Spring 2024 Alumni Connections (UME)

Become a Dell Med Ambassador April 10–11

Save the Date for 40 for Forty, The University of Texas at Austin’s annual Texas-sized day of giving. This spring’s fundraiser will be supporting student scholarships, an essential part of Dell Med and its unique vision.

Scholarships help us recruit the best and brightest from many different walks of life. Stay tuned for more information on how you can help us share the message with your network.

Welcome

I am honored to present the inaugural edition of the Dell Medical School alumni digest, designed to connect, inspire and celebrate the remarkable journeys of our graduates.

Each digest will bring you the latest Dell Med news, alumni updates and stories of how your alma mater, faculty and classmates are changing the world. No matter where your journey took you after graduation, each one of your stories highlights how together we are transforming health and health care.

Thank you for being an integral part of our community. We invite you to contribute your stories, insights and reflections to this evolving narrative. Please fill out this survey and let us know where you are, what you are doing, and any achievements you’d like to share.

Many regards,

Steve Smith, Ph.D. Associate dean for student affairs, Dell Medical School

University of Texas System Regents Announce Plans to Build UT Medical Center on Site of Erwin Center

Nation’s top-ranked UT MD Anderson Cancer Center and flagship UT Austin to build new hospitals as part of project

AUSTIN, Texas — Today The University of Texas System Board of Regents Chairman Kevin P. Eltife announced plans to launch a monumental healthcare initiative to accelerate and expand UT Austin’s burgeoning medical district into a worldclass academic medical center for education, research and patient care. The University of Texas at Austin Medical Center will start with two new hospital towers — The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and a UT Austin hospital. MD Anderson, the nation’s #1 cancer hospital, will expand its Houston footprint to Austin by building and operating a new, comprehensive cancer center, while UT Austin will build and operate its new specialty hospital.

“The establishment of the University of Texas at Austin Medical Center, with UT MD Anderson Cancer Center adjacent to a new University hospital and access to all of UT Austin’s education and research assets, will undoubtedly result in transformative cancer care, provide students at the flagship campus with unmatched experiences, and benefit patients throughout the state and nation for all time,” said Eltife.

Eltife noted that the total investment for these cornerstone projects of the new medical center is still in the discussion by the regents and is estimated at $2.5 billion. Once approved, the hospitals will be built on the current site of UT

Austin’s Erwin Center. The former Longhorns basketball arena will be demolished by fall 2024, and it is anticipated that groundbreaking for the hospitals should begin in 2026.

The new UT MD Anderson hospital in Austin will be fully staffed by MD Anderson physicians, making it easier for patients in Central Texas to access the world’s leading multidisciplinary, subspecialtyfocused cancer care. UT Austin’s new university hospital will be constructed adjacent to the MD Anderson site. UT Austin and UT MD Anderson already share strong collaborative relationships that include breakthrough research in cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment. That partnership will be able to grow significantly in the new medical center, using the strengths of both institutions, including the Dell Medical School, to provide a higher level of interaction and space for them to conduct research, educate medical students and treat patients shoulder to shoulder in Austin. UT Austin and UT MD Anderson collectively conducted $1.8 billion in research last year.

Governor Greg Abbott, who joined Eltife in making the announcement, along with UT System Chancellor James B. Milliken, UT Austin President Jay Hartzell, UT MD Anderson President Peter Pisters and UT Austin Dell Medical School Dean Claudia F. Lucchinetti, said the new medical center will be one of the most important initiatives ever undertaken by a university system to serve the people of Texas.

“The State of Texas has been on a mission to use higher education to expand access to healthcare,

and today marks a giant step towards achieving our goals,” said Governor Abbott. “UT MD Anderson Cancer Center is ranked No. 1 for cancer care in America, with people across the world traveling to Houston to access care. But rather than having Texans travel to MD Anderson in Houston, we will now bring the world’s best treatment to them. Families across Central Texas who are affected by cancer every year can now stay close to home for that care. The key to building sustainable communities is a healthcare infrastructure that can meet the needs of a booming population. UT Austin and MD Anderson will help us meet those needs. The Texas of tomorrow will be shaped by what UT Austin and MD Anderson are building here today.”

