Pulse

December 13, 1999 PULSE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER Regents Approve Masters Degree for PA Program A master's degree in Physician Assistant (PA) Studies, approved recently by the Utah State Board of Regents, will replace the certificate program offered for the last 28 years through the Family and Preventive Medicine Department. The PA master's degree will require additional course work in research design and biostatistics and a master's project. The two- year master's program will begin with the autumn 2000 semester. According to Donald M. Pedersen, Ph. D., PA- C, program director, it is estimated that by 2007 all PA programs will offer the master's degree to their graduates. More than 500 students have received PA certificates from the U. Seventy percent of these graduates work in primary care, 40 percent are in rural communities and, during the past three years, 20 percent have come from underrepresented populations. When the PA program began in the mid- 1960s, the applicant pool was exclusively returning medics from the Vietnam War. Now, the majority of successful candidates have undergraduate degrees and, in many cases, advanced degrees. " Applicants continue to come to us with extensive, varied experience. They are nurses, paramedics, pharmacists, physical therapists, respiratory therapists and other allied health professionals," Pedersen said. " The change in the credential awarded is significant for our students. We will hold to our mission of providing primary health care services to underserved populations, and will continue our fine track record of placing graduates in areas of need," he said. New University Guest House Offers Hotel Services Close to Health Sciences Brad Hunsaker, front desk supervisor, shows off a room at the new University Guest House. Located near Chapel Glen in Fort Douglas, the facility's 136 rooms are available for university- sponsored guests including visiting faculty, students and patients. Room rates range from $ 64 a night for a king bed, to $ 105 a night for a two- room suite. Extended-stay rates ( seven or more days) also are available. Each room features a refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, voice mail, data access, television, radio and iron. In addition, the hotel has four meeting rooms, three conference rooms and a reception area which can accommodate from six- 100 people. For more information, visit www. guesthouse. com or call X7- 1000. CDUS Courses Start in Jan. Two courses on university resources, sponsored by the U's Career Development for University Secretaries ( CDUS), will begin next month. Course topics will include computers, human resources, purchasing, travel, the U's organi-zational structure, and conflict resolution. A course for hospital employees will be held on Thursday afternoons, from 1- 4 p. m., in the Moran Eye Center's first- floor training room. Classes will begin Jan. 13 and run through March 16. The course for non- hospital employees will be held on Tuesday mornings from 9 a. m.- noon, in the Human Resources training room, located in the Annex Building, room 1003. The course runs from Jan. 18- March 21. For more information or to register, contact Myrna at xl- 5469. The $ 35 registration fee includes a reference manual and materials. Cl PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER Book on Domestic Violence Dedicated to Med Student Domestic violence is a tidy term for some messy situations- verbal and physical abuse, hitting, hurting, raping, even killing. Nationwide, more than four million people are battered by their spouses every year. Nearly 40 percent of all married people murdered each year die at the hands of their spouse. One in five visits by women to hospital emergency rooms is because their partner has battered them. The stories of some of these women are told in " Surviving Domestic Violence: Voices of Women Who Broke Free," a new book by Elaine Weiss, Ed. D., clinical associate professor of family and preventive medi-cine. The book is dedicated to Heather Belsey, 30, a U medical student who was stabbed to death by her husband on October 7, 1998. In the book's foreword, Michael K. Magill, M. D., professor and chair of family and preventive medicine, recalls that Heather was " tall, bright- eyed, relaxed.. . her caring and eagerness to serve filled the room None of us imagined the danger she would soon face at home." In an afterword to the book, Leigh Neumayer, M. D., director of the Utah Women's Health Initiative and assistant professor of surgery, says that " domestic violence is not just a problem of the poor, the uneducated, or at least the unassertive.... Most women who read this book will discover that they share at least one or two of the characteristics of the women who shared their stories with Dr. Weiss." The book is published by Agreka Books and is available at bookstores or can be ordered online at www. agreka. com. Army Reserve Visits UH in Honor of Veterans Day Members of the U. S. Army Reser\> e's 328' h Field Hospital demonstrated their versatility last month by setting up a mobile surgical unit at University Hospital in honor of Veterans Day. The field hospital can be up and running anywhere in the world in 72 hours, according to members of the group. The unit is looking for doctors, nurses, technicians, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals. For more information, call 1- 800- 348- 0037. Reservists who visited University Hospital included: ( back row) Sgt. Buck, Major Stephenson, ( middle row) Spec. Blackburn, Capt. Carter, Capt. Maxwell, Sgt. Mecham, Spec. Morgan, ( front row) Staff Sgt. Knighton and Major Clarkson. Upcoming Health Events State employees insured by the Public Employees Health Plan ( PEHP) and Aldus are invited to bring their families for a free comprehensive health assessment on Tuesday, Jan. 11 from 9 a. m.