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Surgical Notes
A Newsletter from the VCU Department of Surgery
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MATCH Day Was a Success Across all Divisions! | |
Dr. Saeed Completes 100 Kidney Transplants in First Year | | |
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Dr. Muhammad "Irfan" Saeed joined the VCU Health System April 1st of last year and in one year performed over 100 kidney transplants in the operating room (adult and pediatric), an incredible accomplishment to not include his other surgical procedures such as donor nephrectomy and AVG/AVF placement or ligation.
Transitioning into a new city, transplant center, and new leadership role as the kidney surgical director, Dr. Saeed has dove into quality improvement practices, optimization of care post-transplant, and partnering with the kidney program manager and the medical director to continue the expansion of the VCU kidney transplant program. We are grateful to have him and look forward to the growth and continuum of best practice within the Hume-Lee transplant center.
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Urologist Dr. Hung Ngoc Pham Visits from Vietnam | |
Dr. Hung Ngoc Pham, MD, who has collaborated with VCU Urology for many years, has come to visit VCU to gain knowledge about robotic surgery, laparoscopy, and transplant surgery techniques. He arrived in early April and will leave at the end of June. VCU Urology established a “sister” university collaboration with Hue University several years ago, and has sent teams composed of urology attendings, urology residents, plastic surgery residents, and anesthesia residents almost every year since 2010.
Dr. Pham is primarily working with Dr. Lance Hampton and Dr. Amit Sharma to further his knowledge in urological techniques as well as to gain knowledge from VCU's deceased donor program to take back to Vietnam, where they currently only perform living donor transplants.
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GR-ACY Receives Grant from DMV | |
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Through VCU Health's GR-ACY (Get Real-About Choices and Consequences for You) education and prevention program, participants glean the knowledge of various trauma center roles, including physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, and local law enforcement. Following the observational experience, each participates in simulation activities to reinforce the consequences of impaired driving. For Fiscal Year 2022, 76 individuals completed the GR-ACY program. This is an increase of 32% over previous years.
Read full release
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Hume-Lee Director Passes 800 Career Cases | |
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Dr. Vinay Kumaran, M.D., VCU Health Hume-Lee Transplant Center’s living liver surgical director, surpassed 800 liver transplants in his career. The 800 mark is one that Kumaran crossed late last year after joining the health system in 2019 to restart the living liver donor program.
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OMFS Distinguished Educators Award | |
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Dr. A. Omar Abubaker, DMD, PhD, is set to receive the Distinguished Educator Award at the 2023 Southeastern Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons in May.
Dr. Abubaker is active in education in the areas of addiction, the opioid epidemic and pain management. In 2015, he earned a
Graduate Certificate in Addiction Studies from the International Program in Addiction Studies jointly administered by Virginia
Commonwealth University, The University of Adelaide, Australia and Kings College London, England.
He has presented to over 100 local, regional and national organizations on the topics of the opioid epidemic, addiction and
postoperative pain management in dental and oral and facial settings and has appeared in many local and national media.
Read full release.
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Inaugural Chief Residents of Medical Student Education Selected | |
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"Congratulations to Drs. Alyssa Haberman, Julie Kilpatrick, and Natalie Wall for becoming our first 'Chief Residents for M3 Surgery Education'!
Surgical residents are integral in providing a positive experience during the surgery clerkship. Feedback from the students indicate a wide variety of teaching effectiveness and experiences. Feedback from the residents indicate a somewhat "detached" feeling from the students. The Clerkship Team and Department of Surgery have created this role to bridge this gap and energize both groups beginning in April 2023.
In this position, the Chief Residents will assist The Clerkship Team with orientation and onboarding, suture workshops and organize informal teaching sessions with the students. They will be a resource, provide mentorship, and be a positive force for student/resident relations in the clerkship environment.
Dr. Kilpatrick, Dr. Haberman, and Dr. Wall were selected because of their enthusiasm, novel ideas, and passion for teaching. Congratulations to all three--we are excited for what is to come."
