IT was a night of reconnecting with old friends and refreshing new networks for the alumni of the University of Auckland at the New Zealand High Commissioners Residence in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

With support from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and Education New Zealand, the University of Auckland hosted an evening reception for about 90 of its Malaysian alumni.

The alumni were honoured to be joined by His Excellency David Pine as well as key staff from the university Faculty of Business dean Professor Greg Whittred and Alumni Relations and Development director Mark Bentley.

More importantly, the alumni and guests at the reception also had the opportunity to meet one of the universitys Distinguished Alumni Award recipients Dr William Tan, who was the nights key guest speaker.

A neuroscientist and accomplished sportsman, who has competed in many international games including the 1988 Seoul Paralympics, the 2007 World Games and the 1990 Commonwealth Games, Dr Tan gained three degrees from the University of Auckland a Master of Philosophy (Medical Science), a Master of Health Science, and a PhD in Paediatrics.

Dr Tan was a Harvard University Fulbright Scholar and an Oxford University Raffles Scholar.

He then became the first person outside of the United States to be offered the prestigious opportunity to train at the world-renowned Mayo Clinic.

He is now a resident physician at the National Cancer Centre in Singapore.

During the reception, Dr Tan spoke highly of the Auckland University, commending it for hospitality and providing him with the opportunity to pursue his interest in science and medicine with the best people in the field including Distinguished Professor Sir Peter Gluckman and Professor Bob Elliot.

The desire to know more and to delve into the brain system brought me to the University of Auckland. In my research, I had found that the best place where the best research was happening was at the University of Auckland Medical School. I then won a scholarship from Singapore and was privileged to be accepted in to the university, Dr Tan explained.

See the original post here:
Auckland University alumni meet inspirational Paralympian

Posted on August 22, 2014

Dr. Elson Floyd

YAKIMA, Wash. On Monday, Washington State University President Elson Floyds daughter gave birth to his granddaughter, Victoria. He used the occasion Thursday at the Yakima Rotary Club to talk about one of his biggest projects to date at the helm of WSU.

Floyds daughter and granddaughter had accessible and immediate medical care, he said, but the same cannot be said for many Washingtonians.

We were able to go 10 minutes and she was at the hospital and her (OB/GYN) was right there with her at the same time, Floyd said. But then, I reflect on the fact that in a great number of our counties, one would have to go 40 minutes or more to see a primary care physician.

With the shortage of primary care doctors in rural communities a major issue, WSUs chief reassured Rotarians many of them Cougars that the Pullman school is working to reverse the status quo.

And Floyd believes that to make any dent in the problem, a new medical school is needed on WSUs Spokane campus.

WSU and its rival, the University of Washington, continue talking on how to proceed with the proposal, a difficult discussion since UW officials have spoken against another publicly funded medical school. WSUs medical school would be only the third medical school in a five-state region, encompassing Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

Floyd described his discussions with UW as very, very intense. He told Rotarians that the state can no longer rely on just one public institution for more doctors. Yakimas Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences is the only other medical school in the state, but it is privately funded.

There is room and space for us to consider a third model a third model that is much more community-based and more collaborative, he said.

Read this article:
Exec talks up need for WSU medical school in Spokane

IT was a night of reconnecting with old friends and refreshing new networks for the alumni of the University of Auckland at the New Zealand High Commissioners Residence in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

With support from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and Education New Zealand, the University of Auckland hosted an evening reception for about 90 of its Malaysian alumni.

The alumni were honoured to be joined by His Excellency David Pine as well as key staff from the university Faculty of Business dean Professor Greg Whittred and Alumni Relations and Development director Mark Bentley.

More importantly, the alumni and guests at the reception also had the opportunity to meet one of the universitys Distinguished Alumni Award recipients Dr William Tan, who was the nights key guest speaker.

A neuroscientist and accomplished sportsman, who has competed in many international games including the 1988 Seoul Paralympics, the 2007 World Games and the 1990 Commonwealth Games, Dr Tan gained three degrees from the University of Auckland a Master of Philosophy (Medical Science), a Master of Health Science, and a PhD in Paediatrics.

Dr Tan was a Harvard University Fulbright Scholar and an Oxford University Raffles Scholar.

