Physicians carry the responsibility of serving as a patient advocate as well as a care giver, Sam Page, M.D., FASA, told students and faculty at the UMKC School of Medicine during the 2019 Vijay Babu Rayudu Quality Patient Safety Day.
“Being an advocate is part of your duty, it’s an obligation of being a doctor,” said Page, a 1992 med school graduate and former state legislator. “You have to advocate for the patient in front of you. And you’re obligated to advocate for patients at the population level.”
The former Missouri state representative was elected to the St. Louis County Council in 2014. An anesthesiologist at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis, he currently serves as St. Louis County Executive.
Page was the keynote speaker for the sixth-annual event. He spoke on professionalism through advocacy for patient safety, encouraging students to become involved in by engaging their elected officials and working with their state and national medical organizations.
“Everyone here who graduates from medical school, you have an obligation to engage your elected officials and communicate with them,” Page said. “If you are really interested in changing the world around you, there are things you can do.”
The day included student and resident/fellow poster presentations and oral presentations on research conducted in quality and patient safety. A series of morning faculty development workshops and discussions looked at topics surrounding transitions of patient care.
“We have seen some projects that have made an impact in the quality of care,” said Betty M. Drees, M.D., dean emerita, one of the Patient Safety Day organizers. “We feel we’re not only preparing physicians for the future, but these projects are making a direct impact during the time the students, residents and fellows are doing them.”
A record number of 47 abstracts were submitted. The top two student and top two resident/fellow abstracts were selected for oral presentations. The remaining submissions were included in poster presentations from which two students and two residents/fellows were selected as winners.
Taylor Carter, a sixth-year medical student, and Colin Phillips, a physician assistant student, were chosen to give oral presentations. Carter presented on “Cultivating culturally aware medical students: An analysis of the effectiveness of a two hour interactive course.” Phillips presented “Failing our youth: Under-documentation of electronic nicotine use in adolescents.”
In the resident/fellow category, Laith Derbas, M.D., was chosen to present “Improving Resident Confidence in ACLS,” and Thomas Odeny, M.D., presented “Improving documentation of meaningful smoking history at Truman Medical Center: a quality improvement project.”
Fourth-year medical student Sahaja Atluri and fifth-year student Chizitam Ibezim were chosen as the student poster presentation winners. Atluri presented the research poster on “Does Intensivist Management of Brain Dead Organ Donors result in Increased Organ Yield?” Ibezim presented a poster focused on “Fracture Liaison Service (FLS) in Safety-Net Hospital.”
Resident/fellow winners of the poster presentations were Robin Imperial, M.D., and Kathryn VanderVelde, M.D. Imperial presented a poster on “Improving interdisciplinary communication on general medicine wards through the use of a two-way HIPAA-compliant text messaging app.” VanderVelde presented “Optimization of Surgical Prophylaxis in Penicillin-Allergic Labeled Patients.”
A new blue and gold kiosk on the sidewalk between the School of Medicine and the Health Sciences Building will provide up-to-date information on university and city services.
The digital kiosks are part of a communication network that broadcasts real-time, location-based information and alerts to provide safer, better connected public digital solutions. Information is powered by 55-inch smart screens and a companion CityPost mobile application. UMKC CityPost, in partnership with Duke Energy, is a wholly owned subsidiary of 
