(1)  Ulyee Choe, DO is appointed Director of the Florida Department of Health in Polk County 

Dr. Choe is an assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases & International Medicine. He has been serving as Interim Director since November 2012. His appointment as Director strengthens our commitment to Polk County. His mission is to protect, promote and improve the health of the residents of Polk County.

 ROUND 2 of IM CARES HEALTH SCREENINGS CHECKS BMI, VISION AND RISK FOR SLEEP APNEA

66 DoIM Employees were screened, of which:

• 4 were referred for high BMI
• 1 was referred for Sleep Apnea
• 20 were referred for Vision refraction and further examination

The program was so successful our friends at Shriners requested the students conduct screenings for their employees.

"Michael and Jae came to Shriners and they did such a great job! I set up an examination room for them and had our staff come down to see them. They saw 22 staff members in 2 hours. I had to turn staff away at the end of the 2 hours. Comments from our staff were highly positive. They were very impressed with Morsani College Internal Medicine students and felt very comfortable talking to them and being followed by USF clinics. Everyone was very appreciative that they took the time to come over. Thanks so much for including us in your IM Cares program. It is an excellent program." - Sheryl Chewning RN, Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children 

 

RESCUE: One of our Residents Featured in a Major Film for her Medical Relief Efforts

 

Jane Mai MD

After a few days the team of volunteers returned to the US, but I stayed and traveled south to Jacmel.  I connected with a colleague in Haiti to help at his hospital (one of the few hospitals that weren't too terribly damaged). There I helped deliver a few babies, but mostly did wound care - especially  dressing changes on crush injuries. One week later I went to a Canadian military base to get a helicopter ride back to Port au Prince. Coincidentally, the helicopter that landed was transporting the IMAX camera crew and director who had just arrived in Haiti to start filming a documentary.  There was another physician there who was traveling with a few members of her volunteer team who also needed a ride back to the capital.  We were all wearing scrubs and the IMAX crew and director asked us if we were medical volunteers and if they could film us on our helicopter ride. So they strapped us all in with the two camera guys, the Film Director in the passenger seat and they filmed us during our flight over the mountains back to Port au Prince.  

Our famous Dr. Mai with Emmy-Award Winning Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN

Once I got back to Port au Prince, I volunteered with Project Medishare, a trauma hospital which was an enormous tent they constructed on the tarmac of the main airport that was destroyed.  We slept on cots under a large tent, used port-a-potties and showered from hose contraptions they had constructed out of PVC piping.  There were hundreds of volunteers there. I worked in the OR and the ICU tent.  I served as first assist on multiple below the knee amputations, above the knee amputations, and a mandibular fracture repair. We also treated spinal cord injury patients on mechanical ventilators in the ICU and repaired tib-fib fractures. I worked alongside orthopedic surgeons, plastic surgeons, anesthesiologists, intensivists, pediatric surgeons, and infectious disease attendings. I did everything from tying off arteries and closing wounds in the OR to holding and feeding a newly orphaned 3yr old boy whose parents perished in the earthquake. Some of my most memorable patients included a 27yr old farmer who was found under the rubble 27 days after the earthquake, and 2 yr old Catalina Augustine who had a congenital heart defect. With the help of physician colleagues and the Miami Medishare staff/physicians, I contacted the International Kids Fund and coordinated for Catalina to travel to the US to have heart surgery to repair her defect. I was able to visit her later that year; I will never forget the tears of joy in her mother's eyes as she hugged me. Seeing that little girl finally smile and hearing her laugh as she ran around jumping and playing without a worry was one of the most rewarding moments. Through this experience I learned the true meaning of patient centered care.