Are you up-to-date? Penn State Health colorectal screening survey gains national attention
Bobbie Mann of Lebanon, Pa., right, has been getting an annual colonoscopy from Dr. Thomas McGarrity since 2008.
By Carolyn Kimmel
Life could look a lot different for Mike Hamonko than it does, thanks to a screening colonoscopy that many people turning 50—the recommended age for average-risk screening—dread and often postpone.
Lucky for him, the Harrisburg-area resident didn’t attach any particular aversion to the procedure—or the colon-cleansing process the night before—so he scheduled it right away.
“The prep was annoying, but annoying isn’t that bad, considering they can catch something as bad as cancer,” said Hamonko, whose primary care physician recommended the screening test.
He awoke from the procedure to the surprising news that he had a precancerous tumor.
“Mike’s case shows the importance of the family doctor making the screening recommendation and the patient following up,” said Dr. Thomas McGarrity, gastroenterologist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. “Mike had no symptoms and no family history of colon cancer.” (more…)
Lifesaving help from across the globe
Jim Miller, center, toasts his donor, Stefan Eichert, right, with John Moore, left, the businessman who invited Miller to accompany him on a trip to Germany.
By Carolyn Kimmel
Sometimes the worst things in life can turn up gifts that far outlast the trial. That’s what Jim Miller tells people.
The Red Lion man was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome—a pre-leukemic syndrome—in October 2012 and given the choice of a stem cell transplant or other treatment alternatives that may have resulted in about two more years of life. He chose the transplant.
Although the wait for a match lasted a year—during which time chemotherapy and 27 blood transfusions achieved partial control of the disease—Miller never expected his donor would hail from across the globe.
February 27, 2019 at 2:30 pm pennstatemedicine Leave a comment
Project ECHO prepares doctors to manage addiction care closer to home
Physicians from across Pennsylvania discuss best practices for treating opioid use disorder during the first Project ECHO session at Penn State College of Medicine.
By Katherine Brind’Amour
For patients suffering from opioid use disorder, and for the physicians in small towns across Pennsylvania who are their first level of care, Project ECHO offers hope. The effort aims to give primary care physicians the tools they need to treat the growing group of Pennsylvanians addicted to opioids—many of whom live in regions with no specialized addiction resources. It’s a win-win: patients get a doctor who can treat them close to home, and physicians get to expand their knowledge, their professional network and their relationship with their patients.
The concept comes from a physician at the University of New Mexico who wanted to shorten the wait list at his gastroenterology clinic. Now, more than 220 institutions around the world use Project ECHO for at least 90 disease topics. And Penn State Health researchers hope to influence them all.
“Research evaluating the project hasn’t kept pace with growth of the movement clinically,” says Dr. Jennifer Kraschnewski, director of Project ECHO at Penn State College of Medicine and a Penn State Health primary care clinician-investigator who studies community health interventions. “It is our goal to create an evidence base to support the model and its ability to mentor primary care providers outside of urban academic hubs. We also aim to learn how to best grow and use Project ECHO as an intervention.”
February 20, 2019 at 10:00 am pennstatemedicine Leave a comment
Patients find this prescription for therapy is music to their ears
Marissa Aulenbach, right, a board-certified music therapist at Penn State Children’s Hospital, plays her guitar while registered nurse Lauren Libhart tends to 4-month-old Caden Hoover during his stay for a heart condition.
By Carolyn Kimmel
After 12 days in the hospital, Hershey resident Anita Heckert could tell her optimism was waning, so when her occupational therapist suggested music therapy, she was game.
“To have someone come and spend time with me that didn’t involve needles, drawing blood or an MRI was very appealing,” said Heckert who was in Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center for complications due to colon cancer.
As Jan Stouffer, board-certified music therapist with the Music Therapy Program at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, quietly played guitar, she gave Heckert an ocean drum to play.
Hundreds of small ball bearings in the drum combined to sound like gentle waves at low tide coming across the sand—and transported Heckert back to a happy day years ago when she and her sister, each with their small sons, visited Assateague Island and frolicked on the beach with six wild ponies splashing nearby.
As Stouffer encouraged her to remember the strong and faithful mother she had been in that moment, she reminded her, “That person still exists—you are that person.” The encounter served as a turning point in Heckert’s emotional outlook.
February 13, 2019 at 10:00 am pennstatemedicine Leave a comment
Listening, connecting are hallmarks of new president’s style
Deborah Berini, president of Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, says she was drawn to Penn State Health by its collaborative environment.
By Carolyn Kimmel
Dressed in scrubs and leaning in to smile reassuringly at a baby and his parents, Deborah Berini is doing what she likes best—connecting with people.
The president of Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is shadowing Cara Kapaun, a registered nurse in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).
“It allows me to be present in the environment, get to know the people, see what is working and what isn’t—and all of that allows me to be a better advocate for our patients, staff and faculty,” said Berini, who took over the helm at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in September, becoming its first female president.
See more photos of Hershey Medical Center President Deborah Berini on Flickr. (more…)
February 6, 2019 at 10:00 am pennstatemedicine Leave a comment
Destination safety: teen driver education a priority at Penn State Children’s Hospital
A teen boy experiences the dangers of distracted and impaired driving through the simulation-based program One Simple Decision.
By Carolyn Kimmel
Penn State Children’s Hospital pediatrician Dr. Erich Batra and his daughter had a special date with an important goal last fall—to drive safer and smarter.
The pair were part of the first Alive at 25 driver’s awareness course presented by the Penn State Trauma Community Outreach team. Designed by the National Safety Council, the course teaches drivers age 15 to 21 and their parents strategies for keeping safe on the road and tackles decision-making and responsibility-taking.
“My daughter is a very good driver, but I felt like the course would be a good reminder for her and for myself,” Batra said. “Any opportunity we have to reinforce what good driving behavior looks like is worth it, and teens need to hear it from someone other than their parents or driving instructor.”
See more photos of the Alive at 25 course on Flickr.
January 30, 2019 at 10:00 am pennstatemedicine Leave a comment
Building confidence one internship at a time
The Project SEARCH Class of 2018 at Penn State College of Medicine. From top-left to right are Bryce Boyer, Cheyanne Wilson, James Silver, Ava Pyles, Ethan Parrish, Marissa Nice, Emily Swanic, James Morrison and Samantha Brace.
By Carolyn Kimmel
For the first time, 18-year-old Cheyanne Wilson says she feels noticed for who she really is—and encouraged to become all that she can be.
“I always felt different my whole life—this is the first time that people look at me like I’m a person,” said Cheyanne, who is spending the school year as a Penn State Health intern through Project Search, a program with more than 500 sites across the globe that teaches students with disabilities transferrable, marketable skills in a real work setting.
The Harrisburg youth is challenged by her internship in the Penn State College of Medicine Clinical Simulation Center and excited about upcoming internships in endoscopy and patient transport before she walks across the stage in Junker Auditorium at the Project Search graduation in May.
“Everyone here takes time to help me learn and not just push me through to get me out of here,” Cheyanne said. “Project Search has helped me a lot.”
January 23, 2019 at 10:00 am pennstatemedicine Leave a comment
