Joann Farrell Quinn, PhD.

Imagine you’re the manager of an equity-trading desk and you see two employees constantly in conflict and arguing with each other. You don’t understand why and don’t see an end in sight.  What do you do?

Seeing scenarios like this play out when she was an equity trader prompted Joann Farrell Quinn, PhD, to earn her doctorate degree in organizational Behavior from Case Western University to help answer the question “What makes people tick?”

Dr. Quinn is the competency assessment director for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Scholarly Excellence, Leadership Experiences, Collaborative Training (SELECT) program. She and the SELECT team administer the Emotional Social Competency Inventory (ESCI) to SELECT students several times throughout medical school using a model that focuses on self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.  The ESCI uses those four focus areas to help students understand how to use their own emotional and social competency to communicate more effectively, a must for aspiring doctors.

“Emotional intelligence has always been important, but lately it’s been more of a topic of discussion given how [health care] organizations are set up to be more interprofessional with people moving between teams constantly,” Dr. Quinn said.

Emotional intelligence is simply about understanding what’s happening and finding ways to mitigate the effects of certain emotions, she said.  This is one of the first steps to preventing burnout in medical school and in the profession of medicine.

“Medical school is a big lifestyle change.  Students come into a new setting and must develop new processes for how they retain lecture content and study. If we can give them the tools ahead of time to recognize the signs that things are starting to slip, it’s like training your brain what to do before it happens,” she said.  “We can combat burnout by being self-aware. The more aware our medical students are, the better doctors they are likely to become.”

Dr. Quinn is a sub-award principal investigator for an $880,000 grant recently awarded to Rochester Institute of Technology professor Casey Miller from the National Science Foundation INCLUDES program, a national program that seeks to boost efforts to create a more diverse workforce in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The parent award is an $8 million award, which is one of the NSF’s 10 Big Ideas for 2018.  Dr. Quinn is developing an assessment to gauge applicants’ behaviors related to emotional and social characteristics of successful PhD researchers, such as self-awareness, adaptability and grit.

“The short-term goal is to come up with a valid, reliable instrument that programs can use as part of their application process to assist in deciding which applicants they are going to accept into their PhD programs. Long term, I’d like to expand that into all professional degree programs,” she said.

With additional grant funding, she hopes to be able to focus her research to other professional degrees career paths including medical degrees, and Juris Doctorates, in addition to all PhD programs.

Photo by Fredrick J. Coleman, USF Health Communications and Marketing

As many as 88 percent of human trafficking victims in the United States interact with a health care professional. Yet these professionals’ ability to recognize the signs of human trafficking and intervene appropriately is hindered by a lack of training.

Now a new medical school curriculum to fill this training gap has been proposed and tested by researchers from the University of Louisville (UL), Harvard University and the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla.

USF Health’s Michelle Lyman

Michelle Lyman, an MD/MPH student in the SELECT program at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, joined faculty and staff from UL and Harvard in exploring the use of a patient simulation training module incorporated into the third year of medical school. Their research was published this month in the journal Medical Education Online.

The curriculum, known as the Medical Student Instruction in Global Human Trafficking, or M-SIGHT, was created by the UL School of Medicine to prepare students to recognize patients who may be victims of human trafficking and intervene on their behalf.  The Morsani College of Medicine has adopted this curriculum, and teaches Tampa Bay area-specific resources available for trafficked persons in the online learning module portion of the program.

M-SIGHT includes a standardized patient simulation case in which an adolescent patient presents with classic symptoms of a sexually transmitted disease as well as common characteristics of victims of human trafficking: poor eye contact, reluctance to communicate with the physician, inconsistencies in patient history, tattoos that could suggest branding and evidence of physical abuse. The simulation concludes with feedback from the standardized patient participant and documentation by the learner.

“The case was designed to expose future physicians to the complexity of human trafficking.  The simulation center provides a learning environment to explore uneasy feelings in difficult clinical scenarios and practice building trust,” Lyman said. “We, as health care professionals, are not here to merely tell patients that they must leave their trafficker. Rather, our aim should be giving them tools to be able to leave successfully, with their own self-reserve.”

The initial project was implemented over a 16-month period and the authors are now evaluating the data collected from the students. They plan to share an analysis of the curriculum’s effectiveness in the future.

For more about M-SIGHT, click here.

For Lyman’s medical student perspective on human trafficking, click here.

-Content from a University of Louisville news release contributed to this article.

MD program fully reaccredited, following approval of $17M to help build new facility downtown

Tampa. FL (June 30, 2015) — The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine’s MD program has been reaccredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) for the next eight years – the maximum period allowed.

This caps off a month of great news for the University of South Florida medical school. The reaccreditation follows the Governor’s approval last week of a state budget, which includes $17 million for the university to begin building its new Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM) facility in downtown Tampa, co-located with the USF Health Heart Institute.

A few of the MCOM faculty, staff and students involved in the LCME reaccreditation process. Clockwise from center: Dr. Bryan Bognar; Dr. Gretchen Koehler; Adriane Smith; Elizabeth Rogers, MS4; Casey Nagel, MS4; Harold Paul, MS4, Neil Manimala, MS4 (Medical Student Council President), Monique Konstantinovic, MS4 (co-president, Class of 2016), and Seema Martinez.

“We will continue to relentlessly pursue excellence in education, research and clinical care,” said Charles J. Lockwood, MD, senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine. “This positive LCME evaluation validates the progress we have made in modernizing our MD curriculum to prepare physicians to lead and practice in a rapidly changing, interdisciplinary health care system.”

The LCME accreditation is additional evidence of a medical school on the move, which is attracting more top prospective medical students to USF. A record number of 5,235 AMCAS applications – up 24 percent from last year – were received for the class of 175 students expected to enter MCOM this August. Additionally, the average Medical College Admission Test score, or MCAT, for the newly admitted students is up 7 percent from last year, which places the incoming class in the top quartile for average MCAT scores among medical schools ranked by U.S. News & World Report.

The LCME is the nationally-recognized accrediting authority for medical education programs leading to the MD degree in U.S. and Canadian schools. Accreditation shows that a medical school has met very rigorous national standards. Graduating from an LCME-accredited school is a condition for licensure in most states.

The LCME cited USF’s ongoing efforts to minimize medical student debt as a particular strength. Among Dr. Lockwood’s priorities since arriving at USF last year is reducing student debt by freezing tuition, as well as boosting the number of medical student scholarships. Scholarship and grant funding to help defray educational expenses for USF medical students increased 300 percent over the last seven years, and student debt rate remains below the national average for all LCME-accredited medical schools.

To prepare for the LCME’s site visit this past February, a team of more than 100 faculty, students and staff spent nearly two years conducting a self-study to help ensure MCOM met LCME standards and to guide institutional improvement.

Dr. Bryan Bognar is vice dean for Educational Affairs at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

“This successful outcome speaks volumes about our comprehensive and meticulous preparation,” said Bryan Bognar, MD, MPH, vice dean for Educational Affairs at MCOM. “It would not have been possible without the hard work, collaboration and dedication of our administration, faculty, staff and students, including our colleagues at the Lehigh Valley campus in Allentown and our incredible Tampa Bay area hospital and community partners.”

For the first time, the LCME reviewed USF Health’s MD SELECT Program – a new partnership with the nationally-recognized Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN). The innovative program, which graduated its first 16 students this spring, admits a group of medical students demonstrating a high level of emotional intelligence and leadership potential. It develops their skills in medical leadership, values-based, patient-centered care and health systems. Students take classes in Tampa for two years, then go to the USF Lehigh Valley campus in Pennsylvania for two years to focus on their clinical education.

“When you embrace the challenges and changes that arise when creating a groundbreaking program like SELECT, you expect to undergo a tough reaccreditation process. We prepared well for the scrutiny and passed,” said Robert Barraco, MD, associate dean for Educational Affairs at MCOM’s Lehigh Valley campus. “This is a huge victory for everyone, both on the USF Tampa campus and the Lehigh Valley campus. Even though we are 1,000 miles apart, there is no distance between us when it comes to working together to improve medical education.”

Dr. Robert Barraco is, associate dean for Educational Affairs at the USF Lehigh Valley campus, where medical students in the MD SELECT program conduct their clinical education.

The move to downtown Tampa is expected to make MCOM even more attractive to top medical student talent in the near future. Bringing together education, translational research and high quality patient care under one roof, it will place students within five minutes of the university’s world-class medical simulation and learning space (CAMLS) and Tampa General Hospital, where they conduct the majority of their clinical rotations.

“It’s a unique opportunity to bring USF Health closer to our primary teaching hospital, into what will be a thriving downtown waterfront district with tremendous appeal to students and faculty,” said Dr. Lockwood. “We look forward to being there well before our next LCME visit in 2023.”

-USF Health-
USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician’s Group. The University of South Florida is a global research university ranked 50^th in the nation by the National Science Foundation for both federal and total research expenditures among all U.S. universities. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu.

Media contact:
Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications
(813) 974-3303 or abaier@health.usf.edu

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

Eight years ago, Bryan Bognar, MPH, MD, was deep in the middle of preparing for reaccreditation for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. Committees, data collection, lengthy reports and in-depth self-study filled his days for nearly a year.

Today, Dr. Bognar is once again deep in the middle accreditation as the medical school prepares for its next site visit by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) early next year.  Although the familiarity makes for a faster learning curve, it won’t slow the pace or reduce the volume of work, said Dr. Bognar, who was recently named vice dean of the Office of Educational Affairs for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM).

“Having gone through the accreditation process is a tremendous advantage, but a lot has changed at MCOM since the last accreditation cycle,” said Dr. Bognar, who started the job March 3. “But the beauty of the LCME visit and associated preparation is that it offers us an opportunity to take a hard look in the mirror and see how we’re doing. What we discover is that there is a long list of strengths so it’s a chance to celebrate the things we are doing well. There also will be opportunities for improvement.”

