As Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) gears up for the Nov. 2 launch of eStar, teams throughout the medical center are hard at work to ensure the transition is seamless and positive for patients and their families.

To celebrate the release of her first children’s album, “I Believe in You,” legendary country music singer-songwriter Dolly Parton visited Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt on Friday, Oct. 13, and performed songs from the album for patients, their families and hospital staff.

Removing part of a kidney with minimally invasive robotic surgery rather than an entire kidney when operating for smaller tumors is often best for patients from a recovery and health standpoint, but many surgeons hesitate to do so because of the complexity of the robotic partial nephrectomy procedure.

Beginning this week, the first of a series of six messages is being distributed to Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) employees highlighting ways to best fulfill the Vanderbilt Patient and Family Promise, a guiding principle that was created by patients and providers and adopted at VUMC in 2013.

Well-developed biceps. Interesting tattoos. Friends I haven't seen lately. The best question: "Where do I go to get naked?" The mass vaccination event is a Vanderbilt tradition, and I wanted to do my part.

George Washington University biomedical engineering student Sydney Bailes spent her summer carefully creating silicone layers of precise consistencies, and she hopes to spend winter break continuing work on the project that can one day help junior surgical trainees practice a critical skill — inserting surgical instruments for abdominal surgeries.