Intercom

Volume2/1978_December18INTERCOM Residency Combines Learning, Teaching Dr. Bell and Dr. Michael Collins examine a patient in the cardiothoracic ICU. Laurie Bell, M.D., having completed an undergraduate college degree and four years of medical school, is about half way to becoming a practicing surgeon. Dr. Bell is a first-year surgical resident at the Utah Medical Center, facing one of the longest postgraduate training programs of any medical field. While three or four-year residencies are required for most specialties, surgeons-in-training must complete a five-year residency followed by two additional years of training for subspecialties such as plastic or thoracic surgery. The transition from medical student to housestaff is not always smooth, according to Dr. Bell. "We have to realize we're no longer just students -- we're also doctors. We spend a lot more time taking care of patients and we're responsible for making decisions and making sure things run smoothly. When we make a mistake or forget to do something, we're the ones to blame." After being on "top of the heap" as a medical school senior, observes the University of Texas graduate, starting a residency is like being "at the bottom of the pile again." Interns (first- ear residents) sometimes experience feelings of uncertainty and even incompetence as they work with more experienced MD's, she says. Interns learn from senior residents, chief residents and attending physicians as they care for patients. "As we gain experience though, we gain confidence and make increasingly important decisions." Dr. Bell conducts minor surgery such as hernia repair and removal of moles and lymph nodes. Later in her residency she will conduct appendectomies and more complex operations. "Our learning is less structured as residents than as students," continues Dr. Bell. "Most of our time is determined by what kinds of patients come in for treatment, so we never know what we'll be doing next." "We also start to become involved in teaching during our residencies. To me this is a very exciting part of the program, because I'd like to go into academics," she says. Dr. Bell chose the Utah program partly because of the balance achieved here between training academicians and surgeons who will go into private practice. "I think the two factions have to know each other's needs and attitudes," she says, "because they'll have to work together, and the would-be academicians will later teach both types." Also, she says, the variety of hospitals in Salt Lake City allows a surgeon to see all kinds of cases. "There is an emphasis here on the thinking surgeon, the kind of surgeon who understands the disease process, knows what to do and why, and what will happen later," concludes Dr. Bell. "That's the kind of surgeon I'd like to be." The evergreen atop the Medical Center's new eight-floor patient care facility is not just a Christmas decoration. In a recent "topping-off" ceremony signifying the end of the expansion project's first major phase of construction, the pine tree was placed on top of the last structural beam of the new building. The topping-off tradition can be traced back to the early Norsemen, according to Tom Clayburn, president of Clayburn, Inc., contractor for the steel erection. (Concluded on reverse side) * CENI02 SUMMACF Promotions Recent hospital promotions include: Kay Lofgreen to outpatient service representative, patient accounting; Brad Medine to clerk typist, radiology; Pamela Glynn to reconciliation clerk I, patient accounting; Joe Worrell to outpatient service representative, patient accounting; Nadine Jones to reconciliation clerk II, patient accounting; Kathey Day to administrative secretary, personnel. The AAMC (American Association of Medical Colleges) says medical school enrollment is at an all- time high. According to an AAMC survey, there are 62,242 students enrolled in medical schools, showing a four percent rise over last year. The survey also shows a drop in the proportion of minority students (from 8.1 to 7.9 percent) and a rise in the proportion of women in the medical student body (from 23.7 to 24.3 percent). Volunteers The University of Utah Health Sciences Center Volunteer Auxiliary announces the following new members: Cammy Coffer, Anne Marie Coombs, Christine Darling, Joy Dearden, Mary Kieffner, Gerald Long, Rachel McDonough, Bette Moon, Susan Roberts, Connie Smith, Peggy Soren and Kaysie Sorenson. Paperbacks and magazines are urgently needed for the Volunteer Auxiliary's patient library. Contributions are appreciated. Special all-day ski passes for Snowbird are on sale at the volunteers' information desk from 9:00 - 5:00 every Monday through Thursday and at the volunteer office on Fridays. The tickets cost $6.50 each and may be used any day. Regular price is $12. Goings on The doors of the Eccles Health Sciences Library will be closed Friday, Dec. 22 and Tuesday, Dec. 26 while the library staff moves three years' worth of journals from the main level to the lower level of the building. Ten years' back issues of medical journals currently are shelved on the main floor, but lack of space has made it necessary to move 60,000 bound volumes downstairs. The whole lower floor must be reorganized to make room for the journals. Eccles Library Director Priscilla Mayden says the medical library is reaching the limits of its present space and will require further space-saving measures in the next few vears. Honors Dr. Harmon J. Eyre, associate professor of medicine in the division of hematology/oncology, has been elected to the national board of directors of the American Cancer Society (ACS). Previous to this appointment, Dr. Eyre was a member of the ACS Utah Division board of directors. Dr. Eyre is president of the Utah Society of Clinical Oncology and a member of the American Association for Cancer Education. He received his training at the Utah College of Medicine and at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md. He has worked for two years as a clinical associate at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md. Wanted: Your Ideas Ruth Winterfield, unit management, found a way to save the hospital more than $1,700. By sending her suggestion to the hospital's cost-containment task force for cost- benefit analysis, she won $170. Ms. Winterfield suggested that nursing units use the same type of "allergy" stickers that the medical records department uses on its patient charts. The stickers previously used on the units cost $95 per 1,000, while the records department's smaller, simpler stickers are as effective at * $6.67 per 1,000. The hospital administration's cost-containment committee values your ideas. If your suggestion is implemented, you will receive 10 percent of the amount the hospital can expect to save annually, up to $200. Have you had any money-saving ideas lately? EXPANSION . . . ( continued) " Centuries ago, Scandinavian sailors put a pine tree on the bows of their ships entering port to signify a voyage well done." Mr. Clayburn says no one is sure why iron workers picked up the practice of putting a "Christmas tree" at the top of a building when steel work is completed. "The iron workers have been doing it since they came from Europe," he says. " The tree signifies safety and a job well done." 4 The expansion project is on schedule and within budget, according to construction supervisor Dave Kaumans. He says about 10 percent of the structure is enclosed and work on the mechanical system and central plant has started. Construction has begun on the Dr. Ezekiel R. and Edna Wattis Dumke artificial organs building, and excavation is underway for a six-story laboratory and research facility. The steel work on the new hospital has taken almost six months, because of the built-in earthquake resistance. The new hospital is scheduled for completion in early 1981. Intercom University of Utah Medical Center Intercom is published weekly by the Department of Development and Community Relations, University of Utah Medical Center, AC 111, for the purpose of interdepartmental communications. Photographs by Medical Illustrations. Article ideas, letters to the editor, and questions for investigation are welcome at any time. Editor: Laurie Morrisse