April 2018 – Around UF Health

Wear Red Day!

Wear Red Day

Wear Red Day, an annual nationwide effort to raise awareness about cardiovascular disease, drew strong support his year from many UF Health teams.— Greg Hamilton

 

Affiliation with National Cancer Institute brings novel cancer treatments to patients

The UF Health Cancer Center has been accepted into a national clinical trials network that will give patients access to leading-edge clinical trials. Membership in the National Cancer Institute’s Experimental Therapeutics Clinical Trial Network is reserved for cancer centers that hold a special designation by the NCI and account for only a fraction of centers nationwide; the UF Health Cancer Center is an exception. As a member, the center can give patients access to early-phase experimental therapeutic clinical trials and studies that assess new treatments for efficacy and safety. — Emily Nolan

 

UF Health pediatric oncology patients first in U.S. to pilot HealthSteps mobile platform

A group of UF Health pediatric oncology patients are participating in a trial for HealthSteps, a smartphone-based digital care plan with instructions, built-in reminders, a symptom tracker and the ability to share care plans between family members and medical teams. UF Health is the first in the nation to pilot the mobile application, which was created at the Innovation Hub at the University of Florida using UF resources. Patients in the pilot are undergoing maintenance treatment for leukemia. During this phase, most of the administering of medications happens at home. The patients’ physicians and care team at UF Health can log into the HealthSteps clinical web platform to see updates and make important health care decisions. — Lauren Gajda

 

The team at the Archer Family Health Care has been honored for the quality of care they provide

The team at the Archer Family Health Care has been honored for the quality of care they provide

Archer Family Health Care earns top patient-centered care honor

The UF College of Nursing’s Archer Family Health Care has earned Patient-Centered Medical Home, or PCMH, recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance through 2020 for its commitment to improving access to patient care with lower cost. The PCMH is a model of care that puts patients at the forefront. Research shows this model improves quality, the patient experience and staff satisfaction, while reducing health care costs. Archer Family Health Care is the only recognized nurse-managed health care practice in the United States. — Kelly Sobers


Among the Leaders

UF College of Nursing up in rankings; UF College College of Medicine remains a top medical school in the U.S.

By Doug Bennett

The University of Florida College of Medicine remained one of the nation’s top-rated public medical schools in U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings of
the best graduate schools.

The College of Medicine is ranked No. 41 among the 150 medical schools nationwide and No. 17 among public medical schools. UF continues to be the highestranked medical school in Florida. It also ranked 65th for primary care, a separate category that considered the percentage of graduates doing primary care residences in family medicine, pediatrics and internal medicine between 2015 and 2017.

“These rankings are a reflection of our ongoing commitment to exceptional health professions education and research,” said David S. Guzick, M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president for health affairs at UF and president of UF Health. “We have consistently shown that UF Health has earned its place among the nation’s best research-intensive schools. Our faculty and staff can once again be proud of their accomplishments.”

The College of Nursing’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program is at No. 28 in the country. It is also ranked No. 1 among such programs in Florida.

“We are extremely proud to have the Doctor of Nursing Practice program ranked No. 28 in the U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings. Last
summer, our D.N.P. program was reaccredited for 10 years. As the top program in the state — one that is in the top 20 among public universities — we offer
doctoral programs online to students who have a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree in nursing. We pride ourselves on educating the best and brightest
advanced practice Gator nurses, who translate theory and research to innovative and evidence-based clinical settings as we continually strive to improve patient
outcomes,” said Anna McDaniel, Ph.D., dean of the College of Nursing.

Factors that affected the medical school’s overall research ranking included its acceptance rate, faculty-to student ratio, federal research grants and multiple
surveys of academic administrators. The College of Medicine showed gains in students’ median undergraduate grade-point average and total admission-test scores between 2016 and 2017, according to figures from U.S. News & World Report. The acceptance rate went from 5 percent in 2016 to 4.6 percent in 2017.

“The University of Florida continues to attract outstanding medical students and distinguished, ambitious researchers from around the nation. That is reflected in the College of Medicine’s consistently solid standing among the nation’s top medical schools,” said Michael L. Good, M.D., dean of the UF College of Medicine.