The Oklahoma State University Center for Rural Health at the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences recently presented a check for $8,283 to Drumright Regional Hospital. The funds for the check are made available through the Small Hospital Improvement Program (SHIP) grant administered by the OSU Center for Rural Health.

In 2008, the OSU Center for Rural Health received $496,980 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Health Resources & Services Administration to distribute equally among 60 rural hospitals in Oklahoma.

“It is always a pleasure to be able to assist and support our small rural hospitals. Small hospitals in Oklahoma are vital to the health of rural residents, the economic well being of our health system, and are indispensable to future community development,” said Val Schott, director of the Oklahoma Office of Rural Health.

Funding for the SHIP grant is authorized by the Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999. Funds became available in 2002 to assist in three problem areas: upgrades of computer and data systems, compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and support for quality improvement. Nationwide, approximately 1,600 hospitals have received financial assistance through SHIP funding. A map of the Oklahoma hospitals receiving SHIP funding is available at http://ruralhealth.okstate.edu.

Photo:
Val Schott, M.P.H., (right) director of the OSU Center for Rural Health at the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences presents to Darrell Morris, (left) chief executive officer of Drumright Regional Hospital, a check in the amount $8,283. Doug Brant, D.O., a family practice physician in Drumright and an adjunct faculty member at OSU, and Tony Glenn, a fourth-year OSU medical student from Guthrie, attended the presentation.

Colby Foundation lecture, OSU Scrub Run highlight National Donate Life Month

The importance of organ donations is highlighted with a presentation from LifeShare Transplant Donor Services of Oklahoma at noon Thursday, April 2, The Colby Foundation Endowed Lectureship for students at noon on Friday, April 3, and the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine’s 30th annual Osteopathic Scrub Run is Saturday, April 4.

OSU first- and second-year medical students participate in the Colby Foundation Endowed Lectureship each year to learn more about organ donation and transplantation.

Guest lecturer is Kirby D. Slifer, D.O., (photo left with Dan Cogan, Ed.D.) medical director, Critical Care Medicine and consultant, Infectious Diseases at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne, Ind. 

In a preliminary presentation Stephanie Bagley, R.N., quality systems manager for organ Recovery at LifeShare Transplant Donor Services of Oklahoma presents information about procedures for donors and recipients to medical students at noon Thursday, April 2.

The lectureship was established in 1997 by OSU Medicine alumni Dr. John Cassani (’80) and his wife, Starla, who created it in memory of their son, Colby, who died in 1993 at the age of 14-months. In 1995, they created the Colby Foundation and began the lectureship at OSU to raise awareness and increase support for organ and tissue donation/transplantation and to highlight its benefits to individuals and society.  Colby’s heart, kidney and liver were donated to three separate patients waiting for transplants. Special guests include Brayden Jueschke, Colby’s Cassani’s heart recipient. His parents Laura and Joe Jueschke will attend and will speak to the students and faculty. Katie Parker, director of The Colby Foundation, also will participate.

The Osteopathic Scrub Run April 4 is sponsored by the OSU Student Osteopathic Medicine Association. It benefits LifeShare Transplant Donor Services of Oklahoma. April is national Donate Life Month to highlight the need for organ donations. Oklahoma LifeShare statistics show Oklahoma has a current waiting list of nearly 700 candidates for transplants. Register at getmeregistered.com or Fleet Feet Sports (918) 492-3338. For information: www.healthsciences.okstate.edu/race/index.cfm

Dealing with an urban myth about fluorescent lights

Despite what you may have heard, you should turn off your fluorescent lamps if the space they’re lighting is not going to be occupied for more than a few minutes (3-5 minutes is a good rule of thumb). The modern electronic ballast and T8/T5 lamp combination do draw a higher level of current during the start up, but it only lasts for a fraction of a second. Leaving fluorescent lights on when you leave an area is one of those myths from the '70s that has somehow survived. In fact, occupancy sensors are used routinely with fluorescent fixtures to turn the lights off when no one is in a room. For more, go to http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/myths/fluorescent_lights.html  

Coming events:

The American Heart Association Heart Walk begins at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, April 18 at Veterans Park in Tulsa The 3.2-mile walk through the neighborhood to the 21st Street pedestrian bridge continues along the west bank of the Arkansas River, and through the park along the Cherry Creek Trails.  OSU-CHS walkers scheduled are Kelly Dipboye, Scott Dipboye, Terry Brown, Amanda Benn, and Briá Taylor. The team has raised $441.40.  The American Heart Association’s goal is $690,000 for the event. Donations can be made at the OSU-CHS main reception desk.  To register: www.tulsaheartwalk.org and sign up under OSU Center for Health Sciences.

OSU hosts the Educational Council on Osteopathic Principles April 23-25. Representatives from each of the osteopathic colleges attend the meetings, held twice a year at the various colleges. Harriet H. Shaw, D.O., is the OSU-CHS Representative to ECOP.

The OSU Office of Continuing Medical Education Emergency Medicine Review is June 12-14 at the DoubleTree Hotel-Tulsa Downtown.  The conference features lectures and hands-on activities with emphasis on situations encountered daily by the primary care physician.  The goal of the conference is to enhance the knowledge of emergency care providers, thereby improving patient care.  The full conference is pending approval by the AOA for 20 hours of AOA Category 1A CME credit. Deadline for early registration price of $400 is May 22. For information or to register for the conference, contact Cyndi Canning, program specialist, or Rob Robinson, program coordinator, at (918) 586-4615 or (918) 586-4617 or (800) 274-1972.

