TUCSON, Ariz. – The powerful dust storm that swept across Maricopa County last week likely will produce a large increase in new Valley Fever infections over the next two to three months, an expert at the University of Arizona predicts.

 

John Galgiani, MD, Director of the Valley Fever Center for Excellence at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, said such an increase in cases occurred following a similar huge blow in California’s Central Valley. Years ago, a Santa Ana wind storm blew dust from the Central Valley as far north as the San Francisco Bay Area. Kern County in California, like Maricopa County, is heavily endemic for the fungus that causes Valley Fever. As published in a medical journal, that storm resulted in 120 extra Valley Fever infections in Kern County, mostly in the subsequent two months. (Pappagianis D. “Tempest from Tehachapi takes toll or Coccidioides aloft from afar.” Western Journal of Medicine, 129:527-530, 1978).

 

“Because Maricopa County has ten times the number of people and three times the proportion of the population susceptible to first Valley Fever infections, we should expect 3,600 additional Valley Fever infections in Maricopa County for a total of 5,000 infections in July and August,” Dr. Galgiani said.

 

Public health officials and other medical professionals recently raised the concern that Valley Fever infections would increase as a result of the July 5 wind storm. By using the past experience in California as a guide, Dr. Galgiani points out that we can estimate just how large that increase may be. 

 

“People living in Phoenix and the surrounding areas should know about this risk and seek medical attention if they develop symptoms of pneumonia during that time,” Dr. Galgiani said. It would also be important for the medical community to be on heightened alert for the possibility of Valley Fever in their patients with new illnesses. Early diagnosis and management should reduce the overall severity of the infections.

 

Valley Fever is a fungal infection that develops after inhaling a spore that is released from the dirt by wind or other disturbances. Many individuals experience no illness and become immune. Others develop a pneumonia-like illness, joint pains, rashes or severe fatigue. A small number of people experience severe – even life-threatening – spread of the infection from the lungs to other parts of the body.

 

The UA Valley Fever Center for Excellence was established in 1996 by the Arizona Board of Regents for the benefit of the entire state. Based at the UA College of Medicine in Tucson, the center has developed a research base including all three of the state’s universities and an information program for both the scientific community and the general public.

 

Sixty high school students from across Arizona have been spending their summer exploring health-care career opportunities that could change the direction of their lives, thanks to Med-Start, an innovative program offered in Tucson and Phoenix by the University of Arizona College of Medicine’s Office of Outreach and Multicultural Affairs.

 

Med-Start is a five-week academic summer program for Arizona high school students who will enter their senior year in the fall and who are interested in careers in the health professions.

 

Twenty-four students are participating in Med-Start Phoenix, a weekday program held on the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix campus through July 8.

 

Thirty-six students are in Med-Start Tucson, a residential program on the UA College of Medicine – Tucson campus where participants live in a UA residence hall, through July 9.

 

 Med-Start encourages participants to pursue health-care careers by providing hands-on experiences in a variety of health professions while taking college-level coursework in chemistry, composition and study skills. Participants also learn about college life and the educational pathways to achieving their goals.

 

“The Med-Start program is an intensive experience in which the students acquire basic medical knowledge while learning about health-care careers,” says Ana Maria López, MD, MPH, UA College of Medicine associate dean for outreach and multicultural affairs. “In addition, they’re introduced to college life, which is vital to students entering health professions.”

 

Med-Start participants include students who are the first in their family to attend college or to pursue a career in the health professions, who are from ethnic groups that are underrepresented in the health professions, who live in medically-underserved rural or urban communities or who are economically or educationally disadvantaged.

 

Med-Start is supported by the UA College of Medicine’s Arizona Hispanic Center of Excellence and Indians Into Medicine (INMED) program, The Merlin K. “Monte” DuVal Memorial Med-Start Endowment and the Arizona Area Health Education Centers (AzAHEC). This year, part of the Med-Start Phoenix program funding also comes from grants from the Phoenix Suns Charities, Casino Arizona and the Greater Valley Area Health Education Center.

 

Med-Start Tucson participants include:

 

·       Apache Junction resident Melody Hernandez (Apache Junction High School).

