December 2023
Progress Notes
November 1, 2023
As we reflect on 2023 there are many successes featured in Progress Notes that moved us tangibly toward our vision. Each achievement was made possible by teams of people – faculty and staff, students, and residents interacting with each other and with the communities we serve. Thank you for the excellent work you do, every day, as part of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine!
As a human-centered organization we are defined by the conversations that take place among learners, faculty, staff, and our community. These conversations promote a spirit of inquiry, adventure, and experimentation. They allow us to be a cohesive and inclusive organization that continuously adapts and evolves. As your dean I deeply appreciate the opportunity to serve as a convener and participant in some of the vibrant conversations that guide our journey together.
The Thanksgiving holiday provided all of us an opportunity to take a deep breath, reconnect with family and friends, and reflect with gratitude on our lives and relationships. I recently learned how the word “diastole” can be repurposed to describe these opportunities. Diastole is generally defined as a rhythmically recurrent expansion, and in physiology, as the relaxation and dilation of the chambers of the heart especially the ventricles during which they fill with blood.
Our lives often require us to move rapidly from one priority to the next in a tachycardic tempo that tests our fitness and stamina. The diastoles crucial to our functioning are so brief that we barely notice them. Holidays like Thanksgiving and the upcoming December celebrations can bring exceptional opportunities to refill our hearts so they fuel us to be our most caring and successful selves. Travelers taking airplanes to their holiday destinations will be reminded to put on their oxygen mask first before helping others. In that spirit, I encourage each of us to find daily diastolic opportunities to help us stay centered, energized, and engaged.
Wishing each of you a healthy, happy, and renewing holiday season!
Lee A. Learman
Dean
Editor’s note: The next issue of Progress Notes will be published Monday, January 8. All submissions should be sent to Catherine Doss (cdoss@vt.edu) no later than Wednesday, December 13.
Upcoming Events
- January 3- Delta Dental Oral Health Endowed Lecture. Register here
- January 24- Docs For Morgan fundraising basketball game
- February 22-May 6, 2024 – Spring Art Show “From These Hills”
News Around Campus
Social Media
- Youngsters at Roanoke’s West End Center had plenty of enthusiasm for science and medicine this fall
- Thanks to the generosity of Brian Grove, Senior Associate Director of VT Dining Services, and the amazing teams who make and serve Thanksgiving meals to VT students in Blacksburg, approximately 100 meals were delivered to the Riverside 2 café on Thursday, 11/16/23.
- Chili Cook Off!
- Andrew Strohman, one of our M.D.-Ph.D. candidates who received the Jeanine L. Matte Fellowship...
- Make sure to follow our official VTCSOM accounts! Instagram, Facebook, X
Publishing
- Roger P. Smith, adjunct professor of obstetrics and gynecology, recently had “Postgraduate year 52” published in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Posters and Presentations
- Sarah Harendt, education and faculty development manager; Shari Whicker, assistant dean for faculty development, senior director, Office of Continuing Professional Development (OCPD) and TEACH, and associate professor, Department of Pediatrics; Mariah Rudd, director, OCPD and TEACH; and instructor, Department of OB/GYN; David Musick, senior dean, faculty affairs; and Avery Mahaney, faculty affairs manager, have had their poster, entitled "The Interdisciplinary MAP of Mentorship: A Circular Model to Integrate Junior Faculty within Health Professions Education,” accepted to present at the 2024 Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education Annual Meeting in San Diego in March.
Recognitions
- Melissa Leaf, Class of 2024, recently became one of only a few veterinarians in Virginia to earn certification in veterinary pain management.
- Congratulations to our colleagues who were recently recognized in Carilion Clinic's Cheers for Peers
Welcome to New Faculty
Welcome to all the new faculty who joined us recently!