The LCME reaccredited MCOM for a full eight years in 2007. Its decision for the next accreditation comes in 2015.

USF Health has had a number of new initiatives since Dr. Bognar left the Office of Educational Affairs roughly five years ago, including the College of Pharmacy, an expanded master’s program, shared student services (The Well) and the SELECT MD program. One of USF Health’s strong differentiators, Dr. Bognar said, is the ever-growing inter-professional education efforts across USF Health.

The LCME recognizes the importance of incorporating inter-professional education (IPE) experiences in students’ curriculum, Dr. Bognar said.

“IPE is a very important aspect of what makes USF Health unique,” he said. “Our students have a genuine thirst for knowledge for what other health professionals contribute to patient care. They need to come away with an appreciation of how the pieces fit together.”

His own clinical experiences will likely play into the IPE efforts at USF Health, for both the LCME visit and for the long term.

“I spent three and a half years practicing within a very interdisciplinary environment at Moffitt Cancer Center,” he said. “I’ve seen it affect patient outcomes in a very real way, on a day-to-day basis. It’s like an orchestra, with each health professional bringing their own expertise, experience, and perspective on what the patient needs are. The patient care plan that comes from that interaction is critical; when done well it works seamlessly.”

And with health care continually changing, the need for training in teams has never been greater, he said.

“There is a complexity of modern-day patient care and it requires flexible, interdisciplinary care models. The more and earlier we can expose students to that, the better.”

That attitude helps USF MCOM students see Dr. Bognar as a great asset, for both the impending LCME visit and for continued positive interactions with students.

“Medical students are ecstatic for his return,” said Neil Manimala, president of the MCOM Student Council. “Dr. Bognar’s dedication to the student body is incredible. When we met first met with him to better acquaint him with key student concerns right after he was selected, he was already aware of most of the developments that have happened since he left USF Health. He stayed with us for two and a half hours, making sure to gather details on the direction the students want our institution to be headed.  I have the utmost confidence that under his leadership, we’ll be on that student-centered track, and subsequently we’ll come out of the LCME re-accreditation process a stronger community.”

The confidence in Dr. Bognar to champion MCOM students carries through to the administration, as well. In his letter notifying students of Dr. Bognar taking the vice dean of education position, MCOM Interim Dean Harry van Loveren noted:

“I could not be happier that Dr. Bognar agreed to take on this new role. His teaching abilities are widely recognized and admired by our leadership, our faculty, and by you, our students. In fact, when I first broke the news to a few of your student leaders yesterday, their joy was palpable – as if they had won a prize. And I believe they have. Dr. Bognar knows and appreciates our history and culture. I am confident about his abilities to lead us through the upcoming accreditation process for the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. Dr. Bognar, who received an MPH from our own College of Public Health, also has a deep understanding of our cooperative and inter-professional culture across USF Health. Dr. Bognar has said that he’s ‘absolutely thrilled’ to be returning to Educational Affairs. He asked us to let you know that he will put his heart and soul into working with you again and making your educational experience the best that it can be.”

So what’s after LCME accreditation? Dr. Bognar is taking it one step at a time.

“We’re not starting anything new just yet,” he said, smiling. “We’re focusing on the things in front of us. We want ensure that the changes that have already been made have an opportunity to develop deep roots and are sustainable. So they bear fruit for years to come.”

Dr. Bognar earned his MD from the Indiana University of School of Medicine, a BSc from the University of Notre Dame, and an MPH from the USF College of Public Health. He is a former chief resident at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital and completed a two-year fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has received several teaching awards from USF and received the American College of Physicians – American Society of Internal Medicine Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award in 2002.

In 2009, Dr. Bognar was associate dean for undergraduate medical education and interim vice dean for the MCOM Office of Educational Affairs before transitioning to Moffitt Cancer Center, where he was Chair of Internal Medicine and maintained a faculty appointment with MCOM to continue teaching students and residents.

Reflecting on his path back to the Office of Educational Affairs, Dr. Bognar noted that his road was always on course for teaching.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to come back,” he said. “It is not only an honor to be able to take care of patients, but also to help educate others on how to take care of patients.”

Story by Sarah Worth, photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications. 

Be kind, work hard and be grateful were the words of advice presented to 166 second-year medical students as they formally entered their third year of medical school at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine’s annual Student Clinicians Ceremony, held Feb. 14.

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Friends and family shared in the event, which signifies the next step in medical education for these students – when they transition from what has been primarily classroom learning to more clinical and hospital settings where they will interact with patients.

Reflecting on what the students had already accomplished and the work in the years ahead, Steven Specter, PhD, associate dean for Student Affairs, urged students to remember the human side of medicine and asked the friends and families to help them remember.

Dr. Steven Specter

“I urge you all to ask your students what they think of the importance of humanism and patient-centered care,” Dr. Specter said.

Anthony DeSantis and Thomas Fowler each shared words of thanks and advice to their classmates and audience, reinforcing the combined strength of the two tracts in MD program.

