VUMC Publications
These Doctors Mean Business: Med school graduates contributing in non-clinical roles
Sep. 18, 2014—While patient care is an important part of the careers of the majority of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine graduates, some find that they can make the greatest leadership contributions in non-clinical roles. “The solid foundation that these graduates have received in the art and science of medicine allows them to function much more effectively...
Bringing Cancer to Light: Radiology’s invisible energies play lead role in cancer care
Jul. 7, 2014—It all started with a faint glow. It was November 1895, and the German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen was experimenting with an early cathode ray tube—a vacuum tube with a contained electric current. During his experiments he noticed an odd fluorescence in crystals on a nearby table. Surprisingly, the glow continued even when he covered the tube with...
Women and Children First: OB-GYN dedicates career to providing care to underserved population
Feb. 24, 2014—John Heusinkveld, M.D., thought when he was a medical student that he didn’t want to practice obstetrics and gynecology (OB-GYN). So, during his third year, he chose the specialty as his first clinic rotation to get it out of the way. But he was surprisingly pulled in that direction, and after graduating from VUSM in...
A Life Changed: A Vanderbilt nurse recounts the tragic night that would change her life forever
Feb. 11, 2013—Mia Sharp Bransford, R.N., EMT, works as a nurse at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, helping injured and sick children in the Emergency Department. Usually, her work and dedication to treat children and patients is performed in the hospital. But the soft-spoken, friendly nurse unselfishly rose to the challenge while on vacation to...
Bouncing Back
Sep. 14, 2012—Vanderbilt University basketball player Christina Foggie, the top scorer, male or female, at her New Jersey high school and the top-rated recruit, came into her freshman season in 2010 doing all it took to make plays, taking the inevitable bumps and elbows from her opponents. At the sixth game of the season at Bowling Green...
On a Patient’s Worst Day
Apr. 26, 2012—Minutes from now, the newly conscious patient will flail softly in her bed and try to pull out her breathing tube. A nurse will be there to stay her hand. Right now, though, she’s slipping toward death. As she was being turned in her bed, her heart rate plummeted, and it hasn’t returned. She’s gone...
A Course in True Love: Medical students look to future after cancer-related detour
Feb. 10, 2012—Although clichés are passé, omnia vincit amor – love conquers all – is highly appropriate in describing the longtime relationship between third-year Vanderbilt medical student Sarah Proffitt and her boyfriend, Amos Clark. Proffitt and Clark grew up in the small town of Athens in East Tennessee where almost everyone knows everybody. These two were no...
Rewired: Helping children with traumatic brain injury
Jan. 6, 2012—Nine-year-old Stevie Wintz stares down the pitches that sail over home plate and is rewarded with a walk to first base. Once safely on the bag, with the sound of “Party Rock Anthem” blaring from another field, he breaks into his signature dance moves – like his whole body is made of Jell-O and he...