 

·       Buckeye resident Lezlee Garvey (Buckeye Union High School).

 

·       Douglas resident Roxanna Valenzuela (Douglas High School).

 

·       Glendale resident Danielle Apodaca (Apollo High School).

 

·       Holbrook residents Shantina Kinlicheenie and Sharon Young (both students at Holbrook High School).

 

·       Laveen resident Yurica Salinas (Cesar Chavez High School).

 

·       Mesa resident Roberta Mills (Mesa High School), and Brittny Rodriguez, Leah Ruiz and Austin Sullins (all students at Westwood High School).

 

·       Oro Valley resident Alma Solano (Canyon del Oro High School).

 

·       Phoenix residents Channell Santana (Alhambra High School), and Anca Bugheanu (Moon Valley High School).

 

·       Rio Rico resident Alejandra Garcia (Rio Rico High School).

 

·       San Luis resident Elisa Jauregui (San Luis High School).

 

·       Surprise residents Johnny Jorquez (Shadow Ridge High School) and Mitchell Christian (Willow Canyon High School).

 

·       Teec Nos Pos resident Amerald Tsosie (Red Mesa High School).

 

·       Tuba City resident Trevor Tsinnijinnie (Tuba City High School).

 

·       Tucson residents Darian Harvey and Kiana Morales (both students at Ha:sañ Preparatory & Leadership School); Lauren Edward (Rincon High School); Kevin Marquez (St. Augustine Catholic High School); Ryla Antone and Nicholas Woznick (both students at San Miguel High School); John Fomeche and Teresita Sanchez (both students at Sunnyside High School); Karol Guevara (Tucson High Magnet School); and Emily Tran (University High School).

 

·       Yuma residents Naiby Rodriguez (Cibola High School); and Carolina Contreras, Tiffany Franco, Ethan Munoz, Paige Perry and Lexandra Rios (all students at Kofa High School).

 

Med-Start Phoenix participants include:

 

·       Cave Creek resident Autri Hafezi (Cactus Shadows High School).

 

·       Glendale residents Mijdah Adilyar and Pia Henderson (both students at Glendale High School); Monica Ochoa, Gabriela Ramirez, Rosa Rodriguez and Elizabeth Urias (all students at Independence High School); and Victoria Simmons (Deer Valley High School).

 

·       Goodyear resident Audriauna Amador (Desert Edge High School).

 

·       Mesa residents Sarah Cluff (Skyline High School); Nataly Guzman (Mesa High School); and Makenna Sowards (Westwood High School).

 

·       Phoenix residents Farzana Abdulla (North High School); Teresa Mota and Stella Sanchez (both students at Alhambra High School); Jessica Ochoa (Washington High School); and Aleksandra Popova (North Canyon High School).

 

·       Surprise resident Duval Wilson (Willow Canyon High School).

 

·       Tempe residents Dayana Francisco and Mercedes Martinez (both students at McClintock High School).

 

·       Tolleson residents Nalani Livingstone, Jose Pulido, Summer Rak and Constance Washington (all students at University High School).

 

 

Just two years after opening its doors to the first class of medical students in 1967, the UA College of Medicine in Tucson welcomed a group of about 20 high school students who came to the campus to attend the first Med-Start summer program, developed to improve health care in rural and economically disadvantaged areas and to increase the number of minority health-care professionals in Arizona.

 

The Med-Start cause was championed by a group of idealistic and innovative minority medical students – including Marcos Duarte, Ruth Smothers and Yuel Tom, all of whom later completed their medical degrees at the UA. In 1968, they received the support of UA College of Medicine Founding Dean Merlin K. “Monte” DuVal, MD.

 

The late Dr. DuVal probably is best remembered for his role in shaping the fledgling College, providing support for numerous programs and initiatives that have contributed to recognition of the College as one of the top medical schools in the West. After his death in 2006, generous gifts from family and friends established The Merlin K. “Monte” DuVal Memorial Med-Start Endowment, which pays tribute to the founding dean while supporting this vital program.

 

Since it was launched in 1969, several thousand students have participated in Med-Start. In 2004, Med-Start expanded to the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix campus.

 

“The real magic of Med-Start is revealed in the personal stories of career success,” says Patricia Rodríguez, associate director of the Office of Outreach and Multicultural Affairs at the College of Medicine - Phoenix. “Whether the youth who have benefited from Med-Start became direct-care providers or chose career paths outside of the health professions, many have had a tremendous impact on the lives of others.”

 

Some Med-Start alumni who have pursued medical careers include:

 

Ÿ Mariana Amaya, MD (1992), graduated from the UA College of Medicine in 2001 and practices obstetrics and gynecology in Phoenix. (Dr. Amaya also participated in the UA Minority Medical Education Program in 1994.)

 

Ÿ Ernestine Bustamante, MD (1988), graduated from the UA College of Medicine in 1997 and practices obstetrics and gynecology in Chandler.

 

Ÿ Carlos R. Gonzales, MD (1972), graduated from the UA College of Medicine in 1981.  One of the early Med-Start participants, today Dr. Gonzales is an associate professor with the UA College of Medicine Department of Family and Community Medicine, an award-winning family practice physician and a leader in addressing the challenges of border health issues. He recalls that as a student at Pueblo High School, he dreamed about going into medicine, but it was just a dream. Med-Start helped him realize that being part of the medical profession was possible, he says, and he became the first in his family to go on to college. “Med-Start motivated me,” he notes. “Without Med-Start, it wouldn’t have happened.”

 

Ÿ Evelinda Gonzales (2002), is the daughter of Dr. Carlos Gonzales (see above) and a member of the UA College of Medicine Class of 2012.

 

Ÿ Larry Oñate, MD (1978), graduated from the UA College of Medicine in 1989 and is a psychiatrist in Tucson.

 

Ÿ Celida Rangel, MD (1990), graduated from the UA College of Medicine in 2002 and is a pediatrician in Phoenix.

 

Today, in addition to the Tucson and Phoenix summer programs, Med-Start promotes youth exploration of health careers year-round – through tours of the Arizona Health Sciences Center, high school career days, student health events and other activities.

 

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TUCSON, Ariz. – Summer in Southern Arizona brings out the shiny auto sunshades, the supersized water bottles – and the scorpions.

 

The Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center, located at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy in Tucson, reminds citizens of the desert that venomous scorpions share our habitat, and that sometimes we come closer to one another than we want. Since Jan. 1, the poison center has recorded more than 1,000 scorpion stings in its service area, which includes all counties in the state except Maricopa.

 

“We’ve had more than 280 stings in June alone, and nearly 700 since April 1, when ‘sting season’ unofficially begins,” says Keith Boesen, PharmD, managing director of the poison center. “There were a total of 2,535 stings during 2010.”

 

Scorpion stings are quite often very painful, Dr. Boesen says, but the majority do not require special medical treatment. Usually washing the site of the sting, applying a cool compress and using a painkiller such as aspirin or Tylenol handles the injury. The pain of the sting may last several minutes to days; numbness brought on by the sting may linger several hours or even days.

 

Sometimes though, a scorpion sting causes severe symptoms that require fast and expert medical care. These symptoms may include difficulty breathing, uncontrolled jerking, drooling and wild eye movements. The best advice when stung by a scorpion: call 1-800-222-1222 and tell the poison specialists about your symptoms.

 

“Severe symptoms are a result of the scorpion’s venom really disrupting the person’s nervous system,” says Mazda Shirazi, MD, PhD, medical director of the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center. “Although we have not had a reported death from a scorpion sting in many years, some stings can be life-threatening.”

 

Small children are at highest risk of severe symptoms, Dr. Shirazi says, but occasionally adults also require emergency care.  

 

“We’re fortunate in Arizona now in that we have a scorpion antivenom – a medicine that counteracts the effects of the sting – that we’ve been testing for five years with very good results,” Dr. Shirazi says. “Many hospitals across the state have that antivenom to use with their patients. It can save hours and even days of hospitalization for both children and adults, countering the severe effects of the sting very quickly.”

