UConn Health Pulse

Serving the Underserved; Primary Care Outlook

The American health care system is facing a shortage of primary care physicians. Preparing the next generation of providers is one of the missions of UConn Health, where the training includes hands-on experience delivering care to historically underserved populations. Dr. Bruce Gould, UConn School of Medicine professor emeritus, founding associate dean for primary care, and founding director of the Connecticut Area Health Education Center, discusses how students serve the needs of today while training to become the providers who serve the needs of tomorrow.

(Dr. Bruce Gould, Chris DeFrancesco, September 2022)

Connecticut Area Health Education Center (CT AHEC)
https://health.uconn.edu/connecticut-area-health-education-center-network/

Urban Service Track
https://health.uconn.edu/connecticut-area-health-education-center-network/urban-services-track-and-ahec-scholars/

'Knock, Knock: UConn Students Making Hartford House Calls with COVID Vaccines'
https://today.uconn.edu/?p=189476

Community-based experiential learning
https://health.uconn.edu/connecticut-area-health-education-center-network/community-based-experiential-training/

Migrant farm worker clinics
https://health.uconn.edu/connecticut-area-health-education-center-network/migrant-farm-worker-clinics/

Back to School ’22

It's likely the closest we've come to a "normal" back-to-school since 2019. So we checked back in with Dr. Erica Waddington, this time at her office in the UConn Health family medicine practice in Canton, to find out what she's telling families -- both the students and the parents who worry about them -- to help them get a healthy start to the 2022 school year.

(Dr. Erica Waddington, Chris DeFrancesco, August 2022)

UConn Health Family Medicine
https://health.uconn.edu/family-medicine/
866-328-8086

Dr. Erica Waddington
https://health.uconn.edu/find-a-provider/physician/Waddington-Erica

 

What if Your Surgeon Had X-Ray Vision?

Spine surgeons at UConn Health are using augmented reality technology that provides a 3D rendering of the anatomy, essentially enabling "see-through" surgery. UConn Health is the first in central Connecticut with this suite of tools, which as of July 2022 is the world's largest. Dr. Isaac Moss, UConn Health's orthopedic surgery chair and co-director of its Comprehensive Spine Center, describes how augmented reality spine surgery works and what its advantages are.

(Dr. Isaac Moss, Chris DeFrancesco, July 2022)

UConn Health Comprehensive Spine Center
https://health.uconn.edu/spine/

860-679-6662

Augmented reality spine surgery at UConn Health
https://health.uconn.edu/spine/services/minimally-invasive-spine-surgery/augmented-reality-spine-surgery/

UConn Today, May 13, 2022
https://today.uconn.edu/2022/05/tech-assisted-spine-surgery-likened-to-x-ray-vision/

 

Cycling X-Country to Help Kids

The UConn Health tradition of students spending their last free summer bicycling cross-country to raise money for a charitable cause continues for a 17th year. Rising second-year dental student Brian Legato and medical students Julia Neri and Dustin Moore make up the 2022 Coast to Coast for a Cause team. Hear what they had to say about their adventure the day before they started it.

(June 2022, Julia Neri, Dustin Moore, Brian Legato, Chris DeFrancesco)

Coast to Coast for a Cause 2022 blog
https://uconncoast2coast2022.blogspot.com/
(may not work on UConn Health network)

Coast to Coast for a Cause 2022 link tree
https://linktr.ee/C2C2022

Coast to Coast for a Cause 2022 / Hole in the Wall Gang camp
http://getinvolved.holeinthewallgang.org/site/TR/HWCGGlobal/General;jsessionid=00000000.app20114a?team_id=4042&pg=team&fr_id=1625&NONCE_TOKEN=F6AFFD4E833B5D2D193C17EB9F9EE1F6

 

Pandemic Challenges to Women’s Health

For some women, maintaining their own health can have its challenges, whether everyday things like putting family and career ahead of their own needs, or potential barriers to care related to socio-economic status. What kind of a multiplier effect has the pandemic had on those factors? Dr. Shontreal Cooper, a maternal-fetal medicine physician in UConn Health's Women's Center, shares her observations from the last two years, what she tells her patients, and a creative way she tries to break down barriers.

(Dr. Shontreal Cooper, Carolyn Pennington, Chris DeFrancesco, May 2022)

Dr. Shontreal Cooper
https://health.uconn.edu/find-a-provider/physician/Cooper-Shontreal

UConn Health Women's Center
https://health.uconn.edu/women/

 

Supplying CT’s Health Care Workforce

The No. 1 source of physicians and dentists who practice in Connecticut is UConn Health, whose schools have been graduating physicians, dentists, biomedical researchers, and masters of public health for five decades. This month we hear from Dr. Bruce T. Liang, dean of the UConn School of Medicine (and UConn Health's interim CEO and executive vice president for health affairs) and Dr. Steven Lepowsky, dean of the UConn School of Dental Medicine. The deans explain the role of the medical, dental, and graduate schools in preparing and producing generations of professionals to maintain Connecticut's health care workforce.

