COLLEGIUM DIGITAL NEWSLETTER

            April 2010

The 2010 Spring meeting was an inspiring and educational experience.  Sister Julie B. Beck and Elder Richard G. Hinckley both spoke at the evening dinner fireside (see articles below).  There were also excellent medical presentations on Friday.  All that attended were enriched.  The event was held at the Salt Palace Convention center this year.  Many attendees commented on this location as a preferred site in the future.  The food was excellent; the facility had great rooms and sound.  The staff was professional and responsive.  Best of all, the Salt Palace is in downtown Salt Lake City allowing access to all Church locations, shopping and a variety of restaurants and hotels.  Although, the Joseph Smith building would be the best choice, it already has a long standing agreement in place for the week of conference that takes up the entire capacity.  We are grateful to:

Sister Julie B. Beck – Fireside Guest Speaker

Elder Richard G. Hinckley – Fireside Guest Speaker

Brother Fred Riley – Church Humanitarian Service

Dr. Angela Robb – UK Missionary Care

Dr. Jane MacPherson – Palliative and End of Life Care

John Ostrum - Communication

Dr. Sam Brown - Ethics

Professor Richard Draper  - New Testament translations

Dr. Russ Osguthorpe – Infectious Disease

Dr. Joseph Stanford – Women’s Health

Dr. George Nikopoulos - Psychiatry

Dr. Lee Smith – Chronic Pain and Fibromyalgia

Dr. Jeff Anderson – Cardiology

Elder Richard G. Hinckley is the Executive Director of the Missionary Department.  He was called to serve as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy on April 2, 2005. 

Elder Hinckley attended the Spring Meeting fireside to discuss the Missionary Department of the Church.  He told the story of a time his father, Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley, was being interviewed by a well known national media person.  The individual asked Pres. Hinckley how the church could get very successful, wealthy, important individuals to volunteer to provide so much service (including missions) to the church.  Pres. Hinckley responded with that loving twinkle in his eye with, “We ask them”.  

Elder Hinckley continued by asking those in attendance to begin planning their lives in order to be ready when they are asked to serve. “Your talents and skills are necessary and needed for a healthy and effective missionary program”.  Below is the text he sent us that he used for his talk at the fireside. (Brackets added by Collegium based on notes from the fireside)

OVERVIEW OF MISSIONARY DEPARTMENT HEALTH SERVICES

Healthy missionaries are essential to the task of proselyting the Gospel to all nations of the world.  Sick or injured missionaries who can’t work also drag down their companion, other missionaries, and mission president.

Missionary Department Health Services was organized in 1987 as the Missionary Medical Advisory Committee for the purpose of advising priesthood leaders in developing policy and procedure for maintaining missionary health and safety.

Original Missionary Medical Advisory Committee:

Quinton S. Harris MD (Chairman)

Cecil O. Samuelson, M.D.

Homer S. Ellsworth, M.D.

Devon C. Hale, M.D.

Bruce H. Woolley, Pharm D

The Missionary Medical Advisory Committee was originally established to improve health conditions for missionaries serving in underdeveloped countries internationally.  In 1987 about 30% of missionaries were sick in bed and unable to work in the test country (Chile). 

It has now expanded to all Areas of the Church.  Today,  less than 2% of missionaries are sick on a given day world-wide. 

As more advisory committees were added representing other health professions including mental health and dental, the name was changed to Missionary Department Health Services to reflect the more inclusive nature of the organization.

At present, there are about 90 health care professionals serving full-time missions.  There are 40 medical doctors serving as Area Medical Advisers [AMA] for the areas of the church (sometimes more than one).  About an equal number of registered nurses serve the missionary health needs for 40 missions.  There are 10 mental health counselors or MD psychiatrists usually serving large areas. [For the first time ever (maybe due to the economy), there are currently 3-4 AMA positions that still need to be filled]

There are about 125 health care professionals providing volunteer services at Missionary Department in Salt Lake City on various committees, screening missionary recommendation applications, or providing consultation over the telephone.

An additional 50 medical doctors are serving as part-time church service missionaries or as volunteers as mission doctors while living at home.

Missionary Department Health Services serve ~52,000 missionaries in 342 missions world-wide. [~3,500 being senior missionaries]. 68,850 missionary contacts for health reasons were made by the 40 Area Medical Advisers during year 2009 as measured by notes recorded in eMED, the missionary health record.  These contacts resolved 80-90% of missionary health issues without need to refer for other professional care.  The cost saving to the church can’t be calculated but must be enormous and would probably be in the tens of millions of dollars.  Mental health counselors served 4000+ missionaries in 2009 or 8% of the missionaries.  Of missionaries with mental health issues receiving counseling and receive an average of 4 telephone sessions, 89 percent remained in-the-field.

There is immediate and continuing need for health professionals to join others serving in Missionary Department Health Services.  Recently retired doctors, nurses, and mental health counselors are encouraged to contact Donald B. Doty, M.D., Chairman, Missionary Department Health Services, at 801-718-6323.

