Jill Clendening

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has established a new chaplain residency training program to provide quality education for developing chaplains and better support the spiritual needs of patients, their families and Medical Center employees.

Planning for StrategyShare2020 was well underway when the pandemic forced the organizers to come up with a new structure for the annual event which in the past had showcased novel ideas and initiatives from throughout the Medical Center campus in one cohesive event.

For the fourth straight year, VUMC surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and support staff provided free surgeries for underinsured individuals with chronic upper extremity conditions such as carpel tunnel syndrome and cysts.

In October 2018, Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Defining Personalized Care — Elevating Our Culture of Service initiative was launched, and leaders are applauding the service education’s reinforcement of positive behaviors for improved delivery of service to each other, to patients and to their family members.

The multicellular, 3-D structure of human pancreatic islets — the areas of the pancreas containing hormone-producing or endocrine cells — has presented challenges to researchers as they study and manipulate these cells’ function, but Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers have now developed a pseudoislet system that allows for much easier study of islet function.

While some smokers might rationalize continuing to smoke because of the lower weight often associated with the habit, Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators have determined that even with a lower body mass index (BMI), smokers have a higher risk of depositing fat in and around organs and tissues compared to those who never smoked.