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Showing posts from February, 2020

We Care About Your Professional Growth

Across MedStar Health, we encourage associates to take full advantage of their Educational Assistance benefit.  It's a great way to build your professional growth and development. MedStar Health Human Resources recently highlighted how associates have used their funds to develop their careers in 2019.

For those associates who completed their degree in 2019, congraulations!




For more information, including eligible programs and expenses covered under this benefit, refer to your Educational Assistance policy on myHR
 
Within MHRI, we also offer professional development funds in addition to educational assistance. Our assocaites have used these funds to particpate and lead sessions at multiple conferences, including MAGI, National Council of University Research Administrators, and the NIH Regional SeminarTo learn more about professional development at MHRI, visit our Starport page.



Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

Over the years, a lot of people have asked me to share more about my life outside of MedStar so let me tell you about last weekend...

I had the great pleasure of celebrating my parents' 65th wedding anniversary!  Isn't that unbelievable!!  My parents met when my Mom was only 14 years old and married several years later when my Dad returned from the Korean war.  It was wonderful to be with them and their friends to honor this milestone, hear stories about how they met and get to know their friends better.

Being there with them, I recognize they are the reason for much of my professional achievements - from my Dad, who was a self-employed electrician, I learned the importance of hard work, getting 'the job done', the power of empowering others and the paramount importance of 'customer service'.  My Mom had several jobs over the years as a book-keeper or salesperson and taught me about the value of interpersonal skills, persistence, and confidence.  Thank you Mom and Dad for all you have given me and Happy Anniversary! 

Below are some pictures from when they met, their wedding picture and a few pictures from this weekend.


First in the State: Replacing Mitral Valve Via Tendyne Transcatheter

As a cardiologist, it’s always nice to celebrate February as heart month! It’s even more exciting to share that doctors at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital were the first in the state of Maryland to replace a mitral valve via tendyne transcatheter.

Drs. Brian Bethea, John Wang, Nauman Siddiqi and Antony Kaliyadan of the MedStar Heart and Vascular Institute (MHVI) successfully implanted the state’s first Tendyne transcather mitral valve replacement system in late 2019, as part of a national clinical trial testing the safety and efficacy of the implant as an option to open-heart surgery.

The mitral valve replacement is used in patients with mitral regurgitation, which can cause severe fatigue, shortness of breath and lightheadedness. This trial is assessing the safety and efficacy of this implant for patients who are not able to undergo open-heart surgery.

You can read the release here. Congratulations to the team and I look forward to hearing the results of this study.
You can see a video simulation
of the device as part of the press release.

This is just one of many heart-related studies that happen across MedStar Health. Perhaps this Heart Month, you can take some time to view the archives of FOCUS to see what other great work is happening here!

MedStar Research and Cerner Partner to Create a Learning Health Network

It’s always exciting when something is the first. First publication, first award, first day of school. It’s particularly exciting when your entire organization is the first to do something!

This week, MedStar Health announced that we are the first healthcare system to join the brand new Cerner Learning Health Network. The Cerner Learning Health Network is an innovative, collaborative, platform that will be able to connect healthcare systems and research opportunities.

As part of the platform, it will provide investigators at MedStar an opportunity to participate in large clinical research studies, as we will be able to connect with other systems to expand the patient population. We will also be able to bring our research ideas and proposals to the network!

This collaboration is a great element of our academic health system and allows us to continue our work in moving research from bench to bedside to community. While we are the first network to join, Cerner hopes to add up to 40 more systems this year. As a founding member, MedStar will be part of the governance committee overseeing network activities and ensuring appropriate and credible studies are selected.

As technology advances and new tools are available, we at MedStar Health will be able to access them to support our research, keeping us at the forefront of research. 

Read our press release here. Our press release has been covered by Becker’s Hospital Review, HIT Consultant, EHR Intelligence, and Health Data Management.


The Power of Partnership

Below is my monthly message for the February 2020 edition of the MHRI newsletter, Focus. You can view Focus online at MedStarResearch.org/FOCUS.


Dear Friends and Colleagues,


It’s Super Bowl Sunday - use your time to enjoy the game and enjoy those you are watching it with!

But first, just take a minute to mark your calendars for the 2020 MedStar Health—Georgetown University Research Symposium on Monday, April 6, 2020, at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center.


The agenda and ‘save the date’ are attached and you can see this all-day event showcases Advancing Health…through research, education and innovation across MedStar Health and Georgetown University. In fact, the Power of the Partnership between MedStar Health and Georgetown University will be showcased as Ken Samet, MedStar Health President and CEO, and Jack DeGioia, President of Georgetown University, kick off the main stage presentations in the late afternoon. Please plan on joining us and share the pride of advancing health across our academic health system.

Enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday and don’t forget to Save The Date for the 2020 MedStar Health—Georgetown University Research Symposium on April 6, 2020!


Neil

Read Focus at MedStarResearch.org/FOCUS.