The Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Children’s National is sponsoring a one-day workshop, “Using Controlled Terminologies in Health Data Analysis,” on Tuesday, Dec. 3 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Gelman Library Room 101. Seyed Miran, Stuart Nelson, and Yijun Shao of the Biomedical Informatics Center (BIC) are leading the workshop. They will review the major terminologies used in health sciences and provide an opportunity to work through common problems that arise in data analysis. ICSs, CPT, SNOMED-CT, LOINC, RxNorm, and MeSH will be reviewed. Clinicians, researchers, and graduate students are welcome. Lunch will be provided. Register here. For more information, contact ssalazar@gwu.edu.
Category: All Posts
HCOP Award
GW was named Distinguished Academic Partner for 2019 by NOVA Foundation for our Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP). Reamer Bushardt, professor and senior associate dean, accepted the award from Russ Ramsey, former chair of the GW Board of Trustees, at a dinner and awards ceremony Nov. 13 in Falls Church, Virginia. The honor recognized GW Health Sciences for its leadership in health professions education, commitment to living its social mission, and partnerships across the Commonwealth to advance statewide health workforce priorities. Attendees included leaders from across Virginia business, higher education, and government sectors, such as Virginia Gov. Ralph S. Northam and Senate Minority Leader Richard L. Saslaw in the Virginia House of Delegates. During the event, Anne M. Kress was also honored as the incoming president of Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC). The strong collaboration between GW and NVCC was lauded as an exemplar of public-private partnerships that make a positive difference for students in Virginia. HCOP, supported through a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), provides an array of stipends, scholarships, mentoring, and career counseling to students from economically and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds who are interested in health careers. Besides Bushardt, who is the principal investigator on the HRSA grant, the HCOP team includes others from HS: Marcia Firmani, Catherine Golden, Blake Harrison, Joyce Maring, Carmen Session, Maranda Ward, and Maggie Zhu. Co-investigators also include Alison Hall (SMHS Research Workforce Development), GSEHD faculty Russ Korte, and Ellen Scully. Firmani is with the Department of Biomedical Laboratory Sciences (BLS); Golden, Harrison, Session, and Zhu are all with HS Administration; Maring is with the Department of Health, Human Function and Rehabilitation Sciences (HHFR); and Ward is with the Department of Clinical Research and Leadership (CRL).
Message from the Senior Associate Dean
My wife, children, and I recently attended a community event focused on food insecurity and hunger issues within Virginia. Many volunteers came together around this important issue, representing diverse sectors like business, local government agencies, community volunteer organizations, churches, and others. One of the speakers, who shared a personal story of homelessness and hunger, offered a surprising message that has stuck with me. He talked about one of his former high school teachers that made a positive impact on his life. He said this teacher was one of the few people in his life that offered him care and support, and her encouragement had helped sustain him even during the most difficult times in his life. He then directed the crowd to think about someone who had made an impact in our lives, encouraged us to pen a note or craft an email to let them know. To honor his request, let me first say “thank you” to each of you for your dedication to your work, our students, and the important scholarly work we do in Health Sciences. I am inspired by the talent, altruism, and passion that HS faculty and staff display every day. Thinking more about the speaker's comments, did you know that one in three college students in the U.S. experiences food insecurity, among numerous other life stressors that disproportionately impact collegiates? Did you know that food insecurity is higher than the national average at GW? A 2018 report revealed nearly 40 percent of GW students face food insecurity, at its highest rates are among graduate students. As we near Thanksgiving, let us remember the important roles we play in the lives of our students–from supporting their academic success to serving as caring advisors who they can trust with their aspirations and personal challenges alike. We can make a positive difference in their lives, and how we engage them can have lasting beneficial effects. Every day, I see HS faculty and staff advocating for our students, and this is a part of the HS culture that I am particularly proud of this holiday season. Thank you for all that you do for GW Health Sciences. I wish you and your families a happy, healthy holiday season.
PAEA Presenters
Three faculty members from PA Studies made presentations at the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) 2019 Education Forum held in Washington, D.C., earlier this month. Susan LeLacheur presented, “Genomics and Precision Medicine - More than Skin Deep.” Tamara Ritsema gave two presentations: “Barriers/Facilitators to Integration of British PAs into Hospital Services” and “A Novel Method to Identify Aberrant Patient Logging.” Karen Wright and LeLacheur presented “Reevaluating Student Evaluations.” LeLacheur is professor, Ritsema is assistant professor, and Wright is assistant dean of student life and academic support, director of the PA Program, and assistant professor in PA Studies.
PT Service
This year marked the fifth year that the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program participated in PT Day of Service and the third year for helping with the Days for Girls project. Ninety people, including PT students and alumni from GW and Howard University and faculty and friends of the programs, took part in the event. The volunteers' work helped create 50 sustainable feminine hygiene kits, which will aid girls in South Sudan so they can remain in school during their monthly menstrual cycle. Special thanks to Holly Jonely, assistant professor in the Department of Health, Human Function and Rehabilitation Sciences (HHFR) and associate director of the DPT program, who helped organize the event.
Health Equity Pt. 3
The next event in the professional development series on health equity takes place Thursday, Nov. 14 from 10 to 11 am in Ross Hall 116. “How to Address Root Causes of Health Disparities in Teaching & Research” will be presented by Karey M. Sutton, PhD, director of Health Equity Research Workforce with the Association of American Medical Colleges. The session will address how to move beyond the traditional disease-focused approach to health disparities teaching and research to include an analysis of populations and interactions among cross-cutting inequities. Maranda Ward, assistant professor in CRL, has organized the five-part series that runs through January 2020. CRL is sponsoring the series. To attend, register here.
Prison Terminal
The VSTC Health Professions Film Series is featuring two screenings of Prison Terminal, a documentary about the aging prison population and a hospice run by inmates at Iowa State Penitentiary. The film's director, Edgar Barens, will lead a discussion following the showings that take place Wednesday, Nov. 13 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm in Ross Hall 101 and Thursday, Nov. 14 from 4 pm to 6 pm on the GW Virginia Science and Technology Campus, Innovation Hall 105. WebEx will be available for both screenings. Please RSVP. Lisa Schwartz, associate professor with BLS, and Newton Kendig, clinical professor of medicine and director of the Correctional Health Administration Program in CRL, organized the event, which is open to all faculty, staff, students, and alumni of SMHS.
Tops at PAEA
Congratulations to Howard Straker and Reamer Bushardt for new positions with the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA). Straker received a ceremonial gavel at the PAEA 2019 Education Forum Business Meeting earlier this month. He will begin his term as PAEA president in January 2020. Bushardt won election as a director-at-large. His three-year term also starts in January. Lisa Alexander was recognized at the meeting for her leadership and service as immediate past president of PAEA. Straker is assistant professor in PA Studies, director of the PA/MPH Joint Degree Program, and assistant professor of Prevention and Community Health in the Milken Institute School of Public Health. Alexander is professor in PA Studies. PAEA is the only national organization representing PA educational programs. Founded in 1972, PAEA’s mission is leadership, innovation, and excellence in PA education.
Publishing & Presenting
Marcia Firmani and co-authors published an article titled, "Colony-stimulating factor-1- and interleukin-34-derived macrophages differ in their susceptibility to Mycobacterium marinum," in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology in September. Firmani, Francisco Rentas, Rebecca Jones, Kevin Rhee and a colleague presented a poster titled, "Protein Retention Levels of Fresh Frozen Plasma and Cryoprecipitate Derived from Pathogen Reduced Fresh Whole Blood," at the American Association for Blood Banking (AABB) conference earlier this month. Firmani is chair of BLS, Rentas is an adjunct associate professor in BLS, and Jones and Rhee are recent graduates of the MSHS in Immunohematology Program in BLS.
Advancing Primary Care
Kevin O’Connor joined with Reamer Bushardt to lead plenaries and immersive educational sessions for an interdisciplinary conference of primary care professionals, including physicians, advanced practice nurses, physician assistants, and pharmacists. The team led sessions on the latest diagnostic approaches, evidence-based treatment, and strategies for population health management in pulmonary medicine, infectious diseases, endocrine disorders, and aging. O’Connor led a lively workshop on managing office emergencies. Bushardt led the group through developing models of care for patients receiving opioid therapy for chronic, nonmalignant pain, which included a 10-step system that addressed: when to initiate or continue opioids for chronic pain; appropriate selection, dosage, duration, monitoring, and discontinuation; assessing risk and addressing opioid-related harm; and best practices for clinical documentation to ensure compliance with state and federal regulatory authorities. O’Connor is senior medical advisor in HS, associate professor of medicine, and director of executive medicine for GW MFA.
