Office of Primary Care and Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program

(NOVEMBER 7, 2023) A study by rheumatologist Brendan Thoms, M.B.B.S., assistant professor of medicine, and colleagues shows that key details of patients’ inflammatory arthritis were often missing from rheumatology referral letters, and that only a minority of these patients were seen within the target of six weeks, Healio reports.

(NOVEMBER 6, 2023) Christian Pulcini, M.D., M.Ed., M.P.H., assistant professor of emergency medicine, was interviewed by STAT for an article about a new study on the lasting effects of gun violence on young survivors.

(NOVEMBER 6, 2023) Vermont Health Access and the UVM Medical Center announced that Vermont Medicaid is entering a pilot program that will allow its members to participate in the Partners Aligned in Transformative Healing program at UVMMC’s Comprehensive Pain Program, according to WCAX-TV.

(NOVEMBER 2, 2023) The University of Vermont Medical Center is the number one hospital in the state, according to data collected by Newsweek, in partnership with Statista, which published its ranking of America’s Best-in-State Hospitals for 2024.

(OCTOBER 31, 2023) Steven Schlozman, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry, spoke with WCAX-TV about what parents should know about fun vs. fear when it comes to trick-or-treating—and scary things in general.

(OCTOBER 29, 2023) Lewis First, M.D., M.S., professor and chair of pediatrics at Larner College of Medicine and chief of pediatrics at the UVM Medical Center, was interviewed by ABC22 for a story on trick or treating. Inclusivity—for kids with allergies or special needs—is one consideration health experts are highlighting.

(OCTOBER 27, 2023) Julie Vieth, M.D., assistant professor of emergency medicine and assistant medical director of the Emergency Department at the University of Vermont Medical Center, was featured in a story on WCAX-TV about a UVM Health Network project spotlighting violence against frontline health care staff.

(OCTOBER 24, 2023) Michael Hehir, M.D., professor of neurological sciences, spoke to Nicholas Silvestri, M.D., host of Medscape’s In Discussion: Myasthenia Gravis podcast, in an episode titled “Managing Myasthenia Gravis in Primary Care: Best Practices.”

(OCTOBER 24, 2023) A powerful video on violence in the Emergency Department at the University of Vermont Medical Center by Roland Kielman and Ryan Mercer, communications specialists with the University of Vermont Health Network, with text by Helen Ouyang, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor at Columbia University, was featured in the New York Times Opinion section.

(OCTOBER 20, 2023) Rachel Lee Cummings, M.P.H.’20, executive director of Counseling Service of Addison County, spoke to VT Digger about a new “living room” model of mental health urgent care that aims to reroute as many people as possible from the emergency room and link them directly to organizations that provide counseling and psychiatric services.

(OCTOBER 16, 2023) Karen George, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean for students at the Larner College of Medicine, contributed to a Physician’s Weekly article on what residents and program directors think is needed for a successful transition to residency.

(OCTOBER 16, 2023) Nataniel Lester-Coll, M.D., assistant professor of radiation oncology at the University of Vermont Medical Center, commented to Renal & Urology News about a study of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) as a treatment for prostate cancer.

(OCTOBER 13, 2023) WCAX-TV covered the Larner College of Medicine’s annual White Coat Ceremony, in which the newest class of medical students don their symbolic white coats for the first time. Larner Dean Richard L. Page, M.D., led students in reciting The Oath, which reads in part, “I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist's drug.”

(OCTOBER 12, 2023) WCAX-TV reports that Emmett Whitaker, M.D., FAAP, associate professor of anesthesiology, neurological sciences, and pediatrics at the Larner College of Medicine, has been granted a $1.95 million award to study anesthesia-induced hypotension in neonates, infants, and older adults.

(OCTOBER 9, 2023) Kalev Freeman, M.D., associate professor of emergency medicine, is part of a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) research team working on a new $12.1 million trauma research program, UPMC’s Inside Life Changing Medicine reports.

(OCTOBER 2, 2023) Randall Holcombe, M.D., M.B.A., director of the UVM Cancer Center, commented to WCAX about the annual Women’s Health and Cancer Conference held at UVM on September 29.

(SEPTEMBER 30, 2023) The Vaccine Testing Center, led by Beth Kirkpatrick, M.D., is working with the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh on a promising tetravalent dengue vaccine in Bangladesh, according to The Daily Star (Dhaka, Banglasdesh).

(SEPTEMBER 28, 2023) Rachel Garfield, Ph.D., M.H.S., executive director of the Vermont Child Health Improvement Plan, spoke to WCAX-TV about a new report outlining steps to address a shortage of pediatric specialists.

(SEPTEMBER 27, 2023) Erin Manogaran, a first-year medical student at the Larner College of Medicine, has received a $10,000 Student Fellow Scholarship Award from EverythingALS, a citizen science research organization dedicated to developing a cure for the progressive neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, according to GlobeNewswire.

(SEPTEMBER 25, 2023) Mariah McNamara, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of emergency medicine at Larner and medical director of emergency medicine at the UVM Medical Center, commented to WCAX-TV about dispensing more Narcan to the community.