Internal Medicine: Jonathan Hillyard and Kerry Whitt
Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine: Aysegul Aydogan and Maureen Waweru
Surgery: Greta-Ann Castonguay
Family and Community Medicine: Paige Charboneau, Kelsey Norris, Tyler Willson
Pediatrics: Mandeep Rana
Diversity and Inclusion
Holidays and celebrations in December
1: World AIDS Day
3: International Day of Persons with Disabilities
3-24: Advent
7-15: Hanukkah
8: Immaculate Conception of Mary
8: Bodhi Day
10: International Human Rights Day
12: Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
13: St. Lucia’s Day
16–24: Las Posadas
21: Yule Winter Solstice
25: Christmas Day
26: Boxing Day
26–January 1: Kwanzaa
26: Zartosht No-Diso
26: St. Stephen’s Day
27: St. John’s Apostle and Evangelist Day, feast day for St. John
28: Feast of the Holy Innocents
30: Feast of the Holy Family
31: Watch Night/New Year's Eve
January 1: New Year's Day
Community Corner
Community members enjoyed an informative presentation on Evolving Tech and AI in Healthcare that ran over two evenings in November. A group of speakers and panelists from VTC, Carilion, and VT explored the quickly changing role that artificial intelligence is playing in patient care and how this developing technology will impact healthcare in the future.
Spotlight on Giving
Photo credit: Clayton Metz
End of Year Giving: Make a Meaningful Impact in 2023
As the year draws to a close, we want to thank the many generous supporters of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and reflect on the impact you have made on the future of health care. Your generosity has empowered aspiring physicians and elevated the standard of medical education.
Your contributions play a pivotal role in shaping the next generation of compassionate and skilled physicians. By making a gift before the year concludes, you not only invest in the future of medicine but also leave a lasting legacy of excellence.
Join us in ensuring that the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine continues to inspire innovation, cultivate talent and positively impact the health and well-being of communities.
Donate today and be part of the journey that defines the essence of our school!
Humanism Notes
The December holidays echo the spirit of giving that helps caring communities thrive every day. People who struggle with limited resources in our community are often unseen, as the author Tom Foolery reminds us in this video poem.
Take Note
Holiday Toy Drive
The VTCSOM Refugee and Immigrant Medical Association invites you to spread joy and make a child's holiday season brighter by donating new, unwrapped toys by December 8. The recipient of this year’s toy drive is Chip of Roanoke Valley. Monetary gifts can be made via Venmo @VTCRIMA. Donation boxes can be found in the following locations: 2 Riverside Lobby,4 Riverside Lobby, FBRI Breakrooms, VTCSOM Library.
Campus Fitness Challenge
Get your team ready for the most highly anticipated event on our campus, the HS&T Campus Fitness Challenge! Participants of the 3-month long fitness challenge, which starts in January, will have the opportunity to compete in the physical/cardio category and/or mental/emotional health category. This challenge is open to all! Prizes for the winners! Sign up here.
Recycling on the HS&T Campus
One simple way to make our campus more sustainable is by ensuring we are recycling correctly. When tossing items please double-check and place such things as cardboard, paper, emptied and rinsed plastic bottles, glass bottles and jars, and steel and aluminum cans in appropriately marked blue bins. Please note that once non-recyclable item is placed into a recycling the whole bin becomes garbage.
Past issues of Progress Notes may be found here
The Last Note
And the Beat Goes On
M2 Carter Gottschalk shows an enthusiastic youngster from Roanoke’s West End Center how to find a heartbeat and what one sounds like. During the fall Bodies and Bites program, 33 volunteers from VTCSOM and FBRI led hands-on science and medicine activities and healthy snack prep with 2nd and 3rd graders. The program is supported by VTCSOM's Pediatrics Special Interest Group
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Community members enjoyed an informative presentation on Evolving Tech and AI in Healthcare that ran over two evenings in November. A group of speakers and panelists from VTC, Carilion, and VT explored the quickly changing role that artificial intelligence is playing in patient care and how this developing technology will impact healthcare in the future. For the full list of speakers and topics, go to medicine.vtc.vt.edu/events