integrity and respect for others.

Another important part of theprofessionalism initiative includesthe presentation of the annual“Rainbow Award” recognizing theimportance of faculty role models.The establishment of academicsocieties that foster a closer rela-tionship between the faculty andstudents, and an ad hoc facultygroup that advises students andfaculty on aspects ofprofessional behaviorare also part of theprofessionalism initia-tive, Powell said.

S. EdwardsDismuke, MD, deanof the KU School ofMedicine-Wichitapresented studentswith academic pinsand a book, “OnDoctoring,” duringthe ceremony.

Following the cer-emony, SoM hostedthe students, theirinvited guests and fac-ulty members at aluncheon in the court-yard.

The SoM’s whitecoat ceremony was

established in 1998. It is sponsorednationally by the Arnold P. GoldFoundation and is designed to helpcreate an environment that encour-ages a psychological contract forprofessionalism and empathy inmedicine. More than 95 medicalschools from across the countrywill hold white coat ceremoniesfor their entering medical students.

16 AUGUST 2001 • VOLUME 3 • NUMBER 32

Ceremony marks students’ entryto medicine, professionalism

irst-year medical students tookpart in the traditional whitecoat ceremony on Aug. 10,

symbolizing their entry into themedical profession.

Deborah Powell, MD, execu-tive dean of the School ofMedicine (SoM) welcomed the 175first-year students to the KUMCcampus by helping them into whitecoats during the ceremony.

“The white coat ceremony cel-ebrates a rite of passage and pub-licly acclaims that you are thenewest members of the medicalprofession,” said Dr. Powell.

Powell told the students thattoo little attention has been paid inmedical school to the professionalaspect of a physician’s life.

Powell said several steps havealready been taken at KUMC toensure that students understand theimportance of professional behavior.

Powell has implemented aseries of student service initiativesas part of SoM’s “Project Profes-sionalism.” The school-wide ini-tiative was designed to foster a cul-ture among students and facultythat honors the ideals of maintain-ing patient interest above physicianself-interest, altruism, accountabili-ty, excellence, duty, service, honor,

Andrea Renae Ortiz, right, receives her white coat from Dean

Deborah Powell at ceremonies in Battenfeld auditorium Aug. 10.

THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MEDICAL CENTER

F

After successfully passing an exam for herCertified Meeting Planner credentials, Kari Ziblut knewshe would be introduced at a recent meeting of theKansas City chapter of the Meeting PlannersInternational (MPI).

What Ziblut didn’t know was that she was in for abig surprise, thanks to some tight lips in the dean’soffice of the School of Nursing (SoN).

MPI is an international association of meeting plan-ners with more than19,000 members in64 countries. TheKansas City chapterhas about 300 mem-bers.

“The test is diffi-cult,” said Ziblut, asenior coordinator inthe dean’s office inthe SoN. “It’s theonly internationally

recognized credentialling in the meeting planner indus-try and requires a minimum of five years experience.”

She didn’t notice that everyone in her office wasanxious for her to get home that day to prepare for theevening’s festivities. At the meeting that evening, whenthe winner of the President’s Award was announced,Ziblut didn’t even hear her name being announced.

“I thought I had a pretty good idea of who wasgoing to win,” she said. “It wasn’t until a friend at thetable said, ‘I think you’d better go up there’ that I real-ized I had won.”

“Dr. (Rita) Clifford (SoN associate dean for studentaffairs) was there and that meant everything to me,”Ziblut said. “The next day when I arrived at work, Ifound flowers and notes from co-workers on my desk.They did all that and everyone kept the secret.”

Ziblut won the award for making an outstandingcontribution to the chapter. She chaired an auction,served on the membership committee and completelyand single-handedly rebuilt a membership databasedestroyed in a fire.

2

The School of Medicine’s

(SoM) highly successful commu-

nity medical seminars will soon

be in session.

Mini Medical School is an

eight-week course designed for

the lay person to learn about the

latest medical breakthroughs and

current treatments. The program

begins Sept. 11 and runs eight

consecutive Tuesdays in Rieke

auditorium.

Among the topics covered

include patient/doctor communi-

cation, ALS disease, kidney dis-

ease, pain management, asthma,

cardiovascular disease and antibi-

otic resistance.

Fees for the course are $95.

To register, pick up a form in the

SoM or call 81227.

Mini Medical School gears up forthird year of classes

Kari Ziblut, CMP.

SoN staff proves it can keep a secret

3

Researchers at KU Med hope a new drug currentlyundergoing clinical trials may help slow the rapidadvancement of Hepatitis C.

Hepatitis C is a viral infection of the liver that caus-es fatigue and liver malfunction. It is now estimated

that as many as four millionpeople in the United Statesare carrying the virus. Thedisease may have no symp-toms for 10-30 years, finallymanifesting itself in the formof cirrhosis of the liver orliver cancer.

Among the major causesof Hepatitis C are bodypiercing, tattoos, shared IV

drug needles, and blood transfusions prior to 1991.Health care professionals are at particular risk for con-tracting the disease from inadvertent needle sticks.

While a simple blood test can discover the disease,and there is a high cure rate among those receivingearly treatment, treatment is not effective in all cases.

Interferon remains the primary drug for treatment ofHepatitis C, but it has proven less effective among cer-tain groups of people, including African-Americans.

“We don’t really understand why it is not as effec-tive, but that is what makes this trial more important,”Vasa said.

Srinivasa Vasa, M.D., assistant professor of gas-troenterology/hepatology, is overseeing the KU Medclinical trial on a drug called Pegasys, which he saidhas shown promise in treating cases where regulartreatments have failed, especially with African-Americans.

Pegasys combines the traditional interferon witha chemical that causes the drug to remain in the blood-stream for longer periods of time. Vasa said early testsshowed it worked in many cases where interferon hadbeen ineffective.

Vasa currently has about 20 patients participating inthe study and he says he is hopeful that a second groupcan also be selected. KU Med is the only facility in thearea participating in the study. The study will run untilearly next year.

Drug for Hepatitis C shows promise in KU Med clinical trials

Srinivasa Vasa, MD

New products being introducedat KU Med with built-in safety fea-tures will help protect health careworkers from accidental needle-stick injuries.

The KU Med Needle StickSafety Task Force was formed inFebruary 2001 to coordinate theconversion from traditional prod-ucts containing needles, or“sharps,” to new, safer sharps prod-ucts. The multidisciplinary taskforce includes representatives fromMedicine, Nursing, Staff Education

and Development, Clinical Labs,Risk Management and MaterialsManagement.

The team evaluated sharpsproducts with built-in safety fea-tures to determine which wouldprovide the best protection for KUMed health care employees. Theirrecommendations were forwardedto the hospital’s Value AnalysisTeam (VAT) for approval.

“The VAT utilizes clinical taskforces to identify and address clini-cal practice issues associated with

product or equipment conversions,”said Pat Barrett, hospital clinicalcoordinator in Purchasing.

The task force chose both anintravenous catheter and a bloodcollection needle that automaticallysheathe themselves as they arewithdrawn from the patient’s veinafter use.

Training for use of the newproducts begins Aug. 21. To find outwhen your unit will be trained, con-tact Kathy Robinson at krobinson orPat Barrett at mbarrett.

New sharps will reduce risk of employee injury

Jennifer Kieltyka, RN, right, movement disorder sur-gery program coordinator, celebrates with her nephew,Tyler Grindal, of Carbondale.

Following the White Coat Ceremony Aug. 10,new medical students were treated to a lunch withfriends and family in the courtyard.Below, Danelle Shoemaker, Glasco, has lunchwith her parents, Pat and John Butler.

The School of Medicine Alumni Association hosted a lunch forfirst-year students in the courtyard Aug. 9. Enjoying the lunchare Kim Hydeman, Lenexa, left, and Ashley Kinsey,Leavenworth.

White Coat luncheon

KUMC Medical Alumniluncheon

4

Front & Center . . .

From left, Christy Jansen, DeSoto, Marty Dillow, Chanute, and EricaCoulter, Wichita had fun at the luncheon.

Junior volunteers Aisha Wills, Washington high school junior, andKyle Williams, Basehor high school freshman, help Cheryl Perne,volunteer service coordinator, with a mailing project. The JuniorVolunteers concluded their summer of service Aug. 10.

David W. Golde, MD, physician-in-chiefat Memorial Sloan-Kettering CancerCenter in New York City, with DeborahPowell, MD, executive dean of the Schoolof Medicine. Dr. Golde spoke on “CancerCare in the 21st Century” as part of theBohan Lecture Series on August 9.

Junior volunteers

Bohan lecture

Bob Page-Adams, KU Med chief operat-ing officer, honors Gwen Pierce. Sheraised more than $1,000 on her own.

KUMC raised more than $50,000 for the American Heart Association’s annual HeartWalk last month, beating the goal by nearly $10,000. Irene M. Cumming, KU Med presi-dent and chief executive officer, was this year’s chair.

Heart Walk

5

Dean Merkel, supervisor in the Clinical Labs,right, and Khai Trieu, medical technologist inthe Clinical Labs, left accept a certificate fromBob Page-Adams. The Clinical Labs team raisedthe most money for the Heart Walk.

Lisa Ward, employeerelations manager inHospital Human Resources, left, with Mary Kenny, Radiologymanager. The two departments teamed up to raise the secondhighest Heart Walk team total.

6

This year’s KUMC Corporate Challenge team, ajoint project of hospital and university employees,finished tenth out of 19 Division A teams. The teammade a strong division showing in track and field,swimming and women’s tennis.

Division A is for companies with 2000 or moreemployees. Medals are awarded to the top three fin-ishers in each event. In events that attract large fields,

such as swimming, bikeracing, and track and field.Medals are awarded to thetop three finishers overall.

Perennial medal winnerIke Murphy, FacilitiesManagement, won a goldmedal overall in the 400meter run for men, break-ing his own record fromlast year. He also finishedfirst in the division in 100-meter dash.

KUMC did well in theswimming events in their divisions. Michael Foote,MD, a resident in Ophthalmology, won silver medalsoverall in the men’s 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard individual medley and took a third in his divi-sion in the 50-yard breaststroke and butterfly.

Mary Hornbeck, medical technologist in theClinical Labs, won bronze medals in the women’s50-yard breaststroke and butterfly. StephenWilliamson, MD, professor of Hematology andOncology, won a bronze medal in the men’s 50-yardbreaststroke and was second in his division in the100-yard individual medley. Amy Spears, a graduatestudent in the School of Medicine, won a bronzemedal in the women’s 50-yard butterfly and tookdivision thirds in the 50-yard freestyle, backstrokeand the 100-yard individual medley.

In tennis, Manju Subramanian, MD, chiefOphthalmology resident, brought home the gold in

women’s singles. Mary Hornbeck, medical technolo-gist in the Clinical Labs, and Lou Loescher-Junge,assistant dean of the Schools of Nursing and AlliedHealth, took the bronze in women’s doubles tennis.

Karlon Stephens, Operating Room, won a goldmedal in trap shooting.

Silver medallists in their division included BrianManning, research assistant in Preventive Medicine,men’s long jump; Gloria Davison, coordinator inRadiation Oncology, racquetball and Allen Mauslein,Asbestos Shop, men’s 400 meter run.

Bringing home the bronze in their divisions wereLuke Acree, exercise physiologist, men’s bike race;Jennifer Schrimsher, Clinical Labs, women’s basket-ball and Amy Metcalf, Public Relations andMarketing, women’s mile run.

Jan Schmidt, assistant director of the KirmayerFitness Center, won bronze medals in the women’sbike race and individual triathlon.

“I’m proud of everyone who participated,” saidSchmidt. “Even if you didn’t place, you earned onepoint and carried the KUMCbanner.”

About 225 KUMCemployees participated inCorporate Challenge events thisyear. Teams for next year’sevent are already form-ing. If you are inter-ested, call JanSchmidt at 87703.

KUMC’s Corporate Challenge teamdistinguishes itself in competition

Lou Loescher-Junge, half ofthe bronze-medal-winningwomen’s doubles team.

Ike Murphy, goldmedal winner inthe 400 and 100meter run.

Lucky numbersThis month’s lucky numbers are:

8532, 17454, 30338, 30898 and

31424. The lucky birthday is Aug. 13.

You may claim your prize at the

Credit Union in 1037 Delp.

SuperTrax trainingSuperTrax: Leadership in Action,

the University’s leadership training pro-

gram for managers and supervisors,

will be offered by the KUMC Human

Resources department Sept. 13.

The program consists of ten mod-

ules, each addressing a specific com-

ponent of leadership. Detailed infor-

mation about each of the modules can

be found at www2.kumc.edu/hr/train-

ing/training.html.

The deadline for enrollment is

Aug. 31. Enroll online at

www2.kumc.edu/hr/training/super-

trax.html or call 85159. For program

information, call 87542.

The program is mandatory for all

classified supervisors and must be

completed before permanent status

can be attained.

Recruitment FairKU Med will host a Health Care

Fair Sept. 12 in Hixson atrium.

Hospital employees are encouraged to

help recruit half-time or full-time

employees by referring qualified

friends to the fair.

The Human Resources depart-

ment is currently offering a $500

bonus to any employee who can help

recruit nurses. The bonus is payable

in two installments. The first install-

ment is paid when the new nurse is

hired and the second is paid after the

nurse completes six months.

If you can refer an employee to

KU Med, contact the Human

Resources department at 84500.

HIPAA meetingAll hospital, university, KUPI

and their affiliated employees are

invited to a short seminar to learn

more about coming federal regula-

tions that safeguard patient health

care information. The meeting will be

held Aug. 21, 8:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m. in

Battenfeld auditorium.

The new regulations are part of

HIPAA, the Health Insurance

Portability and Accountability Act of

1996. The new regulations will bring

about changes in the way patient

information is handled and main-

tained, insure confidentiality for

patients and limit access to patient

records.

Members of a consulting team

who have been working at KUMC

will present an overview of HIPAA

and answer questions.

FAHCT surveyAn intensive one-day, on-site sur-

vey of KU Med’s marrow transplant

program by the Foundation for the

Accreditation of Hematopoietic Cell

Therapy (FAHCT) will take place

Aug. 29.

A five-member survey team will

focus on the Marrow Transplant unit,

Medical and Pediatric Intensive Care

units, Apheresis lab, Unit 42, the

Hematology department and

Radiation Oncology.

Similar in scope to the hospital-

wide Joint Commission on

Accreditation of Healthcare

Organizations, the FAHCT survey is

designed to ensure that KU Med is in

compliance with established stan-

dards.

visit us online at:http://www2.kumc.edu/publications/inthecenter/

7

For Sale:Cable-Nelson piano, beautifully and pro-fessionally refinished and tuned, black lac-quer “formal” look with white leathercushion top bench, must see, $750 OBO.913-706-8311.

Moving sale: SXS refrigerator, 23.5ice/water in door; Maytag W/D; couch;custom-built white shelf wall unit withdrawers, 6´ x 7´; Soloflex and treadmill;patio furniture and lawn equipment; TV,armoire, office desk, nightstands andmore. 913-642-3483.

Two Chiefs tickets for Aug. 18th gameagainst the Bears, great aisle seats in theshade - Section 322, Row 2 - approx. 35yard line. Asking face value of seat, $51.913-469-6412.

Chiefs leather jacket, black, XL, paid$400, will sell for $200; Nikon 2020 cam-era, auto everything or manual, rarelyused, paid $800, best offer. 913-334-5354.

Computer with Intel Pentium III proces-sor, 700 MHZ, 128 MB RAM, 20.0 GBhard drive, CD ROM, 56K modem, twoyear warranty, $450; bedliner for Nissantruck, $60. 816-746-1216.

Sealy twin mattress and box springs ingood shape, includes metal frame withrollers, $80. 913-722-6319.

1998 Packard Bell LG SUPR 1905 com-puter, Pentium II, 233MHz, 3.23 GB HD,32MB RAM, 32 KB Memory, 56KModem, 44X CD ROM, loaded w/ soft-ware: Word, Works, Money, Encarta,Quicken, Greetings Workshop, IRIS andmany more, Internet ready, 15” PB moni-tor w/speakers, keyboard and mouse, per-fect condition, $500. 816-363-0661.

Bunk bed, black tubular steel, full-sizebottom premium firm mattress, twin sizetop, excellent condition, bought new for$700, must sell for $350. 816-289-5960.

Wanted:Mature nanny seeks the right family, nur-turing, fun-loving and responsible, experi-enced in child development education, can

3901 RAINBOW BOULEVARD • KANSAS CITY, KS 66160 • (913) 588-5000 • WWW.KUMC.EDU

CLASSIFIEDS, ETC.c o m i n g

u p

Irene M. Cumming Donald Hagen, MDPresident and Executive Vice ChancellorChief Executive Officer University of KansasKU Med Medical Center

Toni Wills, Editor

P. Fowler, Graphic Designer

Mary King, Communications ManagerIn The Center, a weekly employee and student pub-lication of the University of Kansas and KU Med, ispublished by the KU Med Public Relations andMarketing Department. Send story ideas to ToniWills, G114 Hospital, e-mail: <twills2> 8-1846, orMary King, e-mail: <mking> 8-1298.

Ad Policy - Send or bring your ad to G114 KU Med,or fax to ext. 8-1225, or e-mail: <twills2> by noonThursday of the week before it is to run. Ads run freeof charge for employees, students and volunteers.For-sale ads are limited to three items. All ads mustinclude the advertiser’s name and work extension(or student box number) for verification. Only homephone numbers–no pager numbers or work exten-sions–will be published. Please include area code.No ads for commercial services or pets for sale willbe accepted. Ads will not be taken by telephone.Only one phone number per ad. Ads may be held aweek if space is limited.

Monday, August 20

• School of Nursing new and gradu-ate student orientation, 9-11:25a.m.

• KU Nurses Alumni luncheon fornew students, noon-1 p.m.,Hixson atrium.

Tuesday, August 21

• School of Allied Health new stu-dent orientation, 2-3:45 p.m.,Lied Auditorium. Reception fol-lows in Hixson atrium.

• HIPAA meeting, 8:30-9:30 a.m.,Battenfeld auditorium.

Wednesday, August 22

• KUMC Interfaith, noon-1 p.m.,2023 Wescoe.

Thursday, August 23

• Burn patient family supportgroup, 6-7 p.m., Burnett BurnCenter waiting room.

CLASSIFIEDS, ETC.

travel with family, non-smoker, availablenow. Call Tina 913-268-9697.

Roommate to share 3 BR house, great,safe location 10 min. from KUMC, non-smoker, no pets, $300/mo. plus 1/3 utili-ties. 962-9973.

Female to share apartment near KUMC,prefer a student of Asian/Indian descent.913-722-2881.

Got stories?If you have a storyidea, question orcomment call the Inthe Center hotlineat 81454.

Cartoon by Rashel Raweewon