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Duke Heart Week ending September 4th 2022

By Manesh Patel, M.D. in Uncategorized on September 4, 2022.

Chief’s message:

Hope you all are having a restful weekend. You may be wondering what a photo of Harry Styles is doing at the start of the Pulse. I took my daughter (soon to be 16) to his concert in Madison Square Garden this weekend. Few things in life can make you feel as old as attending one of these concerts. Given all that is going on in the world, we definitely felt blessed to be able to go and it was fun as seeing her enjoy an event like this in the big city.

Highlights of the week:

Ward Appointed Associate Dean for Faculty Development

Cary Ward, MD, associate professor of medicine in cardiology, has been appointed to the role of associate dean for faculty development in the Duke School of Medicine. In this role Ward will serve as the faculty lead for current and future School of Medicine faculty development programs including Leadership Development for Researchers (LEADER); Academic Leadership, Innovation, and Collaborative Engagement (ALICE); and the Duke Clinical Leadership Program (DCLP). She will partner with leaders in the Offices of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; Research Mentoring; APT; Professionalism; and others to maintain and grow a robust portfolio of programs that meet evolving faculty needs. Ward will also oversee the selection process for numerous School of Medicine faculty awards and the annual awards celebration to recognize and highlight the outstanding accomplishments of our faculty. Ward will report to the vice dean for faculty, Mara Becker, MD, who made the announcement on Wednesday, Aug. 31.

Ward is an adult congenital and structural heart disease specialist, and serves as the program director for the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Fellowship and the director of the Cardio-Obstetrics Program. She received her MD from the University of Virginia, completed internal medicine residency at the University of Texas at Southwestern in Dallas, and was a cardiology fellow at Duke before joining the faculty in 2007. For the past eight years, she has led professional development activities for the Department of Medicine, first as director of credentialing and more recently as the associate vice chair for provider experience and development. She is the director of the ALICE leadership development program for mid-career women faculty and has served as the director of the Duke Clinical Leadership Program since 2018.

Ward is a 2022 recipient of the Leonard Palumbo Jr., MD Faculty Achievement Award, recognizing faculty who display dedication to compassionate patient care and excellence in the teaching and mentoring of young physicians.

Ward’s longstanding health system experience and leadership with several programs in the Office for Faculty make her uniquely positioned to strengthen and grow the portfolio of faculty development offerings at Duke. The expansion of the Office for Faculty reflects the school’s ongoing commitment to the continuous professional development of our faculty.

Congratulations, Cary! Well-deserved!

CGR, Douglas Visiting Scholar Program Welcomes Skorton, Sept. 8

We’re excited to welcome Dr. David J. Skorton, President and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges to Duke on Thursday, Sept. 8 as the Pamela S. Douglas, MD Visiting Scholar! Our Women in Cardiology and current ALICE members are invited to a meet & greet with Skorton at 4 p.m.; then, at 5 p.m., Skorton will deliver Cardiology Grand Rounds. His topic is ‘The Art and Science of Leadership’. A reception in the Doris Duke Center at Duke Gardens will immediately follow his presentation.

Skorton will deliver ‘Advancing Diversity Equity and Inclusion in Academic Medicine: Its Critical Importance and the Role We All Must Play’ for Medicine Grand Rounds on Friday, Sept. 9 at 8 a.m. MGR, 8-9 a.m., Duke North 2002 and via Zoom.

Prior to becoming President of the AAMC, Dr. Skorton, a cardiologist specializing in congenital heart disease and cardiac imaging, was also President of Cornell University (2006-2015) and the University of Iowa (2003-2006), as well as the 13th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (2015-2019). He has made profound contributions to government, higher education and academic medicine.

We look forward to his presentations!

Update from Samad, AKU : Flood in Pakistan

Many of you are aware that Pakistan has experienced devastating flooding. The country experienced prolonged heatwaves in April and May of this year, leading to glacial melt in the mountain region and an earlier-than-normal and heavier than normal monsoon season, which started in mid-June. It has been reported that at least one-third of Pakistan is under water; thousands of homes are destroyed and 33 million people have been displaced.

We reached out to adjunct cardiology faculty member Zainab Samad, MBBS, MHS, now the chair of the Dept. of Medicine at Aga Khan University in Karachi, to check in on how she and her team are doing. Here is what she shared:

“Thank you so much for asking about us. It is a disaster of unimaginable proportions-over a thousand have died, over 300,000 people have lost their homes. Millions internally displaced. We will realize the full scale in a few months as food insecurity from agricultural losses and livestock loss begins to set in. Pakistan is ground zero for climate change.

AKU is working through its own units and the Aga Khan Health Services to provide medical care to flood affectees. Those who wish to donate can do so through this link: https://duke.is/b7xj7. All my best to our Duke fam!”

We are thinking of you, Zainab and the entire country!

Photo credit: Bilawal Arbab/EPA, via Shutterstock and nytimes.com.

Cardiac Ultrasound Program Celebrates Graduates

We are pleased to announce the Duke Cardiac Ultrasound Certificate Program graduates for 2022! Their commencement was held Saturday, Aug. 27 in the Great Hall of the Trent Semans Center for Health Education. Graduates of our second class of program participants are: Leila Andrews, Daisy Chang, Haleigh Collins, Hannah Eldara, Kristina Mauro, Nicholas Medlock, Courtney Snyder, and Naomi Strauther.

Speakers at the event included program medical director, Anita Kelsey, MD, vice chief for non-cardiac invasive imaging; Richie Palma, program director, and Jill Engel, DNP, service line vice president for Duke Heart & Vascular.

Program graduate Naomi Strauther was named the Joseph Kisslo Outstanding Student for 2022.

Outstanding Service awards for clinical instructors were presented to Duke Heart team members Kathryne Nobles, Danny Rivera, and Eduardo Sandoval Murillo.

This program was a mere vision just three years ago. Since then, we’ve graduated 16 participants with a 100 percent board pass rate. Our entire class of 2022 scored in the top 3 percent of all those tested nationally on a test that has a less than 50 percent pass rate on the first try.

“This is a tremendous testament to Anita and Richie who fought through a number of challenges to get this school planned and launched, and then welcomed our first class during a pandemic,” said Manesh Patel, MD, chief of cardiology and co-director of Duke Heart Center. “It also speaks to their great work at recruiting and retaining excellent students.”

Duke University Health System hired three of eight program graduates in 2021 and seven of eight this year.

“The Duke Cardiac Ultrasound Program has quickly become a hiring pipeline for Duke Health and another source of immense pride for Duke School of Medicine, Duke Heart and Duke Health,” added Engel.

The program this year saw two of its class of 2022 members (Nick Medlock and Daisy Chang) receive American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) Awards, which were presented in June at ASE 2022 in Seattle. Medlock and Chang each won a competitive national award.

Shown here are the 2022 graduates (L-R): N. Strauther; H. Collins; L. Andrews; H. Eldara; K. Mauro; C. Snyder; N. Medlock, and D. Chang, along with program director Richie Palma.

Congratulations to all!

Shout-out to Gomez

The 7100 Cardiology Stepdown team would like to recognize Cindy Gomez for receiving a Daisy Award Nomination! Cindy was recognized by a patient’s daughter who felt at peace because Cindy was her mother’s nurse. Cindy spoke slowly and at an appropriate volume for the patient to clearly understand. Cindy also recognized that the patient was having difficulty swallowing pills, so she quickly intervened, providing the patient with crushed pills instead.

Thank you, Cindy, for living Duke’s values to the fullest and providing excellent patient-centered care. Way to go!

Photo of the Week

A great photo from Twitter this week of first-year cardiology fellows Aman Kansal and Andrew Andreae celebrating the end of their cath rotation. We’re glad they enjoyed it!

Duke Heart Nursing to Host Open House, Sept. 29

Duke Heart’s nursing team is hosting an open house on Thursday, Sept. 29 for new and experienced nurses as part of our recruitment efforts. The Open House will allow for participants to take part in unit tours, shadowing and interviews.

Interested participants can meet our Duke Heart nursing staff and leaders anytime between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. in Duke Medicine Pavilion. Greeters will be located at the front entrance (near valets) to meet attendees and direct them to the event throughout the day. Please share this information with anyone you think might be a good candidate for us! They can register by scanning the following QR code.

Heart Walk: Sunday, Sept. 25

We are getting excited for the upcoming American Heart Association Triangle Heart Walk scheduled for Sunday, September 25 at PNC Arena. The annual Walk is a great opportunity to come together to celebrate one another, to represent Duke Health, and to reinvigorate the commitment we have for living a heart-healthy lifestyle. Incredibly, this event is only 3 weeks from today!

Please plan to join us. Let’s make sure we have plenty of Duke Blue visible at PNC Arena and that we outshine our friends from Carolina and Wake Med on September 25!

Registering is easy. Visit the DUHS team page and/or contact Sangeetha Menon from the AHA at sangeetha.menon@heart.org for help getting started or with any questions you might have about the Walk.

Thank you to everyone who has already signed up to participate. If you can’t join us in person, please consider a contribution of any amount to one (or more!) of the teams representing Duke Heart.

Help us meet our overall DUHS fundraising goals! Duke Heart’s teams can be found here: https://duke.is/6jpdp . Thank you!

Reminder: Flu Vaccine Campaign Launches Sept. 15

PDC and Duke University Health System (DUHS) require all healthcare workers to comply with our Healthcare Worker Flu Vaccination policy by either being vaccinated annually against the flu or receiving an approved exemption. Annual policy compliance is a condition of employment for all PDC and DUHS team members. Annual vaccination or policy compliance is also a condition of access to Duke Health facilities, including information systems, for those holding clinical privileges in a Duke Health facility and learners who wish to train in our facilities.

The DUHS annual flu vaccination campaign will begin on Thursday, September 15. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, limited mass flu vaccination clinics will be available at each hospital and at select off-campus work locations.