Dr. Eric Nelson, MD
M3 Surgery Clerkship Director
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Specialized Program Within Project Empower Wins Award | |
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A specialized program within Project Empower under Injury and Violence Prevention called - Heartbeats - presented their program at the VCU Women's Health Research Day and at the End Violence Against Women International. This program won recognition at both.
Winning the VCU Institute for Women's Health Community and Public Health Research Award, and End Violence Against Women International - Honorable mention for best poster award.
Project Empower: Heartbeats’ initiative of integrating health services staff and provider training with evidenced-based screening demonstrates promise as an effective hospital-based intervention/prevention for peri and postnatal patients at risk of violence.
| Team: Carol Olson, Assistant Director of IVPP - Gender and IPV Initiatives; Reed Bohn, Manager Project Empower; Leann Ragland, Lead Advocate on Heartbeats;Tia Cochran, Counselor | |
Association of VA Surgeons Committee on Trauma Region 13 Resident Trauma/Critical Care Competition | |
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Congratulations to Lab Resident Dr. Dan Scheese with mentor Dr. Walker Julliard for presenting the number one and number two ranked ACS COT Region 13 VA state Trauma critical care papers on April 23 2023.
#1. Predictors of Prolonged Air Leaks After Surgical Decortication
#2. More isn’t always better longer duration of antibiotics do not result in better outcomes in patients with pleural empyema after decortication
Dr. Scheese will next present the work at the Annual Meeting of the Committee on Trauma in Chicago next year.
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VCU-led Study Examines How Traumatic Brain Injuries Impact Alzheimer's Disease Development | |
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Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Medicine is leading a new study to better understand how traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) influence the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Results from the preclinical research, recently awarded a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, could help medical experts develop therapies for preventing or treating TBI-induced dementia later in life.
The study is being led by Dr. Kirsty Dixon, PhD (right), an Associate Professor at the VCU School of Medicine’s Department of Surgery, in collaboration with Elliott Mufson, PhD, director of the Alzheimer’s disease research laboratory at Barrow Neurological Institute, and biotechnology company INmune Bio.
Read full release
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James Poland Student Award | | |
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Charles Payne (from within the lab of Dr. Martin Mangino, PhD) was selected to receive the department's Spring 2023 Poland Award. This award is given in honor of Dr. James Poland who desired to establish a mechanism to recognize the accomplishments of masters students.
Charles Payne has exemplified an exceptional work ethic and determination to succeed. We wish him all the best in his next endeavors as he graduates with a Masters this Spring and is headed off to Medical School.
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The VCU/RVA Inaugural Aortic Surgery Symposium | |
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If you are a healthcare provider involved in the care of patients with aortic disease, you don’t want to miss the Inaugural Aortic Surgery Symposium, which will be hosted on April 22, 2023 in Richmond. CME details are outlined on the flyer. This symposium is FREE, but you must register in advance with the link provided on the invitation. See you there!
Click for Details
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2023 Program Administrator Recognition Award | |
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Congratulations to Surgery Residency Program Administrator Evan Ward who was selected by the Association of Residency Administrators in Surgery as the recipient of the 2023 Program Administrator Recognition Award!
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Shawnee Shuey
Division Supervisor
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How long have you been with Surgery?
- I started my career in Perioperative Services as a PAR, then moved into a Nurse Manager Support role for the Main 5 OR. Now in this role as a Division Supervisor for the Department of Surgery. I have been on both sides of surgery for the last 4 years.
Describe your role in your own words
- As a Division Supervisor I feel my role is to help support and manage my team to help them to achieve their department and professional goals.
Most exciting and/or challenging part of your position?
- Most exciting part of my job is that I learn something new every day. Most challenging is learning the team learning how they all learn and take direction
What gives you the greatest satisfaction in your job?
- Greatest satisfaction is supporting my team and making sure patients receive the care they come to us for.
What do you do for fun outside of work?
- My husband and I are foodies and love to travel.!
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Department of Surgery | Virginia Commonwealth University | (804)828-7874 | surgweb@vcu.edu
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