| July 1, 2004 In this issue: |
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1. Med students earn national grant to reach families at university area clinic. 2. Safety commission brings childhood drowning prevention hearing to USF. |
Med students earn national grant to reach families at university area clinic |
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By Sarah A. Worth Two USF medical students took up a cause and landed a grant that may help fix a problem in the impoverished area near the university. David Wilson and Leslie Passmore, both third-year medical students, were awarded nearly $30,000 by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) to bring health education and screenings to the community that is just west of USF, an area that has come to be known as Suitcase City due to the transient nature of its residents. The area is high in crime and poverty and lacks basic resources, especially health resources, Wilson said. The grant is for four years and is part of AAMC's Caring for Community Grant Program and is in collaboration with the Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative. At USF, the grant is a partnership of effort by the medical students and the USF AHEC program (which matched some of the funds to bring the total to $40,000), as well as the USF Health Sciences Center Service Corps. The project is a win-win because it provides health information and screenings to a population needing them and it provides the medical students with an avenue to further their clinical experience in the public sector, said Cynthia Selleck, ARNP, DSN, the project's administrative officer and director of the USF AHEC Program. COM associate dean for COM Office of Admissions and Students Affairs Steven Specter, PhD, said the project is an ideal example of how students can involve themselves in the community. "This type of program will help set them up for a life-long connection with community service," he said. |
University area stats • 40,000 residents live in less than four square miles. |
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The main emphasis for the project will be biweekly health education and accompanying health screening sessions coordinated and conducted by the USF medical students. They will revolve around "themes" for the month that correspond with national health observances already planned, such as October and National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and November with the Great American Smokeout. July will focus on back-to-school issues, such as physical examinations, health screenings and immunizations, as well as passing along much needed school supplies donated to the group. The AAMC grants were given to projects that were designed, developed and administered by medical students with existing community agencies. USF medical students are working with the non-profit, public/private University Area Community Development Corporation (UACDC), which already has a partnership with USF AHEC and means the USF project will have access to a network of local social and community service programs and agencies. Two class coordinators from each of the two years provide continuing interaction and support. Volunteers for each of the sessions come from all four years. In addition, the students plan to partner with HSC Service Corps, which looks for projects like this for students from the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing and Public Health and the School of Physical Therapy to participate in. Aside from helping a good cause, volunteers may come from a new requirement of USF medical students that they provide a minimum of 40 hours of volunteer activity each year during their first and second years at the COM. For more information about the project, contact second-year medical student coordinator Natalie Carballo at 892-2243 or USF AHEC at 974-3507. Return to top | |
Safety commission brings childhood drowning prevention hearing to USF |
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By Anne DeLotto Baier |
 USF's Dr. Karen Liller (right) with U.S. Commission Chairman Hal Stratton. Photo by John Lofreddo. |
| "I don't think most people are aware of how quickly it can happen," said Commission Chairman Hal Stratton about how rapidly toddlers and young children can drown in backyard pools. Stratton presided at the hearing and Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio welcomed the attendees and encouraged age-appropriate swimming lessons as a preventive measure. Information gathered at the hearings will be used to develop educational campaigns and safety guidelines. Florida law requires owners of new residential pools to install at least one of the following devices – an approved pool barrier (fencing) or cover, door exit alarms, or self-closing and self-latching doors that open onto the pool area. "When you look at the statistics, the isolation fencing that surrounds the pool and separates it from the house and yard is clearly superior to property fencing in reducing the risk of drowning," she said. An earlier survey of Hillsborough County households by Dr. Liller and colleagues indicated that respondents lacked knowledge about the importance of adult supervision in preventing childhood drownings and the recommended age at which to begin children's swimming instruction. Most reported they did not know how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on an infant or child. Return to top | |
Nursing boosts rank in NIH funding |
| The USF College of Nursing ranked in the 54th percentile of nursing schools nationwide in funding awarded in 2003 by the National Institutes of Health. That's up from the college's 62nd percentile ranking in 2002 and a 64th percentile ranking in 2001 and continues the college-wide push to be one of the country's top 20 nursing schools for federal research funding by 2008. The USF nursing school attracted $490,716 in NIH research grants last year, outranking the University of Florida for the first time. "This is a great start on our goal to be among the country's top 20 nursing schools," said Patricia Burns, PhD, FAAN, dean of the USF College of Nursing. "With the number of grant applications USF nursing faculty now have in the pipeline, we're well on our way to making our mark in nursing research." Grants and contracts from federal sources, including NIH, are considered among the most competitive and coveted funding sources. In 2002-03, the USF College of Nursing showed a record-breaking 95-percent increase in total research funding over 2001-02. The increase was fueled in large part from federal sources such as the National Institute for Nursing Research, the National Cancer Institute and the Health Resources and Services Administration. Research teams at the USF college are focusing on palliative and end-of-life care, cardiac rehabilitation for women, and complementary therapies for chronic illness and cancer. Return to top |
In the News |
| Catherine Lynch, MD, director of General Obstetrics and Gynecology, appeared on WTSP Ch. 10 June 24 to comment on a Journal of the American Medical Association study showing that millions of women who have had hysterectomies in which the cervix is removed undergo pap smears unnecessarily each year. Patricia Burns, PhD, FAAN, dean of the College of Nursing, was among the nurses who discussed the challenges of nursing today for a front-page commentary article in the Tampa Tribune June 20. The search for a new USF medical school dean was covered in the Tampa Tribune June 19. USF third-year medical student Kelli King appeared in a photo accompanying the front-page Metro section article USF neuroscientist Paul Sanberg, PhD, DSc, director of the Center for Aging and Brain Repair, was among the researchers to comment in a June 13 New Jersey Star-Ledger story about restrictions on stem cell research. Deanna Wathington, MD, assistant professor in the Office of Curriculum and Medical Education, discussed for the June 15 broadcast of Fox 13's What's Right with Tampa Bay how nursing and medical students collaborate in conducting pre-camp sports physicals. The USF College of Nursing's "Nursing Professionals of the Future" program was featured June 11 on the front page of the Tampa Tribune's South Tampa edition. The article followed a group of middle-school students through a daylong nursing camp at Tampa General Hospital where they visited with nurses in the operating room, trauma ICU, physical rehabilitation, aero med helicopter program and other areas. The program, cosponsored by the Area Health Education Center and Engaging Latino Communities for Education, was also covered by WTSP Ch.10's Life Around the Bay, Bay News 9, and Bay News 9 en Espanol. By Anne DeLotto Baier abaier@hsc.usf.edu Return to top |