• Hypertension
• Aortic Stenosis
• Mitral Valve Prolapse
• Cardiomyopathy

Everyone is welcome to test their cardiopulmonary listening skills on Harvey. Please ask for help at the Reference or Circulation Desk to get started.

UVM Names Medical Education Center for Alumnus Robert Larner, MD, and Helen Larner

Burlington native Larner and wife honored for longstanding support of medical education

05-31-2013
By Carole L. Whitaker

The University of Vermont will name the Medical Education Center at the College of Medicine for alumnus and Burlington native Robert Larner, MD, and Helen Larner, for their decades-long efforts to make medical education more affordable for a generation of students, and for inspiring the support of more than 1700 donors.

“The impact of the Larners’ generosity on the College of Medicine and the physicians educated there is immeasurable,” noted UVM President Thomas Sullivan. “Their understanding and support of cutting edge medical education and the importance of access and affordability for medical students has impacted many, many lives. Moreover, their commitment to UVM and its students has sparked a continuous stream of philanthropy from others, including physicians who benefitted from the Larner Endowment when they were students. It is fitting that we honor Bob and Helen in a lasting way by naming this important educational building in recognition of their longstanding dedication to our University.”

Dr. Larner and his wife Helen, who live in California, have a long history of giving at the UVM College of Medicine. In 1985 with an initial gift of $50,000, they established the Larner Endowment and Student Loan Fund. The Larners have contributed to the Fund every year since then, and their wish to create a culture of giving back has inspired gifts from an expansive network of donors that includes past recipients, other alumni, and friends.

Now totaling over $8 million in assets, the Fund continues to provide support for academically strong and financially needy medical students at the College. To date, the Fund has provided financial support to over 1100 UVM medical students and receives over 150 contributions annually, growing each year as recipients move on in their professional lives and are inspired to give back themselves.

“I developed, early on, an appreciation and respect for the quality of the medical education I received at UVM, and this appreciation was reinforced during my internship in Maine, my residency at Johns Hopkins, and through my years of practice,” said Dr. Larner, who celebrated his 95th birthday in January. “Our hope is that the Larner Fund will continue to inspire its beneficiaries to think about giving back, if only in modest ways, even before they graduate.”

The Larners have also generously supported a number of medical education initiatives at UVM. The couple recently committed $1 million to build an innovative Team-Based Learning Classroom in the Medical Education Center Courtyard, which will support interactive and case-based learning for the College’s 450 medical students. The Larners also contributed $300,000 last year to purchase five cardiopulmonary simulators for the UVM/Fletcher Allen Clinical Simulation Laboratory.

“The extraordinary gifts of this remarkable couple have already made an impact on an entire generation of medical students and physicians,” said Frederick Morin, MD, dean of the UVM College of Medicine. “The Larners have a vision of the future that is truly inspiring, from their thoughtfulness in creating a fund that encourages giving back, to their appreciation of what it takes to prepare the physicians of tomorrow. It is an honor to be able to acknowledge their contributions through the naming of our Medical Education Center.”

The Medical Education Center was completed in 2005 as a collaborative project between UVM and teaching hospital partner Fletcher Allen Health Care. The Concourse, Pavilion and Courtyard buildings comprise 93,000 square feet of classrooms and lecture halls (including the Davis Auditorium at Fletcher Allen, Carpenter Auditorium, and the Sullivan and Reardon Classrooms), the Dana Medical Library, and additional teaching, learning and student support space that serve as the heart of the College. A celebration and naming ceremony is planned for fall 2013 during UVM Reunion and Homecoming.

Dr. Larner, a native of Burlington, received his bachelor’s degree from UVM in 1939 and his M.D. in 1942. He completed an internship at Maine Medical Center, then served in the military at both Guadalcanal and Okinawa. He returned to complete his residency at Johns Hopkins, and went on to practice internal medicine with the Robert Larner Medical Group in Los Angeles. He retired in 1989. In 1992, at his 50th Medical Reunion, he was honored with the A. Bradley Soule Award, the highest alumni award given by the College of Medicine.

“I developed a keen awareness of benefits bestowed on my life by the medical education provided here, a lifetime that has been stimulating, interesting and satisfying,” said Dr. Larner. “And for all that, my thanks go to the University of Vermont and especially the College of Medicine.”

An exhibit illustrating the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables is now on display at the Dana Medical Library. The exhibit “Super Foods of Summer in Vermont” focuses on the health benefits of the many fresh and delicious fruits and vegetables that are cultivated in Vermont. Results of several research studies on the topic are also highlighted and include the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Study; the Harvard-based Nurses’ Health (NHS) Study; and the Health Professionals Follow-Up (HPFS) Study. Visit the Library to view the exhibit and the many print resources that are on display and available for you to check out.

The Dana Medical Library Summer hours begin on Saturday, June 15 2013. These hours are in effect until Sunday August 11, 2013.