He then became the first person outside of the United States to be offered the prestigious opportunity to train at the world-renowned Mayo Clinic.

He is now a resident physician at the National Cancer Centre in Singapore.

During the reception, Dr Tan spoke highly of the Auckland University, commending it for hospitality and providing him with the opportunity to pursue his interest in science and medicine with the best people in the field including Distinguished Professor Sir Peter Gluckman and Professor Bob Elliot.

The desire to know more and to delve into the brain system brought me to the University of Auckland. In my research, I had found that the best place where the best research was happening was at the University of Auckland Medical School. I then won a scholarship from Singapore and was privileged to be accepted in to the university, Dr Tan explained.

Read the original:
Site Last Updated 2:02 am, Saturday

The leader of a forward surgical team in Afghanistan. A developer of tactile books for visually disabled children. A casting editor for Top Chef. An internationally acclaimed concert violinist. A software developer for a defense company.

These individuals and their classmates, a total of 144, whose experiences are just as diverse, participated in the White Coat Ceremony in the Center for the Arts Mainstage Theater on August 15, as members of the Class of 2018 of the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

The class was selected from a pool of 4,201 applicants, up from the previous years pool of 4090, according to Charles Severin, associate dean for medical education and admissions. It includes 126 residents of New York State and 18 from out of state. Thirty are UB graduates.

Most students majored in a scientific field but others majored in art history, accounting, performance studies, African and African American studies, anthropology and environmental studies, among others.

Some students have earned master's degrees in fields ranging from public health to business administration, from music to nutrition. The students have won an impressive array of awards, including Howard Hughes Medical Institute scholarships, the Merck Award for Scholastic Excellence, a Gates Millennium Scholarship from the United Negro College Fund, a National Institutes of Health Diversity Grant and memberships in Phi Beta Kappa.

Many have assisted in medical clinics in Haiti, Peru, Belize, Darfur, Uganda, Kenya, Cambodia, Ecuador and many other countries.

During the ceremonys Calling of the Class, students were called to the stage and presented with their coats, while their hometowns and undergraduate institutions were announced. Students received their coats from medical school administrators including Severin and Michael E. Cain, vice president for health sciences and dean of the UB medical school, who gave the students his traditional counsel about the white coat: You have earned the right to wear it. Now you must earn the right to keep it.

The ceremony is the symbolic rite of passage shared by medical students across the U.S. to establish a psychological and unwritten ethical contract for professionalism and empathy in the practice of medicine. But it has a surprising history, according to the keynote address by Helen Cappuccino, assistant professor of surgery and assistant professor of oncology, Breast Surgery Division, Department of Surgical Oncology, at Roswell Park Cancer Institute and an alumna of the UB medical school.

She noted that until the latter part of the 19th century, physicians traditionally wore black to reflect the somber nature of their work.

In those days, she explained, calling a physician to a loved ones bedside was a prelude to death.

The rest is here:
Diverse student experiences are celebrated at medical school white coat ceremony for Class of 2018

VOL. 129 | NO. 164 | Friday, August 22, 2014

The 24-unit Macon Homes section 8 apartment complex at 500 N. Claybrook St. in Midtown has sold for $800,000.

A recently formed limited liability company called Crosstown Macon Homes LLC bought the 17,820-square-foot, three-building multifamily property in an Aug. 20 warranty deed from Macon Homes Ltd.

The seller had acquired the property in 1981 for $191,000.

Built in 1950, the Class D apartment complex sits on 1.2 acres along the east side of North Claybrook Street where it bends west into Forrest Avenue. The Shelby County Assessor of Propertys 2014 appraisal is $411,300.

No financing was associated with the transaction, but the seller did quitclaim the property to Crosstown Macon Homes on the same date.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

Daily News staff

The Economic Development Growth Engine of Memphis and Shelby County tweaked the tax incentives for an expanding trucking company.

The payment-in-lieu-of-taxes incentive, or PILOT, awarded to North Carolina-based less-than-truckload carrier Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. last year had to be adjusted after the company said it would create fewer jobs in the ramp-up period but increase capital spending and wages.

Excerpt from:
MERI Receives $150,000 Grant

THE Dr. Pablo O. Torre Memorial Hospital, also known as the Riverside Medical Center, in Bacolod City turned 60 years old last week.

