In today’s ongoing health care reform debates, House Calls are being discussed as an option that has the potential to save costs as well as improve care for those patients who have great difficulty in getting to a doctor’s office.

Internal Medicine Professor Peter Boling, M.D., helped craft language for the Independence at Home Act (S. 1131/HR. 2560) that advocates home-delivered care for individuals with functional impairment, high costs and multiple illnesses. The Associated Press visited the MCV Campus to learn more about the program, reporting in its resulting story that “Where other proposals have divided lawmakers, the house-calls idea is winning support from Republicans and Democrats alike.”

The story “House calls as cost-saver in health care reform?” already has been picked up by nearly 100 AP-member news organizations including National Public Radio, CBS News Online, ABC News Online and Yahoo News.

For more information see:

• LA Times’ previous coverage of the House Calls program in the story “Getting cheaper, better healthcare at home.”
• “House Calls Make a Comeback” – NBC Nightly News story, 12/02/09

A medical student along with an alumnus turned faculty member were honored by the Medical Society of Virginia Foundation with its 2009 Salute to Service Awards.

Fourth-year student P. Brody Wehman and the Class of 2000′s Mark H. Ryan, M.D., who is now on the faculty of the Department of Family Medicine, received their awards at the MSV Foundation’s Physicians’ Gala, on Oct. 24 at the Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Va.
Ryan was recognized for his Service on Behalf of the Medical Profession for his international medical outreach efforts through the Student Organization for Medical Outreach and Sustainability. One of the founding members of the initiative in 2005, Ryan currently serves as its medical director. With his guidance and direction, students purchase prescription and non-prescription medications to use in bi-annual week-long clinics in the Dominican Republic. In addition to organizing the medical operations while supervising undergraduate students, medical students and medical residents, he personally sees approximately 150 patients during each clinic.

Fourth-year medical student P. Brody Wehman was recognized for his Service by a Medical Student. Wehman volunteers with a weekend-long clinic that provides free dental care and a small amount of medical triage services to over 1,000 children and adults on the Eastern Shore. Recognizing the large number of patients without a primary care physician, Wehman worked with the community health board to link those individuals with the nearest possible provider. He has also played an integral role in getting other medical students involved and has signed on to coordinate all medical student activities in conjunction with next year’s project.

The MSV Foundation created the annual Salute to Service Awards in 2004 to recognize outstanding efforts of physicians, medical students and alliance members who are dedicated to creating and nurturing a caring health promotion and disease prevention environment by providing service on behalf of patients everywhere. Other winners include: Sen. Ralph S. Northam, M.D., of Norfolk, for his Service on behalf of all Virginians; Parker C. Dooley, M.D., of Nassawadox, for his Service on behalf of the Uninsured and Underserved; and John Gerard Kenerson, M.D., and Lisbet M. Hanson, MC, of Virginia Beach, for their Service to the International Community.
Learn more about Ryan and Wehman at the Medical Society of Virginia’s Web site.

From fight director of on-stage combat to guru of empathetic communication with patients, the VCU theater department’s Aaron Anderson tells the Richmond Times Dispatch “I really only teach one subject: honesty and authenticity in human interaction, even in overwhelming or extreme situations.”

He has teamed up with Alan Dow, M.D., assistant dean for medical education, in what the newspaper describes as “a groundbreaking program that uses theater techniques to help doctors enhance their bedside manners.”

Read more about Anderson’s approach.

Richard Wenzel, M.D., M.Sc., professor and chair of internal medicine, joined NPR’s swine flu czar Richard Knox to tackle listeners’ questions on the NPR Health Blog. The immediate past president of the International Society for Infectious Diseases, Wenzel has traveled to Mexico and South America to study H1N1 and has been a leading commentator on the SARS outbreak and smallpox vaccination as well. His pioneering contributions in the field of infectious diseases will be recognized next year when he receives the 2010 Maxwell Finland Award.

Wenzel and Knox participated in an online chat at noon on October 5. An archive of the hour-long Q&A is still available at “We Answer Your Questions About Swine Flu.”