Lake Superior Medical Society honors Drs. Gessert and Parker
Two Essentia Health physicians were recently honored by the Lake Superior Medical Society.
Dr. Charles Gessert of the Essentia Institute of Rural Health received the group’s Arthur Aufderheide Scientific Award, given in recognition of outstanding scientific achievements.
Dr. Jay Parker, an allergist and immunologist at Essentia Health’s Duluth Clinic, received the Thomas A. Stolee Exceptional Dedication to the Practice of Medicine Award, which is given to a physician who has demonstrated a lifetime of exceptional dedication to the practice of medicine.
Duluth Clinic Foundation presents three excellence awards
The Duluth Clinic Foundation Board of Trustees recently honored two Essentia Health physicians and a pharmacist with awards. The awards recognize distinctive work that contributes to healthcare excellence in the region and exemplifies quality medical research and education.
Pharmacist Richard Mullvain received the Foundation’s 2011 Award of Excellence in Education for his teaching and work on the STEMI program. STEMI stands for ST elevation myocardial infarction and it’s highly-coordinated care provided to patients who suffer a heart attack.
Dr. Thomas Elliott and Dr. John Deutsch received the Foundation’s 2011 Award of Excellence in Research. Dr. Elliott, who is executive director of the Essentia Institute of Rural Health, was selected for his research and publication on patient-reported outcomes. Dr. Deutsch, a Duluth Clinic gastroenterologist, was selected for the publication of a reference book, “Gastrointestinal Endoscopy in Cancer Patients.”
“I think I got this award for building and leading research for more than 22 years at the Duluth Clinic, SMDC and now the Essentia Institute of Rural Health,” Dr. Elliott says. “I’ve had more than 135 scholarly works published in scientific, peer-reviewed journals. I’ve participated as a member and chair of a National Cancer Institute study section for six years. And I’ve won about $4 million in federal research grants as a principal investigator or co-investigator.”
Mullvain is a cardiovascular clinical pharmacist and the STEMI program manager. He’s also the chest pain center coordinator and a certified cardiovascular care coordinator.
“I’m truly surprised by this award and thank the Foundation,” Mullvain says. “While this is an honor and I’m very proud to be recognized for my efforts, there are so many other deserving mentors and educators among us who also affect patient care by teaching and inspiring us to make a difference in patients’ lives.”
Mullvain says he is privileged to work as an educator. “I truly enjoy teaching a wide variety of healthcare professionals how they can fit into our STEMI system of care. If my educational efforts here on campus and in the region have made a difference in patient care, then the effort is more than worth it,” he says.
Each award recipient received an award citation and a grant of $10,000 to be used for future research or education activities.
EIRH research featured in national journal
DULUTH, Minn. -- The Essentia Institute of Rural Health exists to support Essentia Health’s vision of becoming a national leader in rural healthcare services by 2018. Wondering how that’s working? Look no further than the November issue of Disease-a-Month, which features articles written by staff from EIRH and Essentia Health.
Don’t let the whimsical name fool you – Disease-a-Month is a highly respected journal. So it’s no small honor that the journal relied on EIRH to explore how delivering care in rural areas may differ from urban ones.
“The issues guest editors, Dr. Nawal Lutfiyya and Dr. Irina Haller, and their coauthors have done an excellent job of examining the impact of rurality on the health of individuals living in rural communities,” writes Dr. Martin Stephen Lipsky, a University of Illinois medical professor and member of Disease-a-Month’s editorial board.
Given Essentia’s focus on rural health, this month’s journal is highly recommended reading for physicians, nurses, psychologists and anyone else interested in the unique nature of rural healthcare delivery. Topic areas include:
- How living in rural areas affects everything from health risks to access to care
- The role primary care can play in helping rural Americans with mental health issues
- Addressing childhood obesity in rural areas
- A primer for cancer prevention among rural populations.
In keeping with its mission to support the work of Essentia Health physicians and staff, EIRH researchers worked closely with Essentia Health Primary Care Medical Director Joe Bianco, MD, and Primary Care Director Sharon Quinlan, MSN, MBA. In addition to Drs. Lutfiyya and Haller, researchers included Dr. Stephen Waring, Dr. Patricia Conway and the Institute's Executive Director Thomas Elliott, MD.
The group’s work won high praise from Essentia Health CEO Peter E. Person, MD. “The articles in this journal clearly demonstrate that ‘one size doesn’t fit all’ when It comes to health care,” says Dr. Person. “Being a national healthcare leader means finding the best ways to care for rural Americans, including our own patients. We’re doing that thanks to close collaboration between EIRH and Essentia Health.”
EIRH part of $18 million federal grant
DULUTH, Minn. -- The Essentia Institute of Rural Health exists to support Essentia Health’s goal of becoming a national healthcare leader, particularly in the area of rural medicine. The EIRH does this through research and clinical trials as well as medical education and continuing professional development (see bottom of article).
The EIRH is now part of an $18 million effort to create a new model that could revolutionize healthcare education in the U.S. Why is it revolutionary? To date, health sciences and medical education has been conducted in professional silos. Nurses study with nurses, physicians with physicians, etc. This new model will bring these professionals and others together so they can learn to perform their work as part of a team -- something that isn't currently taught in school.
The federal government awarded the grant to the University of Minnesota, which will be working closely with EIRH. The goal is to establish a National Coordination Center for Interprofessional Education and Collaboration. (That’s a fancy way of saying the center will develop new medical education models that focus on teamwork and collaboration.)
EIRH was chosen as a partner because of the Institute's and Essentia Health's experience working in medically underserved areas. Given an anticipated physician shortage, these are regions that could benefit most from a more collaborative approach to health care.
“We will develop a healthcare education model that brings together physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other clinicians so they can learn what it means to work as a team,” explains EIRH senior research scientist Dr. Nawal Lutfiyya, who also teaches at the U of M’s College of Pharmacy in Duluth. “This is a fairly new concept, but it’s an important one, given the changes happening in health care today,”
Dr. Lutfiyya will work closely with Essentia Health physicians, nurses, pharmacists and others to develop hands-on educational programs that will be studied by Dr. Lutfiyya and other research scientists.
Essentia Health is already taking a team approach to patient care, particularly with primary care patients who live with chronic diseases. EIRH can help Essentia take that even further by creating education programs that prepare tomorrow’s medical professionals for this new practice environment.
“At EIRH, it’s our job to support the work of our Essentia physicians, nurses and care teams,” says Dr. Lutfiyya. “Together, EIRH and the University of Minnesota can design a medical education model that will benefit patients at Essentia and across the nation.”
EIRH and education
If you associate the EIRH primarily with clinical trials and research, it's time to think again.
Each year nearly 12,000 physicians and other medical clinicians participate in a variety of CME/Continuing Professional Development through EIRH.
EIRH also offers clinical education and experience for more than 1,500 health sciences students, from future physicians and nurses to pharmacists, physical therapists and more.
For more information, visit www.essentiainstitute.org.