Gators Caught in the Act

Third year medical student Mitsi Mishra goes that extra mile in her concern for her patients’ overall well being, working to find materials to interest and distract patients with special needs who are confined to hospital beds.

The showing of the film Darius Goes West had a huge showing, which was capped by an appearance by the star of the movie, Darius Weems.  Darius Goes West is a film about Darius, a 15 year old with Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy and is focused on raising awareness about this condition.  The effort to bring Darius to UF was a spectacular one that included a Walk/Run to raise money and the film showing.  This effort took a huge amount of work and caring by many people, spearheaded largely through the College of Public Health and Health Professions.

Kudos to all who got up early on a sultry Saturday morning July 25 to take a road trip to Starke to do free physical exams for Pop Warner football, cheerleading, and high school sports. As always, Arianna Cicchinelli and Jennifer Sevilla (of Citizens for Social Justice) had logistics well in hand, so that when more than 40 Gator volunteers showed up, everyone had an important part to play. Undergrad students checked in parents and children, staffed stations to obtain height, weight, blood pressure, pulse, and vision exams, then escorted children to rooms for physical exams.
Exams were performed by medical students, volunteer physicians, and a nurse practitioner. Other undergrad students checked out the parents and children, ensuring the paperwork was complete. Pop Warner Coaches were there to take possession of the forms. All volunteers were UF undergrad, MPH students, College of Medicine students and faculty, Gator alumni, or Gator parents. In just over two hours we saw 52 children! That is amazing throughput for any professional office…

Our host was Florrie Mingo of Meridian Behavioral Healthcare in Starke, who opened the facility for the event, allowed us to move furniture around and temporarily occupy their offices. Meridian
thanked the volunteers profusely, sending them back to Gainesville with full tummies after serving lunch of hot dogs, nachos, chips, and brownies.

Posted by Nancy Hardt

The effort to bring awareness of- and raise funds to support research in- Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy to UF will culminate with the showing- free to all- of the film “Darius Goes West” at the Philips.  Other activities include the Walk/Run on Saturday, August 30, that included 500 participants.  This effort, spearheaded by the College of Public  Health and Health Professions, is remarkable for its energy, enthusiasm and caring for individuals and families living with Duchenne’s.  Especial kudoes to Claudia Senesac and Donovan Lott.

Shawn Batlivala, M.D., a 2005 graduate of the College of Medicine and now co-chief resident in the department of pediatrics, and his colleagues conducted a local study on bicycle safety. The study will provide insight into parents’ consideration for bicycle safety as well as gage their current bicycle safety practices, such as helmet wearing and fitting. While Batlivala’s team waits to receive the results from the study, they, along with Safe Kids and the city of Gainesville, held a bike helmet giveaway and education session on Friday, June 19 at the Gerold L. Schiebler Children’s Medical Services Center.

One hundred colorful and aerodynamic helmets were given away to children along with tips on how to wear them and ride safely.
Submitted by Christine Velasquez

Posted by an anonymous contributor:

Loads of gators helped out at Westwood middle school this week from undergrads to medical students (first -3rd year!) and pediatric residents and faculty to provide FREE physicals to youth going to camp this summer. What a pleasure to see such energy, synergy and giving to our community. Thank YOU!

Posted by Dr. Nancy Hardt:

Gators help youth get to camp! A member of the Alachua County School Board, Eileen Roy, and the Alachua County Sheriff, Sadie Darnell, approached UF asking whether volunteers could provide free physical exams for at-risk children who were accepted to a free camp, the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch. The only thing standing between these kids and a week at camp was a physical exam. UF and the community responded in grand style. Mr. Tenbig, principal at Westwood Middle opened his doors and gave us access to rooms for registration, waiting and physical exams. UF Living Well loaned pilates mats so kids could be examined without examining tables. UF Citizens for Social Justice rallied 38 student volunteers to do logistics and vital signs, UF medical students brought 36 students, UF Pediatrics brought 8 Pediatric residents and 3 UF Pediatric faculty. Many of the undergraduate volunteers were from MAPS, Minority Association of Pre-Health Students. In short order, vital signs were taken, forms were filled out, physical exams were done and Youth Ranchers and their parents were on their way. Kudos came from Eileen Roy and Cori Welbes, the Director of Camping Services.

Sharon Sarazin, ARNP – Women’s Health “

A patient’s blood type and Rh factor were transcribed incorrectly when a nurse transcribed the patient’s labs onto a lab summary sheet into her chart. The error was caught and the lab sheet was corrected. The patient was Rh negative and needed RhoGam which she was able to receive at her clinic visit today.”

Jan Robinson, RN, MSN – Nurse Educator, UF Physician Clinics

Frances Reeves, RN – Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties “

The patient arrived for an ACTH stimulation test, bringing the medication with her from the Pharmacy. According to the label on the bag, the patient was to receive .25 mg IM injection as part of a stimulation test. However, the medication in the bag contained 9 vials of Cortosyn .25 mg. (Note: Too much medication is a Red Flag!) The nurse verified the order which was written for 250 mcg and notified the pharmacy and the physician of the error BEFORE it got to the patient.

Desiree Hayes – Manager, Eastside Clinic “

For her idea to insert a dividing line between the main formulary and the restricted drugs section of the document. This is a solid safety measure and a great catch, as it helps to minimize the risk of staff glancing quickly at the formulary and mistaking a restricted drug for a drug approved for use in clinic.”

Rhonda Bosch, LPN – Family Practice at Haile “

Rhonda was following up on a patient’s lab and noticed the values were misread due to a printer problem. This resulted in a medication being prescribed that was not needed. Rhonda caught the discrepancy, spoke with the physician to let them know of the situation, and notified the pharmacy to cancel the medication order. The printer has since been replaced and the orders are now coming across clear.