Houston may be warm, but Progress Notes is hot with news and progress at Texas Children’s - Progress notes


August/September 2006 In this issue
*Houston may be warm, but Progress Notes* is hot with news and progress at Texas Children’s**
Texas Children’s is growing and expanding
Pediatric acute kidney injury: It’s time for real progress
Multidisciplinary team focuses on making care safer for patients receiving insulin
Common sense and Semmelweiss
Texas Children News for the medical staff

Grand Rounds
Medical staff committees and chairs
Home
Archives
Advisors Ralph D. Feigin, M.D. Physician-in-Chief Texas Children's Hospital Professor and Chairman Department of Pediatrics Baylor College of Medicine Joseph A. Garcia-Prats, M.D. Neonatologist Texas Children's Hospital Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of Medical Ethics Baylor College of Medicine Arnold G. Kagan, M.D. Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics Editor Cindy Shanley Marketing and Public Relations Texas Children’s Hospital 832-824-2180
Diagnostic Virology Laboratory Newsletter

For members of the Texas Children's medical staff

From the medical staff president

Houston may be warm, but Progress Notes is hot with news and advances at Texas Children’s


Dr. Joseph A. Garcia-Prats

By Joseph A. Garcia-Prats, M.D.

The hot summer months in Houston have driven us indoors to our more comfortable air-conditioned homes or to swimming pools or cooler vacation spots. We now are paying the price for those very comfortable spring, fall and winter months that required no heavy coats, no shoveling snow, no removing ice from our sidewalks and driveways. Well, we love Houston for just those attributes. Soon it will be time to think about sending the kids back to school and dealing with the clinical problems that we will see both in our offices and hospital wards. The year really is slipping by quickly.

This issue of Progress Notes highlights numerous positives at Texas Children’s Hospital, including the hospitals' exceptional rating as the No. 5 children’s hospital in the country. This is recognition that we should all be proud of, as well as encouraged to strive to be the best health care system for children in the world. It is only through the leadership of our Physician-in-Chief Dr. Ralph Feigin and our President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Wallace, as well as the hard work of our medical, nursing and administrative staff that such a distinction is possible.

Two articles in this issue, one by Dr. Joan Shook and the other by Jessica Hilburn, do an excellent job of reminding us of the importance of patient safety. Both articles focus on the human efforts that we must undertake to keep our patients safe from both a system perspective and an infection control perspective. Sometimes it is the simple things that have the greatest impact on outcomes, be they asking the frontline caregiver the right question about how things can be done better or just taking a few minutes to wash our hands before and after seeing our patients. When Anton van Leeuwenhoek invented the microscope in the 1600s and identified “animalicules” and Louis Pastuer established the germ theory of disease in the 1800s, medicine took a tremendous leap forward in improvement of patient care. Yet, we should not forget that their seminal work would be for naught if we do not do the simple things like washing our hands when dealing with our patients.

Also in this issue, Dr. Stuart Goldstein’s article tells of the exciting–and significant–clinical and research progress in pediatric acute renal failure diagnosis and management. Texas Children’s is making some important strides in the fight against renal disease that ultimately will benefit children and adults.

Joseph A. Garcia-Prats, M.D., is the 2006 president of the medical staff and a neonatologist at Texas Children’s. He also is a professor of pediatrics and a professor of medical ethics at Baylor College of Medicine.

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Online CME
Free online activity
A pediatric educational series
Special Topics in Pediatrics: Diagnosing A Fever of Unknown Origin and Antimicrobial Usage Update

Grand Rounds calendar

8:30 a.m., Fridays,
Texas Children's Hospital,
lower-level Auditorium
unless otherwise listed.

Aug. 11
Pet Imaging In Pediatrics
Harry T. Chugani, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics, Neurology, and of Radiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Mich.

Aug. 18
Fetal Alcohol Exposure: Effects, Recognition, Management, and Prevention
Sherry L. Sellers Vinson, M.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics; Maria C. Quintero, Ph.D., Assistant Deputy Director, Mental Retardation Services, Mental Health Mental Retardation Association of Harris County

Aug. 25
Oral and Dental Problems In Children
Rosie Roldan, M.D., D.M.D.

Sept. 1
Treatment of Behavioral Problems
Marni E. Axelrad, PhD, Assistant Professor of Allied Health

Sept. 8
Myocarditis In Infants and Children?
Jeffrey A. Towbin, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics

Sept. 15
Clinical Pathological Conference
Milton J. Finegold, M.D., Professor of Pathology

Sept. 22
Pediatric Scoliosis
William A. Phillips, M.D., Professor of Orthopedic Surgery

Oct. 6
Topic to be announced
Gary D. Webb, M.D., Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Oct. 13
Pele Chandler Lecure
Robert Warren, M.D.