Office of Medical Communications

Since August 7, when the Larner College of Medicine’s Class of 2021 started their medical education journey, the country has endured multiple, unthinkable tragedies – hurricanes, a mass shooting, wildfires – the kind that give rise to a greater respect and need for human connection. On Friday, October 13, 2017, these students participated in a rite of passage that emphasizes the importance of humanism in medicine – the White Coat Ceremony.

On October 12, 2017, VPR’s Vermont Edition hosted Carlos Pino, M.D., UVM professor of anesthesiology, to discuss how physicians are managing pain in patients during the opioid crisis.

New interdisciplinary research conducted by University of Vermont researcher Jane Nathan, Ph.D., and colleagues, has found that the Benson Henry Institute’s (BHI) evidence-based Stress Management and Resiliency Training (SMART) is a valuable model to use with health professionals to enhance their well-being.

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont hosted Henry Ng, M.D., M.P.H., past president of GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality, at the fourth annual Vito Imbasciani, Ph.D., M.D.’85 and George DiSalvo LGBTQ Health Equity Lecture on Wednesday, October 4, 2017 in the Livak Ballroom in the Dudley Davis Center at UVM. Ng will discuss “Incorporating Transgender Care into Everyday Primary Care.”

University of Vermont Medical Center President Eileen Whalen, M.H.A., R.N., announced today that Isabelle Desjardins, M.D., has accepted the position of Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for The University of Vermont Medical Center, effective October 1.

John P. and Kathryn H. Tampas Green and Gold Professor of Radiology Kristen DeStigter, M.D., was appointed chair of radiology following a national search in spring 2017 after having served as interim chair of radiology since 2014 and vice chair of radiology from 2004 to 2014. An alumnus of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, she completed a residency in diagnostic radiology and a body imaging fellowship at University Hospitals of Cleveland, Ohio prior to joining UVM in 2001. She is co-founder and president of Imaging the World, a nonprofit organization that developed and uses a new sustainable model for ultrasound imaging, making basic life-saving diagnosis accessible in the poorest regions of the world, is a fellow in the American College of Radiology (ACR), and serves on the ACR International Outreach Committee and as chair of the International Radiology Education Committee of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). She specializes in unique applications of ultrasonography in rural medicine, provision of integrated medical imaging in underserved communities, and medical education in diagnostic radiology. The Larner College of Medicine communications staff sat down with DeStigter recently for an interview.

On September 26, 2017 Vermont Business Magazine highlighted the appointment of Adam Atherly, Ph.D., as the first Director of Health Services Research at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine.

Robert Langer, Sc.D., David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT, presented the 2nd Annual Stetson Lecture at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont on Monday, September 25, 2017.

The Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont has announced the appointment of Adam Atherly, Ph.D., as the College’s first director of the health services research center and professor of medicine, effective February 1, 2018.

Syed “Samin” Shehab, M.D.’17 (SS) is currently a first-year internal medicine resident at Boston University Medical Center. He recently published a blog post, titled “403,” on In-Training that addresses the issue of caring for patients with vastly different beliefs. The Larner College of Medicine (LCoM) recently conducted a Q&A with Shehab.

In the first and second years of medical school, the end goal – an M.D. – seems far away. But Vic Hudziak ’18 now knows that despite that first-year slow-mo feeling, four years actually flies by. She and classmate Julia Shatten ’18 have some great tips for students in the Classes of 2020 and 2021 for getting through the next few years smoothly.

On Sunday, September 10, Class of 2020 student leaders of the UVM Gender & Sexuality Alliance, Jenna Morris, Eli Goldberg, and Zachary Silberman and their faculty advisor, Pam Gibson, Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine participated in the Burlington, VT Pride Parade. It was the fifth year in a row the GSA has attended.

A Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) press conference was held by Congressman Peter Welch of Vermont at the UVM Larner College of Medicine on Monday, September 11. The press conference was covered by a number of Vermont and regional media outlets.

Vermont's sole Congressman Peter Welch held a press conference on Monday, September 11, 2017 at the Larner College of Medicine to discuss the impact of the cancellation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The decision to hold the event was prompted by a letter written to Representative Welch by first-year Larner College of Medicine student Juan Conde, a DACA recipient who was brought to the U.S. with his brother by his mother when he was nine years old.

On September 8, The Teaching Academy at the UVM Larner College of Medicine hosted Charles Prober, M.D., of Stanford University School of Medicine. Faculty and staff of the College attended his presentation "Reimagining & Reinvigorating Medical Student Education."

Frederick Morin, M.D., announced today that next year, he will step down as dean of The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at The University of Vermont once a successor has been named. Morin became the College’s 17th dean ten years ago, on August 25, 2007.

Doctors from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School join the exploding current conversation about active learning prompted by the Washington Post's highlight of the UVM Larner College of Medicine in "Medical school without the 'sage on a stage.'"

The FDA is right – when it comes to disease culprits, cigarette smoking tops the list. While recognized as the number-one cause of preventable disease and death, it’s an incredibly tough habit to break due to the addictiveness of nicotine. New research from the University of Vermont (UVM) and colleagues suggests that reducing nicotine content in cigarettes may decrease their addiction potential in especially vulnerable populations and suggests how regulatory policies could shift preferences to less-harmful tobacco products.

Since 1998, this program, jointly organized by the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont and the UVM Medical Center, has been providing members of the UVM and local community with accessible and important education on a wide variety of timely, fascinating, and engaging health care topics.