(Dr. Bruce T. Liang, Dr. Steven Lepowsky, Carolyn Pennington, Chris DeFrancesco, April 2022)

UConn and the Health Care Workforce
https://medicine.uconn.edu/healthcare-workforce/

UConn School of Medicine
https://medicine.uconn.edu/

UConn School of Dental Medicine
https://dentalmedicine.uconn.edu/

UConn Health Graduate School
https://health.uconn.edu/graduate-school/

Graduate Medical Education
https://health.uconn.edu/graduate-medical-education/

CT Area Health Education Center (AHEC)
https://health.uconn.edu/connecticut-area-health-education-center-network/

 

Colon Cancer, Nuts, and Early Onset

Dr. Daniel Rosenberg, professor of medicine, Health Net Inc. Chair in Cancer Biology, and investigator in UConn Health's Center for Molecular Oncology, is on the trail of the connection between our digestive system's microbiome and colon cancer. His research has shown how walnut consumption can impact gut bacteria in a way that seems to fight off inflammation in some people. He's also investigating why colon cancers are turning up more in younger people, in their 40s and even 30s.

(March 2022, Daniel Rosenberg, Carolyn Pennington, Chris DeFrancesco)

Daniel W. Rosenberg, Ph.D., faculty profile
https://facultydirectory.uchc.edu/profile?profileId=Rosenberg-Daniel

UConn Health Center for Molecular Oncology
https://health.uconn.edu/molecular-oncology/

Walnut study
https://starr.uchc.edu/Study/StudyDetails.aspx?ID=1796
gajewska@uchc.edu, pappleton@uchc.edu

Peanut study
https://starr.uchc.edu/Study/StudyDetails.aspx?ID=1704
nfan@uchc.edu

Masako Nakanishi, Ph.D., Center for Molecular Oncology
https://facultydirectory.uchc.edu/profile?profileId=Nakanishi-Masako

John Birk, MD, chief, UConn Health Division of Gastroenterology
https://facultydirectory.uchc.edu/profile?profileId=Birk-John

Haleh Vaziri, MD, UConn Health gastrotenterologist
https://facultydirectory.uchc.edu/profile?profileId=Vaziri-Haleh

George Weinstock, Ph.D., The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine
https://facultydirectory.uchc.edu/profile?profileId=Weinstock-George

Best Ways to Treat the Feet

Our feet and ankles are among the most commonly injured parts of our body. There's a wide range of problems, and thankfully, with the right experts, a wide range of treatment options. Dr. Lauren Geaney, UConn Health foot and ankle surgeon and director of UConn's orthopedic surgery residency program, describes some of the advances in addressing both common and complex problems. She also discusses her role in educating tomorrow's orthopedic surgeons, including a narrowing gender gap in the specialty, and shares news of a recent development in UConn's orthopedic surgery training.

(Dr. Lauren Geaney, Carolyn Pennington, Chris DeFrancesco, January 2022)

UConn Health Orhopedics and Sports Medicine
https://health.uconn.edu/orthopedics-sports-medicine/

Stroke and the Need to BE FAST

When it comes to treating stroke, initiating care ASAP, especially at a certified stroke center, can greatly improve the trajectory for survival and recovery. Regulatory bodies and other third parties have taken note of the stoke care at UConn Health, which has maintained the distinction of "primary stroke center" from The Joint Commission since first earning it in 2014. This month, two of the nurses behind the UConn Health Stroke Center's success, Jennifer Sposito (clinical coordinator) and Brooke Medel (patient navigator) describe what makes UConn Health so effective at stroke care and tell you what you need to watch for in order to BE FAST, act quickly, and recognize this medical emergency.

(Jennifer Sposito, Brooke Medel, Carolyn Pennington, Chris DeFrancesco, December 2021)

UConn Health Stroke Center
https://health.uconn.edu/stroke-center/

UConn Health Stroke Survivor Group
https://health.uconn.edu/stroke-center/events-and-programs/

Video: Stroke Survivor Returns for Promised Dance With His Nurse
https://youtu.be/V6tD8RO_0SE

 

Elite Expertise in Brain and Spine Disorders

The UConn Health Brain and Spine Institute, an elite collaboration of experts in areas including neurology, neurosurgery, neuro-radiology, and comprehensive spine, continues to grow. Two of its members, Dr. John Greenfield, neurology chair, and Dr. Ian McNeill, neurosurgeon who specializes in spine abnormalities and disorders, describe how this high level of coordinated care ensures patients who've suffered from brain tumors, strokes, spine problems, and other disorders of brain and spine are seeing the optimal combination of providers for the best outcomes.

(Dr. John Greenfield, Dr. Ian McNeill, Carolyn Pennington, Chris DeFrancesco, November 2021)

UConn Health Brain and Spine Institute
https://health.uconn.edu/brain-and-spine-institute/
860-679-6551