Jefferson Alumni Bulletin – Volume 58, Number 3, Fall 2009
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Thomas Jefferson University Jefferson Digital Commons The Bulletin (formerly the Jefferson Medical College Alumni Bulletin) Jefferson Alumni and Faculty Fall 2009 Jefferson Alumni Bulletin – Volume 58, Number 3, Fall 2009 Follow this and additional works at: https://jdc.jefferson.edu/alumni_bulletin Part of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, and the Medical Education Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy Recommended Citation "Jefferson Alumni Bulletin – Volume 58, Number 3, Fall 2009" (2009). The Bulletin (formerly the Jefferson Medical College Alumni Bulletin). Paper 282. https://jdc.jefferson.edu/alumni_bulletin/282 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Jefferson Digital Commons. The Jefferson Digital Commons is a service of Thomas Jefferson University's Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). The Commons is a showcase for Jefferson books and journals, peer-reviewed scholarly publications, unique historical collections from the University archives, and teaching tools. The Jefferson Digital Commons allows researchers and interested readers anywhere in the world to learn about and keep up to date with Jefferson scholarship. This article has been accepted for inclusion in The Bulletin (formerly the Jefferson Medical College Alumni Bulletin) by an authorized administrator of the Jefferson Digital Commons. For more information, please contact: [email protected]. _• t 0,04L.LEGE'•-"THOMAS JEFFEFVON, UNIVERSITX- .• FALL 2066 .2.• it . r I k4.140.4 1,j4k A +,1A1.:."`'■ • ' The students who arrived at Jefferson for across all elements of the complex health- the first time in August underwent many care system and the patient's community. of the same experiences as their colleagues Enhanced access to care is available through of previous years: They met their peers and open scheduling, expanded hours and new faculty, recited the Hippocratic Oath and spent options for communication, including e-mail. an intense first week in class, culminating in Electronic health records help ensure quality hours of studying for their first exam. and safety. The focus is on maintaining health But one fact sets this class apart: The and promoting healthy behaviors as much as Class of 2013 started at Jefferson knowing on treating acute episodes of illness. that changes in our healthcare system will A federal demonstration project in eight states, come and that the changes will have a lasting scheduled to begin this year, has been delayed. impact on the medical profession. At Jefferson, we couldn't wait. The Department Proposals for universal healthcare coverage of Family and Community Medicine last year and government insurance options captured joined the Southeast Pennsylvania Collaborative the headlines as the Class of 2013 entered of the Pennsylvania Chronic Care Initiative, a Robert L. Barchi, MD, PhD Jefferson. Both public and federal debate three-year state project to improve care, reduce focused increasingly on cost, reflecting the avoidable illnesses and involve insurance compa- fact that our country spent more than $2.3 tril- nies in patient-centered medical home planning. lion on health care last year, far more than any Six insurers agreed to pay the Department other county in the developed world, while of Family and Community Medicine and 31 providing service that pales in average quality practices in the Philadelphia area up to $13 to nations that spent up to 50 percent less. million to develop a system based on meeting Why does health care cost so much in healthcare goals, not on the number of proce- the United States? There is no single, simple dures they order. answer. But one major reason is that our The students in the Class of 2013 not only current system focuses too much on acute understand change will come, they embrace episodes of disease rather than on the manage- it and plan to play an integral role in making ment of chronic illnesses. To improve health change happen. And they came to Jefferson care and decrease costs, we need to address knowing the University will prepare them well health across the entire disease spectrum and for the uncertainties ahead. deal with the core behavioral and societal issues that are driving costs upward. Sincerely, Confronting and controlling chronic conditions will take a fundamental change in the payment system now used by insur- ance companies and the federal government. Today, reimbursement hinges on the number Robert L. Barchi, MD, PhD of procedures we perform, not on the number President of patients we keep from needing expensive Thomas Jefferson University acute care. Many believe "patient-centered medical homes" will prove critical to increasing the quality of care while decreasing costs. Under this system, a physician takes responsibility for meeting all of a patient's healthcare needs or for coordinating care with others. The physician and staff integrate the patient's care FEATURES r* Oki 6 Why in the World Would You Go into Medicine Today? 