In 1954, Dr. Pablo Torre had embarked on a grand venture with nothing in mind but to deliver quality healthcare services to Negrenses.

He had converted a portion of his house beside the river to a simple eight-bed clinic.

Torre invited the Carmelite Sisters to administer the hospital when his clinic expanded to become Riverside General Hospital.

Later he opened the School of Midwifery and approved by the Ministry of Education in 1958. The School of Nursing followed a short time after. It later became College of Nursing. Soon, other health courses were opened.

In 1972, the Riverside Medical Center became a premier health care facility. The hospital is now named Dr. Pablo O. Torre Memorial Hospital (DPOTMH), in honor of its founder, while the school is named Riverside College.

Over the years, both the hospital and college have expanded to offer better and improved services.

Six decades after, the DPOTMH now becomes a hospital of 300 beds, and houses state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, and is now considered one of the premiere centers of wellness in the country.

Truly a man of vision, Dr. Torre had changed the medical landscape in Bacolod and the province of Negros Occidental.

In line with the hospitals 60th anniversary, and the 100th birthday of Dr. Torre, the management held a groundbreaking for the seven-storey building at the hospital compound last Friday.

Read more here:
Changing the medical landscape in Bacolod

Clothing & School Supplies Give Away.9 a.m.-1 p.m. Sat. Sponsored by the Single Parent Fellowship. To register bring the following documents with you: Valid Driver License or Photo ID with current address; household income, welfare, disability, social security or pension letter of acceptance or pay stub; food stamps' letter or ID card; birth certificate or SS card, medical or report card for each child. First Baptist Church, 50 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Morrisville. 215-642-0086.

Drive Thru Food Group. 9 a.m.-noon, Sat. Bring non-perishable food items to benefit the ERA food pantry. Free coffee and donuts will be available. St. John Lutheran Church, 1203 Pine Grove Road, Morrisville. For information call church office: 215-295-1603.

2014 Bucks County Poet Laureate Contest. Calling for entries. Open to any Bucks County resident over age 18 who has not previously served as county poet laureate. Submit 10 original poems with an entry form, available online at http://bit.ly/buckscountylaureate and at bookstores, libraries and through the Dept. of Language at Bucks County Community College. Entries must be postmarked by Sept 5 and received by Sept 9. Bucks County Community College, 275 Swamp Road, Newtown.

Lambertville Volunteers Drum & Bugle Corps.7-9 p.m. Sun and Sept 7, 14. No-audition open rehearsals. Looking for brass, percussion, and color guard members. Good times, music along with a work and family-friendly practice and performance schedule. 58 Church Street, Lambertville, N.J. lambertvillevolunteers.com.

Classroom Volunteers.Needed at Bristol Township schools. Help enrich children under the supervision of class instructors. Summer session or Fall afternoon hours. Admin help needed also. Information: Dave Tittle, Lower Bucks Family YMCA. 215-915-1505.

Volunteers Needed.Faith in Action at Ivins Outreach Center in Morrisville looking for volunteers to help serve the disabled and older adults within our community. If interested in helping local seniors, call Jaime. 215-428-0500 ext. 101.

RSVP Advisory Council.The Bucks County Retired and Senior Volunteer Program seeks volunteers with experience in program development, volunteerism, marketing, sales, public relations, fundraising or program evaluation. Call Lorraine for information: 267-880-5725.

Activity Volunteers.No time commitment required. Share your time or talent and help enrich the lives of personal care residents. Should be comfortable around people and have a desire to help others. Pickering Manor, 226 N. Lincoln Ave., Newtown. Donna: 215-968-3878.

Visitor Aide Volunteers.9:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Help answer phones, assist visitors, register people for programs and trips. Churchville Nature Center, 501 Churchville Lane. Call Diane: 215-357-4005 ext. 16.

Thrift Store Volunteers. 9 a.m.-noon. 1-3 days a week. Shop supports Veterans. Sales, pick up and transport of items, sorting, display. DAV 117, 5915 Bristol-Emilie Rd., Levittown. 267-880-5725.

Excerpt from:
Courier Times Community Calendar for August 18

WEST CHESTER TWP.

