MARCH / APRIL 2006

BULLETIN

New websites provide a window into Gulf Region initiatives
HMI has launched two new websites designed to educate and inform visitors about opportunities to become involved in medical education and research initiaitves in the Gulf Region.

The Harvard Medical School Dubai Center (HMSDC) website, which can be accessed at www.hmsdc.hms.harvard.edu, features information about continuing education and professional development programs offered through HMSDC, including the ongoing Practi-Med and Specialty Practi-Med CME series. The website also contains information about fellowship opportunities for Gulf Region health care professionals, faculty, and scientists.

The Dubai Harvard Foundation for Medical Research (DHFMR) was established through the collaboration between Harvard Medical School, HMI, and Dubai Healthcare City. The new website, accessible at www.dhfmr.hms.harvard.edu, provides information about the Foundation’s aim to establish collaborative research programs that enable scientists from the Gulf Region to participate in state-of-the-art research at world renowned research institutions. Visitors to the site can find out about opportunities available to research scientists, as well as information about the Foundation’s efforts to build an endowment to supports its programs.

HMI promotes health care quality through programs in UAE
In the Gulf Region, the creation of Dubai Healthcare City has helped focus unprecedented attention on health care quality, with leaders and clinicians at the national and local levels becoming more interested and more involved in initiatives aimed at improving performance. In January, two programs held in the United Arab Emirates provided HMI with an opportunity to address this issue with health care executives and clinical leaders from the region. The programs not only covered the challenges and concepts associated with quality improvement, but drew also on recent experiences to help participants think about how to develop a strategy for enhancing quality of care in their own environments.

Harvey Makadon

In Abu Dhabi, HMI was invited to take part in a conference devoted to the challenges of primary care. An HMI team of quality experts gave a special presentation on the design and implementation of a system to continuously improve primary care. The team was made up of Harvey Makadon, MD, vice president of health systems; Sharon Kleefield, PhD, director of health care quality; and John Helfrick, DDS, MS, FACD, FICD, senior consultant. Over 130 people were on hand to hear the team’s ideas on how to improve the quality of primary care, including strategies for implementing appropriate quality measurement mechanisms.

Makadon pointed out that the primary care environment, as it continues to evolve, carries a unique set of challenges for physicians. “On the one hand, we need to see more patients and be more productive, but this often threatens the closeness of the doctor-patient relationship. At the same time, there is great concern about ensuring that we address the core issues with patients in preventing disease, managing chronic illness, and ensuring that we prescribe the right medications correctly,” he said. “Our goal was to present a design for a quality primary care system and talk about how this design has had a positive effect on the management and care of patients.”

A day later, the group led a series of discussions on improving health care quality and safety to a group of clinical leaders from Dubai and the surrounding region. Lloyd Nazareth, MD, general manager of Wockhardt’s Mulund Hospital, joined the team and described how the partnership between Wockhardt and HMI helped lead to that hospital’s accreditation by Joint Commission International last year.

In response to the global demand, HMI has developed the Center for Clinical Quality to work with partner organizations in a focused approach to improve health care quality and patient safety. Drawing upon resources at HMI, as well as Harvard Medical School and its affiliated hospitals, the Center’s design targets three potential areas of collaboration: 1) strategic development of a quality management system, 2) preparation for accreditation, and 3) recognition by HMI of “Centers of Excellence” or “Departments of Distinction."

HMSDC delivers range of successful programs— future CME events planned
The Harvard Medical School Dubai Center Institute for Postgraduate Education and Research (HMSDC) recently delivered a series of continuing medical education (CME) programs in Dubai, and more are in the works, including a Specialty Practi-Med program focused on oncology.

“We have been very pleased with the response generated by our programs, and have received positive feedback from both participants as well as Harvard Medical School faculty who have come to Dubai to talk with local doctors,” said Robert L. Thurer, MD, Chief Academic Officer of HMSDC. “HMSDC continues to work with local health authorities to identify areas of particular interest in the region and design programs to meet those needs.”

In January, HMSDC presented a program on infectious disease and antibiotic management for 75 physicians. Adolph W. Karchmer, MD, chief of infectious disease at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), led discussions on community-acquired lower respiratory tract infections, and participated in rounds with doctors at Dubai Hospital. Kenneth Sands, MD, an expert in health care quality and risk management from BIDMC, delivered a videoconference presentation on how physicians can prevent hospital-acquired infections, a major issue in hospital outcomes.