Accredited Online CME programs now available

The Office of Continuing Medical Education now offers 25 hours of 1B AOA accredited online CME programming. For more information or to register for a course, contact Cyndi Canning, program specialist, or Rob Robinson, program coordinator, at (918) 586-4615 or (918) 586-4617 or (800) 274-1972.

Round of Applause

Kathleen Curtis, Ph.D. served as editor for a special issue of Physiology and Behavior, an international scientific journal. The issue addressed sex differences in physiology and behavior, with a special focus on the central actions of ovarian hormones. The papers encompass a broad range of investigations from reproductive behaviors to sensory processing to learning and memory, from eating and drinking to drug abuse and depression. The issue goes into production in April.

The Oklahoma State University/A&M Board of Regents approved personnel actions during its March 6 meeting for Susan K. Steele, D.O., clinical assistant professor, family medicine; and for Anil K. Kaul, M.D., D.D.S., M.P.H..., research associate professor, obstetrics and gynecology. A title change was approved for Lora D. Cotton, D.O., from assistant professor and associate program director, to assistant professor, associate program director and vice chair, family medicine.

Douglas Foster, D.O., was elected to serve as vice-chair of the Oklahoma Comprehensive Cancer Network steering committee.

Oklahoma doctors of osteopathic medicine and OSU-CHS students visited Capitol Hill March 5 for DO Day on the Hill.  They joined approximately 1,800 osteopathic physicians from across the nation to lobby regarding House Bill 914.  The proposed bill, if passed into law, would provide interest free federal loans of up to one million dollars to rural hospitals to start new residency training programs in medically underserved rural areas. 

Grant Awarded
“Evaluation of the Microbial Flora Found in Band Musical Instruments (Woodwinds and Brass) and Their Potential to Transmit Diseases (A Feasibility Study),” funded by Encore Etc. Inc., 6 months, $26,928.  Tom Glass, Ph.D., Stan Conrad, Ph.D. and Gerwald Köhler, Ph.D.

Media
Unwrapping a Gift of Death, Tulsa World Feb. 8. OSU-CHS Body Donor Program.  Kirby Jarolim, Ph.D., Thomas Garrison, Jazi Matlock MS-I.

Vanguard Magazine, OSU Medicine’s clinical trials take on Children’s Diseases; ACOP’s Pulse: Communications Messaging, “Myths-The Truth about Immunizations.”  Behind the Scenes with Robin Meade of CNN-Headline News - Stanley E. Grogg, D.O.

KRMG Radio interview with Richard Dowdell - William J. Pettit, D.O.

Presentations
“Exploiting Variability in DNA for Identification and Attribution in the Forensic Laboratory” presented to the evidence class at University of Tulsa Feb. 25. Robert Allen, Ph.D.
“Quantitation of Total and Male Chromosomal DNA Using Multiplex PCR and Capillary Electrophoresis” presented at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences Annual Meeting in Denver, Feb. 16-19 Jun Fu, Ph.D. presenter and Robert Allen, Ph.D.

Posters presented at OSU-CHS Research Day

“Estrogen Effects on Neural Activation in Forebrain Circumventricular Organs in Response to a Hypertonic Saline Infusion,” Alexis Jones presenter, Kathleen S. Curtis, Ph.D. advisor; “Estrogen and HSD2 Neuron Labeling in the Nucleus Tractus Solitarius,”  Minh T. Ngo-presenter, Jennifer L. Hackett, and  Kathleen S. Curtis, Ph.D., advisor; “Estrogen and hindbrain activation in response to sodium loss,”  Liming Fan, presenter and Kathleen S. Curtis, Ph.D.; “Hypovolemia, Serotonin, and the Caudal Nucleus Tractus Solitarius,”  Michael B. Anderson presenter and  Kathleen S. Curtis, Ph.D.

Publications
Textbook published “Pharmacology,” 3rd Edition, Saunders-Elsevier, Philadelphia-London, 2009, Craig Stevens Ph.D. and George Brenner, Ph.D. professor emeritus.
Book chapter: “Forensic Dentistry Chapter in Forensic Science: An Introduction to Scientific and Investigative Techniques” (Third Edition) by James/Nordby, CRC Press, pp. 79-98, February 2009   Tom Glass, D.D.S./Ph.D.
“Ovariectomy and castration decrease renal protein excretion in mice,” Journal of American Osteopathic Association, Vol. 109 No. 1. p. 58, 2009.   Al Rouch, Ph.D. and others.

Reviews
Manuscripts: Journal of Microbiological Methods, Frank Champlin, Ph.D.; Physiology and Behavior.  Kathleen Curtis, Ph.D.; Journal of Microbiological Methods Gerwald Köhler, Ph.D.; American Journal of Veterinary Research, Al Rouch, Ph.D.; Paper: Proceedings B of the Royal Society , Bill Meek, Ph.D. and Anne Weil, Ph.D.; Grant reviewer: for NIH Study Section, Craig Stevens, Ph.D.

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