Dean's Message

Well-being is deeply personal.  Well-being is about YOU.  It is about you and me and our individual and collective ability to flourish as we do our amazing work.  Aspects of well-being can feel nebulous or theoretical, as we focus on our culture and our systems.  Indeed, we are passionate about optimizing these hard to hold environmental elements that are critical to our mission.  Please don’t misunderstand us, however.  We are also rolling up our sleeves and one by one, picking the pebbles out of our shoes to help us get where we want to go.  

Health systems around the country are evaluating and adjusting their working and learning environments to ensure that people within these systems have the tools they need to care for themselves as they care for their communities. VTCSOM and Carilion Clinic are proud to be diving in and committed to these efforts.  In other words, we are honored to be doing our mission work of healing healthcare so that we may flourish and serve.  

The “Healing Healthcare” journey began in the fall of 2022 with the formation of a Well-Being Taskforce that included faculty, fellow, resident, and student representatives. Over several months, using resources from the National Academy of Medicine and the US Surgeon General’s Office, the task force produced a list of priorities for advancing well-being at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. 

As we are closing in our first year of turning those recommendations into reality, we find it helpful to stay anchored in a well-being model that illustrates the various components of well-being in academic health centers.  As you can see from the model, our focus is on optimizing the system within which we work and learn, while also providing support as we prioritize our personal well-being.

At VTCSOM, we believe in a well-being-centered workplace where:

  • Faculty, employees, and trainees feel valued, cared for, and supported (Workplace Culture). 
  • The workplace is efficiency-focused, job roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and feasible, and teams work well together (Workplace Efficiency and Function).
  • Mental health, just like physical health, is prioritized, mental health care is easily accessible, and there are no repercussions to seeking help (Mental Health Support).
  • Since stress and physical health can greatly influence well-being at home and at work, tools are offered to strengthen personal wellness, health, and resilience (Personal Factors and Health). 

We are excited that VTCSOM and Carilion are investing in this extremely important work and look forward to building on the current momentum. Please visit our new webpage LINK to learn more and to follow along as we grow.

Lisa Uherick, MD
Chief Well-Being Officer

News Around Campus

Events 

  • November 7, 12-1 p.m. – Inclusive Holiday Gatherings (See Take Note section below)
  • November 11 – Chili Cook-Off*
  • November 14, 12-1 p.m. – Developing Your Personal Brand (See Take Note section below)
  • December 9-12 – Silent Auction (Bid-A-Basket)*
  • December 13 – Bake Sale and Tacky Sweater Contest*
  • Hokies Give Back Event

Humanism Notes 

You Tube’s Kid President believes the things we say can help make the world more awesome. Here he shares a special list of 20 things we should say more often. What would you add to it?

Video

Recognition 

Congratulations to Sarah Henrickson Parker, VTCSOM chair of Health Systems and Implementation Science, and her team of co-authors on being awarded an Editor's Choice from the American Journal of Kidney Diseases for their article "Human Factors Contributing to Infection Prevention in Outpatient Hemodialysis Centers: A Mixed Methods Study." 

Co-authors included Matthew Jesso and Laurie Wolf of Carilion Clinic as well as Renee Garrick, Alan Kliger and Priti Patel. Read the abstract here: https://www.ajkd.org/article/S0272-6386(24)00626-7/abstract.

Publishing

Michelle Rockwell, assistant professor, and mentor John Epling, Jr., vice chair and professor, both in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, co-authored “Patients' experiences with 'sludge' (administrative burden) in the cancer screening process and its relationship with screening completion, experience and health system distrust,” with Brianna Chang, class of 2026, as part of her research domain project. Published in Family Medicine and Community Health, the article’s other co-authors included Sarah Parker, associate professor and chair, Department of Health Systems and Implementation Science; Paul Yeaton, professor, Department of Internal Medicine; Vivian Zagarese, postdoctoral associate in Parker’s lab; Jamie Turner, TBMH student; and others from Virginia Tech, Carilion, and the University of Virginia. 

Martin Barylak (first author) and Stephanie Carpentier, both from the class of 2024, published “Gait stability improves following unilateral total ankle arthroplasty” in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research as part of their research domain projects. Mentor Robin Queen, professor in the Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics (BEAM), and Sara Arena, collegiate associate professor in BEAM, co-authored.

As part of his domain research project, Haseeb Goheer, class of 2025, was first author on “Obesity is an independent risk factor for postoperative pulmonary embolism after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion,” which was published in The Spine Journal with mentor Jonathan Carmouche, professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, and orthopaedic surgery colleagues at Carilion.

