BIDMC News and Notes
1/13/2009 (2:19:56pm)Tags: medicine surgery BIDMCComments: (0)
Hospitals can be scary places, no matter what time of the day or night. But when the sun goes down, it's unlikely a hospital would be on the Top 10 favorite places list of most people.
But for a dedicated group of men and women, it's the only place to be.
Spend some time with the men and women who care for patients or help keep the place running. You will be glad you did.
2/23/2009 (11:51:19am)Tags: surgery transplant surgeryComments: (0)
Douglas Hanto, MD, PhD, chief of the Transplant Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, has been elected as a director of the American Board of Surgery (ABS).
Hanto, the Lewis Thomas Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, will represent the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS). His six-year-term on the 38-member will begin on July 1.
As a director, Hanto will take part in setting the standards for board certification and maintenance of certification in general surgery and its related subspecialties in the United States. He will also participate in the development of ABS examinations and as an examiner in the oral examinations that are given as part of the board certification process.
In particular, he will contribute his expertise in the field of transplant surgery.
ABS directors are distinguished surgeons in education, research and practice, and represent the principal surgical organizations in the U.S.
The ABS is one of the 24 member boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties.
The American Board of Surgery (ABS) is an independent, non-profit organization founded in 1937 for the purpose of certifying surgeons who have met a defined standard of education, training and knowledge. Surgeons certified by the ABS, known as diplomates, have completed a minimum of five years of surgical residency training following medical school and successfully completed a written and oral examination process administered by the ABS.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and consistently ranks among the top four in National Institutes of Health funding among independent hospitals nationwide. BIDMC is clinically affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center and is a research partner of Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, visit www.bidmc.org .
4/30/2009 (11:45:31am)Tags: scoliosis spine surgeryComments: (0)
WCVB-TV is in the middle of an amazing two-part story about a former colleague of theirs who is now the head of marketing at BIDMC.
Rhonda Mann underwent surgery in February to correct a lifelong problem with scoliosis, a curvature of the spine that, if untreated, can threaten good health and even a person's life.
Watch Part 1 here and tune in tonight at 5:55 p.m. for Part II.
And by the way, Rhonda is working her way back to work, less than three months after surgery.
5/1/2009 (9:43:53am)Tags: scoliosis spine surgeryComments: (0)
Here's Part II of Channel 5's look at "Rhonda's Story" focusing on her surgery and recovery from spinal surgery to correct scoliosis.
5/6/2009 (3:20:57pm)Tags: cardiac surgery simulationComments: (0)
New technology available at Beth israel Deaconess Medical Center is making it easier for doctors to train on a simulator before trying a common procedure used during cardiac surgery.
If you have ever seen a doctor about a heart-related issue, chances are you have had an echocardiogram. The most common form of the test involves a technician placing an ultrasound transducer on your chest and getting a shadowy look at your beating heart, its chambers and valves.
But the ultrasound beam during a standard echocardiogram must penetrate the chest wall and lungs, potentially obscuring the image. In that case, a more invasive procedure, a transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) must be ordered, threading a probe down the throat to take a look at heart structures. In 25 percent of all cases, this exam turns up something that wasn't previously diagnosed.
For more, please click here.
7/9/2009 (10:22:03am)Tags: surgery Comments: (0)
An unassuming, pastel-colored ceramic jar sits on a desk outside the operating rooms on BIDMC's west campus. A closer look reveals that this jar is a piggy bank, used for taking bad words and turning them into good deeds.
"I'm the swear patrol. I call them N.G. words for no good," said Heidee Albano, RN, who originally used a small cup to make cussing co-workers pay per profanity. "Every swear is accepted."
The OR nurse, originally from the Philippines, has been serving as the "swear patrol" since coming to the medical center in 1987. She began collecting a quarter per swear in 2007, promising staff a pizza party with the proceeds.
In November 2008, she read an article in the Boston Globe about a little Haitian boy whose family had sold their sole source of income - two cows - in order to pay for his vital brain surgery. The story inspired Albano to instead dedicate the proceeds of the "swear jar" to purchasing a new cow for the family.
To learn more, click here.
7/21/2009 (12:44:57pm)Tags: Red Sox hand surgeryComments: (0)
Ever wish you could make that bare-handed stab of a home run (or foul ball) at Fenway Park? Wish again.
BIDMC orthopedic surgeon Charles Day makes a great case for wearing a glove before trying to make yourself or your child happy with a Major League souvenir.
To learn more, click here.
7/29/2009 (1:16:05pm)Tags: scoliosis spine surgeryComments: (0)
Nice update on the progress our own Rhonda Mann is making as she recovers from complicated spinal surgery from Dr. Paul Glazer.
The story notes that one benchmark of Rhonda's progress is that she can sit through a full Red Sox game without pain.
To learn more, click here.
10/21/2009 (3:54:15pm)Tags: surgery science educationComments: (0)
Students at Madison Park and Brookline high schools recently got a chance to view surgery up close and personal.
The classes taught by Julie Joyal Mowschenson, RN, combines classroom lessons with putting the theory into action by running simulated medical cases on a robotic patient at Harvard Medical School.
For more, click here. And to see the Boston Globe's coverage, click here.
11/4/2009 (1:31:29pm)Tags: noneComments: (0)
Here's a moving story about a young auto accident victim and a remarkable recovery, made possible in part by the trauma team at BIDMC.