- 4 p. m. in the hospital's Perinatal Conference Room ( room 2400, UHOSP). The 30- minute appointments will include body composition, cholesterol, lifestyle, and nutrition assessments, as well as diabetes and cardiovascular disease screenings. The assessments will be conducted by staff from Healthy Utah. To schedule an appointment, call 538- 6261. State employees not insured by the companies can schedule an assessment for a fee. Slim for Life, a program of the American Heart Association, will be offered at University Hospital beginning Tuesday, Jan. 18, at 1: 30 p. m. in the Hope Chapel. The 10- week, nutrition education and weight management program promotes healthy lifestyle changes in diet and exercise, and helps participants achieve and maintain a desireable weight. The course costs $ 60 with a $ 10 rebate for future classes if participants achieve their weight goal. To register, call Lynn at 484- 4448. Women and Smoking Women who exercise vigorously while trying to quit smoking are twice as successful as smokers who don't work out regularly, a new study finds. The Brown University report also offers good news to female smokers who fear that giving up tobacco and nicotine will lead to weight gain. Researchers found that women who worked out as they tried to quit gained only about half the weight of those who did not exercise- courtesy of Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah. Continuing a Family Tradition Merle Reed ( far left) and Charmayne Packer, R. N., ( far right) recently accepted 85 quilts donated to 2North by Keri Holding, John Denlinger, Jason and Jackie Rusch, Reva Holding, and Kelly Schulte. This is the 21" year that Denlinger and his family have purchased quilts at the Festival of the Trees and then donated them to the unit. The quilts are distributed throughout the year to low-income mothers on the unit. Winter Weather Walking Tips As winter weather comes to Utah, Jeff Throckmorton, UH industrial hygienist, reminds employees that the most dangerous part of their commute can be the walk from their car to the hospital. To avoid slipping or falling on ice or snow, he encourages employees to be AWARE. • Be Alert and concentrate on the surroundings around you as you walk. • Wear the right shoes for the weather. Accidents can be prevented by wearing nonslip winter footwear. • Anticipate unsafe conditions. Ice and snow can freeze on painted and smooth surfaces. • Relax if falling and try to roll into the fall. Catching oneself with outstretched hands can cause severe hand injuries. • Entrances and exits are where many injuries occur, check the surface before stepping on it. Think through the implications of stepping onto a smooth warm surface with a shoe covered in ice and snow. Medical Informatics Graduate Student Wins First Place in Paper Competition Wendy Webber Chapman, a medical informatics graduate student, was named first place winner in the student paper competition during the recent interna-tional conference of the American Medical Informatics Association ( AMIA) in Washington D. C. Fifty eight student papers were accepted for the competition. Chapman, who holds a bachelor's degree in linguistics from the U of U, will receive her doctorate this spring. The paper, " Comparing Expert Systems for Identifying Chest X- ray Reports that Support Pneumo-nia," was co- authored by Marcelo Fiszman, M. D. and Peter J. Haug, M. D. The group, which does research in natural language processing ( NLP) at LDS Hospital, compared the performance of three computerized methods in identi-fying chest x- ray reports that support acute bacterial pneumonia. The three methods differed by how much expert knowledge was needed to create them. Methods created by experts performed equivalently to four physicians and were more accurate than the method that created rules from data. Output from the systems will be stored on the hospital information system and used by computerized decision- support systems, such as the Antibiotic Assistant, which helps physicians select antibiotics for patients, Chapman said. To request snow and ice removal from road and walkways call Campus Grounds, xl- 5358. For snow and ice removal from parking lots call Parking Services, xl- 6415 U Professor Eyes U. S. Olympic Trials Caroline Owen. Ph. D., assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, finished October's St. George Marathon in two hours, 47 minutes. The time qualified her for the United States Olympic Marathon Trials on Feb. 26, in Columbia, South Carolina. She