SONONEWS SPRING 2013 ALVIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE DCVS INSIDE THIS ISSUE Accreditation Update/Site Visit ACCREDITATION UPDATE 1 GRADUATES 1 STUDENT SPOTLIGHT 2 STUDENT EVENTS 2 DCVS IN THE NEWS 3 FACULTY UPDATES 4 AWARDS 4 LECTURE SERIES 5 IN MEMORIAM 5 nd Our reaccreditation site visit was April 22 rd and 23 of 2013. The reaccreditation was for Vascular and Adult Echocardiography, as well as the initial accreditation for Pediatric Echocardiography. Once our Pedi program is accredited, we will be the first Pediatric Echocardiography program accredited by JRCDMS!! Presenting the ACC DCVS GRADUATING CLASS OF 2013 CONGRATULATIONS! SONONEWS SPRING 2013 Student Spotlight – Tim Wong Dr. Edward T.H. Yeh, left, is the leader of a research team that has figured out why a common chemotherapy drug (doxorubicin) can do serious, irreversible damage to a patient's heart tissue. In the photo Dr. Yeh uses an Echo Ultrasound machine on Alvin Community College Intern Tim Wong to see if his heart is healthy. Because of the danger of chemotherapy to the heart, the patient has an ultrasound done before the first chemotherapy session and is checked again after a few chemotherapy sessions. Tim Wong was not sick - he was just used as a model for the photograph. Sophomore Echo student, Tim Wong, pictured left, recently had an opportunity to assist a research team studying the cardiotoxicity of the chemotherapy drug, “doxorubicin.” The team includes researchers from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Houston. Some of the most common forms of cancer are often treated with a drug that can cause heart failure. Some patients make it through chemotherapy, only to discover that the drug that eradicated their cancer has done irreversible damage to their heart tissue. But these Houston researchers have made a discovery that could help patients avoid that damage – and their findings may lead to new and safer drugs. “Doxorubicin is used to treat many types of cancer, and has been used for 50 years,” said Edward T.H. Yeh, Chairman of the Cardiology department at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and a McNair Scholar at the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital. “A lot of cancers still rely on this drug because it’s very effective,” he said, “but it causes heart problems.” Dr. Yeh’s team has developed testing to identify which patients are sensitive or resistant to doxorubicin and who should be prescribed different medications and strategies. We currently have 41 students doing clinical rotations! The sophomores are completing their check-offs at the clinical sites and the freshmen are getting some scanning experience. In addition, the students have been busy working at health fairs and other community events. At left, sophomore vascular student, Khanh Nguyen demonstrates Doppler to a young student. Above, Jessica Murphy shows a young student how to scan, at the ACC Open House Above, freshmen echo students Donna Ly and Nicole Pham, along with sophomore vascular student, Rebecca Fernandez, demonstrate the phantom arm at the Alvin High School Career Fair. Alvin Community College | 3110 Mustang Rd. Alvin, TX 77511 | phone 281.756.5625 | fax 281.756.5606 2 SONONEWS SPRING 2013 ACC DCVS in the News! Each February our students offer heart scans to the public for Valentine’s Day. The annual event helps the students raise money for scholarships and lab supplies. It also increases awareness that February is Heart Health month. This year, Houston’s Channel 39 featured the event on their news network. The heart scans are a simple capture of the person’s heart. The pictures can be personalized with a message and are available for as little as $2 each. At left, echo sophomores Zac Gruetzner and Ashley Elsner scan a patient while Channel 39’s photojournalist, Joey, films the action. This segment, “Heart Scans”, aired Feb. 12th. It may also be viewed at newsfixnow.com At right, sophomore echo students Aubrey Bristol and Ashley Elsner scan a Dawson High School athlete. Dawson High School Health Fair Students Attend Houston Aortic Symposium We would like to express our gratitude to Program Directors, Hazim J. Safi, MD, and David D. McPherson, MD, both of University of Texas Medical School at Houston and Memorial Hermann Heart and Vascular Institute, along with Laurel Steigerwald of Promedica International. Because of their generosity, 22 DCVS students were granted complimentary admission to “The Houston Aortic Symposium: Frontiers in Cardiovascular Diseases, the Sixth in the Series” in March. The students were privileged to learn about many topics, including etiology, pathology, imaging, genetics, diagnosis, evaluation, management, surgery, medicine and endovascular techniques. After the recent sudden cardiac death of Pearland football player Folabi Akanbi last week, Alvin Community College DCVS instructors have been