Miller School at FAU Welcomes First Residents at JFK Medical Center and West Palm Beach VA
7/2/2008

The inaugural group of Miller School at FAU internal medicine residents.   Dean Goldschmidt, M.D., presents “The Human Decision Making Process” to new residents at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University welcomed its first class of 49 residents during a luncheon and news conference at the Atlantis Golf Club on June 30.

In fulfillment of a three-year planning and approval process, the inaugural group has officially begun training at JFK Medical Center and the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center. Representatives from the program’s leadership team welcomed them with enthusiasm and high hopes.

“These physicians represent the future of medicine in Florida and, in particular, Palm Beach County,” said Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., senior vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Miller School, prompting the room to give the new residents a standing ovation.

New Residents Receive Training at UM-JMH Center for Patient Safety
6/19/2008

Barry Gelman, M.D., associate professor of clinical pediatrics, with first year pediatric residents during their patient safety training session.   Chief patient safety officer David Birnbach, M.D., M.P.H., professor of anesthesiology and director of the UM-JMH Center for Patient Safety, debriefs a group of first year anesthesiology residents after a simulation exercise.

Even the most basic lessons taught in medical school – to introduce yourself to every patient when you walk in a room, to wash your hands before and after interacting with every patient, to call for help if you need it – can vanish from memory when a first-year resident is in a crisis situation.

Recognizing this, the UM-JMH Center for Patient Safety, led by David Birnbach, M.D., M.P.H., professor of anesthesiology, chief patient safety officer for the Miller School and director of the UM-JMH Center for Patient Safety, created a daylong training program for new residents designed to foster teamwork, decrease communication errors and prepare the new members of the house staff for their first days at Jackson Memorial, one of the few hospitals in the country that requires participation in such a program.

This week, more than 200 first-year residents, grouped by specialty, will participate in this primer on patient safety, delivered through the use of video reenactments, simulations, group discussions and debriefing sessions with attending physicians. Next month a session will be held for advanced level residents who are transferring to Jackson Memorial from another medical center. Training focuses heavily on teamwork, communication and professionalism. The course begins with a formal lecture by Dr. Birnbach and two required on-line modules. After an introduction to the center, residents move on to three more learning modules.

Innovative UM Physician Garners Politician’s Praise, Anonymous $1.5 Million Donation
6/23/2008

Raymond J. Leveillee, M.D., (right) chief of the Division of Endourology, Laparoscopy and Minimally Invasive Surgery, explains the radiofrequency ablation (RFA) technique he used to excise a cancerous kidney tumor from State Senator Steven A. Geller (D-Cooper City) (left) six months ago.

Six months after undergoing an innovative cancer treatment Florida State Senator Steven A. Geller (D-Cooper City) returned to the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center last Friday for a checkup and to sing the praises of his surgeon. Raymond J. Leveillee, M.D., chief of the Division of Endourology, Laparoscopy and Minimally Invasive Surgery at the Miller School, and a member of the Prostate, Bladder and Kidney Site Disease Group at UM/Sylvester, performed a unique procedure to remove the cancerous tumor embedded deep in the Democratic leader’s left kidney.

After the checkup, Geller and Leveillee met with newspaper and television journalists to discuss the surgery, which not only eradicated the politician’s tumor but enabled him to avoid chemotherapy and radiation.  The two men also revealed that an anonymous philanthropist has made a $1.5 million donation that will enable Leveillee to continue to conduct his surgical research.

“It’s miraculous,” Geller said of Leveillee’s minimally invasive operation, which was performed on an out-patient basis. “With this procedure, I was in and out on a Wednesday and back at work the following Monday!”

UHealth Joins with Miami-Dade Parks to Launch Fit to Play Summer Health and Fitness Program
6/16/2008

Dean Goldschmidt takes a moment to talk one-on-one with a participant at the launch of Fit to Play, a summer camp health and fitness partnership between UHealth and the Miami-Dade Parks and Recreation Department.   A group of summer campers proudly display their UM gift bags at the the launch of Fit to Play at Gwen Cherry Park on Monday.