Monday-Thursday 8 am – 10 pm
Friday 8 am – 7 pm
Saturday 9 am – 7 pm
Sunday 9 am – 10pm

Exceptions:

Independence Day Holiday

July 4- closed (UVM Holiday)

Regular hours will resume Sunday August 11, 2013.

summertime photo by reenoreluv used in accordance with the Creative Commons license.

Who can borrow an iPad?

UVM students, faculty and staff.

How long can I keep an iPad?

Loans are for one week. iPads may be renewed for an additional checkout period if no other user has requested its use. In order to renew, you must call the Circulation desk at 656-2200 or stop by and request an extension before it is due. Late return of an iPad will result in immediate fines of $10.00 per day and will block borrowing privileges; fees may be assessed and loss of iPad borrowing privileges may result.

What comes with the iPad?

iPad kits include an iPad (16GB, wi-fi only), power adapter, dock cable and carrying case.

What comes on the iPad?

• Dynamed: A clinical point-of-care tool
• Skyscape: Medical reference platform, includes Natural Standard
• Calculate by QxMD: Clinical calculators
• AHRQ ePSS: Preventive care screening tools
• Eponyms for students: Quick eponym reference
• Micromedex Drug Information: A drug reference tool
• Inkling: Interactive textbooks (comes loaded with Netter’s Clinical Anatomy)
• ebrary: ebooks from Dana Medical Library (including USMLE study guides)
• PubMed Mobile: Search PubMed
• Radiology 2.0: One Night in the ED
• Pages: Word processing
• Adobe Reader: PDF reading software
• Dragon Dictation: Dictation software
• Bluefire Reader: e-reader software

Can I download new apps on the iPad?

Apps and content may be loaded on the iPad using your own iTunes account. When an iPad is returned, all data and settings will be wiped from the device. Any apps you purchase should remain available to you through your iTunes account.

 What about my personal data on the iPad?

You should remove any personal information from the iPad before you return it to the Circulation Desk. However, each iPad will be restored to default settings, deleting all data and apps from the previous user. The UVM Libraries are not responsible for anything you put or leave on the equipment.

Support

Dana Mobile Apps page

Apple iPad Guided Tour

Brain in a Jar: A Daughter’s Journey Through Her Father’s Memory, by Nancy Stearns Bercaw

In this unflinchingly honest memoir, Nancy Stearns Bercaw (a staff member with UVM Libraries) recounts her life with Dr. Beauregard Lee Bercaw,  who became a neurologist in response to watching his own father deteriorate and die of Alzheimer’s. For many years Beau kept an autopsied brain in a jar on the desk in his office as a constant reminder of the struggle that he waged against the disease first with his patients, and ultimately for himself as he succumbed to its effects. This is also the story of the author’s own struggle to establish her identity and to navigate the treacherous and ever-changing emotional terrain of her relationship with her father, as she literally traveled the world in her quest to make sense of both of their lives.

The ghost map : the story of London’s most terrifying epidemic–and how it changed science, cities, and the modern world, by Steven Johnson

This engaging chronicle of the cholera epidemic has been chosen as the book that all incoming UVM first-year students read over the summer before entering in the fall.

Publisher’s Description: “It’s the summer of 1854, and London is just emerging as one of the first modern cities in the world. But lacking the infrastructure-garbage removal, clean water, sewers-necessary to support its rapidly expanding population, the city has become the perfect breeding ground for a terrifying disease no one knows how to cure. As the cholera outbreak takes hold, a physician and a local curate are spurred to action-and ultimately solve the most pressing medical riddle of their time.

In a triumph of multidisciplinary thinking, Johnson illuminates the intertwined histories of the spread of disease, the rise of cities, and the nature of scientific inquiry, offering both a riveting history and a powerful explanation of how it has shaped the world we live in.”

The mind’s eye, by Oliver Sacks.

Publisher’s description: “Includes stories of people who are able to navigate the world and communicate with others despite losing what many of us consider indispensable senses and faculties: the power of speech, the capacity to recognize faces, the sense of three-dimensional space, the ability to read, and the sense of sight. This book is a testament to the complexity of vision and the brain and to the power of creativity and adaptation, and it provides a whole new perspective on the power of language and communication, as we try to imagine what it is to perceive through another person’s eyes, or another person’s mind.”