“The plans announced today by the Board of Regents will support an extraordinary expansion of the UT System’s education, health care, and research missions to serve Texas,” added Milliken.

“

As one of the nations largest comprehensive university systems, the UT System has fostered numerous collaborative opportunities across our institutions, and this latest one will include a relationship between UT Austin and UT MD Anderson that is an extraordinary demonstration of how this kind of synergy can positively and dramatically impact the lives of Texans.”

JAMES B. MILLIKEN UT System Chancellor

From left: Dell Medical School Dean Claudia F. Lucchinetti, UT Austin President Jay Hartzell, UT System Board of Regents Chairman Kevin P. Eltife, UT System Chancellor James B. Milliken and UT MD Anderson President Peter Pisters.

Brooke Wagen: Making Space for Connection in Practice

It’s no secret that the path to becoming a physician is difficult. The requirements are rigorous: years of schooling, countless hours of study, long shifts of work — these things are known.

But what often goes overlooked is the true toll physicians experience during training. While navigating major life changes like moving across the country and establishing community within a new home and work environment, residents and fellow physicians are learning to maneuver health systems and also often bear the weight of their patients’ worst days.

Brooke Wagen, a hospice and palliative medicine fellow, describes this transition as a “loss of self,” an issue she aims to bring attention to and alleviate through her Distinction in Care Transformation project, the Lazarus Phenomenon, which provides her peer residents and fellows space to gather and share their stories.

What makes you uniquely positioned to do what you do?

As a member of Dell Med’s inaugural class of students, I had a goal to provide excellent medical care to Austin’s oldest and most medically underserved residents. Prior to medical school, I was a mom, neighbor, church member, Meals on Wheels driver and volunteer medical interpreter. Connections to my neighborhood and community were, and are, vital.

The journey through medical school, residency and fellowship is long and tumultuous. I am grateful to have stayed in my home and hometown for all my training, but I have seen firsthand the need for more rootedness and connection for trainees due to multiple moves between schools and cities.

What is the inspiration behind your Distinctions in Care Transformation project? What is your intended impact?

The Lazarus Phenomenon is a storytelling evening specifically for residents and fellow physicians. Trainees often lack space and time to process, connect and reflect on what they’ve seen and felt. The goal is to allow them to share parts of their life and experiences in medical training with their peers across all departments.

I hope we can build connection and community through our shared vulnerability. Storytelling can be intimidating, perhaps, but my hope is that imperfection and authenticity lead. As people tell stories or give storytellers a place to be heard, they build connections one evening at a time.

Describe a memory that has shaped how you approach your life and work.

I hope we can build connection and community through our shared vulnerability. Storytelling can be intimidating, perhaps, but my hope is that imperfection and authenticity lead. As people tell

stories or give storytellers a place to be heard, they build connections one evening at a time.

If readers remember one thing about you or your work, what do you hope that is?

“ Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

— Ian Maclaren

This quote has resonated with me since first hearing it. The idea that everyone we meet — in life, on the street, at work, in the hospital — is fighting their own battle is central to my ethic in medicine. My faith compels me to be still, to listen and to see the intrinsic value in each human soul I meet. My vocation calls me to sit with them in their suffering and ask what I can do to serve or help — or at least to be present — as each is within my power.

I want my co-workers to see me this way, as a friend and colleague who noticed that they too were in the midst of a battle, and was kind.

Brooke Wagen, Dell Med Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellow

From Residents to Fellows: Staying at Dell Med to Improve Care for the Austin Community

After residency, some physicians in training continue their graduate medical education, subspecializing in their fields by undertaking a fellowship. Many will match to new cities, but some choose to continue investing in their communities throughout the entirety of their training.

Despite their varied paths in getting and staying here, many of these physicians in training share a commonality — knowing they belong at Dell Med and wanting to continue to serve Austin communities.

“The fact that our trainees want to stay at Dell Med following their graduation from residency is a testament to the strength of our faculty and programs,” says Jonathan MacClements, M.D., senior associate dean for graduate medical education. “Our residents and fellows contribute to more than 575,000 hours of care annually for Austin’s patients. We’re glad they’ve found a home here.”

Hear from three fellows about why Austin is the best place to continue their training, and the impact this continuity is having on their career trajectory.

