U of L represents well at 2012 SRM

► See PHOTO GALLERY (photos by Dr. Yvette Cua)

The Southern Regional Meetings annually unites several key societies in New Orleans for what has become a truly spectacular event. This meeting joins the Academic Pediatric Association, the Southern Section of the American Federation for Medical Research, the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation, the Southern Society for General Internal Medicine, and the Southern Society for Pediatric Research.

Several members of the University of Louisville Department of Medicine distinguished themselves at the SRM in the following areas:

Leadership - Dr. Yvette Cua  served as president-elect this past year and assumed the position of president for 2012-2013 over the Southern Society for General Internal Medicine (SSGIM) at the Feb. 11 business meeting.

In addition she served as SGIM liason to the SSCI joint council as well as on the 2012 meeting planning committee.

Dr. Nancy Kubiak served as co-chair for the associates track of the SSGIM meeting.

Dr. Rafael Perez served as Councilor for the Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (SSCI) and co-chaired the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine I Section on Friday afternoon.

Membership - U of L continues to be the fastest growing group within the SSCI membership with 10 new members this past year (three for this session).

The latest members inducted are Drs. David Nunley, David Hiestand (Pulmonary) and Mostafa Fraig (Pathology).

In addition, U of L saw some of the largest growth in SSGIM, including five faculty and seven trainees attending the meeting. Faculty from the division of general medicine included: Drs. Nancy Kubiak, Jennifer Koch, Charlene Mitchell, Yvette Cua, and Bridgette Hittepole.

Mentorship - Drs. Rafael Perez, Rodney Folz and Jesse Roman served as mentors for the Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine Poster Presentations held the first day of the meeting.

Speakers - Dr. Igor Zelko (Pulmonary) was one of two speakers for the Lung Club session on Thursday night.

His lecture was titled "Regulation of extracellular oxidative stress and development of lung injury."

Dr. Sherry V. Montandon, PGY-3, delivered a well-received presentation during the Pulmonary/Critical Care session. She discussed work generated with her mentor, Allan Ramirez,  on the differential effects of interleukin-13 on transforming growth factor.

Dr. Tanmay Panchabhai (PGY-3) was invited to serve a panel discussant for a special session on duty hours.

Awards - Dr. Thorsten M. Leucker, PGY-1 received the Young Clinician Scientist Award during the Cardiology Club when he presented his work on endothelial derived cardioprotection and its inhibition by hyperglycemia.

Thorsten also won the First Place for the SSCI Young Investigator Award and accompanied our Chair to represent the outstanding residents in our program during the Chair's Resident Forum held on Saturday.

Medical Jeopardy - U of L had a excellent showing at the SGIM Jeopardy tournament, being the only institution to field TWO jeopardy teams.

The following residents formed the TWO U of L Teams and competed in the Medical Jeopardy competition held by the SGIM on Friday afternoon: Arka Chatterjee (PGY-3), Tanmay Panchabhai (PGY-3), Aditya Bhartia (PGY-3), Nirmanmoh Bhatia (PGY-1), Tarsheen Sethi (PGY-2), RJ Blackford (4th year medical student), Deepali Tukaye (PGY-2).

Scholarship was abound as two vignettes were accepted for oral presentation:

• Tarsheen Sethi (PGY-2) "Complete Duodenal Obstruction: An Unusual Presentation of Castleman's Disease"
• Deepali Tukaye (PGY-2) "The Thrombus in Transit: A Case of Proven Coronary-Embolism and Sub-Massive Pulmonary Embolism From Upper Extremity DVT in a Patient with PFO"

Also, four vignettes accepted for poster presentation:

• Nirmanmoh Bhatia (PGY-1): "Multinodular Vascular Goiter: An Unusual Presentation of Autoimmune Polyendocrinopathy Type II"
• Aditya Bhartia: "Guillaine-Barre Syndrome and Infective Endocarditis"
• Tanmay Panchabhai (PGY-3): "Bilateral Chylothoraces as a Sentinal Presentation of Primary AL Amyloidosis"
• RJ Blackford (4th year medical student) "A Case of Non-resolving Community Acquired Pneumonia: TB or Not TB, That is the Question"

Several faculty presented highly ranked workshops:

• Brigette Hittepole: "Common Musculoskeletal Injections for the Practicing Internist"
• Nancy Kubiak and Jennifer Koch: "Giving Effective Feedback: A Strategy for Success"
• Yvette Cua: "Hospital Billing for Faculty Working with Residents: What, Why, and How"
• Nancy Kubiak and Charlene Mitchell: "Highways and Byways to a Career in Academic General Internal Medicine"