News of the Week

College of Medicine in the News

May 21, 2020

In case you missed them, here are some recent news items about the College of Medicine.
 

  • COVID-19 headlines:
     
    • Associate Professor Christie Alexander has made regular appearances on WCTV since March to answer viewers’ coronavirus questions.

WCTV: Christie Alexander answers more coronavirus questions (May 15)
 

Click here to see all of her interviews

 

    • As Florida relaxes restrictions meant to keep people at home, Alexander and other doctors across the state warn against heading back to work or shopping right away. “The big message is to please, please, please, continue to stay home,” Alexander told WJCT-Jacksonville in early May.

WJCT: Head of Florida Academy of Family Physicians: Stay home if possible; Wear a mask outside

 

 

    • Comments from Les Beitsch, chair of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, have been included in a number of recent news articles discussing access to tests and the state of Florida’s COVID-19 response.


Tampa Bay Times: Undetected: Lack of access to testing among minorities keeps virus alive
 

South Florida Sun Sentinel: Data is the key to Florida’s reopening. Here’s a guide to the coronavirus statistics that matter most

Tampa Bay Times: Florida began reopening Monday. Is the plan safe?

 

Florida Keys News: How safe is Florida’s reopening plan? Public health experts give a candid critique
 

 

    • Second-year med students Gabby Cintron and Vinita Akula created the website "Kindness Amid the Coronavirus" dedicated to tracking stories of kindness from around the globe. They spoke to WCTV in late April about their project.

      WCTV: FSU students create map of kindness to spread positivity during pandemic


       
    • Medical and nursing students in Florida are unable to complete work in clinical settings due to the coronavirus pandemic. “There really is nothing that can replace the real contact with a real patient,” College of Medicine Dean John P. Fogarty told the Daytona Beach News-Journal. “Quite frankly, reading a book and going through a case just doesn’t have the imprint on your psyche.”

      Daytona Beach News-Journal: Coronavirus keeps future nurses, doctors away from clinical rotations


       
    • An April 23 article from WFSU discusses the difficulties many face when grappling with the realities of the coronavirus pandemic. Fogarty commented on international resources and the potential reopening of the economy.

WFSU: Searching for "the real" in the age of coronavirus


 

    • Instead of student projects, the printers at FSU's Innovation Hub are cranking out face shields that are being donated to local medical facilities. Emily Pritchard, a research faculty member with the College of Medicine, is one of the project's organizers.

FSU News: FSU Innovation Hub builds face shields to protect local health care workers in COVID-19 fight

 

Tallahassee Democrat: Innovation Hub at FSU producing face shields to help fill void in supplies


 

    • Florida State University education experts are offering resources to help parents who are home with children during stay-at-home orders. An activity book developed by the Center for Child Stress and Health, a part of the College of Medicine’s Immokalee Health Education Site, educates children about COVID-19.


FSU News: While young students draw on FSU’s coloring book, parents can draw on FSU’s experts during COVID-19 pandemic


 


 

Yahoo! Sports: True calling for Myron Rolle revealed itself to everyone in coronavirus pandemic


 

    • Florida State University’s Office of Research will allocate over $400,000 to fund 26 interdisciplinary projects that address questions related to COVID-19. The effort includes three projects in the Department of Biomedical Sciences.

FSU News: Office of Research will allocate more than $400K toward COVID-19 projects

 

    • Sarasota Memorial Hospital is one of a handful of hospitals in the country doing clinical trials to help find a cure for COVID-19. Residents from the FSU College of Medicine Internal Medicine Residency Program at SMH will collaborate with the clinical research team to help gather data to conduct research.


WFTS: Sarasota Memorial Hospital joins two national clinical trials for COVID-19 treatment


 

    • College of Medicine alumni Will Stross (M.D. ’16) and Staci Biegner (M.D. ’17) tied the knot in a simple, social distancing, backyard wedding ceremony at their home in Jacksonville on April 18. Family, friends and other well-wishers held a car parade in their honor.

      Jacksonville.com: Jacksonville doctors wed in backyard ceremony amid virus precautions


       
    • As parents and their children grapple with the changes brought on by COVID-19, Ludmila De faria, a psychiatrist and College of Medicine clerkship faculty member, comments on helping children and teens who may be missing out on big milestones due to stay-at-home orders.

The Week: This week’s best parenting advice (April 21, 2020)

 

NPR: With senior year in disarray, teens and young adults feel lost

 

  • Other headlines:
     
    • FSU Information Technology Services spotlighted the College of Medicine’s ultrasound technology.

      STF Spotlight: Ultrasound technology


       
    • For Matthew Khayata (M.D. ’17) a lifelong interest in working with infants, toddlers, and adolescents, combined with the complex, problem-solving nature of neurology led him to pursue a residency in child neurology at Duke. He talks about his responsibilities as a neurology resident, impacts of COVID-19 and what he misses most about Florida.

      Duke.edu: Resident spotlight: Matthew Khayata, MD