The Best of Both Worlds: A Tightknit Community in a Big City

Charles Hyman, M.D. | Gastroenterology & Hepatology Fellowship

What drew you to Dell Med?

I transferred into internal medicine at Dell Med from an interventional radiology residency program at a different university, drawn back to the bedside as COVID-19 presented new, urgent needs. My scenic route through training brought me to a few big, well-established medical systems, but ultimately, I was drawn to Dell Med’s startup spirit and growth attitude.

It is exciting to be on the ground floor of something with immense potential. It is hard to beat the combination of a small-town feel of a new program complete with one-on-one attention from faculty and leadership, big plans of new hospitals, new partnerships — new everything. Austin has exploded with growth, and the medical system is starting to catch up.

With UT Austin as its home, Dell Med is connected to a massive network. In residency, I had the unique opportunity of working with the Texas Health Catalyst innovation program, which put me in touch with engineers, investors, lawyers and more — even more reason to stay here for a fellowship and, hopefully, continue to be a part of Dell Med and its service to Travis County.

Living & Leading the Mission of Transforming Health Care

Quynh Pham, M.D. | Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellowship

Talk about your path to becoming a physician. Have any of the roles you’ve taken on surprised you?

Initially, I did not have plans to pursue a chief year or fellowship after completing residency. I did not think that I was going to pursue a chief year or fellowship after completing residency. I thought I would immediately start practicing after graduation. But throughout my experience, specifically through intern year and early on in my second year of residency, I saw the value of medical education and the impact it can have on a large group of people. I began to understand how important leadership is within medical education, and this realization led to those additional years of training in order for me to hone my leadership skills, teach trainees and make the kind of impact that can create a ripple effect.

There were many moments during residency when I watched attending physicians communicate so effectively with a patient, from diagnosis to their intended care plan, and that was the communication and teaching I wanted to learn more about. As physicians, we are teaching

our patients as well as our trainees. Observing and being a part of multidisciplinary teams who provide individualized, high-quality care and how impactful that was to patients and their families really inspired me to learn more.

What do you think sets Dell Med apart from other institutions?

Initially, I did not have plans to pursue a chief What makes Dell Med special are the faculty members who are recruited here, the system that is in place and being in a growing city. There is a culture of welcoming change that seems unique to this institution. Everyone is driven by change, which is exciting to be part of because all my ideas are welcomed with questions, support and curiosity. I have found great mentors, and the continuity of staying at Dell Med for residency and fellowship has given me the time needed to develop that rapport.

It’s inspiring to be a part of an institution that is growing so quickly, surrounded by people comfortable with change and fueled by innovation.

Charles Hyman, a gastroenterology and hepatology fellow, works with a peer to treat a patient.

Making a Hospital Into a Home –Providing Patients a Sense of Peace

Victoria Cooremans, M.D. | Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship

How does this fellowship fit into your long-term plans? What do you hope to learn from it?

I want to work in an academic medical center and help other people learn the skills required to have tough conversations with patients when things get hard. We, as doctors and humans, are not good at talking about death. I think we all should know how to break bad news — a skill needed beyond hospice and palliative medicine.

I want to continue to serve low-income, underinsured and undocumented patients. Most of my family, especially on my mom’s side, live at or below the poverty level and speak Spanish. These patients remind me of my roots, and I want to give back to my people. That’s why I chose Dell Med — to serve the poor and patients with language barriers.

“ Being the calm for somebody in their life when it was falling apart was so impactful and so such a gift for both of us, for me and for them.

— VICTORIA COOREMANS Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellow

What factors shaped your decision to pursue this area of medicine?

I started my residency in June 2020 during the height of COVID. I was a brand new scared intern, getting my bearings while treating patients who were really sick. I found myself having really hard conversations with patients, families and even my team members. We were all grieving and making big decisions: Is the patient going on the ventilator?

Are we extubating? What are we doing?

Over time, I found meaning and some joy in becoming the person who could help families and patients navigate these difficult times. That part of my practice brought me some semblance of peace because the rest — the medicine, the world — was chaos. Being the calm for somebody else when their life was falling apart was so impactful and such a gift for both of us, for me and for them. Even if I couldn’t physically heal my patient, at least I could bring them some peace. It was then that palliative care just kind of hit me. This is just where I need to be in my life — it’s a perfect fit.

