Talk about a busy fall and winter—and it’s not as if spring is letting up any time soon. Whether the issue relates to clinical, academic or research matters, faculty and staff in the UA Department of Medicine continue to go above and beyond.
 
Our ability to bring in kudos both individually and as a group was underscored by the "Accolades & Research” portion of our March 20 General Faculty Meeting slide show—you can see at this link. I’m proud we’ve pushed our Blue Ridge NIH Award Rankings that I mention in a post-event article below on January’s 2nd Annual DOM P.I. Research Poster Night from 56th to 39th in just three years. Congratulations to you all.
 
Our two latest big awards are a 5-year, NHLBI/NIH grant for $11.6 million to Dr. Steve Black for the study, “Genetics, Epigenetics, and Post-translational Modifications and the Development of Ventilator-Induced Lung Injury (VILI)” and a 5-year, NIDDK/NIH grant for $3.4 million to Dr. Larry Mandarino for the study, “Molecular Regulation of Muscle Glucose Metabolism.” Look for more to come.
 
We also enjoyed an excellent fellows match in January and great results from the residency Match Day earlier this month for graduating med students, both of which you can read about in this newsletter.
 
Dr. Amy Sussman, our vice chair for education and clerkship director, said: “Internal Medicine had an awesome match with our students this year. They matched at Yale, UCSF, Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, University of Colorado, and OHSU to name a few! Plus, we were able to hang on to some of the talent here in our own residency.
 
“From a clerkship perspective, this is a class I will remember forever. They were brilliant, compassionate, and a lot of fun to mentor!” she added.
 
We started the year with the Banner – University Medicine North opening and the move of most departmental outpatient clinic operations there by mid-January—an incredible effort by virtually everyone on staff. Now, in March and April, Banner – University Medical Center is hosting guided public tours of the new nine-story hospital tower that will open on main campus next spring. And you can expect move-ins for those taking over renovated office space on former clinic space on 6OPC and 7OPC in May.
 
Beyond that, the two biggest clinical kudos of the quarter are Banner – UMC South’s being named among the IBM Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals® and winner of an Everest Award and the “Institutes of Excellence™” designation by Aetna of Banner – UMC Tucson for lung transplants.
 
Again, look for more to come.

• Get a CatCard or Your CatCard Checked for 6OPC/7OPC Office Space Entry — if you missed UAHS campus events (March 19-22) for this, you’ll have to go to the UA Student Union Memorial Center to get a CatCard or make sure yours works to ensure access to office space after hours, on weekends or during holiday closures. Look for info on securing a PIN to link to your CatCard—which you also must have to get in—here, too.
• UITS to Require 2-Step Authentication on WebAuth Apps by April for All UA Faculty, Staff and DCCs — the how and why of this measure, which pushes a secondary authorization to a mobile device, are explained. Don’t miss the “remember this device for 30 days” tip at the bottom to save yourself time.
• UA/Banner Physicians First to Navigate New Cerner Mobile App — this tells you how to sign up for the app (if you haven’t already) and gives an overview of beneficial sub-apps and an introduction to the Academic Technical Advisory Group (ATAG) and DOM members.
• Extra Step Required to Push Your ‘Find-a-Provider’ Profile to Public View — these BannerHealth.com tips actually came out in mid-October with a link at the bottom to more on how to optimize your profile to generate patient inquiries.
• See Updated Contact Info for Department of Medicine Support Staff — ‘nough said.

Monica Kraft, MD
Robert & Irene Flinn Professor of Medicine
Chair, Department of Medicine
University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson