FEBUARY 2013
I know I’m dating myself, but when I was growing up in Maryland, the words “heart attack” and “calling an ambulance to go to the emergency room” struck fear in the minds and hearts of families. Seeing an ambulance arrive at a neighbor’s house evoked the collective terror that a father, a husband or friend was probably dying of cardiac arrest.
Gratefully, that is not entirely the case today, although heart disease is still the number one killer in Kentucky. We have life saving surgeries, devices, medicines and procedures of prevention that save lives in the cardiologist’s office, in the cath lab, the operating room, the ambulence and the emergency suite. This issue of M.D. Update examines the efforts and skills of a new generation of Kentucky cardiology specialists and surgeons along with a look at Emergency and Hospital Medicine doctors.
In our Special Section on Emergency Medicine meet Barry Parsley, MD, and Steven Stack, MD, two of the ER doctors who serve at Saint Joseph Hospital, Saint Joseph East and Saint Joseph Jessamine, Central Kentucky’s highest volume emergency departments with newly renovated facilities to accommodate the increased patient flow. Ryan Stanton, MD, Medical Director of UK’s Good Samaritan Hospital’s ER has a special working relationship with the media and he’s willing to share some tips.
Jamil Farooqui, MD, of the Lexington Clinic’s Hospital Medicine section gives his view of the relationship bond he feels with his hospital patients.
The many roles of the medical chaplain are described by Reverend Don Chase, of the Lexington Veteran’ Medical Centers. Please take a few minutes to read how a skilled medical chaplain participates in the healing and grieving process.
Also in this issue of M.D. Update, you’ll find expert commentary from our financial, accounting and technology columnists. Contact them for their hands-on problem solving.
Look for your specialty in upcoming issues and contact us to participate.
Until then, best regards,
GIL DUNN PUBLISHER, M.D. UPDATE