right now, most patients with large tumors lose their breast. With this treatment along with chemotherapy, we were able to kill the cancer and save the breast tissue,” said William Dooley, M.D., a researcher at the OU Cancer Institute and the director of surgical oncology at OU Medicine.


In the most recent study, researchers from several institutions tested the therapy, known as "Focused Microwave Thermotherapy" on tumors that were an inch to an inch and a half in size. These large tumors usually require mastectomies. When researchers used the heating therapy within two hours of patients receiving chemotherapy, the tumor was more susceptible to the chemotherapy and shrunk rapidly. The percentage of patients needing mastectomies was reduced from 75 percent to 7 percent.


“The trial was very successful. We were able to completely reverse those odds,” Dooley said. “We redesigned the machine and will begin clinical trials this year to determine whether the therapy works on tumors that are larger than one and a half inches and smaller than 5 inches in size.”


In theory, Dooley said the technique could be used on any organ that could be “held relatively still.” Scientists are now working to integrate heat-sensitive nanotechnology that would more precisely target cancer cells. They also plan to study a byproduct of the rapid disintegration of the tumor – a boosted immune system. Dooley said it looks like the rapid release of cancer proteins into the blood stream is causing an immune response that could reduce the chance of cancer recurrence.  (From the OUHSC Public Affairs office)

"Excellent" News

Dr. Russell G. Postier will be honored January 28 (rescheduled to February 5) at the annual Evening of Excellence, presented by the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine Alumni Association. The black-tie dinner will be at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., Oklahoma City, starting with a cocktail reception at 6:30 p.m.

Dr. Postier will receive the Distinguished Medical Service Award. The award acknowledges dedication and commitment as a medical professional. G. Rainey Williams, M.D. (1990) and Ronald C. Elkins, M.D. (1997) previously received this award from the Alumni Association.

Proceeds from the annual dinners provide seed grants to young researchers on the road to discovery.