striving to get student athletes screened for heart issues. This was a tragic loss of life that may have been prevented. With the direction and guidance of Shannon Trahan and Kathryn Dougherty at St. Luke’s Hospital, in conjunction with Chris Shaddock, the head trainer at Dawson High School, the instructors at Alvin College helped organize cardiac screening for the athletes at Dawson High School. These screenings included blood pressure, pulse oximetry, BMI, glucose, echocardiograms, cholesterol, and EKGs. The athletic health fair successfully screened 356 students. Many ACC students volunteered their time to help at the event. Alvin Community College | 3110 Mustang Rd. Alvin, TX 77511 | phone 281.756.5625 | fax 281.756.5606 3 SONONEWS SPRING 2013 Faculty Update Lynne Bruner, our Clinical Director for the past 5 years, recently resigned due to health reasons. Although we hate to see her go and will miss her terribly, we are so grateful to have found an excellent and highly qualified individual to take her place. We would like to welcome Sue Poston, AAS, RDCS (AE, PE), RVS, FASE, as our new Clinical Director and lead faculty for the Pediatric Echocardiography program. Dina DuBose, clinical faculty and Health Fair Coordinator, has been promoted to Clinical Coordinator. She will work directly with Sue to supervise and coordinate clinical instruction and supervision. We would like to make this a full-time position as soon as possible, due to the increased number of students in clinical rotations and additional clinical sites. 1st Pediatric Echo Graduates! Front, left to right, Bailey Farmer, Hayley Cates, and Veronica Pohl Back, Lynne Bruner, Heather Williams, Ana Arreola and Sue Poston And the Award Goes to…. Best Clinical Site Echo……………..UTMD Anderson Pedi Echo……….TCH, Med Center Vascular…………Methodist Preceptor of the Year Echo preceptor ………………….Adil Khan, RCS Pedi echo preceptor…………….Kassie Barron, RDCS (AE,PE) Vascular preceptor ……………..Fausto Esquivel, RVT AAS Echo Skills Award ……………………………………...Ashley Elsner AAS Pedi Echo Skills Award ………………………………..Ana Arreola AAS Vascular Skills Award ………………………………….Lauren Wilchynski ATC Echo Skills Award ……………………………………..Tim Wong ATC Vascular Skills Award ………………………………….Monica Ritter ATC Echo Academic Achievement Award ………………..Abby Buerkett ATC Vascular Academic Achievement Award ……………Carlos Martinez AAS Echo Academic Achievement Award ………………...Zachary Gruetzner AAS Pedi Echo Academic Achievement Award…………...Heather Williams AAS Vascular Academic Achievement Award …………….Khanh Nguyen Alvin Community College | 3110 Mustang Rd. Alvin, TX 77511 | phone 281.756.5625 | fax 281.756.5606 4 SONONEWS Lectures “Thanks” to all who presented lectures for our students and faculty this semester! SPRING 2013 In Memoriam February Lynne Bruner…….Pedi echo “Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return” GE Healthcare…………………………………“A Case for Contrast” & dinner March Medical Director, Dr.Kee…………... “TEE In-service” Medical Director, Dr.Tung……………………………..“RV Assessment” Hamilton Vein Center………………………. “Vascular Meeting” & dinner April Jennie Zarasvand………………………….”Ebstein’s Anomaly” Connie Mosier, RRT, RDCS, RVT By Jessica Murphy "People with goals succeed because they know where they are going... It's as simple as that." Earl Nightingale Alvin Community College DCVS Program 3110 Mustang Rd. Alvin, TX 77511 281.756.5625 It is with great sadness and a heavy heart to tell you that Connie Mosier, former DCVS Clinical Director, passed away on Saturday, Feb. 23rd, 2013. Connie and I go way back. I met Connie on the first day of respiratory school here at ACC in August of 1986. I was only 18. She was older than I, but we quickly became friends. We rode to clinical together, studied together, graduated together in 1988, and passed our boards together. Connie went on to work in Homecare but then later came back to ACC to attend the DCVS program and learn Echocardiography and Vascular Sonography. She graduated with degrees in both Echo and Vascular. She went on to become the manager and lead sonographer at Sweeny Hospital and then she came to work for me as our Clinical Director several years later. Not too many people knew how smart Connie was. She did not flaunt it or wave it in your face, but I never knew anyone as smart as Connie. We often competed for the best grades and she won just about every time. When she applied for the job here at ACC, it was a no-brainer. I knew how smart she was and how she always put her patients first so it was an easy decision to hire her. The students all loved her and benefitted greatly from her experience. We miss her smiling face and infectious laugh! Please keep Connie’s family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. Alvin Community College ranked in the TOP 10% of community colleges in the United States! 2 nd Year in a row! -The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program