Valdez awarded prestigious MASTERS MS Program Spot
Dr. Sherley Valdez, a program third year neurology resident, recently was awarded a spot in the prestigious 2007 Mentorship to Acquire Advanced Skills-Training Experts in Multiple Sclerosis (MASTERS MS) program.
The MASTERS MS program is an annual two-and-a-half day program hosted by the Discovery Institute of Medical Education (DIME) and funded by an educational grant from Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals. Each year DIME asks neurology program directors from accredited medical school programs to nominate exceptional fellows and senior residents in neurology who have expressed an interest in multiple sclerosis (MS). The program accepts only 30 participants chosen by DIME faculty members.
This highly competitive program gives participants the opportunity to interact with experts and thought leaders in the areas of diagnosis, treatment, and research in MS from around the country. Faculty members for the program are chosen by the following criteria: national recognition and expertise, publication record, board certification, recommendation by an expert, and date of last publication in the field.
“The program allowed me to interact with specialists and experts,” Valdez said. “The lectures and case presentations were excellent and gave me access to cutting-edge information in the field of MS.”
Valdez received her medical degree from the Ponce School of Medicine in Ponce, Puerto Rico. She then matched for her residency at Tulane University and was there for two months before she came to UT-Houston due to Hurricane Katrina. She spent the rest of her first year of residency here and transferred permanently to UT-Houston at the end of that year.
Valdez became interested in MS during her PGY 2 weekly clinic.
“I saw a variety of patients during that year,” she said. “I found MS to be an exciting field that is changing constantly, and I am strongly considering specializing in this field. I want to thank Dr. Mya Schiess, professor of neurology, for nominating me for the program. It was a very well-designed program and a great experience to be involved in, and I certainly learned a lot of new information about MS.”
-K. Mankiewicz
The UCSC Wants You as a New Recruit
The University Classified Staff Council (UCSC) needs motivated, hard working people to join as full members. We are recruiting employees to join the UCSC to fill vacancies in the Medical School, the School of Health Information Sciences, the Dental Branch and in General Administration. The UCSC bylaws require members to be a full time classified employee who has fulfilled the obligations of his/her probationary employment period.
If you would like to be a UCSC representative, or would like to nominate someone else, please contact Diane Brooks at 713.500.8457 or email at Diane.D.Brooks@uth.tmc.edu by the close of business Feb. 28. Separate elections will be held at the four schools during the week of March 3 through March 7, 2008.
Cadaver memorial service honors donors’ gift
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Mauve
It was hard, the first time to look into her eyes
My feelings were a mixture of fear, elation, and then even despair of my own demise
She seemed cold, wet and I wanted to cover her up
For in a way she looked so alive, staring at me, just looking up
I imagined her in days of splendor, going about to and fro
Now here she lay, we named her Mauve for her brightly colored purple toes
Now as time went on it seemed I forgot, as my partners and I complained…and complained about
All the extra work the white teams got
But I can never forget the person there lay…She was my first real, non-standardized patient
Whom I learned from most everyday
I believe her spirit was long gone, hopefully now looking down
Her body left behind, for she knew our work must go on.
-Stephen Paul Stampp
Paying homage to their first patients, the Class of 2011 held its Willed Body Donor Memorial Service Feb. 11 in the Fifth Floor Gallery.
“These donors made the ultimate investment in our education,” said class President Camden Tissue.
With musical contributions from class members Nicholas Bryant, Javier Figueroa, Jenny Minneman, Jessica Zwiener, Bernice Adu-Gyamfi, Yuan Xing, Alison Barrow, and Ashley Wenaas, the ceremony also included a poem from Stephen Stampp and remarks from Dr. Len Cleary, senior lecturer in Neurobiology and Anatomy, and Dr. Henry Strobel, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology.
“This is the start of an implied social contract – you will help and learn from your patients and better the patient and the community as a result,” Cleary said.
Strobel recounted parts of a letter written by a family member who donated his body to a Medical School. “He closed the letter with, ‘may our disembodied spirits meet someday on Canaan’s shore,’” he said.
-D. Brown
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