3rd Year Medical Student in the News

Third year medical student, Jarrett Pytell, was featured in a WWL-TV news story about the Mother’s Day Second Line Shooting. He used his trauma training to assist victims until EMS arrived. Thanks to the LSU Health Sciences twitter feed for the alert.

Parking for Jazz Fest

In case you missed it, here’s an email message from the Chancellor on parking for Jazz Fest at the Dental School:

“The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival will be held at the New Orleans Fairgrounds this weekend (April 26-28) and next week (May 2-5).  Dean Henry Gremillion, DDS, has kindly extended an invitation to LSUHSC New Orleans faculty, staff and students planning to attend to park at the Dental School, space permitting, with their LSUHSC ID’s and gate cards.  University Police will accommodate entering and exiting through the Tensas Street Gate (the back Walk Thru Gate) on the above-referenced dates until 7:30 PM each night.  After 7:30 PM, entering and exiting will be allowed only through the Florida Avenue drive-in.  All LSUHSC rules and regulations remain in effect regarding proper use and care of our campus properties and facilities.  Please see Chief William Joseph for any other questions.”

Free Dental Work

The LSU School of Dentistry is currently screening for patients willing to participate in clinical board exams for graduating seniors.  The dental screenings are free and IF CHOSEN to be a patient for the board exams there will be $50 in compensation. They are looking for people with good overall oral hygiene who may need a small cavity filled or just a general cleaning. In short, if you have a common type of dental needs, nothing fancy or overly involved, feel free to attend one of the screening sessions

For more information, please consult the flyer.

Cool Find: 1937 footage of “old Charity” torn down

Our colleagues at the Matas Library of the Health Sciences, Tulane Univerity uploaded 6 minutes of footage from 1937, filmed by Richard G. Holcombe when he was an intern, of the fifth Charity Hospital’s demolition. It was constructed in 1833 and was in use for over 100 years until the construction of “Big Charity.”

The footage was conserved in 2004 and does not include audio.

NOPL Hosts U.S. Poet Laureate

This Thursday, December 6^th, U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey will grace us with a reading and book signing at the Main Branch of the New Orleans Public Library.

A Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and native of Mississippi, Trethewey is known for her portrayal of the Gulf South through powerful, natural imagery and historical narrative. The Librarian of Congress James Billington  lauds, “Her poems dig beneath the surface of history—personal or communal, from childhood or from a century ago—to explore the human struggles that we all face.”  You can read examples of Trethewey’s work at poets.org.

The reading  will begin at 7pm and is free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!

Physician Assistant Degree Program Arrives at LSUHSC

This January, the LSU Health Sciences Center jumps on the health education bandwagon as it inaugurates a brand-new ARC-PA accredited physician assistant training program. LSUHSC’s 29-month program of study in evidence-based medicine will instruct its students in patient examination, diagnosis, and treatment.

Dr. Charles L. Hudson first proposed the creation of a physician’s assistant position at a 1961 meeting of the American Medical Association (AMA) as a way to mitigate the decline in primary care providers. Ranked second in CNN Money Magazine’s “Best Jobs in America 2010,” this career’s “average annual pay was $86,410 in 2010 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Federal labor officials projected a 30 percent growth rate in the occupation between 2010 and 2020.”

The John P. Isché Library would like to take this opportunity to welcome LSUHSC’s 30 new students to the School of Allied Health Professionals! We look forward to introducing you to all our Library has to offer.

Greater New Orleans Census Data Results

The Greater New Orleans Community Data Center (GNOCDC) recently released an examination of U.S. census data: “Who Lives in New Orleans and the Metro Area Now?”. In this report, the GNOCDC compares New Orleans census data from 2000 to data from 2011 in juxtaposition with national averages. Results are graphed according to changes in race/ethnicity, changes in educational attainment and income, changes in poverty and access to vehicles, changes in foreign-born population, and changes in homeownership and household types. The brief focuses on Orleans Parish, Jefferson Parish, St. Tammany Parish, and the Metro area, each of which are the most populous areas with the most readily available data.

According the census data, several shifts took place in New Orleans demographics with more pronounced changes occurring in the growth of the Hispanic community, the growth of single-person households, and corresponding decreases in adults with less than a high school degree and increase in adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher. In comparison with national averages, however, the Hispanic population here is still low, the median household income in Orleans is only $35,041 versus the national $50,502 (though St. Tammany’s is $56,536). New Orleans poverty rate is up to 13% higher in Orleans Parish than the U.S., amount of children in poverty almost 20% higher in Orleans than the U.S, households without access to a vehicle 10% higher, and homeownership rates 20% lower in Orleans, but 12% higher than the U.S in St. Tammany.