DeSantis, who is in the Core MD Program, shared a story of when a faculty member made an effort to reassure students before a big exam, showing sincerity through both his pop-in after hours at their study sessions and his words that they would do fine. The gesture spoke volumes to DeSantis.

Anthony DeSantis

“You only go to one medical school, so you can constantly ask yourself if this is the right place, the right fit,” DeSantis said. “On the drive home that night, I told myself I was where I’m supposed to be.”

Fowler, who is in the SELECT MD Program, told his fellow students to look for signs of humanism.

“It’s a layer deeper than the machines we’ll use and the pills we’ll prescribe,” Fowler said, adding that they should all be kind and work hard.

“Be the doctor who helps a dad in the emergency room find a hotel room. Be the doctor who gives your cell phone number to a patient in case they have more questions. Have the kindness that’s not convenient. And don’t for a second underestimate the power of diligence.”

Frazier Stevenson, MD, senior associate dean of Undergraduate Medical Education reminded students of the change in the learning that’s to come.

“Up until now, it’s been about what you know,” Dr. Stevenson said. “But in this phase you will look at how you can apply what you know, how you share it with a team and apply it to your patients. You have worked to make yourself better, but now you’re able to bring that knowledge to other people, in a role to help people who desperately need it. You’re not shadowing. Now your knowledge is brought to bear for others, not so much for yourself.”

Providing the keynote address was Erika Abel, MD assistant professor of medicine and program director for the USF Health Internal Medicine/Pediatrics program. Taking an example from her own life, when her sister was diagnosed with a degenerative muscular disease, Dr. Abel spoke on the importance of bringing compassion and empathy when sharing bad news to families.

“Be the nice doctor,” Dr. Abel said. “Never be the doctors who says ‘go read a book about this’. And remember that it might not be the same day they need questions answered. It’s days after when they need help most.”

Providing the Humanism and Excellence in Teaching address was third-year student Trevor Lewis, who shared a poignant story of when truly listening to a patient made the difference in his patient’s limited life.

“Focus on what we have to do,” Lewis said. “It’s not about us. It’s about the patient.”

Six resident physicians were presented with Humanism and Excellence in Teaching Awards for their exceptional effort for inspiring students to be more. The exceptional teachers are Valerie Devanney, MD, Internal Medicine; Kimberly Goss, MD, Emergency Medicine; Noah Grams, MD, Pediatrics; Jaron Mark, MD, Obstetrics and Gynecology; Christian Robles, MD, Neurology; and Paul Toomey, MD, Surgery. The awards are provided by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, which also provides a grant that supports the Clinicians Ceremony.

Before leading the students in reciting the Oath of Commitment, Bryan Bognar, MD, MPH, FACP, professor of medicine, reminded the group to also be grateful.

Dr. Bryan Bognar

“You’re surrounded by folks who care,” said Dr. Bognar, who was recently named vice dean for the Office of Educational Affairs.

“You’ve all worked hard; I’ll give you that. But you’ve had support. And you’ll still need support.”

Then, putting into context the meaning of the oath, Dr. Bognar added “This oath is to help you remember the patient you are there for them. Not for you.”

With that, the Class of 2016 stood up and pledged to fulfill the principles of respect, ethics, compassion, professionalism and gratitude.

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Story by Sarah Worth, USF Health Office of Communications

Photos by Rebekah Wright, USF Health Morsani College of Medicine

As 2013 winds down and USF Health  moves into 2014,  we reflects on some highlights and accomplishments over the past year.

And, we look ahead in the New Year to renewing our commitment and efforts to improve life in the Tampa Bay area and around the world — through education, research, service and patient care.

The University of South Florida broke ground for its USF Health Heart Institute, a $50-million proposed facility that will combine advanced research and technology with the best cardiovascular care to benefit patients with heart disease, diabetes and stroke.  USF Health will continue working with governmental, hospital and community partners to make the institute a reality.

The USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS), the world’s largest freestanding center of its kind, passed its first year with more than 14,000 learners from all 50 states and more than 60 countries. CAMLS completed a feasibility study with Panama to build a CAMLS-like facility and is also exploring expanding its academic entrepreneurial business model to Brazil, Mexico and Lebanon.  Healthcare professionals and students aren’t the only beneficiaries of CAMLS’  leading-edge, extensive resources for simulated learning.   In December, the USF Health doctors at CAMLS teamed up with the Florida Aquarium to help diagnose an injured sea turtle, Freud.

The USF College of Nursing continued to attract international attention for its research and education to benefit veterans and service members.  Recently published research by a USF Nursing faculty team suggests accelerated resolution therapy (ART), a brief new therapy to ease symptoms of psychological trauma, may be an option for veterans who do not respond optimally to conventional therapies endorsed by the Department of Defense and VA.  The college began its fourth and largest ART study, which will recruit 200 veterans and service members to study the cost-effectiveness of the therapy and further examine how and why it works. The college also received the largest of nine federal grants to help veterans with healthcare skills earn a bachelor of science degree in nursing.

