January 20, 2015

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About 350 applicants visit the hospital campus between November and January. These students are hopeful they will be part of the elite group of 43 accepted to this highly competitive program. This year, the Department of Pediatrics had more than 990 residency applicants – the highest number of applicants in the program’s history. It’s about 100 more than last year, and it’s double the number of residents who applied just five years ago.

In July 2015, 43 young doctors will begin their training as residents at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, where they will spend three to four years learning from experts in pediatrics.

Of the residents selected, 35 will take part in the categorical residency program, a three-year program that prepares residents for board eligibility in pediatrics and for primary care practices or for subspecialty training. Five residents will be accepted into the Global Child Health Residency Program, a one-of-a-kind program nationally which allows residents to spend a year practicing pediatric medicine abroad or with underserved populations domestically. In addition, three new positions have been created this year for a physician-scientist development program. These are reserved for young doctors interested in careers in academic medicine and pediatric research. The program allows them to do research projects while completing their residency.

“Recruiting residents is one of the most important things we do,” said Physician-in-Chief Dr. Mark W. Kline. “We’re ensuring the health of Houston’s children 10, 15, 20 years down the road.”

Like Kline, a former Baylor resident himself, many of these future physicians will continue their careers here at Texas Children’s long after their residency is complete. That makes this early stage of recruitment crucial to the future of the organization. That’s why every day for an hour, Kline’s undivided attention is on the five-to-eight hopeful residents who stop by his office as part of their day-long tour of the organization. He meets with the residents after reviewing their applications, personal letters and doing a little background research on their lives and hobbies. The students also meet with current residents and other faculty in their desired areas of practice after touring the hospital.

“We’re looking for people who are very bright or even brilliant who also happen to be just as nice as can be,” Kline said. “It’s exciting to have so many people recognize this is a great place to train and apply to be a part of it. We’ll have the cream of the crop even more so this year than ever before.”

As the interviews dwindle, Kline and his team will decide who will be offered one of the 43 spots while the residents make their own decisions on where to spend their residency. On Match Day in March, residents are matched to a program based on their preference and the institutions that ranked them for their coveted spots.

“These residents have the choice to go to any of our competitor institutions,” Kline said. “These are bright people and we’re competing for the best and brightest with those other places. I simply think there’s not a better place in the world to be a pediatrician or train in pediatrics than Texas Children’s Hospital.”

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Ready, set, register!

It’s time to sign up for the third annual Texas Children’s Hospital and Houston Marathon Foundation Family Fun Run. Families with children of all abilities are invited to participate in the run at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 11 at Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus.

The Family Fun Run will include both a 1K and 3K course. Participants – including those who need walkers and wheelchairs – are welcome. There will not be prizes given to top finishers as all participants will receive an award for taking part in an event designed to educate and encourage Houston-area families to adopt active, healthy lifestyles. Following the run, families can enjoy the H-E-B sponsored Family Fun Zone. The zone will be packed with snacks, special guests and more than 25 attractions.

Lesli Rossler, the education coordinator for ambulatory services at West Campus, has participated in the run with her teenage son for the past two years and plans on signing up again this year.

“It’s a great event for the whole family,” Rossler said. “It supports wellness and focuses on the family at the same time.”

Join Rossler, Texas Children’s leaders and thousands of others in the fun and register today for the Family Fun Run. Registration can be completed online at http://www.texaschildrens.org/funrun/ or https://secure.marathonguide.com/register/TexasChildrensRun. The deadline to register is noon Monday, March 30.

Additional information, including training guides, videos and pictures from last year’s event, can be found at the texaschildrens.org website listed above.

Good luck and happy running!

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Imagine a trauma patient gets sent to a community hospital where their scans show the need for higher acuity care than is available at the hospital. The patient is transferred to Texas Children’s for the right care, but, as for most trauma patients, time is of the essence, and a matter of minutes could make all the difference in the outcomes.

