Riding off into the Sunset



M. Alex Jacocks, MD



David W. Tuggle, MD

Two long time faculty members are retiring this summer.

Alex Jacocks, MD, has been at OU since his medical school days, Class of 1977, followed by his general surgery residency and has been on the Department of Surgery faculty since 1982.  During his years at OU, he served as the Residency Director and was awarded The Stanton L. Young Master Teacher Award in 1990, the first surgeon to be so honored.  Dr. Jacocks spends time relaxing in Colorado and said something about building a horse barn this summer.

After coming to Oklahoma for his Pediatric Surgery residency in 1985, David Tuggle, MD liked it so much he stayed. He received the Weigelt-Wallace Award for exemplary medical care for performing an on-site amputation to free a victim from the debris of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Dr.Tuggle was the Paula Milburn Miller, Children's Medical Research Institute Chair in Pediatric Surgery and served as both Section Chief of Pediatric Surgery and Vice-Chairman of the Department of Surgery.  He is heading to Austin, Texas and traveling the globe.

Happy retirement.

Parting is such sweet sorrow



Sajid Shah, Allison Murphree, Arpit Patel, 2013







After years of hard work, treating patients and taking call, it's time to bid farewell to this year's Chief Residents. 

Sajid Shah, MD is off to Baylor in Houston for a vascular fellowship.  Allison Murphree, MD is joining the OU Department of Surgery staff.  And Arpit Patel, MD is going to Dallas for a colorectal surgery fellowship.  Congratulations!

You're doing fine, Oklahoma

May 19-20 was an emotional week in Oklahoma after the tornadoes and the devastation brought by multiple tornadoes. The Department of Surgery and the OU Medical Center were fortunate in that we had no loss of life or serious injuries among our faculty, staff and students, but the property damage and upheaval for many has been significant. Nearly 40 medical students lived in or near the Moore tornado’s path, and at least two students lost their homes. We are still hearing reports about OU Medical Center staff who lost homes or received damage including members of our surgery billing office. We know many more members our community struggle with the tornado’s aftermath. The OU Trauma Center treated 93 patients after the tornadoes, including 59 children and 34 adults. For those of you from Oklahoma or who were here for only a few years during your training, you will find it no surprise that Oklahomans take the storms in stride and are pitching in to help those who need it, and are making plans to rebuild. Obviously, Roger’s and Hammerstein were correct when they penned … You’re doing fine, Oklahoma.

OU Regents' Alumni Award

One of the ten exceptional University of Oklahoma alumni and friends to receive the 2013 Regents’ Alumni Award for dedication and service to OU is former surgery resident, Donald H. Garrett, M.D. (’73).

Presented by the OU Board of Regents and OU Alumni Association, the Regents’ Alumni Award honors the important roles of OU alumni and supporters to the life of the university. A committee formed by the Alumni Association selects the award recipients from nominations made by alumni, friends, and OU faculty and staff. Each year’s recipients receive a plaque and their names are engraved on a permanent plaque in Oklahoma Memorial Union.

Since the first OU Regent’s Alumni Award in 1987, two other surgery alumni have received this award; Sam T. Hamra (‘68) in 1995 and Che Miller (’07) in 2012.

CBS News visited the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine Skills Lab



Our OU team featured in the CBS Morning News show April 7, 2013

 How do we make our hospitals and medical safer from human errors? David Pogue of The New York Times arrived at the OU Clinical Skills Education & Testing Center to investigate how medical schools around the country are using robotic simulators to allow medical students to practice on robots before they ultimately work on real humans.


We see Pogue in action in an operating room where everything goes wrong, from fire to power failure, and how medical teams are trained to respond to stressful situations. Teams at the University of Oklahoma and University of South Florida were featured in the CBS Morning News in April.  See the full story at this
cbsnews.com link

Department of Surgery's Variation to March Madness

Congratulations to the newest members of the OU Department of Surgery


Ademola Adeseye
University of Nigeria

 

Mary Lindemuth
University of Oklahoma

 

Cullen McCarthy
University of South Alabama

 

Joseph West
University of Arizona



Frank Wood
University of Oklahoma



The 2013 Guest Speakers

L-R  Steven Stain, MD; David Mahvi, MD; John Patrick Walker, MD and Andrew L. Warshaw, MD

Members of the Oklahoma Chapter of the American College of Surgeons and the University of Oklahoma Surgical Society were provided with information about the changes in surgery and education by out Guest Speakers and provided the opportunity to visit with fellow surgeons at the annual meeting in Oklahoma City on March 1.  Dr.Warshaw also gave the Eighth G. Rainey Williams Williams Lecture "A Tale of Three Cancers" - you should have been here.

Albrecht Honored By Oklahoma County Medical Society

Above, Dr. Albrecht receives the Rhinehart award
from Dr. Tomás P. Owens, outgoing OCMS president

Roxie Albrecht, M.D., director of OU Medical Center’s Level 1 Trauma Center, is the recent recipient of the Rhinehart Community Service Award. The award was presented by the Oklahoma County Medical Society in connection with its 2013 Inaugural Dinner held at the Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club in January.

The Rhinehart award is given annually to an Oklahoma County Medical Society physician who has demonstrated significant involvement in projects to improve health care in the community and state. Albrecht is the first and only fully dedicated trauma medical director at the trauma center. She has been recognized for her distinctive expertise and dedication to the improvement of Oklahoma’s trauma system.

“The Don Rhinehart Award recognizes a physician who has made significant contributions to the community. Dr. Roxie Albrecht is a most deserving recipient of this award,” said Russell G. Postier, M.D., chair, Department of Surgery. “Honored for her dedication to the citizens of Oklahoma, Roxie’s tireless efforts have served to improve the care of trauma patients. Due in large part to these efforts, Oklahoma County and the state of Oklahoma have one of the best funded and best organized trauma systems in the entire country,” he continued. “Dr. Rhinehart would be proud to know Roxie has received the award that bears his name.”

Welcome Reception and G. Rainey Williams Lecture

On Thursday evening, February 28, at 7:00 pm, there will be a Welcome Reception at the Renaissance Hotel, for OUSS members and guests. Plan to come, spend the night and attend the G. Rainey Williams Lecture on Friday.
The G. Rainey Williams Lecture will take place on Friday, March 1, 2013 at 11:00 am at the
Renaissance Hotel Convention Center at 10 North Broadway Avenue in downtown Oklahoma City.
Dr. Andrew L. Warshaw of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, is our Invited Lecturer. He will talk on “A Tale of Three Cancers.”

We hope you will plan to join us on this occasion to honor the memory of Dr. Williams and to see old friends.