14 Philadelphia 1918: The Flu Pandemic Hits Home 20 New Movie Underscores Healthcare Conflicts 22 Faculty Profile: Vincenzo Berghella, MD '90 36 Looking at Scholarships from Both Sides DEPARTMENTS 2 DEAN'S MESSAGE 4 FINDINGS Researchers Counter Allergy to Plavix with Steroids and Antihistamines 24 ON CAMPUS 28 CLASS NOTES 38 ALUMNI GIVING 50 IN MEMORIAM 53 BY THE NUMBERS Jefferson Alumni Bulletin Quarterly magazine published Fall 2009 continuously since 1922 Jefferson. Volume 58, Number 3 Medical College Address correspondence to: Managing Editor: Jana Moore Editor, Alumni Bulletin Design: JeffGraphics Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University Bulletin Committee 925 Chestnut Street, Suite 110 William V. Harrer, MD '62 Chair Philadelphia, PA 19107-4216 James Harrop, MD '95 Cynthia Hill, MD '87 215-955-7920 Fax: 215-503-5084 Larry Kim, MD '91 www.jefferson.edu/jmc/alumni/bulletin.cfm Phillip J. Marone, MD '57, MS '07 Joseph Sokolowski, MD '62 The Jefferson community and supporters are welcome to receive the Alumni Bulletin on a regular basis; please contact the address above. Postmaster: send address changes to the address above. Periodicals postage paid at Philadelphia, PA. ISSN-0021-5821 THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY JG 10-0877 2 JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE ALUMNI BULLETIN When I arrived at Jefferson just more than Jeff HOPE operates four medical clinics for a year ago, I knew I was joining a physician the homeless, conducts preventive medicine staff rich in talents and enriched by innovative programs and offers advocacy services for programming. In the months since then, my patients. More than 750 of our students - with respect has only deepened as I have met more more on a waiting list work in the clinics and more of these colleagues and have learned each month. of their diversity of interests and activities. Jeff HOPE was just the beginning. Today, But what I did not know from the beginning virtually all of our 100-plus student organiza- - and is a source of great pride for me today - tions focus on service or include it as a major relates to our students and the scope and depth component of their activities. Students advo- of their commitment to public health. cate for refugees, serve as hospice volunteers, The tradition of community service started conduct health classes for community members with the College's founding. In specifications and organize screenings. Members of Jeff YES for the College's first building, craftsmen were work with homeless adolescents in North told to include an exam area in the dean's Philadelphia, and members of Jeff HEALTH office to allow him to treat indigent patients travel to Uganda to work with East Africans. - a first at an American medical college. Public service has become deeply ingrained The infirmary established just months later, in the Jefferson culture not only because another milestone in medical education, students have demanded it, but because our served the city's poor. faculty have nurtured it. This synergy between According to Michael Angelo, the students and faculty has given our programs a University's archivist and special collections permanence and consistency that engenders librarian, historians believe that the young trust for Jefferson in Philadelphia's impover- patient shown in Thomas Eakins' The Gross ished neighborhoods. Clinic was indigent. The clue is in his gray Our reputation as an academic medical wool socks, which Philadelphians of means center with an extraordinary commitment never wore in the late 1800s. to its community has itself served to attract Despite this deeply embedded tradition some of the nation's best students and faculty linking our institution to caring for the less to Jefferson. And as the commitment has fortunate, community service did not assume migrated from the "informal curriculum" that its current prominence within the Jefferson the student organizations represent to the culture until 17 years ago. A frustrated student more formal curriculum of the lecture hall, it The approached James Plumb, MD '74, now a has put Jefferson, once again, in the forefront professor in family and community medicine, of medical education innovation, responding saying she felt an "emptiness" from failing to the AMA's call for an emphasis on the prin- Dean's to serve others, as the Jesuits had taught her. ciples and practices of population health. With Plumb's help, she formed Jeff HOPE, Tomorrow's physician will need to serve today a national model in linking medical patients as an advocate and a teacher, as well Column education to community outreach. as a healer. Jefferson students get an early start. Sincerely, Mark L. Tykocinski, MD Anthony F. and Gertrude M. DePalma Dean Jefferson Medical College Public service has become deeply ingrained in the Jefferson culture not only because students have demanded it, but because our faculty have nurtured it. 4 JEFFERSON MEDICAL COLLEGE ALUMNI BULLETIN Plavix not used due to drug allergy ADP binds to Activation of Platelet Cells receptor -- GP Ilb/GP IIla receptors (Fibrinogen receptors) are activated Activation causes filaments to form on the platelets, leading them to grab and stick to each other.