will be among the top 150 female marathoners in the country competing for three spots on the U. S. Olympic team. Faculty and Staff Making News... Marc E. Babitz, M. D., associate professor of family and preventive medicine, recently received a " distin-guished service" award from the Junior League of Salt Lake City. The award cites his work in coordinating the medical school's involvement in the league's annual Care Fair. Over the past four years, volunteer faculty and medical students have provided more than 2,000 physical exams for uninsured children and adults at the fair. David M. Compton, Ed. D., professor of parks, recreation and tourism in the College of Health, has received the Society of Park and Recreation Educators " Distinguished Fellow Award." The honor is the most prestigious award given by the organization and recognizes " truly exceptional individuals who have a history of significant contributions in the field of park, recreation and tourism scholarship and education." Sandi Martin, R. N., director of Community Outreach and Volunteer Services, was quoted on the front page of the Dec. 2 issue of The Wall Street Journal in a story about the use of Reading Education Assis-tance Dogs ( READ) at the Salt Lake City Public Library to help children improve their literacy skills. Martin, who is on the board of directors for Inter-mountain Therapy Animals, developed the program. Martin also was invited to speak at last month's annual meeting of Sigma Theta Tau, a nursing honor society, about pet visitation for hospital patients. A former critical care nurse, Martin helped develop the hospital's pet visitation policy in 1990. John H. Weiss, M. D., professor of pathology, has been invited to serve as a member of the Allergy and Immunology Study Section, Center for Scientific Review at the National Institutes of Health ( NIH). Study sections review grant applications submitted to the NIH, make recommendations to NIH national advisory councils and survey the status of research in their fields of science. He will serve a four- year term. The staff in Radiation Oncology recently raised $ 195 for the Salt Lake Mission to provide meals for 125 people on Thanksgiving. The two- day fundraising drive was coordinated by Mariana Joiner, R. N. Locals Schools Bring Holiday Music Hospital volunteer Millie Hagen has arranged for student vocal groups from East, Highland, West, Taylorsville, Olympus, Skyline, and Granite high schools to perform at University Hospital over the next three weeks. The groups will perform holiday songs in patient care areas, including intensive care units, with the permission of the charge nurse. For more information, contact Hagen, 581- 1562. Holiday Decorating Finalists Named The 16 finalists for this year's Holiday Department Decorating Contest have been selected from the 42 departments that entered. The six winners will be announced at the Holiday Social this Thursday in the cafeteria, from 2- 4 p. m. and 10- 11 p. m. Finalists include: Pulmonary Services, Performance Monitoring and Improvement, Neuro Critical Care, Emergency Department, Graduate Medical Education, Volunteer Services, Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, Madsen Preventive Cardiology, Radiation Oncology, Environmental and Linen Services, Pediatric Dialysis, Moran Surgery, Telecommunications, Rehabilitation Services Therapy Office, 2East, Human Resources, Preregistration, and 2North. Need a Year- end Tax Deduction? The festive brochures that faculty and staff have been receiving via campus mail over the last month are part of the U's annual Family Fund Appeal. This year's special sesquicentennial letter, signed by co- chairs Penny Brooke, J. D., associate professor and assistant dean in the College of Nursing, and Gene Fitzgerald, Ph. D., professor of languages, encourages faculty and staff to consider making a gift to help ring in the U's 150th birthday. Family Fund gifts can be directed to all areas of campus and provide the additional support the U needs to maintain its standards of excellence. Last year's Family Fund raised nearly $ 1.5 million. The U's annual Campaign for Our Community has almost reached its goal of raising $ 280,000 for community service agencies, including those associated with Community Health Charities, Community Shares/ Utah and United Way of the Great Salt Lake Area. There is still time to turn in campaign pledge forms which were mailed to employees in October. For more information, contact Bill Barnhart, xl- 5849 UH Offers Protestant Sunday Service The hospital's Pastoral Care Advisory Council now sponsors a Protestant worship service on Sundays at 2 p. m., in the hospital's second- floor Hope Chapel. Representatives from various local churches will take turns leading the services. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints sponsors a sacrament meeting every Sunday at 10: 30 a. m. in the chapel. A weekly Roman Catholic Mass in the chapel also is being planned, watch Pulse for more details. Volunteers ' Jewelry Sale This Week University Hospital's volunteers are sponsoring a jewerly sale in the cafeteria this Monday- Wednesday. A portion of all proceeds are donated back to the hospital.