Following a time-honored tradition

started in 1924, University of

Kansas graduates walked down

Campanile Hill to Memorial Stadium

as part of the 2004 commencement

proceedings May 23 in Lawrence.

About 4,000 graduates partici-

pated in the walk, including about

500 graduates from the School of

Medicine, School of Nursing, School

of Allied Health and Graduate

Studies on the KUMC campus.

In all, the class of 2004 included

about 6,400 students who finished

course work last summer and fall

and this spring.

About 30,000 people attended

the event to catch a glimpse of a

friend or family member during the

70-minute procession.

During the commencement cer-

emony, Pam Shaw, MD, Pediatrics,

Cynthia Teel, RN, PhD, Nursing,

and Douglas Wright, PhD, Anatomy

and Cell Biology, received the

Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding

Classroom Teaching.

The previous night, the KU

School of Medicine held its annual

Hooding and Awards Ceremony in

the Lied Center in Lawrence.

Graduates from the KUMC and

Wichita campuses were presented

diplomas, awards and their hoods

edged in green velvet, signifying the

doctor of medicine degree.

The Graduate School also held

its Doctoral Hooding Ceremony in

the Lied Center on May 22, the

same day recognition ceremonies

for the Schools of Allied Health and

Nursing were conducted in

Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan.

More graduation photos on page 7.

Page 2 Wheat State Tour

Page 3 Nurse Recruitment

Pages 4-5 Front & Center

Page 6 Clinical Trials

Page 7 Graduation Photos

Page 8 Classifieds, etc.

The University of Kansas Medical Center

27 MAY 2004 • VOLUME 6 • NUMBER 22

Inside

Traditions and Fun FillWeekend Graduation Activities

Brian Hall, MD, (left) andDustin Smoot, MD, grad-uates of the KU School ofMedicine, celebratedMay 23 during the 132ndannual commencementexercises at theUniversity of Kansas inLawrence. Hall receivedthe SoM’s Helmuth SprinzAward, the Edward V.Williams Award and theAdvocacy Award.

Barbara Atkinson, MD, executivedean of the School of Medicine andvice chancellor for Clinical Affairs,presented the candidates for thedegree of medical doctor duringcommencement ceremonies inLawrence. SoM student James Voos,MD, was the banner carrier.

2

Forty-two University of Kansas

faculty and staff members embarked

on a 1,500-mile, six-day whirlwind

bus tour across the state May 21-28.

This marks the seventh year that KU

Chancellor Robert Hemenway, PhD,

has sponsored the Wheat State

Whirlwind Tour of Kansas, primari-

ly to give faculty and staff who are

new to Kansas an opportunity to

learn more about the state and fel-

low Kansans.

This year, eight people from the

KUMC campus were chosen to par-

ticipate. They include Barbara

Atkinson, MD, executive dean of

the School of Medicine and vice

chancellor for Clinical Affairs;

Byron Gajewski, PhD, biostatisti-

cian, Nursing Grants and Research;

Joan McDowd, PhD, associate

director of Research, Landon Center

on Aging; Karl Koob, clinical assis-

tant professor and chair, Health

Information Management; Kimberly

Cuda, director, Alumni and

Community Relations; Madelyn

Pollock, MD, assistant residency

director for Maternity Care, Family

Medicine; Patricia Kluding, PhD,

assistant professor, Physical Therapy

and Rehabilitation Sciences; and

William Atkinson, MD, professor,

General and Geriatric Medicine.

The clockwise route around the

Wheat State emphasizes history and

economics. Faculty and staff are

traveling through 38 of the state’s

105 counties – from Atchison in the

northeast to Liberal in the south-

west and from Colby in the

northwest to Lindsborg and

Marquette in north-central Kansas.

Along the route, Kansans serve

as teachers for the faculty and staff

as they travel the state by bus. Those

Kansans include Gov. Kathleen

Sebelius, who met with the faculty

May 24 as they visited the state capi-

tol in Topeka. After meeting with the

governor, the faculty traveled a few

blocks to the Monroe Elementary

School National Historic Site to

learn more about the state’s role in

the 1954 Brown v. Board of

Education Supreme Court decision.