The Lakota West High School girls soccer team will get a glimpse of its past this weekend and celebrate the programs rich tradition with several former players all while honoring a lost peer.

The Firebirds, who are 201-98-43 in 17 seasons, will host their second alumni event 7 p.m. Saturday at the high school turf stadium.

Admission is free but donations and other proceeds will go to the Childrens Hospital Medical Center for brain tumor research in honor of West volleyball player Lauren Hede, who passed away from a brain tumor earlier this summer.

(The event) is something we started last year, and it went over so well we thought wed do it again, second-year coach Jan Bennett said. When we unfortunately lost Lauren Hede, we felt drawn to donate to that charity. A lot of the girls on the soccer team were friends with her, and we felt drawn to do that this year just to show our support.

Last years inaugural alumni versus varsity game was such a success, West was able to expand the rosters to make it an all-alumni event. Bennett said about 30 former players have signed up, but she expects some walk-ins as well.

Among those expected back will be the three Comisar sisters who all played at West before going on to college programs Stephanie (Class of 2003), Katie (2003) and Kim (2001). The Firebirds won a state title in 1999 and won six Greater Miami Conference titles in their first eight seasons from 1997 to 2004.

We had so many alums come back last year, we wanted to get them more playing time so we decided to make it alumni versus alumni, Bennett said. Its a nice way to kick off the season. Lakota West has always had a rich tradition in soccer and we want to thank our alumni for what they started. Its nice to see past players come back.

The event will include raffles, a split the pot drawing and halftime goal-kicking contest. Current players also will be available for autographs and will be introduced at the game, along with youth who attended the teams camp this summer.

We had a good crowd last year, and we really hope its even better this year, Bennett said. Its a great cause, and it should be a lot of fun for everyone.

Read this article:
West alumni event to honor late volleyball player

Loma Linda, Calif. (PRWEB) August 12, 2014

Graduates of Loma Linda University School of Medicine are helping to deliver health care to patients in the midst of the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Dr. Gillian Seton, a 2008 graduate of Loma Linda University School of Medicine, is serving since February 2014 at Cooper Adventist Hospital in Liberia.

Another physician, Dr. James Appel, a 2000 graduate of the Loma Linda University School of Medicine, is expected to arrive this week in Liberia to provide medical care alongside Seton at Cooper Adventist Hospital. Appel has spent the last decade as a family medicine physician in the north-central African country of Chad.

The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, in collaboration with Adventist Health International based in Loma Linda, has decided to keep Cooper Adventist Hospital open in Liberia in spite of the virus outbreak. The 45-bed hospital and its associated Eye Hospital, is located in the heart of Monrovia, the capital where nearly a third of the countrys four million people live. The Republic of Liberia was founded by freed American and Carribean slaves, and declared its independence in 1847.

Many public hospitals in the West African nation and adjacent areas have shut down or are refusing to take on new patients, but the staff and faculty at Cooper made the decision to remain open for treatment of non-Ebola related illnesses. They are continuing to screen patients prior to entering the hospital grounds in order to remain free of the Ebola virus as near as possible, so that they will be a source of help and safety to their patients and staff.

Working as a general surgeon at the hospital, Seton said she believes the need for medical treatment outweighs the dangers involved in staying.

The most dangerous place to be right now is in a hospital, but what are you to do when you have a patient with an OB emergency? Appendicitis? Severe Malaria with almost un-survivable anemia? she asked.

Seton said they have not closed the hospital because theyve seen how desperate people are to get help after they have been turned away from four or five hospitals due to staff-enforced closures.

Dr. Richard H. Hart, president of Adventist Health International and president of Loma Linda University Health, said the agency is continuing to support Coopers operations by subsidizing costs and providing supplies for the hospital. He said additional professional staff may be sent to Liberia, and only staff who volunteer to stay are reporting to work.

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Loma Linda University School of Medicine Alumni Deliver Health Care at Ebola Stricken Region

The University of Pittsburgh Medical School's Class of 2018 took their first steps toward entry into the medical profession Sunday during the White Coat Ceremony in Oakland.

The class includes 149 students, who recited the Hippocratic Oath, led by Dr. Beth Piraino.

The students get their white coats, a symbolic entry into school, from Pitt's Medical Alumni Association.

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Photo gallery: White coat ceremony at Pitt