The University of Toledo Medical Center is expanding its Anti-Coagulation Clinic service as of July 1 to help patients understand and properly take their blood thinners.

The clinic will continue to be located in the Heart & Vascular Center at UTMC, 3000 Arlington Ave., but will include an extra room. The ribbon-cutting ceremony will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, June 25 at the Heart & Vascular Center.

“It is so important for patients to be properly educated about their blood thinners,” said Yana Doughty, the new anti-coagulation pharmacist and outpatient pharmacy supervisor. “Some medications interfere with blood thinners and make them less effective or even dangerous. Some foods may even affect blood thinners and need to be monitored.”

Yana Doughty

The clinic will continue to be staffed by nurses, but will grow to include Doughty and Dr. Laura Murphy, a UT Health physician. Current and new patients are welcome to utilize the clinic’s expanded services.

“We are making it more centralized and more structured,” Doughty said. “We are going from a walk-in system to an appointment-based model. We want to make sure that our patients are getting enough one-on-one time with our staff. We don’t want anyone to feel rushed.”

The staff will also perform testing, if applicable, to make sure medication levels are appropriate, conduct a bleeding risk assessment and adjust blood thinners like Coumadin doses based on testing results.

Additionally, the team will obtain a medication history and provide ongoing monitoring for drug interactions. This information will be shared with a patient’s health care team.

Cindy Puffer, managed care pharmacy operations manager, said patients will appreciate spending significant time talking with a pharmacist who will sit down with them and monitor not only their anticoagulation medication but all other medications as well.

“It takes away the fear,” she said. “Most patients who are on blood thinners have gone through some type of medical event like a heart attack or stroke. There is trepidation on the patient’s part when it comes to taking medications and experiencing possible side effects. Having a face-to-face appointment with the pharmacist will make the patients feel better.”

Media Coverage
NBC 24 (June 26, 2015)

Cancer survivors will be coming together at the end of this month to celebrate and reflect on their journeys.

The first-ever reception in honor of Cancer Survivor Month will be 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 25 at the Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center.

Cancer survivors Jason Scott and Mike Welch will be available for media interviews. Seventy-five to 100 survivors are expected to attend.

“The day you are diagnosed with cancer is the day you become a survivor,” said Renee Schick, organizer of the event and manager of Renee’s Survivor Shop in the Dana Cancer Center. Once you survive cancer, you are changed. You are survivors of something that is very difficult. You are not alone.”

Schick said doctors and nurses from The University of Toledo Medical Center are also invited.

“When you are getting treatment, it becomes something you do every day,” she said. “It dominates your life. You develop special relationships with your caregivers. The reception will be a great chance for survivors to reunite with their caregivers and talk with other survivors.”

Schick said some of those who attend might be disease free, but they could be suffering from the after-effects of cancer like lymphedema.

“We want to celebrate everyone who attends,” she said. “There will be cookies and lemonade as well as crafts, giveaways and entertainment. Family and friends are invited, too, because they accompanied the survivor on the journey.”

Schick expects this reception to become an annual event.

“It is something that we hope cancer survivors look forward to attending year after year,” she said.

Media Coverage
13 ABC and FOX Toledo (June 25, 2015)

Most people don’t find out they have lung cancer until it is too late.

However, if caught early enough, 85 percent of lung cancers are treatable with surgery.

Dr. James Willey, lung cancer expert and UT professor of medicine, will present information on lung cancer and life-saving CT scans at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 18 in the Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center at The University of Toledo Medical Center

The free, public lecture is part of the Tie One On Awareness Lecture Series hosted by the Dana Cancer Center.

“It is important to be talking about this because lung cancer screenings have been shown to reduce deaths from lung cancer by more than 20 percent,” Willey said. “In addition, just this year, Medicare has decided to reimburse people for the cost of lung cancer screenings.

The screenings, which are offered at the Lung Nodule Clinic at UTMC, are reimbursable for people who are 55 to 75 years of age with a heavy smoking history. This includes people who smoked at least a pack a day (20 cigarettes) for 15 years.

Willey said lung cancer is so deadly because it is typically not caught early enough to be cured by surgical means due to lung cancer not causing symptoms until it is very advanced. Fortunately, a CT scan can detect a cancer tumor at a very early stage while it is surgically curable, Willey said.

Each person who attends the lecture will be entered into a drawing for tickets to an upcoming sporting event or a gift certificate for spa services. To reserve a spot, email christopher.kosinski@utoledo.edu.