Sister Julie Beck the General Relief Society President spoke at the Spring Meeting Dinner Fireside.  She has been the general president March 2007.

Born in Granger, Utah, she grew up in Utah and São Paulo, Brazil, where her father served as a mission president for five years.  In October 2002, she was called to be the First Counselor to Susan W. Tanner in the Young Women general presidency. She served in this capacity until her call in 2007 as the general president of the Relief Society, succeeding Bonnie D. Parkin. She is the fifteenth general president of the Relief Society since it was organized in 1842.

Sister Beck spoke about the importance of personal revelation and used personal examples growing up in the mission field.

Her father, William Grant Bangerter, was called to be a mission president in Brazil when she was young.  When her family arrived in Brazil, many missionaries were quite ill with differing severities of hepatitis.   This affected the missionary work with some in quarantine and others that suffered at a lesser degree. 

            Sister Beck’s mother was a nurse and for many reasons, it concerned her that the missionaries were sick.  She began searching for causes and treatments for hepatitis.  She went to the local libraries to read about it.  However, this was difficult as the books were in Portuguese.  This did not stop her.  She continued by speaking with everyone she could and praying for guidance.  Finally, one day her mother called home to the states (low quality connections, was difficult, and expensive) and spoke with a relatives about the problem.  As the conversation came to a close, the relative mentioned that a medical journal had noted that recent research had shown that gamma globulin had temporary immunization to hepatitis.  Her mother said “thank you”, hung up the phone and immediately began acquiring gamma globulin from local pharmacies and hospitals. 

            Not knowing what time frame was considered “temporary”, she decided to give the missionaries gamma globulin (better known by missionaries as peanut butter shots) every three months.  By the time the Bangerters completed their missionary service in Brazil, only one missionary had signs of hepatitis and it was a minor case.

            Sister Becks mother also assisted South America missions training the missions on “peanut butter” shots and helped solve a “typhoid” situation in Chile. 

This success was not coincidence, but was due to her faith in the Lord, diligence and attention to personal revelation.

STUDENTS:

Bro. N. Bishop (Univ. of Colorado - Denver, CO)

Bro. J. Frederick (Ross University - Dominica)  

Bro. W. Prince (Ross University - Dominica)

Bro. A. Erdmann (Durham, NC)

Bro.  B. Mason (University of Vermont – Essex, VT)

RESIDENTS:

Dr. M. Brady (Memorial Hosp. Of South Bend, IN)

Dr. J. Gonda (Univ. of New Mexico, NM)

Dr. M. Prall (Univ. of Vermont – Burlington, VT)

Dr. B. Stringham (Kirksville, MO)

PRACTICING:

Dr. T. Blake (Spokane, WA)

Dr. P. Huber (Spokane, WA)

Dr. B. Dunn (Boerne, TX)

Dr. J. Johnson (Sparks, NV)

Dr. C. Jones (Murray, UT)

Dr. R. Low (Lethbridge, AB Canada)

Dr. R. Merrell (Tremonton, UT)

Dr. T. Roisum (Hannibal, MO)

Dr. R. Sharp (Leawood, KS)

Dr. P. Clark (Orem, UT)

Three new opportunities to highlight in this newsletter.

First, the USS Mercy and USS Comfort which are hospital ships that travel throughout the Pacific and Caribbean during alternating summers.   

Second is an organization named Health Education and Relief Through Teaching (HEARTT) Every effort helps. Thank you to every partner, person, and volunteer that has contributed to the success of the program. The program is growing and is recognized for it's work and dedication in Liberia. Go to

www.tlcafrica.com/news_non_profit_volunteer_medical_group_HEARTT.htm to read an article.

 Thank you,  HEARTT staff

Please contact Susan Puls for more information about either of these opportunities. PulsSu@ldschurch.org

Third, International Aid Serving Kids is an organization that helps travels to Haiti and the Dominican Republic to help children with medical needs.  More information can be found at www.liftalife.org.

An upcoming edition will include the “Specialty Pearls” section.  If you have a “Pearl” of information about what is new in your specialty or medicine in general, please send it to newsletter@collegiumaesculapium.org and we will include it in an upcoming newsletter.

Israel 2010

The spring tour to Israel is getting close and there are still 10 spaces available.  We will be leaving on April 24 and returning May 5. A 4 DVD set from Truman G. Madsen entitled “The Eternal Christ” was just released about the Holy Land.  It has received great reviews.

Executive Committee:                Board:

Dr. Johnnie Cook                      Dr. Gerald Ford

Dr. Bruce Woolley                    Dr. Val Hemming

Dr. Susan Puls                          Dr. Scott Soulier

Dr. Marv Orrock                       Dr. David Prier

Dr. Jim Pingree                         Dr. Carolyn Monahan

Dr. Larry Noble                        Dr. Jean Carnes

Dr. Ed Heyes (President)          Dr. Tony Temple

Dr. Tony Middleton (Pres. Elct)Dr. Dean Bristow

Dr. George Snell

Dr. Matthew Weeks

Dr. Don Doty

Dr. David Anderson

Dr. John C. Nelson

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