On May 21, the group visited a

site near the confluence of the

Kansas and Missouri rivers in

Atchison County that commemo-

rates the 200th anniversary of the

Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Throughout the tour, they are

learning of the state’s plans to cele-

brate the 150th anniversary of the

Kansas-Nebraska Act, which estab-

lished the Kansas and Nebraska

territories. On May 26, tour partici-

pants heard about Garden City’s

125th anniversary.

Economic development also is a

major tour theme. In Wyandotte

County, faculty and staff learned about

the economic boom occurring in

Kansas City, Kan., home to the Village

West development and the adjacent

Kansas Speedway. Visits to Sedan,

Medicine Lodge and Lindsborg

focused on innovative uses of

resources to develop tourism markets.

The tour serves to better familiar-

ize the university with the needs of

Kansans, introduces new faculty to

their adopted home state and builds

good will with the citizens of Kansas.

For more information about the

tour, visit www.wheatstate.ku.edu/.

KU Faculty, Staff Launch Whirlwind Kansas Tour

The KUMC delegation to the Wheat State Whirlwind Tour of Kansas includes(seated) Patricia Kluding, PhD, Joan McDowd, PhD, Byron Gajewski, PhD,(standing) Karl Koob, William Atkinson, MD, and Kimberly Cuda. Not picturedare Dean Barbara Atkinson, MD, and Madelyn Pollock, MD.

Orientation sessions for new hos-

pital employees have been moved to

a larger location for the next few

weeks. The extra space is needed to

accommodate the record number of

new nursing graduates joining The

University of Kansas Hospital.

“We set a goal of hiring 100

new nursing graduates – a record

number – to begin work this spring

and summer. We’ve actually

exceeded our goal and hired 102,”

reported Dwight Kasperbauer, vice

president and chief Human

Resources officer for the hospital.

In addition to the new nursing

graduates, the hospital has hired 17

experienced agency nurses and part-

time nurses as full-time employees.

The first group of new nurses began

May 24, bringing the total number

of new nurses and other new

employees in orientation to 60.

That’s also a record for the hospital.

The remaining new nurses will go

through orientation this summer.

“Our new nurses will help us

provide patients with the highest

levels of care,” said Tammy

Peterman, chief nurse executive and

vice president of Patient Care.

“This outstanding recruitment effort

has been the result of close cooper-

ation between Nursing and Human

Resources, with support from our

Communications Services and

Marketing departments.”

Approximately two-thirds of the

new nursing graduates have BSN

degrees. They’ll enter the hospital’s

yearlong Nurse Residency Program,

which helps develop the leadership

skills they’ll need to excel in their

clinical practice. The University of

Kansas Hospital is one of only a

dozen academic medical centers

nationwide to offer the program.

The Residency Program is also

one of the many reasons the nursing

graduates chose to work at

The University of Kansas Hospital.

They also cited the Fellowship and

Shadow Programs for nurses, as

well as the hospital’s role as a cen-

ter for advanced medicine and its

comprehensive employee compen-

sation and benefits package. In

addition, the new nurses said they

appreciated talking with nurse man-

agers and other nursing staff

members during their interviews.

For these reasons, the hospital

has been very successful in recruit-

ing and retaining BSN graduates. In

fact, 57 percent of nurses who work

at The University of Kansas

Hospital have BSN degrees, com-

pared with less than 33 percent at

hospitals nationwide.

“We’re very fortunate to have

an excellent relationship with the

KU School of Nursing and other

schools in the region that offer BSN

degrees,” Peterman said. “Because

of our role as an academic medical

center and the kind of specialized

care delivered here, the hospital truly

values a strong nursing education.”

Hospital Hires Record Number of New Nursing Graduates

Tammy Peterman, chief nurse executive and vice president of Patient Care,welcomed the first group of new nurses who will go through hospital orienta-tion over the next few weeks. Because of its size, the class of 60, which alsoincluded employees from other departments, met in Clendening Auditoriumrather than the Wyandotte Room.