Andrew Strohman, class of 2024, was first author on “Low-intensity focused ultrasound to the insula differentially modulates the heartbeat-evoked potential: A proof-of-concept study,” published in Clinical Neurophysiology with Wynn Legon, assistant professor, Department of Neurosurgery, and colleagues from Virginia Tech, California, Oklahoma, and France.

Liliana Ladner, class of 2025 and first author, and co-mentor Eric Marvin, associate professor in the Department of Neurosurgery, published “Traditional Prostate Cancer Risk Assessment Scales Do Not Predict Outcomes from Brain Metastases: A Population-Based Predictive Nomogram” in Cancers (Basel). Co-authors included Vaibhav Patel, John Entwistle, and Cara Rogers, assistant professors in the Department of Neurosurgery, and colleagues Srijan Adhikari, Abhishek Bhutada, and Joshua Cuoco, neurosurgery residents at Carilion.

Mia Edelson, class of 2025 and first author, published “Power burn lesions: Gunshot wound mimicking endometriosis,” in the Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology with James Casey, assistant professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Posters and Presentations

A group of VTC students presented their research “Investigating accessibility of language interpretation services in healthcare settings for underserved and minoritized refugee and immigrant families” at the American Academy of Pediatrics conference. The research was completed as part of the Refugee and Immigrant Medical Association VTC Student Organization .

The presenters were: Kavya Iyer (Ph.D Student, Translational Biology, Medicine and Health); Paula Lewis (Class of 2025); Maedot Haymete (Class of 2026); Kady Ngo (Class of 2027); Nancy Wu (Class of 2025); Gemma Porras Nielsen (Class of 2024); Priyenka Khatiwada (Class of 2026). Faculty advisor: Vydia Permashwar, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Carilion Clinic

Welcome New Employees and Administrative Faculty 

  • Amanda Murchison – Associate Dean for Student Affairs
  • Tonya Pickett – Instructional Manager
  • Alaina Guerry – Manager, Office of Medical Education

Welcome New Faculty

  • Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine – Natalie Cagle 
  • Family and Community Medicine – Tamara Davidson, Matthew Hornsby, and Shefali Shah
  • Surgery – Stephen Eason, Sanjoy Saha, and Yu Zhang
  • Internal Medicine – Cristina  Hurley,  Muhammad Hussain, Nathan Johnson, Daniel Krakauer, Aditya Sithamraju, Christian Van Doren, and Cheng-Chia Wu
  • Orthopaedic Surgery – Kelly Kugach 
  • Obstetrics and Gynecology – Rebekah Summey and Annelise Wilhite
  • Pediatrics – Meike Van Der Heijden

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Update 

November is: 

  • National Native American Heritage Month
  • National Family Caregivers Month
  • October 31–November 2: Dia de los Muertos 

1:  Diwali
1:  All Saints’ Day
2:  All Souls’ Day
2: (sundown to sundown):  Birth of Báb
3 (sundown to sundown):  The birth of Bahá’u’lláh
11:  Veterans Day
13–19: Transgender Awareness Week
November 15–December 24:  Nativity Fast
19:  International Men’s Day 
20:  Transgender Day of Remembrance
21: Native American Women’s Equal Pay Day
24:  Feast of Christ the King
28: The Ascension of ‘Abdu’lBaha
28:  Thanksgiving Day
29:  Native American Heritage Day
30:  St. Andrew’s Day

Alumni Updates

Congratulations to Venki Ramakrishnan, Class of 2018, who recently joined Wake Radiology as an interventional radiologist after completing his surgical internship, residency, and fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Take Note

HS&T Fall Campus Events

Developing Your Personal Brand 

VT Women Connect

  • In-person and virtual options
  • 4 Riverside, G101
  • November 14, 2024
  • 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Do you want to make yourself more memorable? Do you want to position yourself in a way that aligns with your goals? Do you want to intentionally shape how others perceive you? If you said yes, then join Dr. Pauly's Personal Branding workshop and learn how to craft your own narrative. Participants can also join virtually by clicking here.

Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Series (DIBS) | Inclusive Holiday Gatherings

  • November 7, 2024
  • 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Join us for the November DIBS event where Michele Deramo, Virginia Tech’s Associate Vice Provost of Diversity Education & Engagement, will present a talk on inclusive holiday gatherings. Lunch is provided for the first 20 registrants. Click here to register for this event.

The Last Note

In our new "Boots on the Ground" curriculum, first year med students at VTCSOM get out in our community to help understand its diverse needs. At Morningside Urban Farm, they learned how food deserts affect certain areas of our city and how urban farms like this benefit the community and inspire healthy lifestyles.