In February, Thurer spearheaded a program on the latest techniques in thoracic anesthesia.  Fifty-two health care professionals from the Gulf Region gathered to discuss topics such as perioperative pain management of the thoracic patient, single-lung ventilation, and surgical considerations for thoracic anesthesia. Via videoconference, John Pawlowksi, MD, director of thoracic anesthesia at BIDMC, discussed the physiological aspects of thoracic anesthesia.

More CME events are planned for this year in Dubai, including a cardiology program sponsored by Novartis. On April 27-28, Joseph Kannam, MD, of BIDMC will direct a course on the latest advances in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in cardiology. Doctors from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Mayo Clinic will also serve as faculty. In May, HMSDC will present Specialty Practi-Med: Oncology Update, a two-day CME program covering a wide range of issues related to cancer. Lowell Schnipper, MD, professor of medicine at HMS and chief of hematology and oncology at BIDMC, will lead a multidisciplinary faculty that includes colleagues at HMS and BIDMC, as well as a physician from the American Hospital in Dubai. Oncologists, surgeons, nurses, and primary care practitioners are encouraged to attend. In November, HMSDC will join with Index, a Gulf Region events development organization, to offer a Specialty Practi-Med course on infectious disease.

Since its inception in 2004, HMSDC has offered well-received programs in a diversity of practice areas, including diabetes, respiratory medicine, women’s health, and musculoskeletal health and sports medicine. HMI works closely with the Department of Continuing Education at HMS to designate credits toward the AMA Physician’s Recognition Award for eligible HMSDC courses.

To learn more about programs offered by HMSDC, visit the new HMSDC website at www.hmsdc.hms.harvard.edu.

New partnership focused on developing hospital in China
FuPond, LLC in affiliation with Xiamen University in China have partnered with HMI to develop the Xiamen University-FuPond International Hospital (XUFIH), a 500-bed general medical/surgical hospital to serve the people of Xiamen, the province of Fujian, and Southeast China.

Local health and government officials joined representatives of HMI, FuPond, and Xiamen University for the signing ceremony.

In February a delegation from HMI joined Congshi Zhu, PhD, president of Xiamen University, Dr. James Fang of FuPond, LLC, as well as local officials and members of the Xiamen health care community, to formally announce the agreement and launch the project. The HMI team included Robert K. Crone, MD, president and chief executive officer; Albert Gillis, RT, MBA, director of health care facilities development; Judy Mitchell, AIA, director of planning; and Roman (Dong) Xu, MPP, regional director for the Asia-Pacific Region.

Gillis said that the partners are working to finalize on one of the two selected locations for the new hospital and develop a timeline for the project’s planning, design, and construction. “We have begun working with Dr. James Fang, president and chief executive officer of XUFIH, and the local team to develop a clinical program plan for the hospital, which will lead to the design of a preliminary space program,” said Gillis.

Advances in radiotherapy are focus of congress presented by Hygeia Hospital and HMI

Since partnering with HMI in 2003, Hygeia Hospital has pursued a strategy focused on enhancing quality of care throughout the hospital, with particular attention to promoting the ongoing development of state-of-the-art radiotherapy services. In February, in association with HMI, Hygeia Hospital hosted a two-day symposium focused on advances in radiotherapy and organ conservation.

Philip Angelakis, MD of Hygeia Hospital chaired the conference, which covered a wide range of cancer areas, including cancer of the central nervous system, breast cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, head and neck cancers, lung cancer, urogenital cancer, and gynecological cancers.

HMI arranged for Donald Kaufman, MD, clinical professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, to speak at the medical congress. Kaufman, who is director of the Claire and John Bertucci Center for Genitourinary Cancers at Massachusetts General Hospital, lectured on evidence-based oncology as applied to genitourinary cancer, and led a discussion on the controversies surrounding the treatment of invasive bladder carcinoma.

Fifth Asan Medical Center-HMI symposium to explore the frontiers of oncology
We are currently witnessing an explosion of knowledge across the continuum of oncology, with discoveries in laboratories and hospitals around the world leading to the development of new approaches to the prevention, screening, evaluation, and management of cancers. Today cancer research is a multidisciplinary movement.

Together with HMI, Asan Medical Center (AMC) and the University of Ulsan College of Medicine will host a symposium entitled “New Frontiers of Oncology,” in Seoul, Korea June 23-24. The fifth joint symposium held by the partners, this year’s meeting will bring together leading researchers and clinicians to provide state-of-the-art information on cancer to an international audience of academic and private physicians and researchers. Each day of the symposium will be dedicated to examining different types of cancer and discussing the current use of molecular markers and diagnostic strategies for the prevention, screening, and diagnosis of cancers.

