D epartment
of
M edicine
Con ne c ti ng T e c h n o lo g y , Ed uca t i o n a n d D i s cove ry w ith H um anis m in Me dicine
Vol. 11 Issue 1 Jan. 2022
Research Productivity During Residency & Fellowship:
American College of Cardiology in Atlanta in May 2021. Our third-year internal medicine residents have also remained quite busy. Dr. Samuel Purkey presented “A rare diagnosis of cryptogenic multifocal ulcerous stenosing enteritis following partial small bowel resection for retained capsule endoscope” at the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons in Las Vegas in September 2021; “Histoplasmosis, the great imitator of COVID-19 pneumonia?” at the Society of Hospital Medicine Conference in Atlanta in October 2021; and “A rare case of Amyand’s hernia presenting as acute uncomplicated appendicitis” at the American College of Gastroenterology Scientific Meeting in Las Vegas in October 2021 (photo). Dr. Samuel Treat presented “When to pull the trigger – Persistent upper gastrointestinal bleeding in the setting of splenic artery pseudoaneurysm and cystogastrostomy stent ultimately requiring coil embolization” at CHEST in September 2021 in Orlando. He also presented “Comparing discharge and readmission medication regimen for AECOPD” at the American Thoracic Society International Conference in San Diego in May 2021; continued on page 2
Despite the changes in conference format over the past 2 years, our department residents and fellows have remained active with research and presentations. From nearby to across the country, residents have presented at numerous conferences over the past year. Our pulmonary critical care fellows have been hard at work, with Dr. Ralph Maroun presenting “Managing a rare case of congenital atresia of the left superior pulmonary vein with associated atypical coronary anatomy in an adult patient with new onset self-limited chest pain”; and Dr. Milind Bhagat presenting “Cavitation due to Covid-19: A case of secondary atypical mycobacterial infection post-Covid-19” and “Highflow nasal cannula requirements in hypoxemic respiratory failure secondary to COVID-19: Identifying FIO2 cutoffs that predict a higher risk for ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, and death” at CHEST in Orlando, FL in October 2021. Dr. Bhagat also tied for first place for the Alfred Soffer Research Award that is given for the best original research presentation at the CHEST conference. Dr. James Livesay from our cardiology fellowship also presented “Heme effects in lowering patient discomfort in radial artery verapamil injection (HELP-RA)” at the
Points of View
Antonio as an active-duty officer with the US Air Force. During this time, while completing his IM residency and ID fellowship he met and later married Niki. He returned to his East Tennessee roots and joined the ID division, and later when he assumed the role of IM Program Director, he took on the challenge of running a program that had received several citations from the ACGME. For the past 13 years, Mark has successfully managed the program to become one of the premier training programs in the region. The highlights of his tenure as PD include: an increase in categorical IM residents from 27 to 36 residents, initiating a 3rd hospitalist team, successful match for several years, consistent improvement on in-training examination scores, no citations from ACGME for continued on page 2
Farewell to Power Couple in Medicine The dawn of the New Year brings with it some mixed blessings as we bid farewell to a very talented couple: Dr. Mark Rasnake, and his wife Niki. Mark who is an Associate Professor and Internal Medicine Program Director (PD), will be leaving to join a similar position with the Mayo Clinic affiliated program at Naples, Rajiv Dhand, MD, Chair FL. Niki has been an admirable resource as the Program Manager for the Level I Trauma Center at UTMC. Mark and Niki’s expertise and dedication to medical education will be sorely missed. After medical school at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, TN, Mark spent the next 9 years in San 1