The MRIs, CAT scans, or x-rays which are usually sent via CD and could easily be lost or misplaced, can now be uploaded directly from the referring hospital into a cloud software now available at Texas Children’s called LifeIMAGE. In the digital age, LifeIMAGE streamlines the process of receiving and evaluating images from other physicians and hospitals. These images can be quickly, easily and safely uploaded to the system straight from the imaging device.

“It has allowed us to provide more timely interpretations of outside studies,” said Dr. George S. Bisset, radiologist-in-chief. “Before the patient even gets here, the clinical care team is prepared.”

“The software allows our providers to review any imaging studies performed at the transferring hospital prior to the patient’s arrival,” said Trent Johnson, director of Ambulatory Services. “This means that we can better anticipate the care needs of the patient before they ever arrive. This saves us valuable time, which is of the essence for seriously injured patients.”

On top of time savings, the new system reduces radiation exposure for the patient who before could be subject to new scans upon arriving here. The double dose of radiation was costly and kept physicians from acting as quickly as possible. The benefits have been seen across the system.

“In the outpatient clinic setting, it has reduced the amount of time that our clinic staff and providers must wait to download and view an outside image or study,” said Johnson. “This increases patient and provider satisfaction by improving the throughput and efficiency.”

The use of this image-sharing network could also help prevent unnecessary transfers. For example, a patient visiting their community hospital in Midland can get their scans directly transferred to Texas Children’s for physicians here to determine if a transfer is necessary.

The system also allows for patients from around the globe to receive second opinions without ever having to leave their home country.

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Ana Maria Martinez is known around the world for her Grammy Award-winning voice. The soprano has performed with the likes of Andrea Bocceli and Placido Domingo, world-renowned artists in Opera. Martinez graduated from the prestigious Julliard School of Music and has played at La Scala in Milan, at the Met in New York City and at the most important opera houses around the world. In mid-December she played Boheme in the Paris Opera, but just a few days later, when Martinez visited Texas Children’s Hospital, the children were the star of her show. She stood in the West Tower lobby and sang to patients waiting for their appointments in the emergency center. She asked the young patients to come in close and encouraged them to sing along. Martinez then took to the floors and sang holiday carols to patients on the inpatient units.

Martinez will soon play the leading role in Madame Butterfly at the Houston Grand Opera.

January 14, 2015

Bench and Bedside is a digest of the previous month’s stories about the clinical and academic activities of our physicians and scientists. We welcome your submissions and feedback.

12/19/2014

Texas Children’s Medical Staff: Required Training for Fluroscopic Procedures

On May 1, 2013 the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) made specific changes to its regulations of Texas Administrative Code §289.227 “Use of Radiation Machines in the Healing Arts.” This rule requires all physicians and midlevel providers to obtain additional radiation training prior to performing fluoroscopic procedures. This is not a Texas Children’s Hospital policy but a modification of state law goes into effect May 1, 2015. Read more

12/18/2014

Mata conjoined twins take first step toward separation with tissue expansion

Conjoined 8-month-old twin girls, Knatalye Hope and Adeline Faith Mata, underwent a five-hour surgery December 16 at Texas Children’s Hospital Main Campus to place custom-made tissue expanders into their chest and abdomen area. The tissue expanders will help stretch the babies’ skin in preparation for their separation surgery, which is expected to take place early next year. Dr. Alberto Hernandez with Interventional Radiology performed the examination. Chief of Plastic Surgery Dr. Larry Hollier and Dr. Ed Buchanan with the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery conducted the tissue expander placement surgery. Dr. Helana Karlberg led the anesthesia team and Audra Rushing led the surgical nursing team. Read more

12/18/2014

Tessier receives NASPGHAN Fellow Research Award for C. Difficile study

Dr. M. Elizabeth Tessier, a pediatric gastroenterology fellow at Texas Children’s, received the 2014 Fellow Research Award from the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN). Her award-winning study titled, “Bile acid signatures in children confer protection from clostridium difficile infection,” found that changes in the bile acid composition in the stool may predispose patients to Clostridium difficile (C.diff), a bacterial infection that causes intestinal inflammation and diarrhea. Read more

