Collegium Newsletters

COLLEGIUM DIGITAL NEWSLETTER

June 2009

A monthly publication to inform, connect and inspire the LDS Medical Professional Community

This Issue:

- ACCME Status Update

- Collegium Aesculapium Humanitarian Scholarship

- Generosity = Secret to Success

- Humanitarian Organization Spotlight

The newsletter contains news, information, member profiles and interesting articles. Send member spotlight/profiles and news submissions to newsletter@collegiumaesculapium.org

PLEASE PAY YOUR DUES - WEBSITE REMINDER

There are regular news updates and you can pay your membership dues, check your status and profile on the Collegium Aesculapium website

2009 JOURNAL

The 2009 Journal of Collegium Aesculapium is nearing print. It will be mailed to all membership accounts that are paid in full and current.

ACCME Accreditation Status

Collegium Aesculapium has been working towards receiving accreditation to provide CME credits as an organization. This accreditation is received through the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education [ACCME].

Up until now, all CME credits received at Collegium Aesculapium events have been provided by a joint sponsor who has ACCME accreditation.

The process to gain accreditation is long and expensive.

In December 2008, Collegium Aesculapium sent representatives to Chicago to receive training and begin the process of obtaining accreditation. At the end of December, the Pre-application was submitted and in late April, the pre-application was accepted.

The next steps include a thorough Self Study Report, Interviews and a Performance in Practice review. The Self Report was submitted in early June 2009 in order to meet the ACCME deadline. A final decision will be received in March 2009.

HUMANITARIAN SCHOLARSHIP

by Matt Sampson

2009 Scholarship recipient

I would like to share the medical mission experience I had in March 2009 in Honduras funded through the Collegium Aesculapium humanitarian scholarship program.

When I arrived in the town of Guymaca I experienced the heart-warming greetings of the local Hondurans and went right to work. I stayed at the Baptist Hospital the first day and ran a clinic. I was able to help with a radial fracture on a boy that fell off his bike. There were plenty of children with asthma and reactive airways due to the constant burning of the mountainside and subsequent smoke inhalation. I took call every night being the only Spanish speaking doctor. A lady with a panic attack, conversion disorder and pseudo seizures came in one evening.

I participated in a series of 3-4 hour trip brigades up into the mountains. These places had not seen a doctor in years. I was amazed at the health concerns there namely; scabes and malnutrition along with other common diseases. I saw a man with neurofibromatosis. He had lesions all over his face and trunk with facial nerve palsy and no function of his left face. I saw children begging for toothbrushes and vitamins. One of the largest scale impacts we had on these villages was to provide mebendazole to those suffering from GI parasites.

Other on call experiences were delivering a baby, stabilizing a man posturing from a motorcycle accident (with no helmet), surgically removing a bullet from a man’s neck, receiving an unresponsive man and coding him for a while and ruling out myocardial infarction.

I had a great time with the people and I know I made an impact on those I treated. I also believe I had an impact on the Baptist missionary that runs the hospital. He was skeptical about having an LDS doctor come and work there because he normally only allows Baptist missionaries and doctors. He watched me and took note of my Christian values. I have planted a seed and I know that I would be welcomed with open arms for my next trip to the venue.

GENEROSITY: THE SECRET TO SUCCESS

Recently, I watched an online broadcast of a February 24 devotional talk that was given at BYU. It was presented by Dr. Arthur Brooks Ph.D. He is the President of “The American Enterprise Institute” and author of the books “Who Really Cares” which is about who gives charity and why it matters and “Gross National Happiness” about what makes people happy.

The talk he gave at BYU is entitled “Why Giving Matters”. This talk is available on the BYU website http://www.byub.org/talks/Talk.aspx?id=2998. It will be rebroadcast on BYU television at 4am on June 20. I understand that it will also be printed in a BYU magazine soon.

I found the talk very entertaining and interesting. Therefore, I thought I would give a brief summary of it here.

From his research Dr. Brooks concludes that people that are happy are more productive and productive people are more successful.

People that give are statistically happier. Therefore, his secret to success is giving as it leads to productivity and success.

Dr. Brooks did not start out believing this. In fact, he believed the opposite. As an educated economist, he originally set out to prove that one must have plenty of money before they should donate to charity. In order to prove this, he collected and analyzed data from all of the country and he found out that his hypothesis was wrong.

He learned that it does not matter the amount of money that you have but that giving is what matters – no matter what financial situation you are in.

Dr. Brooks found that there is a direct correlation to giving (monetary donations, time, and blood for example) and happiness. People that give are at least 43% more likely to say they are happy than those that don’t.

Some of the data he presents is that statistics show that Utahans are some of the happiest people in the country. In comparing states, Utah is the most charitable and citizens give more than double to charity than the second most giving state.

Furthermore, his research proves that giving benefits the giver by making them happier and more successful. Therefore his recommendation and encouragement is to help others be more giving as it will benefit them and improve their lives. In turn, it will improve our societies, states, countries, etc.

I hope that you can find some time to watch or listen to this talk online. I only briefly touched on his research, data and findings.

HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATION SPOTLIGHT:

DESERET INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION

Since 1989, the Deseret International Foundation, a volunteer based non-profit, has cultivated partnerships with local doctors in an effort to establish permanent and sustainable healthcare in developing countries. They empower and elevate local medical communities to reach out to people in need. Their role is to establish a permanent Deseret program and to assist them with the items they need: supplies, equipment, facilities, and screening and campaign infrastructure; this may also include technical training. As a result, partners continue in ongoing outreach programs of their own. The model of delivery is extremely efficient – every $1 donation produces over $100 in medical services to those in need.