Events

Upcoming Opportunities

February Internal Medicine Grand Rounds: The Spectrum of CNS Inflammatory Demyelinating Disorders

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

12–1 p.m. I Claudia F. Lucchinetti, M.D.

Pediatric Grand Rounds: Hemophilia

Friday, March 8, 2024

7:30–8:30 a.m. I Cristina Tarango, M.D.

Internal Medicine Grand Rounds: How Should Physicians Make Recommendations?

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

12–1 p.m. I David J. Alfandre, M.D., MSPH

Explore more upcoming Continuing Medical Education (CME) opportunities. Locations vary from in-person to hybrid to zoom and more topics and specialties are listed and updated regularly.

Class of 2024

Match Day

Match Day is almost here, and you can virtually share in the excitement. RSVP for the March 15, 2024, ceremony, beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Commencement

Commencement will be held May 9, 2024. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more information.

Class of 2024 White Coat Ceremony

VISIONARIES

RIGHT PEOPLE. RIGHT PLACE. RIGHT TIME

It’s hard to overstate the significance of this moment for patients and families in Central Texas: 140 years of expertise at a Tier 1 research university is converging with some of the brightest minds in health care and medical education to build The University of Texas Medical Center, the eventual home of Dell Medical School, a UT specialty hospital and MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Meet six trailblazing leaders — all Dell Med faculty — among the many bringing Texas’ capital city into focus as a premier destination for integrated, patient-centered health care.

GEORGE ARNAOUTAKIS, M.D.

Over the past year, more than a dozen preeminent surgeons and specialists have come to Austin to be part of an integrated, comprehensive adult cardiovascular institute, taking shape with the emergence of the new University of Texas Medical Center.

Leading the charge is a pioneer in cardiac care innovation.

It’s the middle of the night in early 2023. About 100 miles outside of Austin, a woman presents to her local emergency room with complications from an aortic dissection — a tear within the body’s largest artery. Because she had previously undergone two open-heart surgeries, the local emergency team needed additional specialists to address such a high-risk case.

If the patient had come in just a few months prior, she would have had to find a specialist many hours away who could see her, and time is of the essence: Without prompt surgery, 90% of patients who experience aortic dissection die within weeks.

But in January, George Arnaoutakis, M.D., arrived in Austin to establish the Adult Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at Dell Medical School, and provide care at the Institute for Cardiovascular Health — a clinical partnership between Ascension Seton and UT Health Austin. With Arnaoutakis, a globally recognized leader in aortic surgery, now a short helicopter flight away, the patient was flown to Austin overnight and successfully operated on by Arnaoutakis’ team.

“That patient is doing really well, and we also found out that her family member has the same genetic disorder she has, so we successfully performed preventive surgery on him this fall as well,” says Arnaoutakis. “The tremendous growth of the population here in Central Texas means that millions of people stand to benefit from the very specialized expertise we’ve attracted here at the institute in just the last six months, including for aortic disease.” Since Arnaoutakis’ arrival, thoracic aortic procedures have increased over 400% while quality metrics have improved — including lower mortality rates, less time on a ventilator after heart surgery, lower risk of kidney failure and fewer hospital readmissions.

Unique to the program is its integration with the Texas Center for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease, established in 2018. “We find that more and more people are outliving what would have just been pediatric heart cases in the past, and here we have a team who can support people through their whole lives.”

Pioneering Advanced Techniques

Access to surgery is one thing. But access

to cutting-edge clinical trials for better, safer surgery is a whole new window of opportunity that has opened for Central Texans with the arrival of Arnataoukis, who has been a national leader in clinical trials for cardiac devices. Notably, he is credited with early use of a dualbranch aortic endograft, which allows surgeons to repair aortic aneurysms without open heart surgery, and has personally implanted more than any other surgeon in the U.S.

“ Being part of Dell Medical School is key to making this program what it is,” says Arnaoutakis. “With our academic partners, we’re very focused on and already taking advantage of the opportunity to open trials, including feasibility studies — the earliest phase of technology evaluation for devices. These are opportunities that did not exist with any widespread opportunity for cardiac surgery in Central Texas, previously, and we now have a team of national leaders who can support a wide range of innovations at Dell Med.”

Discover our other visionaries transforming the future of health care.