Though most of us do not wish to be close friends with the scorpions in our neighborhoods, all of us can benefit from knowing the basics about them.

Tucson, Ariz.—After 25 years of service to the University of Arizona, Alison Hughes will retire on June 30. Most recently, Ms. Hughes served as interim director of the Rural Health Office at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

 

Alison’s career began in 1984 as a policy consultant in the Rural Health Office (RHO), which at the time was located in the UA College of Medicine. 

 

She joined the faculty in 1985 and served as Associate Director of the RHO working closely with Dr. Andy Nichols who founded the office.  Following Dr. Nichols unexpected death in 2001 she assumed the directorship of the office, a position she held until 2005 when she “unofficially” retired to concentrate on a major grant for which she served as Principal Investigator. 

 

Alison was one of the founding faculty members of the College of Public Health.  She worked closely with Dr. Andy Nichols and Dr. Herb Abrams to organize the first program in public health.  When the program was approved, she chaired the Community Health Practice Concentration.  When the RHO moved from the College of Medicine into the new College of Public Health in 2000, Alison became chair of the Public Health Policy and Management Concentration, in addition to serving as a long-time student advisor.  During her lengthy tenure, she taught a popular course in health policy and leadership to students in public health, medicine, and public administration.

 

Alison was co-founder of the immensely successful Arizona Telemedicine Program.  Appointed by the program’s founder, Dr. Ronald Weinstein, as Associate Director of Outreach, Alison remained in that position since its inception.   

 

She has been Principal Investigator on numerous grants over the years.  The largest of these is the Arizona Rural Hospital Flexibility grant program which she launched 10 years ago and has brought in more than $6 million in grant funds to aid small rural hospitals in their quest to improve quality of care as well as increase their Medicare reimbursement procedures through designation to critical access hospital status.

 

Alison is proud of her contributions to building relationships between the University and the Zuckerman College of Public Health with Native American tribal nations in Arizona.  She successfully nominated Annie Dodge Wauneka for an honorary UA degree.  Chairwoman Wauneka was the first woman to Chair the Navajo Nation and crusaded to eliminate the spread of tuberculosis on the Nation.  In addition, she successfully obtained funding to assist four Tohono O’odham villages to advocate for passage of a seat belt law on the Nation, and was proud to be included in the celebration when the law was passed.  She also created a Native American liaison position within the RHO in order to continue to expand relationships between the college and tribal nations.

 

With expertise in rural health, Alison was recognized nationally through prestigious appointments to boards and commissions.  She served on the board of the Universal Services Administrative Corporation, a corporate entity that administered billions of dollars for telecommunications services.  She also served on the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health which advises the Secretary of Health and Human Services on the status of emerging rural health issues.  She was President of the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, and served on the Policy Board of the National Rural Health Association.  Alison has also been active in the American Public Health Association, having served as an officer in the Medical Care Section, and chair of that section’s rural health committee.  At the state level, she was president of the Arizona Rural Health Association, and remains on that board today.

 

Alison was appointed by two governors of Arizona to various commissions and boards over the years.  She is currently completing a two year term on the Arizona Commission on the Arts.  At the local level, she co-founded the Catalina Vista Neighborhood Association in 1985 and remains on that Association’s board today.  She is the current chair of the Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission, and is a board member of Borderlands Theater.

 

TUCSON, Ariz. – A long-running University of Arizona respiratory study of thousands of Tucson volunteers that began in 1972 continues to yield results and may hold the key to conquering Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States.

 

Arizona Respiratory Center researcher Stefano Guerra, MD, PhD, has won a two-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to confirm his preliminary findings that levels of specific proteins in the blood can predict the onset of COPD years before symptoms arise.

 

Dr. Guerra identified these protein biomarkers in blood samples collected over the 33 years of the Tucson Epidemiological Study of Airway Obstructive Disease (TESAOD) study. More than 9,000 blood samples from TESAOD study participants still are stored at the UA.

 

In addition to providing blood samples, Tucson study participants were tested every two years for respiratory function. For decades, study coordinators followed their health status and for those who died, they recorded date and cause of death.