Team members will have the opportunity to get vaccinated through any of the following means:

Peer vaccination in clinical work areas will be available as in years past.
West Campus of Duke University in Blue Devil Tower providing healthcare and university worker vaccinations by appointment on various dates throughout October.
Entity-based vaccine clinics will be established; schedules will be posted and shared.
Staff member’s primary care physician or at a local pharmacy.

Peer-to-Peer Vaccination

This year’s peer-to-peer initiative will be identical to last year. Although we will not be holding a vaccination drill, we do ask that you prepare to vaccinate your team members as early as possible. As always, we ask you to be thoughtful of any DUHS staff member who frequents your unit or work area. This may include EVS staff, patient transporters, or supply chain team members who will need to be vaccinated this year.

Please note these key dates for this flu vaccination season:

Thursday, September 15: Launch of Flu Vaccination Season

Tuesday, November 1: Deadline for applications for Medical or Religious Exemption should be submitted before this date. This will allow sufficient time for review and for communication of the review decision. Please note: Due to the availability of an egg-free formulation of the flu vaccine, egg allergy is not a reason for a medical exemption.

Tuesday, November 15, at 10 a.m.: Deadline for policy compliance through vaccination or granted medical or religious exemption.

We will be using an updated Duke VaxTrax QR, a digitized flu vaccination consent and health screening platform. You and your vaccinator will complete documentation of vaccination using this digital platform or, if you are vaccinated by your primary care provider or at a local pharmacy, you must submit evidence of vaccination to https://duke.is/vxsfu

If you have questions about the flu vaccine or its availability, please contact StopTheFlu@dm.duke.edu or EOHWflu@dm.duke.edu.

Thank you for your commitment to keeping our patients, each other and our community safe and healthy.

COVID-19 Update

Duke Health has closed its dedicated COVID Nurse Triage line for questions from patients, employees, students and families as of Sept. 1 due to the decrease in calls and a significant increase in community resources. The Duke Health COVID hotline for employees (919-385-0429) remains operational.

Please continue to practice safe COVID-19 protocols in your day-to-day interactions with others. Be particularly vigilant about masking, and avoid eating indoors in group settings. The health of our team members and our patients remains a priority as we continue to monitor the COVID-19 trends throughout our community.

Stay home if you are not feeling well. Employees who begin to experience any COVID-19 symptoms should report symptoms through the Duke SymMon app, which is available in both the Apple and Google app stores.

Donate blood if you’re able to. Click here for Duke-sponsored blood drives through the Red Cross. Patient-facing resources on DukeHealth.org can be found here: https://www.dukehealth.org/covid-19-update/resources. Duke University maintains a resource page as well, which can be accessed here: https://coronavirus.duke.edu/updates/for-staff.

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Cardiology Grand Rounds

September 8: The Art and Science of Leadership with David Skorton, President and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). 5 p.m. in Duke North Room 2002 and via WebEx. Dr. Skorton is the Pamela S. Douglas, MD Visiting Scholar. A reception at Duke Gardens will be held immediately following this CGR presentation.

September 13: Guest speaker Bernard Gersh of Mayo Clinic, Rochester with Christopher Granger. 5 p.m. Webex only. (https://duke.is/pemrh)

CME & Other Events

September 9: ‘Advancing Diversity Equity and Inclusion in Academic Medicine: Its Critical Importance and the Role We All Must Play.’ Medicine Grand Rounds with David J. Skorton. 8-9 a.m., Duke North 2002 and via Zoom.

September 12: Prostate Cancer & CVD Symposium — Collaborative Practice in Prostate Cancer: How is this actually done? Third webinar of a four-part series. Webinar series is a collaboration between the International Cardio-Oncology Society & Duke Heart. Noon, Eastern. Free. To learn more, please visit: https://duke.is/mbpte

September 25: Triangle Heart Walk. PNC Arena, Raleigh. Check-in and festivities start at 11 am. Walk begins at Noon. Join us!

October 14: Cardio-Oncology in the Era of Precision Medicine. Symposium to be held at the J.B. Duke Hotel, Durham, NC. Registration is open: https://bit.ly/CardioOnc22. Email Beth Tanner with questions: beth.tanner@duke.edu.

November 4: 14th Annual NC Research Triangle Pulmonary Hypertension Symposium. 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Save the date! This will be an in-person event at the Durham Convention Center. Registration required. To learn more and register, visit: https://duke.is/jag2b

November 14: Prostate Cancer & CVD Symposium, Webinar 4. Final of a four-part webinar series. Collaboration between the International Cardio-Oncology Society & Duke Heart. Noon, Eastern. Free. Registration is not yet available. To learn more about the series, please visit: https://duke.is/mbpte.

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. Submissions by Noon, Wednesdays, to be considered for weekend inclusion.

Duke Heart in the News:

August 26 — Duke School of Medicine

Becker’s ASC Review

20 most diverse medical schools in the US: Report

https://duke.is/cvxge

August 27 — Michael Felker

Medpage Today

ADVOR Backs Add-On Acetazolamide for Cutting Congestion in Decompensated HF

https://duke.is/mcgpj

August 28 — Renato Lopes

MDEdge.com

Rivaroxaban outmatched by VKAs for AFib in rheumatic heart disease