The Florida Covering Kids & Families program at the Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies, USF College of Public Health, this summer received the largest navigator grant in Florida – and second largest in the country.  The one-year $4.2-million federal grant to help eligible uninsured individual get health care through the Health Insurance Marketplace drew widespread media attention to the USF navigators and their partners statewide. National coverage included stories in the News York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Associated Press, TIME magazine, The Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, and the Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch.

The USF Health Diabetes Home for Healthy Living opened in August, ushering a new approach to diabetes care.  The new one-stop facility in the Westshore area of Tampa offers diabetes patients a relaxing, home-like environment with every aspect of care to successfully and proactively manage their chronic condition.  The medical home is the newest addition to USF’s leading research, education and clinical care initiatives making life better for those with chronic illnesses like diabetes.

USF President Judy Genshaft appointed Donna Petersen, ScD,  and Harry van Loveren, MD, interim leaders of USF Health after healthcare innovator Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and CEO of USF Health, was named to lead a prominent Philadelphia university and hospital system.   Dr. Petersen, dean of the USF College of Public Health, serves as interim CEO of USF Health, and Dr. van Loveren, chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, as interim dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, while the national search for USF Health’s next CEO and medical school dean continues.

The USF College of Pharmacy continued to advance on a fast track as it grows toward a projected complement of 400 students. The incoming College of Pharmacy Class of 2017 represented the largest class in the highly competitive school’s short history – with 107 students selected from among 800 applicants. This past summer the college — with an innovative, rigorous curriculum emphasizing a collaborative approach to patient care and research — was awarded accreditation status by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education.

The Doctors of USF Health campaign introduced this spring informed patients and families across the region that the region’s only academic medical center provides access to the most advanced health care available.  The brand identity linked to USF Health’s launch of a newly designed patient care website with access to nearly 400 highly specialized healthcare professionals.

The first class of USF SELECT students, having completed their first two years of learning at the Morsani College of Medicine, moved to Allentown, PA, to begin two years of clinical education at Lehigh Valley Health Network.  The innovative program, which welcomed its charter class in Fall 2011,  gives students unique training in leadership development, intense coaching, and the scholarly tools they need to become empathetic, passionate physician leaders who will be catalysts for change.

Construction began in March on the USF Health Specialty Care Center in The Villages, setting the stage for a new era and range of health care for residents of “America’s Healthiest Hometown,” the nation’s largest community of people over 55. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held Jan. 24, 2014, for the 25,000-square-foot facility, designed as a collaborative complement to The Villages’ expanding primary care network. USF Health doctors representing several specialties will provide high-level care at the new center,

A new master’s degree program in Physician Assistant Studies, based in the Morsani College of Medicine, was approved by the USF Board of Trustees in March 2013. The first class for the interprofessional, two-year PA program will start Summer 2015, initially accepting 24 students, with plans to increase that capacity. The program is an important step forward in addressing the state’s increasing shortage of primary care practitioners.

Tampa General Hospital approved a new long-term affiliation agreement with the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. The “evergreen” agreement automatically renews each year.  The strengthened partnership will help Tampa Bay’s only quaternary hospital and its only academic medical center to enhance what both institutions do best:  provide leading care for patients and teaching and training opportunities for residents and students.

The USF School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences and the University of West Florida announced a physical therapy partnership program that will offer a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree in Pensacola. The collaborative program, approved by the Florida Board of Governors in January 2013, will start in Summer 2014.  It will expand access to UWF students interested in pursuing a DPT and help meet a state-identified need for more physical therapists in a largely rural region of the state.  USF Physical Therapy also continues to lay the foundation for a new PhD program in Rehabilitation Sciences, which was approved by the USF Board of Trustees in December.

The USF College of Public Health greeted new students this fall with a record number of online offerings. Demand for the college’s online public health degree programs has exploded this year — with enrollment more than doubling since the middle of the last decade. The college’s advances in distance learning have been noted in the Guide to Online Schools, which uses data compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics to rank colleges with the best quality and most affordable online programs. USF Health is home to the nation’s first online master’s degree in health informatics and to seven online master’s degree programs in public health.

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

RELATED STORY:
Top 10 USF Health news and social media hits of 2013

Ron Swinfard, MD, president and CEO of Leigh Valley Health Network, presents USF SELECT MD student Kirk Chassey, with a lab coat during the May 6 orientation ceremony. The coats were presented to all 18 students arriving from USF to begin their two years of clinical education at LVHN.

 Click here for update on USF SELECT students at Lehigh Valley Health Network

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Holding his baby daughter in one arm, Keith O’Brien directs movers with the other arm toward boxes he needs loaded onto a truck.

He is one of 18 USF second-year medical students packing up their homes in Tampa to move to Allentown, PA, where they will spend the next two years in clinical rotations at the Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) as part of USF’s innovative SELECT (Scholarly Excellence. Leadership Experience. Collaborative Training) Program.

The program, which welcomed its charter class in Fall 2011, is part of the MD program at the USF Morsani College of Medicine. The specialized track gives SELECT students unique training in leadership development, intense coaching, and the scholarly tools they need to become empathetic, passionate physician leaders who will be catalysts for change.