12/17/2014

Neurosurgery represents Texas Children’s at AANS Annual Meeting

The Texas Children’s Hospital Division of Neurosurgery was well represented at the recent American Association of Neurological Surgeons annual meeting in Amelia Island, Fla. The division had eight posters accepted for presentation. Of those eight, three were selected as “Top Posters.” In addition, Neurosurgery had four abstracts accepted for oral presentation. Read more

12/16/2014

Voice of Nursing blog: Physician-nurse partnership (By Dr. Tony Mott)

Trust, respect and a sense of humor. What do these things have in common? In my opinion, they’re the key ingredients for developing a successful nurse-physician partnership. As medical director, my partnership with Assistant Clinical Director Tarra Kerr is vital to the success of 15 West Tower. In fact, from our shared partnership, we have established a shared vision – a vision of what 15WT can be and the path to that end. Read more

12/16/2014

Department of Surgery unveils surgery preparation video

No parent ever wants to hear their child will need to have surgery – whether it’s a routine procedure that only takes minutes or it’s something more serious. That’s why the Department of Surgery goes out of its way to make the surgical experience at Texas Children’s a good one for patients as well as their families. The department’s most recent effort to ensure a positive surgical experience is had by all is a video for parents that talks about what to expect when their child has surgery at Texas Children’s. The video, available in English and Spanish, covers eating and drinking instructions, what to bring to the hospital and what parents will experience while their child is in surgery. “Our goal in the Department of Surgery is to have our patients and their families prepared as well as possible for the surgical experience,” Chief of Plastic Surgery Dr. Larry Hollier said. “Setting appropriate expectations is crucial to patient satisfaction.” Read more or Watch video

12/16/2014

The patient census and what it means for Texas Children’s

On any given day, hundreds of patients come through the hospital doors at Main Campus and West Campus. Whether they walk through our doors on their own, or are transferred from another hospital, these patients require the care of Texas Children’s Hospital specialists. In November, 101 patients had to be turned away from Texas Children’s Hospital. The patients were denied a transfer from another institution because we were above census. “We have to always remember that when people come to us, they are bringing their children who are ill for care,” said Surgeon-in-Chief Dr. Charles D. Fraser, Jr. “We have to put ourselves in their position, and respond.” Read more or Watch video

12/16/20146

Texas Children’s hosts second cardiac artery anomalies conference

Texas Children’s Hospital hosted its second national conference December 4 and 5, addressing a series of fatal conditions known as coronary artery anomalies. Coronary artery anomalies are a group of rare congenital heart defects that have been associated with coronary ischemia, myocardial infarction, and sudden death. It is the second most common cause of sudden death in young healthy athletes. Read more

12/16/20146

Texas Children’s Heart Transplant Program celebrates 30th anniversary

Texas Children’s Hospital recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of its heart transplant program. Since its inception in 1984, Texas Children’s Heart Center has performed more than 300 heart transplants, making the program one of the most active and largest in the nation. “The true results of our team’s exceptional work over the past 30 years can be seen in the hundreds of success stories of our patient families,” said Texas Children’s Heart Failure, Cardiomyopathy and Cardiac Transplantation Medical Director Dr. Jeff Dreyer. “As one of the largest programs in the nation, our experience in treating patients with heart failure is leading the way in positive outcomes.” Read more

12/09/2014

Kayyal to co-lead development of Neuro-NICU program

Dr. Simon Kayyal, an assistant professor of pediatrics and neurology at Baylor College of Medicine, recently joined Texas Children’s neurology team. He will develop and co-lead the Neuro-Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (Neuro-NICU) with Texas Children’s Neonatologist Dr. Jeffrey R. Kaiser, a professor of pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine. Read more

12/08/2014

Hand and Microvascular Surgery Clinic offers multidisciplinary team

Patients treated at the Texas Children’s Hospital Hand and Microvascular Surgery Clinic now benefit from not only two physicians whose focus is on hand and upper extremity care but also from a full-time certified hand therapist. Plastic and reconstructive surgeons Dr. Mitchel Seruya and Dr. Thomas Hunt III formed a multidisciplinary team with certified hand therapist Tara Haas. Seruya, Hunt and Haas work with registered nurses, occupational hand therapists and medical assistants to perform clinical evaluations, formulate diagnoses and provide treatment plans for patients. Read more

