Seniors Sticking Around
SHREVEPORT — More seniors graduating from the LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport are going to remain in Louisiana to begin their medical training: According to the results of the National Resident Matching Program, which were released in mid-March, 59 percent of the class will remain in the state, up from 50 percent last year.
These numbers are crucial because studies show that where a physician completes his or her training is the single biggest influence on where he or she will ultimately practice medicine.
Adding to this hopeful news was that half of the class chose residencies in primary care: internal medicine, family practice, pediatrics and the combined medicine/pediatric track. Louisiana has experienced a shortage of primary care physicians in recent years.
The LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport encourages its students to enter a primary care field with emphasis on rural primary care opportunities.
Education and Health Care on the Move
MONROE — The University of Louisiana at Monroe’s College of Health Sciences, with financial support from IberiaBank, BankCorp South and the Living Well Foundation, unveiled its Mobile Health Screening Unit on Feb. 19 at the Ouachita Council on Aging.
Clay’s RV in West Monroe donated the vehicle, which is staffed by five ULM departments: nursing, dental hygiene, speech language pathology, clinical laboratory sciences and occupational therapy.
According to Paxton Oliver, associate dean of the College of Health Sciences, the unit will do double-duty as a hands-on way to educate students in an authentic environment and also will offer essential health care services to an eight-parish region.
The vehicle has an examination room and an oral-health screening center and provides free blood pressure, vision and oral cancer screenings. It serves primarily Ouachita Parish but has also been at health fairs in Richland and Morehouse parishes.
“We support this unit because it increases services to the underserved, and we have many,” Jan Corder, president and CEO of the not-for-profit Living Well Foundation, said in a press release. “If you have early detection, you can prevent disease and implement more cost-effective treatment.”
New Outpatient Rehab Facility Opens on Northshore
COVINGTON — Lakeview Regional Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine recently opened a 10,000-square-foot facility with six private treatment rooms and two separate gyms for adult and pediatric therapy patients.
With the only dedicated pediatric rehabilitation program in the area, the facility evaluates and treats infants, children and adolescents with congenital, neuromuscular and/or developmental disorders, including cerebral palsy and spina bifida. To better help patients, therapists use a multidisciplinary approach that combines pediatric physical, occupational and speech therapies.
On the adult rehabilitation side, therapists hope to develop, maintain and restore maximum movement and functional mobility to patients who have injuries, such as spinal cord injuries, amputations, joint replacements or sports injuries, as well as to patients who have had strokes or have illnesses such as Parkinson’s.
“The opening of our Lakeview Regional Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine facility represents our continued commitment to connect our community with a continuum of quality health care services on our campus,” Jason Cobb, Lakeview Regional CEO, said in a press release. “[We are] known for providing exceptional patient care and customer service –– our Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine patients can expect to receive the same high level of care.”
