Information about poison control can be found a mouse click away at the Utah Poison Control Center’s new Web site: uuhsc.utah.edu/poison.
Parents, health professionals and others can check the Web site for anything from poison prevention tips to annual reports that list the numbers and types of calls the center has received over the past five years. The site also links to other state and national organizations, such as the Utah Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“This new Web site provides one more tool to help guard against accidental poisonings,” said Barbara Insley Crouch, associate professor at the College of Pharmacy and director of the center.
The center, part of the U’s College of Pharmacy, received 48,485 calls in 2001, with more than 39,000 calls involving poison exposures. The other calls were inquiries for information. Salt Lake and Utah counties accounted for about 60 percent of the volume. Statewide, most calls involved children under age 6, according to the center’s 2001 annual report, which will be posted on the Web site in August.
Earlier this year, the center received a new telephone number that makes it easier to speak with the center’s poison specialists. Anyone in Utah can call the center at 1-800-222-1222. The number is part of a national system that connects callers to the nearest poison control center.
Bereavement Groups
Fall grief support groups conducted by Caring Connections: A Hope and Comfort in Grief Program will begin the week of Sept. 18 and continue for eight weeks.
Caring Connections is a joint project of U Hospitals & Clinics and the College of Nursing.
Seven types of evening grief groups will be offered: children (ages 7-11), adolescents (ages 12-17), adult, surviving a loved one’s death, surviving a loved one’s suicide, surviving a loved one’s murder, perinatal (loss of a baby) and a group conducted in Spanish.
The bereavement groups are held at the College of Nursing and also at U Hospital’s Greenwood Health Center, Midvale.
Professionals with master’s or doctoral degrees in social work or psychiatric nursing conduct the sessions. For more information and registration, call the U College of Nursing, 585-9522, or register at www.nurs.utah.edu/caringconnections.
Medical Group Gets Award
The U School of Medicine’s Family Medicine Interest Group has received a Program of Excellence Award from the American Academy of Family Physicians. The award was presented recently at the academy’s national conference in Kansas City, Mo.
One of 10 family medicine groups in the nation to receive the Program of Excellence Award, the U was recognized for its community service and volunteer programs, which are organized by medical students.
The student group visits local schools to promote anti-smoking and anti-drug efforts and volunteers at homeless clinics and health fairs for the medically underserved, according to Marc Babitz, associate professor and director of student programs in the department of family and preventive medicine.
“The students experience serving and educating in the community now which, when continued, will have a tremendous impact on the health of the community,” Babitz said.
The award recognizes family medicine programs for infrastructure, student involvement and retention, community outreach and efforts in stimulating interest in family medicine.
Each year, between 15 to 20 U medical school graduates elect residency training in family practice, the most frequently selected residency choice.
PA Program Commencement
A former United States congressman and 1993 winner of the Lasker Award for Public Service in health care spoke at the U Physician Assistant Program’s 31st commencement on Aug. 2.
Paul Rogers, 24-year congressman from Florida who retired from elective office in the 1970s, spoke at the ceremony at Rice-Eccles Stadium tower. The U’s Physician Assistant Program, started in 1971 to further train soldiers who had served in the medical corps in Vietnam, has seen 565 physician assistants graduate from the program, with nearly half remaining to work in Utah.
Friday’s commencement, with 32 graduates, is the program’s first full class receiving master’s degrees as physician assistants.
Rogers helped pass dozens of health-care laws while in Congress, including the National Cancer Act of 1971, the Clean Air and Safe Drinking Water acts and the 1977 Medicare-Medicaid Anti-Fraud and Abuse Amendments.
Among his many roles in health-care organizations, Rogers serves as chair of the National Osteoporosis Foundation and as co-chair of the National Leadership Coalition on Health Care. In addition, he serves on the board of directors of the Scripps Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, American Cancer Society and other organizations.
Buchi Awarded Fellowship
Karen Buchi, associate professor of pediatrics at the U’s School of Medicine, has been chosen as one of 12 people nationwide to receive a Health Partners Fellowship through the International Center for Health Leadership Development.
In the next two years, Buchi will attend 10 week-long seminars at the health leadership center, based at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
The seminars are aimed at helping fellows advance their knowledge and skills to develop health-care projects and partnerships where they live.
Buchi is the pediatrics medical director at the U Hospitals & Clinics’ South Main clinic in Salt Lake City. Her goal for the fellowship is to improve her skills in managing growth issues at the clinic, particularly in relocating to a larger building in the next couple of years.
Buchi will attend her first seminar in September.
compiled by Fred Thaller