Unaccountable : what hospitals won’t tell you and how transparency can revolutionize health care, by Marty Makary

Publisher’s description: “Dr. Marty Makary is co-developer of the life-saving checklist outlined in Atul Gawande’s bestselling The Checklist Manifesto. As a busy surgeon who has worked in many of the best hospitals in the nation, he can testify to the amazing power of modern medicine to cure. But he’s also been a witness to a medical culture that routinely leaves surgical sponges inside patients, amputates the wrong limbs, and overdoses children because of sloppy handwriting. Over the last ten years, neither error rates nor costs have come down, despite scientific progress and efforts to curb expenses. Why?To patients, the healthcare system is a black box. Doctors and hospitals are unaccountable, and the lack of transparency leaves both bad doctors and systemic flaws unchecked. Patients need to know more of what healthcare workers know, so they can make informed choices. Accountability in healthcare would expose dangerous doctors, reward good performance, and force positive change nationally, using the power of the free market. Unaccountable is a powerful, no-nonsense, non-partisan diagnosis for healing our hospitals and reforming our broken healthcare system”

Please contact Fred Pond at 656-8471 if you have any of the following years:

1952 Titled: ‘Case History’
1953 Titled: ‘The Rx’
1954
1958
1961
1989
1991
1995
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2003
2007
2008
2009
2010

By George Krikorian, Dana Medical Library

Need the latest on psychological tests, measures, scales, surveys and other assessments? The new PsycTESTS database, powered by EBSCO, provides all of this information and more, from test development to administration in one repository from the American Psychological Association (APA).

This database is comprehensive and organized, allowing users to access thousands of test instruments and records worldwide through a number of different search features. While the main focus of the database is on unpublished, research-only tests, the information available through PsycTESTS also spans over a century of detailed records, and provides links to many commercial tests that are available for purchase.

Detailed information is updated monthly, and provides information concerning:

• Test summaries and histories
• Reliability and validity data
• Test formats
• Peer-review citations from sources such as the APA and Hogrefe Publishing Group

PsycTESTS is a useful resource for studies in psychiatry, education, medicine, business, social work, and beyond. It offers a range of subject areas such as:

• Developmental measures
• Racial and ethnic identity scales
• Physical health assessments
• Intelligence tests
• Military tests

All information and test instruments are available over a number of multilingual formats. Textual information is printable in PDF formats, and occasionally includes elements of multi-media.

Be aware that most of the coverage (74%) is from 1990 or later, and that some tests may require permission from the author and/or publisher before they may be accessed for use.

If you need any assistance with this resource or others, do not hesitate to contact the reference desk at 802-656-2201.

By Fred Pond, MLS

Are you looking for low-cost, convenient ways to earn continuing medical education credit (CME)? Try Dana’s resource-rich list of databases and websites. This list offers access to a variety of clinical and medical education resources, and in some instances, CME credit may be obtained without costly out-of-town travel and fees.

Up-To-Date

Check out the popular UpToDate point-of-care database featuring quick access to current medical practices and recommendations. In fact, as you search for answers to patient care questions, UpToDate saves the topics for a later review, and offers continuing education credit by submitting the results to the appropriate accrediting organization.

Those organizations include American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, and American Academy of Physician Assistants, among others.

Activating UpToDate for Continuing Education Credit

• Visit Dana Medical Library Home page, clicking on Articles & Databases under the FIND column.
• Click on “UpToDate with CME” selection under the Clinical Databases section.
• At the prompt, enter your UVM netID and password. At that point register with UpToDate, indicating the type of continuing education you desire (MD/DO, Nurse Practitioner, Physician Assistants, etc).

UpToDate will keep track of the appropriate continuing education process for your professional role. Periodically, you will need to submit the accumulated credit to your professional organization.

Natural Standard

The Natural Standard database offers trustworthy information on complementary and alternative therapies, diets, exercise and nutrition. Natural Standard aggregates from PubMed, CancerLit, the Cochrane database and other trusted databases of the health sciences professional literature to create monographs and systematic reviews of supplements, vitamins and minerals, foods, and diets. At the heart of Natural Standard lies evidence-based systematic reviews, that both inform patient care and provide the content for a growing number of CE/CME topics. Providers can earn credit by reading this topics and then completing a brief quiz.

Natural Standard may not be as popular or as well known as UpToDate, but it offers an Evidence-Based Grading system that applies scientific evidence to alternative therapies. The World Health Organization has named Natural Standard “the best and most authoritative web site available on herbal medicines.”

Mobile App for Natural Standard

Natural Standard is also available as a Mobile app via Skyscape, a smartphone application offering a broad array of health-oriented applications, including DynaMed, RX Drugs, and several other health sciences applications. See below for instructions to receive Natural Standard on your smartphone, making it even easier to receive CME credit while you use your mobile device to answer patient care questions.

CME from the Journal Literature

Simply keeping current by reading professional journal articles can result in CME credit, and Dana Medical Library subscribes to thousands of journals online.  Journals including JAMA, BMJ, and Pediatrics require a quick registration for access to their CME resources.

According to the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), a journal-based CME activity must include reading the article, completing a learner-directed activity offered by the provider, and answering a pre-determined set of questions or completing tasks relating to the content of the article.

In this brief article, we’ve focused on just a few trustworthy, Dana Medical Library licensed resources that offer continuing education via the web. Call or email the Reference Desk at 656-2201 for more information on other reliable sources.