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Volume 11; Issue 6
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October 2015
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The BeTER LeTTER resumes this month after a brief hiatus, during which we underwent a number of staff changes as well as some programmatic growth. I would like to take a few minutes to pay tribute to some of the staff.
Randall Sullivan, RN, was a founding member of the BTER Foundation back in 2003. She had retired from the VA Medical Center in Long Beach California, where she focused her energy in wound care before it even
became a specialty of its own. After retirement, she actively participated
 in maggot therapy clinical research during the 1990's,co-authoring several papers and presentations. In 2003, she helped found the BTER Foundation, and served as Secretary on the Board of Directors until her death last year. Randy was an inspiring teacher and therapist, and served tirelessly behind the scenes to put together our workshops and meetings.
 Sharon Mendez, RN, CWS, was another key member of the Founding Board of Directors. As an experienced and certified wound care therapist, Sharon has advanced the art and science of wound care in so many ways - through inpatient care, outpatient care, and extended care; through her work as an administrator, as an educator, and as a front-line therapist. But it is her work with the BTER Foundation that I am most familiar with - building the Foundation from the ground up, ever since 2003; her work on numerous committees, including programs, grants, and education committees, and her teaching at many of the BTER Foundation's courses and workshops. Several of our most important projects would not have seen the light of day had it not been for Sharon's hard work: she created maggot therapy policy and procedure templates, carried out therapist reimbursement, provided coding advice, crafted patient information handouts, and led BTER Foundation workshops at major wound care conferences. Our last project together was a novel article about maggot therapy, published in
Wound Care Advisor
in 2014, in which Sharon provided practical information to help therapists smoothly and successfully add maggot therapy to their wound care program. Sharon retired this year from the BTER Foundation Board of Directors; she will be dearly missed.
One brief paragraph is inadequate to express our sincere appreciation and deep loss; more commentary will follow. Their shoes will be hard to fill, but we will make every effort to continue in our mission. But for now, we want everyone to know that we are actively recruiting for new board members. Volunteers and nominators are encouraged to contact us at
[email protected]
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Ron Sherman
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| Share your Story! |
How has biotherapy changed your life?
Whether you are a patient, therapist, researcher, or just love biotherapy, we want to hear your story! Your story may be featured in an upcoming newsletter. Email [email protected] with your story or with any questions.
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 Journal Forum
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Learn about what's new in the world of biotherapy!
The BTER Foundation believes that research is an essential component of exploring and improving the field of biotherapy. We also take great pride in providing BTER Foundation members with access to cutting-edge biotherapy research. In the past, we have included a journal forum in this newsletter, however, a separate bi-monthly newsletter is currently in the works in order to provide you with even more journal article reviews! Keep an eye out in the New Year for our Research Newsletter in your email inbox, and of course, you can always access all The BeTER LeTTER Newsletters online at our
Newsletter archive webpage. To read past journal reviews, check out our
journal forum page.
In order for our Journal Club to be successful, we need your participation! Have you recently read (or authored) a fascinating article on biotherapy or wound care? We'd love for you to share your thoughts. If you're interested in participating, please send a two or three paragraph summary and discussion of the article you've chosen as well as a link to the original article or information about how to access it. We will publish a portion of each Journal Club selection in our new Research Newsletter, as well as a link to your full review and the original article on the BTER Foundation website. We look forward to continuing our online conversation about biotherapy with you. To participate, please send your written work and the article link to
[email protected]. Thanks for joining us in this project!
P.S. If you are in the field of Apitherapy, the American Apitherapy Society is continuously seeking articles pertaining to Apitherapy for submission in their monthly Newsletters or in the Journal of the American Apitherapy Society published quarterly and distributed to members of AAS. If you have written an article, a testimonial, or have a source of an appropriate article please forward it to the AAS office at
[email protected]
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Great Nonprofits
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Help spread the word about the BTER Foundation!
If you love our work then tell the world! You have an opportunity to help us make even more of a difference in our community. GreatNonprofits - a review site like TripAdvisor - is honoring highly reviewed nonprofits with their 2015 Top-Rated Awards. Won't you help us raise visibility for the exciting work that the BTER Foundation is doing in the world of biotherapy research and wound care by posting a review of your experience with us? All reviews will be visible to potential donors and volunteers. It's easy and only takes 3 minutes!
Here's how:
1. Tap "New Message" in your message app.
2. Enter the number (888) 432-6659.
3. In the message field enter "83-0351746".
4. Tap send.
5. Now you will be given three questions: a rating, your role, and a space to write comments.
That's it! We appreciate your feedback and opinions immensely. Hearing your voices allows us to grow and evolve as an organization. Thanks in advance for contributing! Know that your answers are anonymous and your phone number will never be shown publicly. The entire process is easy and built to protect your privacy.
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2015 Conferences & Events
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BTER Foundation Lectures and Workshops
Don't hesitate to contact us for more information. Hope to see you there!
Know about something we don't? Let us know of any biotherapy news or event that isn't on our list, so we can make sure that everyone knows about it!
How About A Workshop in Your Town?
To arrange a maggot therapy or leech therapy workshop in your community, contact the BTER Foundation. Local and national experts are available to provide one-hour lectures, full day workshops, and anything in between. Visit
http://www.bterfoundation.org/lecturers to see our current offerings.
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| Classifieds |
We've received a request for a hirudotherapist in the Northern Alabama area. A nurse is hoping to observe hirudotherapy. If you or someone you know can help, please contact
[email protected].
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"Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible." - Francis of Assisi
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| Publication Credits |
THE BeTER LeTTER
is published by:
BioTherapeutics, Education & Research (BTER) Foundation
36 Urey Court, Irvine, CA 92617
Phone: 949-246-1156 / Fax: 949-679-3001
[email protected] / www.BTERFoundation.org
Editor:
Ronald A. Sherman
Assistant Editor:
Amy Lajiness
Contributing Writers:
Dr. Sagiv Ben-Yakir, Dr. Jose Contreras-Ruiz, Dr. Robert McKie, Dr. Jacques Oskam, Sheri Rosen, Dr. Pascal Steenvoorde, Dr. Tarek Tantawi, Catalina Wang,
Dr. Shou Yu Wang.
Your name could be here!
Foundation Consultants:
Eve Iversen, Dr. Alana Jolley, Amy Mendez, Joanne Preston, Dr. Aletha Tippett
Foundation Board
Ronald A Sherman (Chair); Randall Sullivan (Secretary);
Samuel G Kohn (Treasurer); Sharon Mendez, RN, CWS (Chair, Programs & Grants Committee); Donna Beales; Sheri Rosen.
Your name could be here, too!
Administrative Assistant
Amy Lajiness
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