 

“These blood samples, and the health and mortality data collected over many years, are an incredible resource,” said Dr. Guerra, who also holds appointments in the UA’s Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and the Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center. “The Tucson study in many aspects is unique because it was one of the longest-running respiratory studies ever conducted.”

 

Tucsonan Mark Cesnik, 60, remembers volunteering with his parents to participate in the study back when he was in high school. Research nurses followed his  family’s respiratory health for years in clinic visits and questionnaires.

 

“I remember they had a U.S. map on the wall, with pins showing where all the study participants were now living. They would have to track these people. They were very conscientious,” he recalled.

 

Now that data is aiding scientists in a worldwide effort to find cures to a variety of lung diseases, from COPD to lung cancer to asthma. Led by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the effort is known as the CADET study (Centers for Advanced Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics in Lung Diseases). 

 

As part of his $900,000 CADET grant over the next two years, Dr. Guerra will test blood samples collected in Switzerland to see if he can replicate his COPD biomarker findings from the Tucson study. He also will take a closer look at the Tucson data to see if and how biomarker levels change over time as COPD develops and progresses over the years. “Understanding the molecular changes may be our best hope for prevention and possibly, drugs to interrupt the progression of the disease,” he said. 

 

 In a later phase of the CADET study, Dr. Guerra hopes to test his findings in a clinic setting, using the biomarkers to identify patients at high risk of having rapid disease progression and developing strategies to defer or prevent this debilitating lung disease.

 

“This study is important because it puts the UA at the center of research that is going on globally,” said Fernando Martinez, MD, director of the Arizona Respiratory Center and the UA’s BIO5 Institute. “This is what translational medicine is all about – taking the findings of basic science and turning it into medical diagnostics and therapies that improve the lives of patients. It’s not some myth or dream -- this is happening today.”

 

Dr. Guerra said he’s grateful for the dedication of the TESAOD participants over the many years of the study and for the foresight of the Tucson study founders, particularly the late UA scientist Benjamin Burrows, MD. “It took vision back in the 1970s to collect this data and blood samples from thousands of participants and store them with the hope that someday future scientists would be able to decode their meanings with technologies not yet invented.”                                                           

The Arizona Respiratory Center is a center of excellence at  the University of Arizona College of Medicine -- Tucson. Internationally known for its research into the causes and development of emphysema, chronic bronchitis and asthma, the Arizona Respiratory Center brings together experts in immunology, epidemiology, genetics, pathology, radiology, internal medicine, pediatrics, pharmacology, computer science and many other disciplines to attack respiratory disease in children and adults.

TUCSON, Ariz. -- University Physicians Health Plans, in conjunction with UA Healthcare (UAH) leadership, is providing $560,000 to a team of UA health professionals to organize and test a new system of care for high-risk, high-cost patients with complex chronic illnesses.

 

The project, UA Healthcare Chronic Care Model Pilot, will enroll more than 300 patients in FY 2012 who are eligible for coverage through Medicare, the federal health program for seniors, and Medicaid, the federal health program for the poor. These patients, known as “dual-eligibles,” have chronic, disabling conditions and very complex health-care needs. They are frequent users of hospital emergency and in-patient care.

 

To determine just how frequent their use of emergency and in-patient care is, the UA group tallied services provided to 307 Medicare “special-needs” patients at University Physicians Healthcare. After nearly a year, one-third of the individuals in this group accounted for 90 percent of the program’s costs of providing care. In 2010, this one-third required 140 emergency room visits and 151 hospitalizations, many of which could have been prevented, says project leader Bruce Coull, MD, vice dean for clinical affairs at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.

 

“The ‘patient-centered’ approach that is the foundation of the new chronic care pilot project is designed to decrease the need for ER visits and hospitalizations. We are thrilled to have been funded to go forward and do this important work,” Dr. Coull says.

 

The chronic care pilot project is a collaboration of health-care professionals and administrators from the Arizona Health Sciences Center and the greater community,  including Mindy Fain, MD, chief, geriatrics, general internal medicine and palliative medicine; Tammie Bassford, MD, head, UA Department of Family and Community Medicine (FCM); Jane Mohler, RN, MPH, PhD, associate director, Arizona Center on Aging; Sally Reel, PhD, RN, associate dean, UA College of Nursing; Tom Ball, MD, chief medical officer, University Physicians Health Plans; Donna Cochran, CPA, assistant dean, finance and administration, UA College of Nursing; Beth C. Stoneking, PhD, MSW, CPRP, director, RISE unit (Recovery thru Integration, Support & Empowerment , FCM; John Murphy, PharmD, UA College of Pharmacy; and many other colleagues across various departments and colleges. Natalie Landman, PhD, project manager for the new, Phoenix-based Healthcare Transformation Institute, provided expert business consultation to the working group.

 

Patients enrolled in the pilot project suffer from such chronic conditions as heart disease, diabetes and psychiatric illnesses. This project will utilize patient care practices that have been shown through research to be the most effective, both medically and from a behavioral health standpoint.

 

Hallmarks of the patient-centered approach to caring for these patients include providing team-based primary care, in some cases, to patients in their own homes; “telehealth” monitoring of patients’ heart rates, blood pressure and other health measures; and coordinating the care patients receive from multiple health professionals. Primary care providers, nurses, clinical pharmacists, behavioral health experts and health mentors will work together to improve the quality of care and reduce overall costs.

 

The development of this comprehensive and innovative approach to chronic care supports several UA Healthcare key strategic initiatives, including the development of new ways of providing care that are good for patients and that reduce health-care costs. It also will involve collaboration between UA health professionals and community organizations, including Pima Council on Aging and the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona, the region’s behavioral health funding organization.

 

Investigators with UA Healthcare (UAH) have been awarded an innovative two-year grant to teach chief residents (CRs) in the care of complex older adults. Funded by The Hearst Foundation, this 24-month $114,000 grant provides funding for the 2012 and 2013 Interprofessional Chief Resident Immersion Training (CRIT) Programs at UAH. 

 

Grant recipients include Mindy Fain, MD, PI, chief, Division of Geriatrics, General Medicine and Palliative Medicine and co-director, Arizona Center on Aging; co-investigators Andy Theodorou, MD, director of safety and quality improvement and chief medical officer of University Medical Center; Amy Waer, MD, program director, general surgery residency; Bill Johnson, MD, medical residency program director; and Jane Mohler, MPH, PhD, co-director, Arizona Geriatric Education Center.

 

 The CRIT program fosters positive attitudes toward caring for older adults and encourages collaborative interprofessional management of complex older patients. Targeted to new chief residents because of the key role they play in ensuring safe, high-quality patient care, providing medical-student and resident training, mediating among faculty, residents and staff across disciplines and communicating with patients and families, the program was developed specifically to advance CR teaching and leadership skills with a focus on the care of complex older patients. 

 

The UAH Quality and Safety team, led by Dr. Theodorou and faculty from the Arizona Center on Aging, will assist in supporting the design and implementation of this process through the UAH Quality and Safety Resident’s Council. Each CR will co-develop and address a real-world quality/safety issue relevant to each specialty area that will include other relevant providers (e.g., nursing, discharge planning, pharmacy or other participation) to learn quality improvement, while enhancing safe, quality hospital outcomes.

 

TUCSON, Ariz. – Eric Snyder, PhD, assistant professor at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy, is the lead investigator on a $2.2 million, five-year study to determine which heart failure patients will be more susceptible to the development of pulmonary edema, the abnormal build-up of fluid in the lungs. Pulmonary edema is a leading cause of hospitalization and death in patients with heart failure.

 

Awarded by the National Institutes of Health, the grant, “Gene-by-Gene Interactions and Lung Fluid Balance in Patients with Heart Failure,” also will allow the research team to seek new therapies that can improve the clearance of fluid from the lungs in patients with heart failure.

 

Collaborators with Dr. Snyder on the grant are Paul Nolan, PharmD, UA College of Pharmacy; Mark Friedman, MD, cardiology, UA College of Medicine; Dorothy Gilbertson-Dahdal, MD, radiology, UA College of Medicine; and Dean Billheimer, PhD, statistical consulting, UA BIO5 Institute.

 

Complications from heart failure, including pulmonary edema, are among the top reasons for hospital admissions in the United States for persons over the age of 65. The development of pulmonary edema results from alterations in the normal balance between factors that influence lung fluid accumulation and those that influence lung fluid removal.

 

Not all patients with heart failure develop pulmonary edema, even if they have similar clinical characteristics and age, which suggests that a person’s genes may contribute to the likelihood of developing pulmonary edema.

 

The research team will study several genes, both alone and together, that are important in lung fluid clearance. In addition, the researchers will investigate how drug therapy affects lung fluid clearance according to these genes.

 

Citing health concerns, Henry E. Wells, interim president and CEO of UA Healthcare, today announced his resignation, effective July 31.

 

More physicians are practicing in rural Arizona thanks to a select group of physicians who volunteer for four to six weeks each summer to mentor medical students from the University of Arizona College of Medicine.

 

The physicians are rural faculty members in the UA College of Medicine’s Rural Health Professions Program (RHPP), established in 1997 by the Arizona Legislature to encourage medical school graduates to practice medicine in rural communities.

 

Some preceptor comments about their medical students:   “… enthusiastic, relates well to staff and patients and has the integrity and maturity to make a wonderful physician.”    “…an excellent student advanced for her level in training and a pleasure to work with!”

Every summer for the past 15 years, the physicians have volunteered as preceptors – or mentors – to UA medical students between their first and second years of medical school. Several of the physicians are UA College of Medicine graduates who participated in RHPP as medical students and now are serving as RHPP mentors.

 The medical students work for four to six weeks in June and July with the physicians at their practice sites and reside in their communities. Students are matched with preceptors based on medical specialty interest and community preference. Physician specialties include family practice, pediatrics, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology and surgery. The students will continue to work with their preceptors over the course of their three remaining years of medical training, returning to the rural communities in their third and fourth years.

• Chinle: Melissa Lee, MD, medicine/pediatrics, mentoring Shana Semmens, of Tempe, June 6-July 8.

• Cibecue/Whiteriver: Steven Savoia, MD, internal medicine, mentoring Wes Anderson, of Phoenix, June 13-July 15.

• Cottonwood: Wendy Tuccille, MD, pediatrics, mentoring Nataly Vadasz, of Flagstaff (originally from South Africa), June 6-July 8.

• Douglas: April Alvarez-Corona, MD, pediatrics, mentoring Caleb Holtzer, of Fort Collins, Colo. (originally from LaPorte, a small town in Colorado, and who has lived in rural areas in southern Africa, Bolivia and the Amazon), June 20-July 15.

• Flagstaff:

• Grand Canyon: Angelica Macias, MD, family medicine, mentoring Zachary Orman, of Murphys, Calif., June 6-July 1.

• Kingman: Kenneth Jackson, MD, family medicine, mentoring Nourhan Mustafa, of Kingman, June 6-July 8.

• Polacca: Jon Stucki, MD, family medicine, mentoring Elizabeth Dupuy, of Phoenix, June 6-July 8.

• Prescott:

• Safford: Gail Guerrero, MD, family medicine, mentoring Ashley Bartholomew, of Chandler, June 6-July 1.

• Sells: Susan Hausser, MD, family medicine, mentoring Briana Ketterer, of Tempe, June 15-July 27.

• Show Low:

• Sierra Vista: Jody Jenkins, MD, general surgery, mentoring Kimberly Yang, of Scottsdale, June 26-Aug. 8.

• Snowflake: Dallas Peterson, MD, and Alan DeWitt, MD, both family medicine, mentoring Jurgen Weber, of Gilbert (originally from a rural area of Minnesota), June 6-July 1.

• Tuba City: Diana Hu, MD, pediatrics, mentoring Sara Seghezzo, of Phoenix, June 6-July 8.

• Wickenburg: William Firth, MD, internal medicine, mentoring Joseph Chao, of Lake Havasu City, June 6-July 1.

• Yuma: