Match Day — and Vanderbilt’s longstanding tradition of gathering fourth-year medical students, their families, friends and faculty together to celebrate — was revamped again this year to implement social distancing measures due to COVID-19. Unlike last year, however, the students had the option to reveal their residency matches either in person or virtually via livestream.

Health informatics expert and educator Jessica Ancker, PhD, MPH, has joined the Department of Biomedical Informatics as vice chair for Educational Affairs. Ancker comes from Weill Cornell Medical College and Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, where she was an associate professor.

Physicians from all specialties across Vanderbilt University Medical Center are volunteering their time to communicate daily with family members of patients in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit.

Following a Thanksgiving surge that led to record numbers of admissions of patients with COVID-19, residents and fellows from multiple disciplines have come together under the direction and supervision of critical care attendings to provide the best care to critically ill patients in Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit.

Geoffrey Fleming, MD, professor of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, and Vice President of Vanderbilt University Medical Center Continuous Professional Development, died Dec. 8. He was 50.

The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), which oversees physician certification in the United States, announced the adoption of a “progressive leave policy that will offer residents and fellows more flexibility, reduce stress and increase autonomy in making life decisions, especially with regard to family and parental leave.”

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has been accredited as a Comprehensive Accredited Education Institute (AEI) by the American College of Surgeons (ACS).