The Tie One On Cancer Awareness Lecture Series continues this summer. Upcoming Thursday lectures will be:

• July 16 — Dr. Arun Baskara, UT assistant professor of surgery, will share his expertise on colon cancer.
• Aug. 20 — Dr. Krishna Reddy, UT assistant professor of radiation oncology, will discuss radiation oncology as a cancer treatment option.

Media Coverage
The Blade (June 16, 2015)

What do you want to be when you grow up? A pediatrician? A surgeon ? A geneticist?

Those could be possibilities for the 38 students coming to the 18^th annual CampMed program at The University of Toledo Health Science Campus on Thursday, June 18 and Friday, June 19.

The rising high school freshmen will experience medical school with hands-on lessons making wrist casts, suturing wounds, taking temperatures and using blood pressure cuffs and stethoscopes.

“This is the age where kids start to think that they might want to go to college and what they might want to do with the rest of their lives,” said Kathy Vasquez, director of the UT and Ohio Area Health Education Center (AHEC) programs and UT’s associate vice president for government relations. “CampMed exposes them to the possibilities of the medical and science world because each of these students has shown promise in those academic areas.”

CampMed, sponsored by the UT AHEC program, is a scholarship program at no cost to the students, most of who would be first-generation college students. AHEC, along with other programs in the country, strives to improve the health of individuals and communities by developing the health care workforce.

“We are focused on rural and underserved communities as well as minority groups that might not get this opportunity without CampMed,” Vasquez said. “This opens their eyes to a variety of experiences that are only possible in a hospital setting.”

The students begin Thursday morning with a packed agenda that includes multiple interactions with UT medical students, physicians and professors. They will participate in a medical simulation at the Lloyd A. Jacobs Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center. They will also tour an anatomy lab and experience life in the ER.

Vasquez said CampMed is a competitive program that requires students to submit a letter of recommendation and a nomination from a science or math teacher or counselor, along with a personal essay. Every year, 100 students vie for a spot at CampMed.

Students come from 19 counties in northwest Ohio. Many are from districts with smaller science departments that have limited resources.

“Going into ninth grade, it is important for these kids to take advantage of every science and math class that is available so they can get into a college program that would make it possible to go to medical school,” Vasquez said. “The long-range goal of CampMed is to make sure students are thinking now about everything that is involved in becoming a physician.”

Media Coverage
The Lima News (June 16, 2015)
NBC 24 (June 19, 2015)
Times bulletin (June 19, 2015)

UT Health will host a Toledo Heart Walk pep rally from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 27 in the mall area by the Mulford Library.

UT Health employee and heart attack survivor Violet Townsend will be among the attendees. She will be available for media interviews.

“I will be celebrating my second chance,” the clerical specialist said. “It was scary having a heart attack. I went from not believing I had any heart issues to finding out that I had 70 percent blockage.”

The pep rally called Heart-Palooza is the precursor to the Greater Toledo Heart Walk at 8 a.m. Saturday, May 30 at the Huntington Center in downtown Toledo. All UT employees, including Townsend, are participating with a goal of raising $40,000 for the UT team. Dave Morlock, CEO of UT Health, is the chairman of the 2015 Toledo Heart Walk.

“I challenged our employees to raise $40,000 to this worthy cause because we at UT Health understand more than anyone how crucial heart health is to a person’s quality of life,” Morlock said. “Millions of Americans live with heart disease, stroke or a cardiovascular condition. Money generated from this walk will help fund the valuable research, education and advocacy efforts of the American Heart Association.”

Games, food and education will be among the festivities at Heart-Palooza. Harvey J. Steele from K100 Country will broadcast live from the event, which is free and open to the public. Reel 2 Real Studio will provide music.

Participants can pick up their UT team T-shirts during Heart-Palooza. Those who want to sign up for the Heart Walk can do so at the event.

“This is a great time for UT employees to come together and get excited about the Greater Toledo Heart Walk,” said Andrea Jacobs, marketing coordinator for the Heart and Vascular Center at UT Health. “Even if you aren’t able to participate in the actual walk, you can donate on behalf of a person or you can just come and support our walkers.

During Heart-Palooza can buy raffle tickets to win one of three prizes: an iPad, Fitbit or UT Health gift bag that contains branded merchandise and gift cards to Caffeini’s and the hospital gift shop. Tickets will be $1 for one; $5 for six; and $10 for an arm’s length of tickets. Proceeds from the raffle will go toward UT’s $40,000 fundraising goal.

For more information, go to heart.org/toledowalk

Media Coverage
WTOL 11 and NBC 24 (May 27, 2015)
The Blade (May 28, 2015)

Dr. Yvette Roubideaux, senior adviser to the Secretary for American Indians and Alaska Natives with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, will address The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences graduates at a commencement ceremony 2 p.m. Friday, May 29 at the Stranahan Theater.