USF partnered with LVHN for the SELECT program to combine key strengths of both institutions: USF Health is known for its patient-centric, innovative medical curriculum and Lehigh Valley is recognized as one of the best community hospital systems in the nation.

While the entire Class of 2015 is transitioning into third-year clinical rotations – a shift from predominately classroom work into patient exam rooms – these 18 SELECT students are the first to make a 1,100-mile move to begin that transition.

1,100-Mile Journey

O’Brien and his wife Patty are moving with their 4-month-old daughter Claire. For this new family, the move to Pennsylvania is a bit of a homecoming.

“We’re from New York and both Patty and I went to school in Lafayette (PA), which is only about 10 minutes from Allentown,” O’Brien said. “Needless to say, our parents are thrilled we’re coming back, especially the baby. It will be nice to be near family.”

It’s a road back home for Emma Webb, as well.

“Our family is so excited we’re coming back,” said Webb, whose husband Mustafa and 6-year-old daughter Samantha are going, too. “They were pretty upset that I was taking their granddaughter away for two years.”

Emma Webb and daughter Samantha pack up toys they’re taking to Allentown.

 Aresh Ramin is also going home.

“I truly enjoyed my time in Tampa, but I look forward to going back,” said Ramin, who is from Boston and worked at LVHN between undergraduate school and medical school.

Aresh Ramin packs his apartment before hitting the road north.

But for some of the 18, the trip means leaving home.

“We’re looking at it as a great adventure,” said Alexandra Printz, who grew up mostly in Florida and earned her bachelor’s degree from USF. She is moving to Allentown with husband George and their two children, 6-year-old Ari and 4-year-old Vaughn. “This will be a big move for all of us, but especially for the kids, who have only lived here. But they have a bit of a transition themselves. They will spend most of the summer with their grandparents and dad George in Sarasota and go to summer camps before they make the move to Allentown.”

Alexandra Printz, who grew up in Florida, is moving with her  family to Allentown.

Frontline for Medical Education

The charter class of SELECT is embarking on the first program of its kind to train future physician leaders, a milestone that is front and center for Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, CEO of USF Health and dean of the USF Morsani College of Medicine.

“All of our USF Health students are unique,” Dr. Klasko said. “These 18 pioneers are willing to go where no medical students have gone before… where their clinical training is over a thousand miles away and their curriculum is based on the transformations of a very different healthcare future.  They are the inaugural group of students helping us blaze the trail for the new medical education model, for the new way doctors will be taught and trained. This is how medical education is changing, and they are innovators, pacesetters, and leaders.”

SELECT student O’Brien is also keenly aware of the distinction.

“It’s a special feeling about what they’re doing,” O’Brien said. “There is something so unique about this program. The training, the extra effort taken to provide the experiences that will make us strong leaders. I appreciate the extra effort. The way we’re training doctors is changing and the SELECT program is on the front of the curve of that change.”

Ramin agrees.

“SELECT truly changed my life and is helping me grow,” said Ramin, who worked in LVHN as a nurse’s aide when he heard about the SELECT program at the employee orientation session, and didn’t hesitate applying. “I’m getting experiences that all medical students get, but SELECT goes beyond just the medical aspect. I’m learning about leadership, the healthcare system, and patient-centered care.”

And so does Sasha Yakhkind.

“What I’ve enjoyed about SELECT is that they ask for our ideas and opinions for how things are going because it’s so new,” Yakhkind said. “It’s an honor to give feedback, to be heard.”

New Beginnings

It’s been a quick two years for the medical students in the SELECT program. Beyond the packing, the trip to Allentown is about new beginnings. Common among all  the students are feelings of nervousness and excitement.

“It’s a surprise and surprises are good,” Ramin said. “It will be a totally different experience being out of classroom and in patient situations. But I’ll see all of my friends again and have all of my friends from Tampa. It will be a different chapter.”

“I’m super, super excited for the clinical aspect of it,” Yakhkind said. “Allentown is more rural than Tampa. But we’re a train ride away from New York City. And I’ll miss some of my closest friends, fellow medical students who are staying here in Tampa.”

“It’s a brave new world,” Printz said. “It’s an incredible experience to be connected to two incredible institutions.”

“The two years really go quickly,” O’Brien said. “And now it’s ‘Wow! This is really happening.’  We all just get the feeling Allentown is going to roll out the red carpet for us.”

And what’s in store when they get to Allentown?  This Monday morning, May 6, the SELECT inaugural class will be welcomed to Allentown by Dr. Ronald Swinfard, president and CEO of Lehigh Valley Health Network. The students will meet the LVHN clinical faculty and be presented with new white coats that they will wear over the next two years of their clinical education.

New Traditions

As a charter group, the SELECT students are forming traditions for the next generation to follow. For this move north, current first-year SELECT students helped second-year students (soon to be third-year students), pack up.

 First-year medical students helped the Printz family load for their move to Allentown. Standing in the truck are Kirk Chassey and Alexandra Printz. On the ground,  are from left, Mary Kate Erdman, Neil Manimala, Samson Lu, Joe Stidham (top), Rachel Fieman (bottom), and Tom Fowler.

Charter USF SELECT MD students with Alan Otuski, MD,(far left), associate dean of educational affairs for SELECT, and LVHN President and CEO Ron Swinfard, MD (far right). The students will spend their third and fourth years of medical school at LVHN doing classroom study, medical simulations, regular hospital rotations and primary care practice assignments.

Story by Sarah A. Worth, photos by Eric Younghans and Klaus Herdocia, USF Health Office of Communications.

Even the routine tasks for people with diabetes can be a challenge – as medical students in the SELECT program at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine are now learning.

SELECT students agreed Thursday to take the “Bringing Science Home Diabetes Challenge.” They’ll carry a blood sugar monitor with them for the next 24 hours, check their blood sugar every few hours, respond to text messages about their diabetes and keep a journal on their experience.

SELECT student Emma Qureshey gets some help testing her blood sugar.

Students soon realized that even the basic step of sticking a finger and collecting enough blood to test their glucose level is harder than it looks. Several students needed help to set up the monitors and advice on how to squeeze out more blood.

“We all thought it would be kind of easy,” said Jennifer Chevinsky. “And now we’ve already spent 10 minutes trying to figure out how to check our blood. So I think we’ll gain a good amount of perspective by the end.”

The challenge is sponsored by Bringing Science Home, the USF Health program established to help people with chronic diseases live more optimistic lives. SELECT (Scholarly Excellence, Leadership Experiences, Collaborative Training) is a two-year old partnership with the Lehigh Valley Health Network that emphasizes developing emotional intelligence skills and leadership abilities for tomorrow’s physician leaders.

Nicole Johnson, executive director of Bringing Science Home, and high school student Emma Donahue talk with SELECT students.

SELECT program students sat down Thursday to hear from Nicole Johnson, executive director of Bringing Science Home, and several students and family members associated with the program.

“My mom said right from the get-go I have to check my blood sugar before I get in the car,” high school student Emma Donahue, who has diabetes, told the group. She knows that if her blood sugar drops, it may impair her driving ability.

Donahue always keeps her car stocked with snacks and extra testing supplies, just in case.  She also told the group about the challenges of controlling her blood sugar and participating on her high school swim team – an issue that struck close to home for some of the SELECT students.

“I was a swimmer in high school, and swimmers get light-headed,” said SELECT student Emma Qureshey. “We used to eat Jell-O packs between races – and that’s with normal blood sugar.”

That kind of understanding is exactly what Johnson is aiming for. USF graduate psychology students are also participating, and Johnson plans to sign up other student groups for the “Diabetes Challenge” as well.

Emma Donahue talks about living with diabetes.

Johnson told the SELECT students Thursday that she knows three separate instances of high school teachers mistaking an insulin pump for a cell phone and trying to confiscate it – pulling the pump right out of the student’s body.

There are scarier possibilities as well. People with diabetes – and their family members – worry especially night time lows, which can be deadly if they don’t wake up. They are especially dangerous for young adults, who may not live with someone who can check on them.

“You’ll be getting one day in our shoes,” she told the group.

Learn more about Bringing Science Home at www.bringingsciencehome.com

Follow @LisaGwrites

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A Children’s Garden of Verses came to life earlier this month when USF medical students helped young students at the USF Patel Partnership Elementary School plant Earth Box gardens filled with edible delights.

USF Medical students Mia Djulbegovic, Tom Fowler (and April Pearson in background) with students and one of their completed gardens.

 The project, coordinated by Morsani College of Medicine students and co-sponsored by the USF student chapter of the American Medical Association, The Wellness Council, and the Student Physicians for Social Responsibility, provided a tangible product for the content the kindergartners, first- and second-graders are learning in the classroom, said Alexandra Printz, a second-year medical student who helped organize the event and a parent of one of the first graders at USF Patel Partnership Elementary.

“They have been studying nutrition, making healthy choices, and the origin of our food, so these gardens help bring that content to life for them,” Printz said. “And conversations on these same topics could likely continue long after this morning’s work.”

Sean Spence guides a group of students.

 The morning-long project included lots of helping hands and donated materials from Home Depot and Bonnie Plants, along with critical advice from experts at the USF Botanical Garden.

Medical students Sean Spence (standing), Trisha Dinh, Elizabeth Ciaravine, and Danya Loutfi prepare the take-home plants.

 Large containers, usually associated with storage, were filled with soil and lined up under shade trees. Small gloved hands held trowels to carefully pry young plants out from their small crates and plant them in the prepared containers, which are actually two containers: a smaller one nested in a larger one. This set-up allows for a water reservoir in the bottom container that continually nourishes the plants and needs little maintenance, providing a sustainable, hydroponic planter.

First-grader Ari Printz prepares to build a garden.

 “I have a garden at home,” one first grader announced as she waited for her turn to plant some collards, one of the more popular choices made by the young students for their planters.

Other plants included peas, red lettuce, Bibb lettuce, broccoli, crookneck squash, arugula lettuce, cabbage, jalapeno, green bell pepper, and string beans.

 The medical students took the lead for the project, relieving the teachers from adding more to their already full plates.

“We didn’t’ want to burden the teachers at all with this project so no teacher had to do anything other than bring their class to the playground,” Printz said. “And the project helped the teachers to have conversations with their students about nutrition and making healthy choices.”

“The project has opened up a whole new world for the students,” said Patricia Shields, a first-grade teacher at USF Patel Partnership Elementary. “On a daily basis they are eager and enthusiastic to see the changes the plants are making. We are all so very grateful to have had the USF medical students take such a great lead of this project.”

First-year med student Danya Loutfi takes the lead for prepping the take-home plants with Alexandra Printz (standing).

 The project also benefitted the medical students aiming to serve the community, said Sean Spence, a second-year medical student who helped organize the day.

“Our aim was to identify a need and to have an impact, and this project was perfect for that,” Spence said. “From idea and concept to planning and grant writing to going to the school and getting our own hands dirty, this project was a great success. And our work will continue, as they build the project into their health and science curriculum, we will continue to volunteer.”

In addition to the planting supplies, Home Depot also donated another hands-on project for the young students: a mini whiteboard. Home Depot volunteers, medical students, and even the school principal, Keith Laycock, guided the students along as they built the whiteboard using hammers, brads, and screwdrivers.

Patel Elementary Principal Keith Laycock guides a student building her white board.

 The container gardens remain at the school so that the students can track their growth, keep them watered, watch for insects and stake the climbing green beans. As a prize for their hard work on this planting day, each student was able to take home a single plant of their choice, a gesture that bridged their project from school to home and continues the conversation about healthy choices.

“The idea is to keep them thinking about making healthy choices throughout their day,” Printz said. “And the hope is that healthy choices will become second nature to them.”

It’s another year of firsts and breaking records for the colleges and programs at USF Health.  Both Pharmacy and SELECT welcomed their second group of students, each more than last year’s charter classes. And both Nursing and Public Health added programs that broadened their reach to more students.

The buzz of the first day is on!

The following are some of this year’s statistics for USF’s Health incoming students.

College of Nursing
Several milestones welcomed students joining the USF College of Nursing this fall: The school admitted 190 students to its revolutionary new RN to BS program, the highest number ever admitted in a single semester; this summer marked the College reaching a total of 8,000 degrees it has granted at all levels since opening in 1975; and the College has created a first-of-its-kind Introduction to Military and Veteran Health course open to interdisciplinary students in Fall 2012.

New and returning students take a break in a College of Nursing gathering space.

 As for the incoming group of students: there are 537 starting this fall, with 120 in its core bachelor’s degree program, 190 in the new RN to BS program, 180 in its master’s program, 30 in the nurse anesthesia program (based at USF Health’s highly innovative Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation), 5 in the PhD program, and 12 in the doctorate of nursing practice program.

New baccalaureate nursing students started classes with Go Bulls!

College of Pharmacy
 USF Health’s youngest college welcomed its second cohort of students, which boasts 13 more students than in last year’s charter class to the USF College of Pharmacy. This year’s group of 66 includes 48 percent men and 52 percent women.

College of Public Health
The USF College of Public Health welcomed nearly 700 students this fall: 254 in its undergraduate program, 404 to its masters programs and 38 to its doctoral programs.

This record-breaking increase is attributed mostly to the College’s innovative online courses. This fall boasts 75 online courses (seven of which are new), with 33 graduate-level courses and 42 undergraduate-level courses. In addition, nine of the College’s 23 graduate certificates are completely online, and some master’s degree programs are all online.

The increased reach means that USF’s College of Public Health now has more than 3,700 students enrolled in its online courses.

Read more…

College of Public Health students enjoy some fresh air between classes on their first day.

 Morsani College of Medicine
USF’s medical school has once again admitted its highest number of students, with 164 future physicians. Helping to push that total up is the second group of the school’s SELECT MD program, a partnership program of the USF Morsani College of Medicine and Lehigh Valley Health Network.  This year’s group includes 120 in USF’s core MD program and 44 in the SELECT MD program (last year’s SELECT charter class had 19 students). Of the total group, 57 percent are men and 43 percent are women.

First day also meant pizza for these medical students.

School of Biomedical Sciences
 The Morsani College of Medicine PhD program is also breaking some records. The USF School of Biomedical Sciences attracted its highest number of applicants – having increased by 40 percent in the past two years – and the 20 new students joining this fall boast the School’s highest average GRE score. In addition, the School was able to secure partial or complete external (to the MCOM through USF Presidential, University Graduate and National Science Foundation fellowships) funding for nearly half of this year’s group, again a record high. The students represent all four regions of the U.S. (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, West) and five countries outside the U.S.

School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences
 The USF School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences welcomed its Class of 2015, 40 students, with 28 women and 12 men. Seventy percent are from within Florida, while 30 percent are from throughout the Southeast and Midwest.

The first day has to include a run to the USF Health Bookstore.