3

ServiceRecognition A reception recognizing Harold

Godwin’s 35 years of service as direc-

tor of Pharmacy at The University of

Kansas Hospital was held May 24 in

Hixson Atrium. Presenting his award

was Patricia Sanders-Hall, vice presi-

dent of Ancillary Care. Godwin is

moving to a full-time position in the

University of Kansas School of

Pharmacy as professor and associ-

ate dean of Medical Center Affairs

and chair of Pharmacy Practice.

A Night at the RoyalsKU Allied Health and Nurses Alumni Associations sponsored a “Night at the

Ballpark” and Royals tailgate party May 14. About 100 people attended the

event, including (below from left) Rebecca Siefers, Lori Schwartz and

Ashleigh Surber, senior students in the School of Nursing.

Ice Cream Social University employees (below left)

Elizabeth Van Luchene and Jing

Huang, both with the Mental

Retardation Resource Center,

attended an ice cream social May

20. The event was an opportunity for

employees to relax, mingle and talk.

Bridget Koan, senior coordinator,

Dean’s Office, School of Nursing

(below right), welcomed guests as

they gathered in the School of

Nursing Atrium.

4

Room DedicationThe Internal Medicine Conference

Room was officially renamed for

Norton J. Greenberger, MD, a world-

renowned gastroenterologist, at a

reception May 20. Greenberger

served as chairman of the

Department of Internal Medicine

from 1972-99. Sue Pingleton, MD,

chair of Internal Medicine, made the

official presentation to Greenberger,

who now teaches medicine at

Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Greenberger also received the

Distinguished Service Citation from

the KU Alumni Association and was

honored at the University Supper and

at commencement.

EMS PicnicThunder showers did not deter emergency medical services (EMS) personnel from

attending The University of Kansas Hospital’s sixth annual EMS Picnic May 18 at

Rosedale Park in Kansas City, Kan. About 300 emergency workers, paramedics,

police and firefighters from throughout the Kansas City area enjoyed a barbeque

picnic and received free T-shirts. The event was sponsored by the hospital’s

Emergency Department (ED) and Level I Trauma Center. Brian Selig, RN (above

left), nurse manager, ED, helped serve food. ED and Trauma Center staff also

signed a large poster with personal “thank you” messages for the EMS personnel.

5

SoN GraduationLeft, School of Nursing banner carrier,

Dana Whitmore, followed by Mary

Leenerts and Dave Martin, march

down the hill in Lawrence. Below, SoN

graduates (from left) Shelly Musser,

Crystal Bell, Sarah Stimac and Jane

Brack (background) celebrated.

6

There’s a successful new

approach to treating heart failure –

and cardiologists at The University

of Kansas Hospital have been able

to offer it to some of their patients

as part of a landmark clinical trial.

The physicians treated 20

patients with advanced heart failure

in the COMPANION trial, which

was featured in the May 20, 2004,

issue of The New England Journal

of Medicine. Charles Porter, MD,

served as principal investigator for

the hospital’s trial.

Heart failure refers to a complex

series of symptoms that include

shortness of breath, fatigue and

exercise intolerance due to weak-

ened pumping action of the heart.

Patients in the COMPANION trial

had moderately to severely weak-

ened hearts, with slow electrical

activity in their lower chambers.

The study used a new type of

pacemaker known as cardiac resyn-

chronization therapy (CRT) to help

patients’ hearts beat more efficient-

ly. Cardiologists Loren Berenbom,

MD, and Martin Emert, MD, per-

formed the device implants.

The new CRT devices have

three wires or leads and are used

specifically to treat heart failure, as

opposed to the two-lead pacemakers

that are used to treat patients with

slow hearth rhythms. This trial was

the first to show that CRT therapy

not only helped heart failure patients

feel better, but also live longer with

fewer hospitalizations.

Patients in the study were

divided into three groups. The first

group received standard heart fail-

ure medications only. The second

group received standard medica-

tions, plus a three-lead pacemaker

to help “resynchronize” their hearts

and treat their heart failure.

