NEWS

David Page, MD Selected for the Association for Surgical Education's 2010 Outstanding Teacher Award

Dr. David Page is among 3 Outstanding Teacher awardees for 2010 selected from a group of distinguished educators from the approximately 250 residency programs and medical schools in the US.

Recipients of this award must possess the qualities of an outstanding teacher which include: commitment to teaching, expert knowledge, innovation, enthusiasm and stimulation of interest, encouragement of problem solving, ability to provide feedback and effective evaluation, role modeling of professional characteristics and accessibility and openness to new ideas. In Dr. Page's award letter, the Chair of the ASE Awards Committee stated, “Your nomination packet was inspiring for the Awards Committee members to review and is a testament to your tremendous contributions as a surgical educator.” Dr. Page has been the Director of Surgical Undergraduate Programs at BMC since the beginning of its affiliation with Tufts in 1973.

The award will be presented at the annual ASE meeting in San Antonio, Texas on April 23, 2010.

Benito San Gil MD, Laura Iglesias-Lino MD, and Mayu Sekiguchi MD, MPH, Accepted Into AMDA Foundation's Futures Program

Drs. Benito San Gil and Laura Iglesias-Lino, Baystate geriatrics fellows, and Dr. Mayu Sekiguchi, a third year Internal Medicine resident, will attend the Futures program at the annual meeting of the American Medical Directors Association March 11-14, 2010 in Long Beach, CA. The AMDA Foundation Futures Program is an intensive learning experience designed to expose young physicians to the numerous career opportunities available in long-term care. It targets residents and fellows who may include long term care work in their future careers.

The AMDA Foundation Futures Selection Committee ranks the applicants according to their Letter of Interest, CV and Letter of Support and makes selections based on the highest scores. Dr. Iglesias-Lino has spoken on geriatrics topics in the Springfield community to seniors, developed teaching sessions on delirium for nursing and medical students at TUSM and has helped lead a community-based falls risk screening program for TUSM students. She has a strong interest in primary care and cross-cultural geriatrics. Dr. Sekiguchi has co-authored a chapter on end of life care with Dr. Maura Brennan, has spoken at regional conferences on palliative care, presented at several Schwartz Center Rounds, is the president of Baystate Medical Center’s residency-based American Geriatrics Society Chapter, and will be doing a palliative care fellowship at Harvard starting in July. Drs. Iglesias-Lino and Sekiguchi will receive registration to the meeting as well as a 1- year AMDA membership. Dr. Benito San Gil was named the Kindred Healthcare Future of Long Term Care Medicine Fellow and has received a full scholarship for the program including airfare and lodging. He will be presenting a poster at the meeting, co-authored with Dr. Sandra Bellantonio, entitled “Can You Hear Me Now? Found: 2 'Lost' Hearing Aids in the Otic Canal of An Elderly Woman with Mild Dementia.”

Progress Towards Accreditation of Baystate Health's Human Research Protection Program

The Baystate Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) continues to progress down the path towards accreditation of its human subjects research program by the Association for the Accreditation of the Human Research Protection Program (AAHRPP).  Baystate’s written materials have been accepted and the site visit has been scheduled for April 6-8, 2010.   The site visit will include both interviews and reviews of selected current research studies.

Institutional Leaders, HRPP and IRB staff, IRB Chairs, IRB Members, Faculty Researchers, and Research Staff are selected by AAHRPP for interviews approximately one month in advance of the site visit.  The success of the application for accreditation is largely based on these interviews. The site visitors will be looking to verify that Baystate has put into practice what was presented on paper and that the knowledge and behaviors of its research community reflect the standards of excellence expected at accredited institutions. 

Activities in preparation for the visit will be announced over the coming weeks.

Detailed information about accreditation and the site visit process can be accessed on the AAHRPP website.

Thomas HIggins MD Invited to Second 3-Year Term on Editorial Board of Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia

The Editor-in-Chief's invitation to Dr. HIggins noted that his involvement as an editor and reviewer was instrumental to the Journal’s achieving its high level of success, including enabling it to expand in many areas and to continue as an effective forum for the exchange of ideas among medical specialists around the world. Dr. Higgins is Chief of the Critical Care Medicine Division.

Peter Lindenauer MD, MSc, Joins Editorial Advisory Board of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety

Dr. Lindenauer's term on the advisory board is for 2010. He is the director of the Center for Quality of Care Research.

Fran Becker, Director of the Health Sciences Library, Will Retire End of February 2010

Ms. Becker arrived at Baystate Medical Center nearly 16 years ago from Holyoke Hospital. Under her leadership, the Health Sciences Library— the first health science library in the region—has become a jewel at Baystate Health, serving both the hospital and the community with great efficiency and expertise.

All of us at Baystate Medical Center extend our gratitude and good wishes to Fran as she moves into a new chapter of her life.