“New Frontiers of Oncology” is designed for individuals with clinical and research interests in the prevention, screening, evaluation, and management of cancers, including radiologists; medical, surgical and radiation oncologists; pathologists; translational-oriented laboratory scientists; nurses; pharmacists; physicians; and all other health care professionals involved in clinical care and research in the area of cancers.

The symposium’s multidisciplinary faculty is drawn from leading academic medical centers in the United States, including Massachusetts General Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute,  Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and the Unviersity of California (San Francisco). Faculty from AMC and the Ulsan College of Medicine will be on hand as well to lecture and lead discussions.

AMC has partnered with HMI since 1996 and was one of HMI’s first partners to become an HMI Associated Institution. For more information about the symposium, please contact Annie Seo at annie_seo@amc.seoul.kr.

Upcoming CME programs for Novartis to focus on cardiology, neurology
HMI will develop and deliver two continuing medical education (CME) programs for health care professionals in Switzerland with an unrestricted educational grant from Novartis Pharma Schweiz AG. Since 2004, HMI has developed eight CME courses in Switzerland covering a wide range of specialty areas and attracting hundreds of participants.

In May, Cardiology 2006: Progress in Cardiovascular Medicine will be held in Montreaux. A multidisciplinary faculty led by Gerald Smetana, MD of Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center will provide targeted updates on critical issues in their fields. The course will feature a series of interactive case discussions on topics such as hypertension, primary and secondary prevention of coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, and atrial fibrillation.

Smetana, who has directed HMI’s cardiology programs for Novartis in each of the last two years, said that this year’s program will also include a discussion of the psychosomatic aspects of managing patients with cardiovascular disease. “We will discuss strategies for how to encourage patients to make behavioral and lifestyle changes, and how to deal with compliance issues for drug regimens,” he said.

For the first time, HMI has collaborated with the Swiss Society for General Medicine (SGAM) on the course design. In addition to providing feedback on the course topics and learning objectives and accrediting the course, SGAM-nominated representatives will serve as moderators for the cardiology program.

HMI is also developing a one-day CME program for neurologists, which will take place on June 29 in Lucerne. Andrew Cole, MD, FRCP, associate professor of neurology at HMS and Massachusetts General Hospital, will participate in the program. The topics to be discussed include epilepsy, schizophrenia, cognition and neurobiological diseases, and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as updates on Parkinson’s-related dementia and vascular dementia.

For more information about CME programs offered by HMI, visit the Clinical CME/Practi-Med section of the HMI website.

Lausanne executive education program to address the future challenges of health care
In partnership with HMI, the Institute of Health Economics and Management at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland will offer “Mastering the New Challenges of Health Care,” an executive education program designed to provide leaders with the essential knowledge and skills to better understand the evolving health care industry, drive innovation, and guide change in health care policy.

This five-day program is aimed at European health care leaders in both the public and private sectors and will involve highly interactive exercises encouraging discussion and collaboration among participants. Addressing a wide range of issues faced by today’s health care leaders, the program will cover topics such as health care quality, organization-wide strategic planning, and the role of technological innovation in reducing costs, preventing medical error, and advancing clinical excellence.

Miles F. Shore, MD, HMS Bullard Professor of Psychiatry and a senior consultant for HMI, and Dr. Alberto Holly, director of the Institute of Health Economics and Management at the University of Lausanne, will co-direct the course. They will be assisted by program faculty from Harvard University, the University of Lausanne, and other leading European academic institutions.

“The course will cover the latest developments in major areas of health concern in Europe, such as the innovations in the use of economic principles as incentives, information technology as the basis for modern health care, and ethical concerns faced by health care leaders,” said Shore.

The program will take place May 15-19, 2006 at the University of Lausanne. For further information, visit the program website or contact Isabelle Chappuis.

Ryan Wildes recognized with HMI's Employee Recognition Award

HMI’s Ryan Wildes is the latest recipient of HMI’s Employee Recognition Award, given to recognize outstanding service to the organization and its partners. Ryan, who is HMI Regional Manager for Europe and Southeast Asia, has played an integral role in a wide range of programs and partnerships since joining HMI in 2002. Notably, he has made invaluable contributions to HMI’s work with its partners in India. Outside of HMI, Ryan is pursuing a master’s degree in government at Harvard University Extension School. 

Past awardees include Rachel D’Ambrosio, Holly Vogel, Margaret Regan, Diane Standring, Karin Vander Schaff, Diane Standring, Irene Daly, Kristen Mitchell, and Nancy Soule.

Copyright 2006 Harvard Medical International