There are 236 candidates for degrees, including 174 who will receive doctor of medicine degrees; 14 who will receive doctor of philosophy degrees; 10 who will receive master of biomedical science degrees; 29 who will who receive master of public health degrees; two who will receive master of occupational health degrees; and seven who will receive graduate certificates.

Dr. Yvette Roubideaux

Roubideaux will be presented an honorary degree.

“We are honored to have the accomplished and nationally recognized Dr. Roubideaux speak to our graduating class,” said Dr. Christopher Cooper, senior vice president for clinical affairs and dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences. “She has spent her illustrious career serving American Indians and Alaskan Natives. She is a compassionate physician, advocate and accomplished author on American Indian and Alaska Native health issues, research and policy. Her resume could be used as a roadmap for what future physicians could accomplish in academic medicine and public health.”

Roubideaux is the senior advisor to the Secretary for American Indians and Alaska Natives within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Previously, she served as the director of Indian Health Service, where she administered a $4.6 billion nationwide health care delivery program to provide preventative, curative and community health care to 2.2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives.

She had always planned to be a physician and spend her career treating American Indian patients. However, as she began her career, Roubideaux said she noticed the health disparities and determined she needed to do more. She moved into academic medicine and research to define the problems and look for solutions.

Roubideaux intends to offer the UT Health graduates, in particular future physicians, a message of hope and compassion.

“I definitely want to congratulate them and wish them well on their journey, wherever it takes them,” she said. “I want to encourage them to always remember who they are serving. So much of medicine is moving to patient-centered care. It can be easy as a physician to forget what it is like to be a patient. I want them to always remember to be compassionate caregivers.”

Roubideaux earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and completed a residency program in primary care internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She then received her master of public health degree at the Harvard School of Public Health while also completing the Commonwealth Fund/Harvard University fellowship in Minority Health Policy.

Her career has been long and varied. Roubideaux was a medical/clinical officer at two Indian Health Service hospitals in Arizona before serving as an assistant professor of family and community medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine where she conducted research on the quality of diabetes care and directed programs to enhance American Indian and Alaska Native student enrollment in health and research professions.

She is the past president of the Association of American Indian Physicians and an active researcher on American Indian health policy and health issues with an emphasis on diabetes. She was the co-director of the Special Diabetes Program for Indians Competitive Grant Program on Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease.

Roubideaux’s honors include the 2008 Addison B. Scoville Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service, American Diabetes Association, the Outstanding American Indian Faculty Award from the University of Arizona Native American Student Affairs, and the 2008 Physician Advocacy Merit Award from the Columbia University Institute on Medicine as a Profession, among others.

Media Coverage
WTOL 11 and 13 ABC (May 29, 2015)
WTOL 11 (May 29, 2015)
The Blade (May 30, 2015)
The Blade (June 1, 2015)

Mabry

Finding out a genetic mutation exists for breast cancer or receiving a cancer diagnosis can be life altering for a patient. Determining the best way to move forward can be just as daunting.

Dr. Helen Mabry, breast surgeon and UT assistant professor of surgery, will discuss these difficult choices at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 21 in the Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center.

The free, public lecture is part of the Tie One On Awareness Lecture Series hosted by UT Health’s Eleanor N. Dana Cancer Center.

“There is a nationwide trend of increasing bilateral mastectomies both among people who have a diagnosis of even early stage breast cancer where lumpectomy is still an option and people who have never had cancer, but find out they have a genetic mutation or other risk factors for breast cancer,” Mabry said.

“Breast cancer is a very common disease in the United States, and a lot of us have known someone who has been affected by the disease or are personally involved with it,” she said. “The decision-making process for treatment is personal and complex. This lecture is a review of some of the data that goes into that decision-making process.”

Each person who attends the lecture will be entered into a drawing for tickets to an upcoming sporting event or a gift certificate for spa services. To reserve a spot, email christopher.kosinski@utoledo.edu.

The Tie One On Cancer Awareness Lecture Series continues this summer. Upcoming Thursday lectures will be:

•  June 18 — Dr. James Willey, lung cancer expert and UT professor of medicine, will present information on lung cancer.
•  July 16 — Dr. Arun Baskara, UT assistant professor of surgery, will share his expertise on colon cancer.
•  Aug. 20 — Dr. Krishna Reddy, UT assistant professor of radiation oncology, will discuss radiation oncology as a cancer treatment option.