In loud voices that reverberated through the sports facility at Gwen Cherry Park, about 300 eager children started their summer camp season by singing praises to the University of Miami. The chorus came at the prompting of Miami-Dade Commissioner Dorrin Rolle, who urged the children to give thanks to the University of Miami Health System (UHealth) for partnering with the Miami-Dade Parks and Recreation Department to provide them with a summer health and fitness program.

Commissioner Rolle was joined at the event by UM President Donna E. Shalala, Miller School Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D., county parks and recreation director Jack Kardys and several other government officials, and special guest Darrin Smith, the former UM Hurricane and two-time Super Bowl champion, for the morning pep rally and official launch of the program known as Fit to Play.

When Dean Goldschmidt took to the stage, he told the group he has three sons – including a five-year-old who thinks he is Superman. Laughter turned to amazement when Goldschmidt said he also has a second family of 800 children. He explained: “These 800 children are the Miller School of Medicine medical students that will be checking you out to make sure you’re fit and healthy all summer.”

Modifying Lethal Injection is Tantamount to Unlawful Experimentation on Prisoners, Say Miller School Researchers
6/10/2008

In an essay in the latest issue of PLoS Medicine, researchers Teresa Zimmers, Ph.D., and Leonidas Koniaris, M.D., and colleagues argue that in the states where lethal injection protocols are modified and data collected, the process resembles human experimentation and should be scrutinized against accepted norms for ethical conduct of research.

Following up on their significant body of work that determined that some inmates put to death by lethal injection likely suffered excruciating pain, Miller School researchers have now concluded that some states modifying lethal injection protocols and “testing” them on inmates is tantamount to performing human subjects research without consent or ethical safeguards.

The position of the Miller School researchers -- Teresa Zimmers, Ph.D., research assistant professor of surgery, and Leonidas Koniaris, M.D., associate professor of surgery, along with colleagues -- was published today in an essay in PLoS Medicine. It comes nearly six weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of lethal injection in Kentucky in a case that challenged how the protocol is administered and the combination of chemicals used to kill condemned inmates.

Robert Myerburg Receives American Heart Association’s Inaugural Cor Vitae Award
6/10/2008

Robert Myerburg, M.D., (left) was honored with Miami-Dade Heart Ball’s inaugural Cor Vitae award. The award was presented by Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt, M.D.

When the medical committee for the American Heart Association’s 40th annual Miami-Dade Heart Ball assembled to select a worthy recipient of the first Cor Vitae award, the members were looking for "an individual who, through their professional accomplishments and commitments, significantly influenced advancement in the field of cardiovascular diseases."

With the bar set so high, the committee members decided the award should go to Robert Myerburg, M.D., professor of medicine and physiology and a Miller School faculty member since 1970. Dr. Myerburg picked up the inaugural award Saturday night at the Heart Ball, held at the Grove Isle Hotel & Spa in Coconut Grove.

Mental Illness Isn’t a Crime: Jay Weiss Center Grand Rounds
6/11/2008

Miami-Dade County Criminal Court Judge Steve Leifman describes his efforts to address the mental health crisis in America’s courts – and tells Miller School faculty, students and staff how they can help.

“Something is wrong with a society that spends more on prisons than on mental illness,” said Steven Leifman, a Miami-Dade County criminal court judge and a crusader to improve the treatment of the mentally ill. So how does a criminal court judge become a leading authority on psychiatric care?

“The mentally ill,” Leifman explains, “are the fastest-growing sub-population in our prisons.”

Leifman presented “Transforming Florida’s Mental Health System” to dozens of students, faculty and staff Tuesday in an auditorium in the Rosenstiel Medical Science Building. His lecture was part of the Jay Weiss Center for Social Medicine and Health Equity Grand Rounds. Based on what he’s learned in 13 years on the county court bench, Leifman is now the special advisor on criminal justice and mental health for the Florida Supreme Court.