News
By Hilary Brown
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Dr. Robert DiPaolo, Dean of the UK College of Medicine, officially announced that the new chair for the UK Department of Surgery will be William B. Inabnet, MD. He will begin his term on Monday, September 16, 2019. The appointment was made on the recommendation of a committee composed of UK HealthCare and College of Medicine representatives following an extensive national search for potential candidates. The following is a copy of Dr. DiPaolo's announcement:
UK HealthCare Chief Medical Officer Phillip Chang, MD, was named to the Becker’s Healthcare list of “100 hospital and health system chief medical officers to know” for 2019.
Featured physician leaders have demonstrated a commitment to improving their organizations through leadership development, patient safety initiatives, health information technology and quality improvement.
By Josh Shepherd
At the end of June, Department of Surgery chief residents and fellows will transition to advanced training or begin their professional surgical practice.
Among the 2019 class, four will enter into advanced fellowship training, four will go into full time practice, another will enter military services at Fort Campbell, and a general surgery resident plans to go into a post surgical residency program in Togo, West Africa.
Department of Surgery Class of 2019
The annual Francis Massie and Andrew R. Pulito Awards were presented at Senior Awards Night before graduation from the University of Kentucky Medical School in May. David Keeven was presented the Massie Award and Teddy Huerta was selected as the recipient of the Andrew R. Pulito Award.
Three researchers from the UK Department of Surgery – Dr. Hiroshi Saito, Dr. Marlene Starr, and Dr. Dongfang Wang – were named recipients of 2019 Wethington Awards from the University of Kentucky in recognition of their significant achievements in clinical and scientific research.
Following the annual Nicholson Scholar Grand Rounds presentation, Dr. Danielle Kay (PGY 5) was recognized as the 2020 recipient of the Charles H. Nicholson Clinical Tour Fellowship and Dr. Brent Hillard (PGY 4) is the 2019 recipient of an Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST) travel scholarship. Dr. Andrew Bernard, section chair of Trauma, Acute Care, and Critical Care Surgery, presented the awards.
By Nancy Galvagni
The National Institute on Drug Abuse ranks Kentucky among the top 10 states with the highest opioid-related overdose deaths, and Kentucky’s hospitals are on the frontline in the fight to help the state recover. To assist the state’s hospitals in this battle, the Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA) is partnering with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services as part of the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort (KORE) to launch the Kentucky Statewide Opioid Stewardship (KY SOS) program.
The division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Kentucky recently welcomed Dr. Suresh Keshavamurthy, MD, FACS, FRCS Cardiothoracic surgeon, as the newest member of its faculty.
Dr. Keshavamurthy brings to UK over 20 years of experience in Cardiac surgery practice and teaching from a number of leading national and international institutions.
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UK Healthcare recently celebrated the many facets of quality patient care its staff practices during the 2019 presentation of the Saha Awards for Patient Centered Care, which were established through a generous donation from Dr. Sibu Saha, a professor in the division of cardiothoracic surgery.
The Lexington Herald Leader recently posted a video featuring Dr. Avinash Bhakta and his research on the impact of the Affordable Care Act on Colorectal Screening in Kentucky.
Click here to view the video.
James Liau, MD, and Duane Wang, MD of UK Plastic Surgery were among several Kentucky physicians featured in a front page story of the Sunday, February 19 Louisville Courier-Journal. The story reports on the mission work that Lexington-based Children of the Americas (COTA) extends to children in Guatemala. Dr. Liau is a UK Plastic Surgery faculty member and an alumnus of the UK plastic surgery residency program. He volunteers annually to work with COTA missions. Dr. Wang is in his chief year with the UK residency program.
Dr. John Draus, MD, FACS has been selected as the Division Chief of Pediatric Surgery, according to a recent announcement by Dr. Jay Zwischenberger, Chair of the Department of Surgery.
In this role, Dr. Draus has been charged with maintaining the excellent clinical outcomes of the division, building the division through targeted recruitment, fostering a strong educational and academic mission, and strengthening relationships with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
In January, Department of Surgery Administrator Shawn Coffey officially welcomed Mandy Bucy as the new division administrator for Cardiothoracic Surgery, Plastic Surgery, and Dermatology.
She joins the Department of Surgery administrative team which, in addition to Coffey, includes associate administrator Dijana Zaimovich, and fellow division administrators Sally Grasch and Pete Rogers.
Dr. Sibu Saha, a professor in the Division of Cardiothoracic (CT) Surgery at the University of Kentucky, accepted an invitation this January to serve as one of the senior editors of the International Journal of Angiology. The invitation came from the journal’s Editor-in-Chief, Dr. John Elefteriades, who also serves as director of The Aortic Institute at Yale University.
Though she be but little, she is fierce. From the moment she was born, Audrey Armstrong defied every expectation.
The Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine and Urogenital Reconstruction (SUFU), the premier specialty society for female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery, recently announced Deborah Erickson, MD, assistant dean for preclinical education, as the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award winner.
The SUFU Lifetime Achievement Award, established in 1986, is presented annually to an individual who has made continuing and progressive contributions that have had a significant and lasting effect on the field.