The third group received stan-

dard medications, plus a three-lead

pacemaker combined with a defib-

rillator (CRT-D). A CRT-D not only

resynchronizes the heartbeat via its

pacemaker, but can also detect and

treat life-threatening heart rhythms

by delivering special pacing thera-

pies or electrical shocks to the heart.

“The implanted defibrillator is

like having your own ambulance crew

with you at all times,” said Porter.

The trial was stopped early

because CRT proved to be so suc-

cessful when compared to standard

medications alone. Results showed

that CRT pacing, with or without a

defibrillator, was associated with a

significant reduction in death or

hospitalization from all causes

when added to good medical thera-

py. In addition, death from all

causes was significantly reduced

with CRT-D alone.

Equally important, said Porter,

“It greatly improved quality of life

for these patients.”

Gail Dicus of Leawood, Kan.,

is one of the patients who benefited

by taking part in the trial. She was

an active mother and real estate

executive until a virus weakened

her heart muscle.

“I deteriorated to the point where

some days I couldn’t lift my head off

the pillow,” recalled Dicus. Since

she’s had the pacemaker, her energy

level has significantly improved.

Now, she said, “I can get a mile or

two walk in on a good day.”

Nationwide, 1,520 patients at

128 medical centers were enrolled in

the trial sponsored by Guidant Corp.

Heart Patients Benefit from Clinical Trial

Above, Charles Porter, MD, Kathleen Dalton, RN,study coordinator, and Loren Berenbom, MD.

Recently, patient Gail Dicus (right) spoke with a reporter from The Kansas City Star about herexperience in the clinical trial.

Brooke Grizzell, MD, received her doctoral hood from S. Edwards Dismuke, MD,dean of the School of Medicine-Wichita, as SoM Executive Dean BarbaraAtkinson, MD, looks on. Grizzell received the W. Clarke Wescoe Award, theJanet M. Glasgow-Rubin Achievement Citation, the Daniel K. Roberts Award,the Willard J. Smith, MD, Award, and the Prakash Raghavan Award.

Snapshots Capture Graduation Memories

Micah Niermann, MD (left), Wichitacampus, and Diane Payne, MD,KUMC campus, were the classspeakers at the School ofMedicine’s Hooding and AwardsCeremony May 22 in Lawrence.

7

Above, School of Allied Healthgraduates were honored May 22 atthe Executive Vice Chancellor’sGraduation Luncheon in MurphyCourtyard. Celebrating theirdegrees in Occupational Therapywere (from left) Petra Wolf, JackiePigott and Melissa Nelkin.

Left, Christine Alvarez, RN, whoreceived a master’s degree in nurs-ing, enjoyed lunch with her sons,Ryan (left) and Nick.

Junghae Lee, who received a mas-ter’s degree in Audiology, celebratedwith her husband, Yunjae Hwang.

Friday, May 28

• Psychiatry Grand Rounds, “Mood

and the Heart: The Link Between

Depression and Heart Disease,”

R. Claire Friend, MD, 10:30 a.m.-

noon, Sudler Auditorium.

• Neurology Grand Rounds,

“Ketogenic Diets for Intractable

Seizures,” Ijaz Rashid, MD, 8:30-

9:30 a.m., 1563a hospital.

Wednesday, June 2

• Final oral examination for PhD in

Integrative and Molecular

Physiology for Audrey Blacklock,

“Estrogen as a Modulator of

Peripheral Sensory Innervation,”

9 a.m., 1014 Orr-Major.

Coming UpClassifieds, etc.

Automotive:

1985 Ford Crown Victoria, 96K, excellent mechanical condition, $600.913-492-2507.

1989 Jeep Wrangler Sahara, army green,143K, winch, brand new tires size32x10.50s, $2,500. 816-587-2195.

1993 Toyota Corolla DX, 213K, needssome repairs, good basic transportation,$1,000 negotiable. 913-449-3939.

1996 Mercury Sable, gold, power win-dows/locks, runs well, $3,250; 1993Cadillac STS, blue inside and out, leatherinterior, chrome wheels, power everything,good condition, $2,300. 816-516-1503.

