For the fourth consecutive year, the聽聽House Staff Council, the representative body for resident and fellow physicians, led a weeklong collection for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve聽聽Program. Donations were received from individual residents and fellows and School of Medicine faculty, staff and students.

The Toys for Tots Program collects new, unwrapped toys and distributes them as Christmas presents to economically disadvantaged children in the community in which a campaign is conducted.

鈥淭his is our community,鈥� said Jared Winston, MD, a UofL internal medicine resident from St. Louis. 鈥淟ouisville is hosting a lot of residents who aren鈥檛 from this area. It鈥檚 a way to say 鈥榯hank you鈥� to our community.鈥�

There was some healthy competition among School of Medicine departments over donating the most toys. Stock Yards Bank & Trust is providing a luncheon and plaque to the three residency programs that donated the most toys.

The winning program for the fourth straight year, the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, collected 370 toys. The Department of Radiology donated the second-most number of toys with 139, and the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women鈥檚 Health finished third by contributing 102 gifts.

鈥淭he residents love helping out with the toy drive,鈥� said Jamie Morris, MD, a UofL radiology resident. 鈥淭he House Staff Council is very big into community outreach and this is such a fun way to do it. We have multiple people in our department who love going shopping for Toys for Tots.鈥�

鈥淏y establishing a family residency program in Owensboro, we hope to improve the health of our region for years to come,鈥� said Greg Strahan, president and CEO of Owensboro Health. 鈥淭his program gives Owensboro Health a pivotal role in educating the next generation of physicians and will help meet an important need for more primary care in our area.鈥�

The three-year program is expected to open with a class of six resident physicians and admit an additional six physicians each year. Residents will undertake a robust curriculum of classroom studies and clinical rotations, working alongside expert instructors and practicing physicians from a variety of specialties. They also will provide primary care at Owensboro Health鈥檚 family medicine location on Parrish Avenue, which means expanded health care access for area patients.

鈥淧art of our vision for this program is that some physicians will want to continue practicing in Western Kentucky after they have completed their residency,鈥� said Steve Johnson, vice president of government and community affairs for Owensboro Health. 鈥淔or our system to be working toward that vision, with a valuable partner like UofL, is an exciting development for this region.鈥�

The agreement between the two health care systems establishes UofL School of Medicine as the program鈥檚 academic sponsor, a key step toward obtaining approval and accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical 成人直播. Under the affiliation agreement, UofL will provide a program director and faculty and also lend its expertise to help the program achieve and maintain accreditation.

鈥淯ofL has achieved success with its family medicine residency program in Glasgow, Ky., in terms of building relationships in the community and improving primary care,鈥� said Brent Wright, MD, UofL School of Medicine associate dean for rural health innovation, and vice chair for rural health and professor in the Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine at UofL. 鈥淲e plan to achieve the same success in Owensboro.鈥�

Rural-based graduate medical education programs are important to physician distribution since physicians tend to practice within a 100-mile radius of where they did their residency training, Wright said.

Nominations are accepted through March 31, and anyone in the university community is eligible to submit a nomination. Three awards will be presented:

• Resident of the Year Award: Presented to the resident who overall best embodies the mission of the university to provide excellent patient care, either directly or indirectly, advance his or her field through scholarly activity, educate other residents and students, and is an excellent example of professionalism.
• Resident with Outstanding Achievement in Scholarly Activity: Given to the resident who has achieved the most to further his or her field through scientific pursuit. Publications 鈥� both number and quality 鈥� as well as other scholarly activity such as presentations, quality improvement programs, grand rounds and others are considered.
• Resident with Outstanding Achievement in Community Engagement: Awarded to the resident who has best embodied the university mission of service to and engagement with the community, state, nation or world. A leadership role over part or all of a project, is essential.

聽and must include the resident鈥檚 name and a 2-to-4-sentence description of the nominee鈥檚 qualifications for the award. All nominations will be anonymous. Winners will be selected by the House Staff Council and will be announced in May or June.

For additional information, contact House Staff Council President Mark J. Amsbaugh, MD.听