Chief’s message:
Happy Father’s day to all of our fellows, faculty and staff families. This is an incredibly difficult time within our state and for the country. Hopefully you all got to spend time with your families and if you are lucky enough – some time to connect with your father. May be affected by many of the current issues, but I was happy to be able to spend speak with my father and ensure he knows the role model he has been for me. His work ethic, moral compass, calm demeanor in challenging times, and humor have been the guiding lights.
Highlights of the week:
Duke Cardiology Fellows Celebrate Year-End
On Friday evening, the Duke Cardiology fellowship program held their annual year-end celebration a bit differently this year thanks to COVID-19, but the evening held many surprises and the event will certainly be remembered. The fellows were celebrated by division leadership along with special guest video remarks from guests across the world, including Robert Harrington, Zainab Samad, Ivor Benjamin, Rob Califf, Wayne Batchelor, and Michelle Kittleson, who provided several #kittlesonrules for future guidance, including the recommendation to stay connected to your Duke family and to remember that “bad outcomes will make you grieve; bad decisions will change your practice.” The evening included a special musical performance by Rob Mentz and musical fellows who performed a rewritten version of Semisonic’s “Closing Time” about our collective challenges during the age of COVID, as well as video remarks from all mentors of our completing cardiology fellows. Although we somehow haven’t yet convinced Beyoncé to drop in for one of our events, David Justice joined us with a special tribute for completing fellow Michael Nanna. It was a fun and entertaining event and we thank all who joined us. Kevin Friede, Arlene Martin and Anna Lisa Crowley did an outstanding job with planning the event and video collection and development. Michelle, Vishal and Sipa produced an outstanding fellows video.
The following year-end awards were presented by the fellows:
- Outstanding Service Award to Dawne Smith
- Faculty Teaching Award to Rob Harrison, MD
- Mentorship Award to Chris Holley, MD, PhD and Neha Pagidipati, MD
And the following awards were presented to our fellows:
- Walter F. Floyd Award to Rahul Loungani
- Joseph G. Greenfield Scholar Award to Zak Loring
- Cassell-Saperstein Award to Jeff Dixson
- Brandt & Belinda Louie Award to Michael Nanna
Congratulations to the graduating fellows who were celebrated on Friday: Adam Barnett, Eric Black-Maier, Jaidip Chakravartti, Sarah Goldstein, Zak Loring, Rahul Loungani, Michael Nanna, Michael Rehorn, Sounok Sen, and Jedrek Wosik.
We’ll be providing additional information and news on all graduating fellows across the next two weekends, including our extraordinary surgeons who are completing their training with our cardiovascular and thoracic surgery team. It has been an outstanding year!
Duke Cardiac Diagnostic Unit IAC Accreditation
We are pleased to share with you the great news that our Adult Echocardiography Lab and Cardiac Diagnostic Unit has been granted Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC) Accreditation for a new three-year period for Adult Echo, Stress Echo, and Transesophageal Echocardiography. There are many factors that contribute to an accurate diagnosis based on echocardiography. The training and experience of the sonographer performing the procedure, the type of equipment used and the quality assessment metrics each facility is required to measure — all contribute to a positive patient outcome.
The process of accreditation includes an intensive application and review process and the team is to be congratulated for all of their hard work. Ashlee Davis, chief technologist in the CDU, said, “Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s accreditation. It really takes a team and there is none better than the CDU! Special thanks to the QA team for pulling this together and getting it submitted even during these turbulent times. We will plan a celebration as soon as we are able.”
IAC accreditation is a “seal of approval” that patients can rely on as an indicator of consistent quality care and a dedication to continuous improvement. Great job, everyone — congratulations!
Shout-out: Cardiac Ultrasound Certificate Program
We’d like to offer a shout-out this week to Richie Palma, director of the Duke Cardiac Ultrasound Certificate Program and Anita Kelsey, medical director of the program. We learned this week that they have filled all eight slots for the inaugural year of the program, which starts with the fall semester. Palma says that although there is still much to do to prepare for the incoming students, he knows it will be an amazing group and a terrific program. Great job!
I
CYMI: The Mask
Duke Cardiology second-year fellow, Francis Ugowe, has authored a personal commentary, The Mask, published online last
week by the American College of Cardiology, in the Fellows In Training section of their website. It is definitely worth reading. Thank you to Francis for adding his important voice to this national conversation on racial injustice.
New Textbook Includes Contributions from Duke Sonographers
Congratulations to Alicia Armour, Jayne Cleve, Ashlee Davis and Richie Palma. Each of these cardiac sonographers are contributors of written chapters in the newly published textbook Basic to Advanced Clinical Echocardiography. A Self-Assessment Tool for the Cardiac Sonographer. Way to go!
8 East and 8 West Relocating to Duke Central Tower
Over the past few weeks, there has been an upward trend of COVID-19 cases at Duke University Hospital and an increase in patients requiring ICU care. To prepare for the surge in patients, DUH leadership has worked closely with the construction team for Duke Central Tower to reprioritize work to transform the new building into a safe environment to care for patients.
This weekend, patients and their care teams on 8 West relocated to the new Duke Central Tower. Patients and care teams on 8 East will move to the Central Tower on Saturday, July 18. This change will allow us DUH to increase ICU capacity by 56 beds.
COVID-19 Updates:
All the latest official DUHS information regarding coronavirus/COVID-19 response at the following locations:
Have news to share?
If you have news to share with the Pulse readership, please contact Tracey Koepke, director of communications for Duke Heart at tracey.koepke@duke.edu. We would love to hear about your latest accomplishments, professional news, cool happenings, and any events or opportunities that may be of interest to our Duke Heart family. Please call with any questions: 919-681-2868. Feedback on Pulse is welcome and encouraged.
Duke Heart in the News:
June 12 — Guillaume Marquis-Gravel and Sreekanth Vemulapalli
tctMD/the heart beat
Most US Patients Have TAVR Options Nearby, but Proximity Isn’t Everything
https://www.tctmd.com/news/most-us-patients-have-tavr-options-nearby-proximity-isnt-everything
June 12 — Pamela Douglas
Medscape
CT Coronary Angiography More Accurate Than Exercise ECG in Stable Angina
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/932141
June 16 — Adrian Hernandez
The New York Times
A Mad Scramble to Stock Millions of Malaria Pills, Likely for Nothing
June 16 — Mohammad Shahsahebi (Duke Cancer Institute)
Medscape
Cardioprotective Meds Underutilized in Patients With Cancer History
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/932423?src=rss
June 18 — Joseph Rogers
North Carolina Health News
Amidst COVID-19, some NC hospitals may soon run out of room
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