1997 Volvo station wagon 850, gray,automatic, 5-cylinder in-line engine,power windows/locks, sunroof, 75K, 1-owner, great condition, $7,700. 913-338-3265 evenings or weekends.

1998 Dodge Grand Caravan, all-wheeldrive, teal, 92K, power windows/doors/locks, very good condition, new tires/battery, $6,950 OBO. 816-942-6178.

1998 Chevy Corvette, 51K, red, silverleather interior, glass top, new tires, alwaysgaraged, maintained in excellent condition,$25,000 OBO. 913-927-0760 after 4 p.m.

1999 Mercedes Benz S-S320, long wheel-base sedan, 3.2L engine, exceptionalcondition, all records available, 10K lefton Mercedes warranty, all power options,moonroof, alarm, must see this car toappreciate it, $24,500. 1-800-288-1480(local toll-free number).

For Sale:

Pop-up camper, Rockwood Freedom,2003 model, 12' two size, sleeps 6, A/C,furnace, big 1.9 cubic refrigerator, stove,sink, heated mattresses, water tank, bikerack, TV antenna and amp, awning, priva-cy curtains, new battery 12 volt containedand 110 volt, very good shape, $4,500.913-342-5237.

1961 Mercruiser boat, 4-cylinder,inboard motor, 17' span, 110 hp, $950OBO. 913-788-5729.

Piper area home, 3 years old, 3+ BR,21/2 BA, walk-out basement, upgradedlighting, exterior siding, fenced back-yard, beautiful view of pond, excellentcondition, quiet, well maintained,friendly neighborhood, Piper School District, $154,900. 913-917-3587.

HP Pavilion desktop, 500 MHz IntelCeleron processor, 64 MB SDRAM, 13GB hard drive, CDRW and floppy drive,2 USB ports, network interface card,high velocity 56K modem, audio speak-ers, MS Windows 98, 17" color monitor,mouse, keyboard, power cords, $400.913-491-5394.

Virtually new house, 6 blocks fromKUMC, 4304 Fisher, complete restora-tion, 3 BR, finished attic, 11/2 BA,abundance of upgrades and technology,$134,500. 913-722-3141.

4306 W. 95th Street, Prairie Villagehome, 4 BR, 21/2 BA, sun room, largefenced yard, finished basement, 20 min-utes from KUMC, 2-car garage, ShawneeMission schools, open Sunday 1-3 p.m.,$174,900. 913-341-6847.

Gazelle Supra exercise machine, 1 yearold, $150 OBO. 816-516-1503.

Couch with pullout sleeper, $200 OBO;4 Windsor kitchen table chairs, $35;baker’s rack, $35. 913-568-3628.

New supersize Maytag washer anddryer, $400; new 66' x 40' glass-top din-ing table, 6 chairs, baker’s rack, $500;Proform 470 treadmill, rarely used,$400. 913-909-0534.

Wanted:

Child’s outdoor playhouse and a doublejogger baby stroller. 816-276-3799.

Irene M. Cumming Donald Hagen, MDPresident and CEO Executive Vice ChancellorThe University of University of KansasKansas Hospital Medical Center

Barbara Jaekel, EditorVal Renault, Senior Writer

Kirk Buster, Graphic DesignJan Lewis, Editorial Manager

Mary King, Communications Services Director

In The Center is a weekly employee publication published by The University of Kansas Hospital’sCommunications Services Department. Send story ideasto Barbara Jaekel, Bldg. 48, Room 1070, or e-mailbjaekel or call 8-1074.

Ad Policy - Send or bring your ad, 30 words or less, toBldg. 48, Room 1070, fax to 8-0241, or e-mail bjaekelby noon Thursday of the week before it is to run. Adsrun free of charge for employees, students and volun-teers. All ads must include the advertiser’s name andwork extension (or student box number) for verifica-tion. Only home phone numbers–no pager numbersor work extensions–will be published. Please includearea code. No ads for commercial services or pets forsale will be accepted. Ads will not be taken by tele-phone. Ads may be held a week if space is limited.

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