You can check out the results for yourself here.

Nat’l Medical Association hosts free health fair & raffle Saturday 7-28

Walk a Mile with a Child at Xavier university this Saturday from 7:30am – noon as part of a free health fair hosted by the National Medical Association.

Reports the Times-Picayune:

“The walk is free and open to all,” said NMA spokesperson Yolanda Fleming. “We plan to raffle off several items as an incentive to get people to attend. The raffles will occur after each talk and some of the items include Wii Fit, a flat-screen TV, MP3 players, tickets to ‘Laughter is Good Medicine’ (conference event), and a gym bag.

“And I will be giving away tickets to the Paula Deen cooking demonstration on Tuesday,” Yolanda added.

The talks and walks are all free and open to the public. The health fest includes interactive sessions about heart disease, diabetes, prostate cancer and other conditions; health screenings, including cholesterol, dental, vision, high blood pressure and diabetes; and live demonstrations, music and giveaways.  Xavier University is located at 1 Drexel Drive in Midcity. Map

The National Medical Association is an 109 year old  institution and the preeminent African American-centered health and medical science organization. Its members include physicians, scientists, nurse practitioners, nurses, medical students and a host of other health care professionals.

Walk a Mile with a Child Flier

Speaking of Art

You can’t help but notice the striking sculptures by Enrique Alferez around town. Born in Mexico, he moved here in 1929 and made New Orleans his home for the next 70 years.  The Ogden Museum of Art is currently hosting an exhibit celebrating the prolific artist.

The Created World of Enrique Alférez runs through April 2nd, 2012. But if you can’t make it to the Ogden, stretch your legs and come visit the Library Commons where you can view The Conquest of Yellow Fever.

CDC’s Carnival Advisory

Library Shoebox Float - 2010

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have a Carnival Advisory linked from their main webpage at the moment.

A couple of quick points about the page:

McDonough 11 Move

The first move of McDonough 11 was completed to make way for the new University Medical Center.

Orleans Shoring (who is contracted to move the structure) just released a video of the move.

Pretty cool.

Health Resource Guides from City Health Dept

The New Orleans Health Department has issued a new Health Resource Guide entitled a Guide to Behavioral Health Resources in the Greater New Orleans Area which “provides information on accessing mental health and substance abuse resources in the Greater New Orleans area.” This new guide is in addition to A Guide to No or Low Pay Community Healthcare in Orleans Parish which was released in August 2011. Both brochures are available from the Health Department webpage as PDF downloads.

LSU Clinics & NO Musician’s Clinic

The former St. Charles General Hospital is the new location for the LSU Healthcare Network Clinics. It is located at 3700 St. Charles Ave with free parking at 3715 Prytania St. The offices officially opened on Monday, October 10th. This is also the location of the New Orleans Muscian’s Clinic. WWL-TV featured the opening on it’s nightly broadcast.

Hurricane Season 2011

Hurricane Season begins today; the 2011 season is predicted to be above normal according to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Make sure to familiarize yourself the university’s Weather Related Emergency Procedures (Chancellor’s Memo 51). And let’s hope we don’t have to use it.

Claiborne Ave Closure on 5/13

Chancellor Hollier sent out the following email on Thursday, May 12th, announcing street closures on Claiborne Ave. adjacent to the downtown campus.

The movie, 21 Jump Street, is being filmed near our campus and will require street closure and restrictions on our campus beginning at 7:00 a.m. and lasting until 11:00 p.m. on Friday, May 13 as follows:

(1) S. Claiborne Street will be closed at the 500 Block, at the Perdido intersection – traffic will be diverted up or down Poydras Street;

(2) Parking will be restricted at the 500 Block of S. Claiborne Ave (North side), the 400 and 500 Blocks of S. Roman Street (both sides), the 500 Block of Bolivar Street (both sides), and the 1900 Block of Perdido Street (both sides);

(3) Pedestrian traffic in this area will be maintained;

(4) The New Orleans Police Department will be on site to provide intermittent traffic control.

The production company apologizes for the inconvenience caused by the filming.

I wanted you to be aware so you can plan alternate routes to avoid delays and congestion. Thank you for your patience and accommodation of this major economic development enterprise for our City and State.