12/03/2014

Texas Children’s Pediatrics opens new practice, merges two others

Texas Children’s Pediatrics recently welcomed a new practice to the inner loop and merged two others in the Houston area. The new practice, Texas Children’s Pediatrics Green Park, opened November 18 and is located at 7505 S. Main St., Suite 450. Three new physicians – Dr. Michael Connelly, Dr. Shannon Hayes and Dr. Jackie Wanebo – are seeing patients at the location. Connelly, a Houston native, earned his medical degree from and completed his residency with the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. Connelly specializes in fitness, healthy eating, and infants and newborns. Hayes is from Katy and earned her medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine. Hayes completed her residency at Baylor as well, and trained at Texas Children’s Hospital. Wanebo came to Texas from Charlottesville, Va., earned her medical degree from the University of Virginia and completed her residency with the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She specializes in asthma, healthy eating, teenagers and children with special needs. Read more

 

Submissions for Bench and Bedside

Bench and Bedside will be produced monthly to spotlight recent news about Texas Children’s physicians and scientists. The Connect team welcomes submissions related to speaking engagements, staff awards/recognition, research, clinical work and academic activities. Send your questions or submissions to connectnews@texaschildrens.org.

January 13, 2015

A vase of flowers rests outside the office of Dr. Edward B. Singleton with the note, “we’ll miss you.” It’s a feeling shared by all who knew Singleton, Chief Emeritus of the Edward B. Singleton Department of Pediatric Radiology at Texas Children’s Hospital. Singleton passed away on January 10 at the age of 94.

In 1952, Texas Children’s Hospital was still in its infancy, just being built, when Singleton was hired on as the organization’s very first physician, also taking on the role of chief of radiology at St. Luke’s Hospital and the Texas Heart Institute. Singleton, having just complete his residency at the University of Michigan, was interested in the field of pediatric radiology, an unchartered territory at the time. He was a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and received his medical degree from UTMB in Galveston where his father was chair of the Department of Surgery. Singleton considered his father to be his icon and was determined to follow in his footsteps just like his older brother did.

He had deep roots in Texas and was glad to return home to become chief of the Department of Pediatric Radiology at Texas Children’s Hospital, a position he held until 1994. After a short retirement of about two months, Singleton returned to work and where he worked full-time until his passing. When asked about his favorite thing about coming in every day, Singleton couldn’t pick just one. He insisted there were two. The first was the joy of contributing to a field he had dedicated himself to for more than 60 years, and second was his passion for teaching residents and helping them become better radiologists. Singleton often said he learned more from them than they did from him.

Among the many highlights in his enduring career was co-authoring an article published in the journal Pediatric Radiology describing a rare and newly recognized condition coined the Singleton-Merton syndrome, a growth disorder characterized by decreased bone density, an enlarged heart and dental abnormalities. Singleton was later awarded the Radiological Society of North America’s highest honor, the Gold Medal, given for long and outstanding service and his pioneering work in pediatric radiology. In addition, he received several other gold medals from other top radiological societies, the most for any radiologist.

Among his countless friendships was a lifelong one with famed heart surgeon Dr. Denton A. Cooley. The two met as pledge brothers at UT, attended medical school together and continued their close ties throughout the decades. Decades after meeting, Cooley performed heart surgery on Singleton. Singleton joked it was his repayment for the years of notes he shared with his friend during their college years.

Those who knew Singleton knew his love for his late wife, his four children, many grandchildren and several great grandchildren as well as his sincere dedication to the field of pediatric radiology. Asked when he would retire, Singleton always answered, “When they carry me out.” He joked that this was his motto.

To the many who worked with him or knew him at Texas Children’s, he was a friend, a mentor, a legend. To love him was to love his stories. Here is Dr. Edward B. Singleton, in his own words.

