The Black History Month poster exhibit honors the many contributions of African Americans in science and in the field of medicine. Nine of the 18 posters are displayed on the Main Floor of the South Campus (main) Library; the remaining posters are on D1 across from the Food Court.

The exhibit is sponsored by the UT Southwestern Chapter of the Student National Medical Association in conjunction with the Office of Minority Student Affairs and the Office of Faculty Diversity and Development. It will remain throughout the month of February.

Roots and Reflection – Eric Schoondergang

A new exhibit of nature photographs is now on display through April 26, 2013, in the South Campus (main) Library.

• Fifteen color photos by Terry Cockerham portray the desolate grandeur of Texas’ Big Bend National Park region.
• Eight photos by Eric Schoondergang are large-scale color close-ups of delicate flowers which seem to float in the air. Six other photos show a mix of topics.

A flyer is available for pickup near the Library entrance, which gives contact information and a brief profile of each photographer.

Cerro Castellan #1 – Terry Cockerham

On November 15, 2012, the Library, the editors of SCOPE, and the Medical Humanities Interest Group invite you to a reception and reading to celebrate the latest issue of UT Southwestern’s journal of creative writing and art on campus. The reception will begin with refreshments at 4:30 p.m. in the South Campus (main) Library

At 5 p.m. a special presentation will be given by Ted Gioia, author of Healing Songs and The History of Jazz, on music and the humanities as sources of positive change in the lives of individuals and communities. In addition, SCOPE contributors will read from their latest works.

For more information, contact either Julia Mattson (julia.mattson@gmail.com) or John Fullinwider (john.fullinwider@utsouthwestern.edu or 214-648-3801).

SCOPE is UT Southwestern’s online literary magazine featuring writing and art created on the UT Southwestern campus. The magazine serves as a vehicle for the sharing and communication of experiences in medicine, from patient care to medical research, through an artistic lens. The works published in SCOPE aim to promote discussion, reflection, and a sense of community at UT Southwestern.

Ted Gioia is the author of eight books, including The History of Jazz, Delta Blues, and Healing Songs.  The Dallas Morning News has called him “one of the outstanding music historians in America”.  He holds degrees from Stanford University, Oxford University, and Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and has also released recordings as a pianist, composer, and record producer.  His current research focuses on how music can serve as a change agent in the lives of individuals and communities.

On November 14, 2012, the UT Southwestern Library and the Dallas Area Agency on Aging will co-sponsor a U.S. Health Care Policy Forum presentation by Craig Rubin, M.D., Chief of Geriatrics Section, Department of Internal Medicine, entitled “Changing Aging: Reflections on Geriatrics Then & Now”. The program, which is free and open to all, will be held from 12 noon to 1 p.m. in the McDermott Lecture Hall (Room D1.602).

Currently, the population of Americans 65 and older is approximately 13% of the population, but that number is expected to nearly double – to more than 70 million – by 2030. Therefore, providing high-quality, cost-effective healthcare to older adults is imperative.

According to the American Geriatric Society:

• One in five Americans will be eligible for Medicare by 2030.
• More than 20% of older adults have at least five chronic conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, and dementia.
• Older adults with more than four chronic conditions account for 80% of Medicare spending.
• Older adults access healthcare services more than younger adults and children. They account for:
  • 26% of all physician office visits;
  • 35% of all hospital stays;
  • 34% of all prescriptions;
  • 38% of emergency medical services responses; and
  • 90% of all nursing home use.

What changes are necessary in health policy, clinical practice, and medical education to meet the challenges of an aging population?  Dr. Rubin, whose career has spanned this “graying” of America, will offer his insights from 30 years of research and care of elderly people.

Ramona Rhodes, M.D., Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, will host the event. Lunch will be served; come early! For more information, contact John Fullinwider by phone at 214-648-3801.

Craig Rubin, M.D., graduated from New Jersey Medical School in 1982.  In 1985 he completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern and joined the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern in Dallas the same year. In 1989 Dr. Rubin was named Chief of the newly created Geriatrics Section, a title he retains today.  He was promoted to Professor in 2000 and is the Director of the Mildred Wyatt and Ivor P. Wold Center for Geriatric Care.  He also holds the Margaret and Trammell Crow Distinguished Chair in Alzheimer’s and Geriatrics Research, the Seymour Eisenberg Distinguished Professorship in Geriatric Medicine, and the Neill Walsdorf, Sr. Professorship in Geriatric Research.  He is actively involved in patient care, teaching and research. He has published in numerous peer-reviewed journals in the areas of comprehensive geriatric assessment, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and medical education.  Dr. Rubin serves on the American Geriatrics Society Public Policy Committee and is the principal investigator of UT-SAGE, a 4-year, $2-million grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation to strengthen physician training in geriatrics.

Ramona Rhodes, M.D., M.P.H., is Assistant Professor, Division of General Internal Medicine, Geriatrics Section at UT Southwestern. Dr. Rhodes completed a clinical geriatrics fellowship and postdoctoral research fellowship at Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University’s Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research, during which time she was named a Haffenreffer Fellow in Medical Sciences for excellence in fellowship from the Graduate Medical Education Department of Rhode Island Hospital. Her current research projects look at access to hospice for African Americans, racial differences in the quality of care patients receive at the end of life, and racial differences in feeding tube insertion among persons with advanced cognitive impairment.

Forum Sponsors: UT Southwestern Medical Center Library, UT School of Public Health/Dallas Campus, UT Southwestern School of Health Professions, Medical Humanities Interest Group, UT Southwestern Department of Family Medicine/Division of Community Medicine, Community Council of Greater Dallas/Dallas Area Agency on Aging, UT Southwestern Department of Clinical Sciences, and UT Southwestern Clinical and Translational Alliance for Research (UT-STAR)

Thirty-two handmade quilts by members of the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild (DMQG) are now on display in the South Campus (main) Library. The art will remain on display until January 4, 2013.

Established in May 2011, the DMQG is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the art of modern quilting in the Dallas area. DMQG offers educational demonstrations and workshops, swap and challenge opportunities, and charitable community outreach.

The UT Southwestern Physician Assistant Program is holding a Children’s Book Drive to benefit Reach Out and Read, a non-profit organization that encourages literacy by providing books to at-risk pediatric populations ages five months to six years old during medical visits.

New or gently-used children’s books will be accepted until October 8, 2012, at designated drop-off boxes, which are located at:

• Health Professions Building (V4.114)
• North Campus Branch Library
• South Campus (main) Library

The UT Southwestern Library is hosting Against the Odds: Making a Difference in Global Health, a traveling exhibition that highlights the role communities play in improving health at home and all around the world. The banner exhibit, which will be on display through October 6, 2012, explores the shared basic needs required for a good quality of life, including nutritious food and clean water, a safe place to live, and affordable health care.

Using historical and contemporary photographs, the banners tell stories of collaboration among families, scientists, advocates, governments, and international organizations, which all take up the challenge to prevent disease and improve medical care. The journey begins in Pholela, South Africa, where husband and wife team Sidney and Emily Kark developed a holistic approach to community health. Traveling on, the exhibition showcases the work of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee to teach mothers across the country Oral Rehydration Therapy, a lifesaving treatment for childhood diarrhea.

Other destinations include Brazil, where the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST), or Landless Workers’ Movement, empowered poor citizens to begin subsistence farming on land left idle by agricultural corporations, and Central America, where the Pan American Health Organization launched Health as a Bridge to Peace to put an end to conflict and rebuild health care services.

As well as recent developments, the exhibit also focuses on historic campaigns that have changed today’s attitudes. The role of activists in the United States during the early years of the AIDS epidemic, for example, includes the work of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and the battles of Ryan White, the teenager who fought to attend school after contracting HIV through a blood transfusion.

This exhibit raises awareness of the sources and effects of health inequalities and invites each of us to join the global campaign for health and human rights. The experiences described here constitute a legacy of success, often based on the simplest means. Working together, we can make a world of difference.

An online web version of the exhibition, including an audio tour, and opportunities to get involved are also available.

This exhibition is brought to you by the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.

Anne Freeman, M.S.P.H, director of UT Southwestern’s Community Prevention and Intervention Unit and Assistant Professor of Health Care Sciences in the School of Health Professions, will speak on “Changing HIV/AIDS: Reflections on 30 Years of Struggle and Hope” on Wednesday, August 22, at 12 noon in McDermott Plaza lecture hall D1.602. Professor Freeman’s presentation is free and open to the public; lunch will be served. Gordon Green, M.D., Professor of Family and Community Medicine and former director of the Dallas County Health Department, will host the forum.

Professor Freeman’s reflections are informed by a deep and varied experience of the AIDS crisis from the early 1980s, when a diagnosis was regularly followed by early death, to the present, where antiretroviral drugs have made AIDS, at least for some patients, a manageable chronic condition. For the past 26 years, Ms. Freeman has worked primarily in HIV prevention, including behavioral intervention development, research, training, and technical assistance. Previously she worked in cancer control and prevention, specifically breast, cervical, and endometrial cancer, and project management of economic program evaluation studies. Her HIV prevention work includes managing a large program that provides prevention services to persons with high risk behaviors: counseling, testing, and effective behavioral interventions. She has participated in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s seroepidemiology studies and CDC’s current expanded HIV surveillance studies. She is director of the Dallas STD/HIV Prevention Behavioral Intervention Training Center, one of 5 training centers nationwide funded by CDC to offer behavioral intervention training to STD and HIV prevention agencies and health departments, and the Capacity Building Assistance Center, which provides training and technical assistance to community-based organizations and health departments on effective behavioral HIV prevention interventions.

Pre-registration for the forum is not necessary. For more information, please contact John Fullinwider, 214-648-3801 or john.fullinwider@utsouthwestern.edu.