On teaching
VIDEO

On his highest honors
VIDEO

On his friendship with Dr. Denton A. Cooley
VIDEO

On the evolution of radiology
VIDEO

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Renowned tissue engineering expert and Harvard Medical School John Homans Professor of Surgery Dr. Joseph Vacanti will be the featured speaker at this year’s Denton A. Cooley Lectureship in Surgical Innovation Tuesday, February 10.

Beginning at 7:30 a.m. in the fourth-floor Conference Center at Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, Vacanti will discuss “Tissue Engineering and The Care of Children,” a burgeoning area of research that has untapped potential for people who need new organs. His talk will be streamed on West Campus in room 150.10 as well as in the auditorium at Children’s Hospital of San Antonio. Please RSVP to Lesa Porterfiled at Ext: 6-5722 or Importer@texaschildrens.org if you plan to attend.

Vacanti’s academic surgical career has included both clinical innovation and basic research related to organ transplantation and tissue engineering, a mission that stems from his long-held interest in solving the problem of organ shortages.

While at Boston Children’s Hospital, he launched the nation’s first liver transplantation program specifically for the pediatric population and instituted New England’s first successful pediatric extracorporeal membrane osygenation, or ECMO, program.

He then began to conceptualize the design of implantable systems that would generate new tissue and replace lost function. Vacanti’s approach to developing tissue involves a scaffold made of an artificial, biodegradable polymer, seeding it with living cells, and bathing it in growth factors. The cells can come from living tissue or stem cells. The cells multiply, filling up the scaffold, and growing into a three-dimensional tissue. Once implanted in the body, the cells recreate their proper tissue functions, blood vessels grow into the new tissue, the scaffold melts away, and lab-grown tissue becomes indistinguishable from its surroundings.

Vacanti earned his Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude, from Creighton University; his medical degree, with high distinction, from University of Nebraska College of Medicine; and a Master of Science from Harvard Medical School. He trained in general surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital, in pediatric surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital, and in transplantation at the University of Pittsburgh.

Since 1974, Vacanti has held academic appointments at Harvard Medical School. He currently holds the following positions at Massachusetts General Hospital: co-director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine, director of the Laboratory for Tissue Engineering and Organ Fabrication, and chief of Pediatric Transplantion.

In addition to being a founding co-president of the Tissue Engineering Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS), which has 4,000 active members from 80 countries worldwide, Vacanti has authored more than 320 original reports, 69 book chapters, 54 reviews, and more than 473 abstracts. He also has 81 patents or patents pending in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan, and was elected in 2001 to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

Among others, Vacanti has received the Thomas Sheen Award presented by the New Jersey Chapter of the American College of Surgeons and the 2013 William E. Ladd Medal, the highest honor awarded by the Surgical Section of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He now will be one of several distinguished visiting professors to speak at the Denton A. Cooley Lectureship in Surgical Innovation.

Created seven years ago, the lectureship honors Dr. Denton A. Cooley, a living legend in cardiovascular and surgical innovation. Last year, Cooley was named the most innovative surgeon alive for his groundbreaking work in cardiovascular surgery. He ranked No. 1 on the list of 20 surgeons for the accolade given by Healthcare Administration Degree Programs, which is a website that provides free information for those seeking a career in the medical industry.

Cooley might be best known for performing the first successful human heart transplant in the United States in 1968 and the first human implant of a total artificial heart in the world in 1969. However, his many other contributions are even more important, including his techniques for repairing diseased heart valves and aortic and ventricular aneurysms. Cooley also promoted and popularized the use of non-blood prime for the heart-lung machine, sparing patients unnecessary exposure to blood and allowing more operations to be performed.

Before he retired from the operating room, he and his team had performed more than 100,000 open-heart operations at the Texas Heart Institute, which he founded in 1962. Cooley has authored or coauthored 13 books and more than 1,300 scientific papers. He also has won several awards, including Texas Children’s Hospital’s Distinguished Surgeon Award.

Cooley currently is chief of cardiovascular surgery at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital; surgeon-in-chief emeritus at the Texas Heart Institute; consultant in cardiovascular surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital; and clinical professor of surgery at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston.