Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine (NSU-COM) and DOCARE International recently partnered in a 10-day humanitarian effort to provide health care services to remote areas of Guatemala. Over 1,000 patients were treated by members of the medical outreach endeavor. Medical Mission 2008 to Guatemala comprised a volunteer medical contingent of 20 licensed health care specialists and 30 NSU-COM students.

Fourth-year NSU-COM student Gayatri Menon (left) and DOCARE volunteer Derek Liu from Michigan prepare to perform some lab work on a Guatemalan child. The temporary clinic was set up at a local fire station.

“This is the ninth year that NSU-COM has gone to Guatemala on a medical mission,” said Chuck Green, president of the NSU-COM DOCARE student chapter. “An enormous amount of planning went into this mission, along with fundraising which allowed us to purchase bulk vitamins, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen wholesale for direct distribution to our patients in the Atitlan region of Guatemala. The health care team also included two translators who often times needed to translate Mayan to Spanish to English and back.”

Guatemalan villagers wait to be seen at one of the makeshift clinics.

Although the participants, including the students, paid their own way and missed classes or office hours, the rewards far outweighed the sacrifices. “Sometimes the mission seems overwhelming when added to our other duties as medical students,” Green stated. “But we loved it. It made us stronger and better prepared for our future work in helping the underserved of the world.”



North Shore Medical Center CEO Manny Linares today announced that Jaime Lozano, M.D., and Rudolph Moise, D.O., have joined the hospital’s Governing Board and Alan M. Silbert, M.D., has been elected to a two-year term as chairman.

Dr. Silbert has served as the chief of ophthalmology at North Shore since 1986. He has been a member of the Governing Board since 2004 and previously held the positions of secretary, vice-chairman and chairman. He also served as president of the medical staff in 1994-95 and chief of surgery from 1990-93. Dr. Lozano, a radiation oncologist, is medical director of the C. Gordon Griffith Cancer Center at North Shore. He earned his medical degree from Javeriana University in Colombia.

Dr. Moise is board certified in general practice and is a diplomate with the National Board of Osteopathic Examiners. Dr. Moise previously served as physician on-call for the hit television program Miami Vice and as a flight surgeon with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel for the U.S. Air Force Reserves.


A new tuition scholarship program at Barry University awards $4,400 to qualified Master of Public Health (MPH) students, enrolled in their last semester of study, when two or more employees of the same agency begin the MPH program together.

Recipients of the Hospital/Health Department Affiliate Tuition Scholarship (HATS) must be pursuing the Barry MPH degree and be employees of hospitals in the South Florida Hospital and Health Association (SFHHA), or employed by hospitals in the Orlando/Central Florida area. Also eligible are employees from the local county health departments throughout Florida.

A letter from the employee’s CEO stating that the applicants are employees of the agency and their education is being encouraged and sanctioned, is all that is required. The scholarship is granted in the name of the health agency and is applied to the students’ final semester of enrollment, regardless of who is paying their tuition.

The Barry University professional MPH degree can be completed in 20 months by attending class in Miami Shores or Orlando every other weekend and completing reading, computer-based assignments and online course materials while away from campus. The curriculum is grounded in the five core areas of public health, epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental and occupational health science, health services administration, and social and behavioral sciences, and culminates with a master’s project. Students are encouraged to write a master’s project that will benefit their area of employment when possible.




Good Samaritan Medical Center recently dedicated Operating Room One in memory of Dr. Paul Liebman. This is an excerpt of a letter by Daniel Higgins, M.D.

Paul Liebman, M.D. passed away peacefully on Friday, March 16, 2007. He was surrounded by his wonderful family. He was everything a patient or a colleague or a community would want in a doctor. He was only 61 years old. Those who were around him appreciated that he was at the top of his game. He loved his work. He loved the people he worked with. The love was reciprocated. He was the consummate surgeon. He operated with purpose. His medical and surgical knowledge was broad and deep. He had an experienced, keen and thoughtful mind. He was creative. He was historical. He was brilliant. He was also healthy. He exercised. He traveled. He volunteered. He never ate lunch. He never appeared fatigued. The three A’s of surgical success, affability, ability, availability were just a faint notion of what Paul embodied. He was all of that and much more. He was the favorite of the thinking, informed medical community of his specialty of vascular surgery. He was the favorite of thyroid and parathyroid surgery. He was a pioneer and master of laparoscopic adrenal surgery. He promulgated advances in surgery and medicine within and outside of his specialty. His career was one of constant learning and excellence. He nurtured others.

Paul was very special and dear. There will not be another. He cannot be replaced. His memory will continue to elevate those who worked with him forever. We shall remain vigilant regarding the circumstances of his death.



Charles L. Byrd, M.D., director of the Electrophysiology Institute at Broward General Medical Center (BGMC) was recently recognized and honored at the Heart Rhythm Society’s conference in San Francisco. Dr. Byrd received the Pioneer in Cardiac Pacing and Electrophysiology Award for 2008.

Dr Byrd is best known as a surgical electrophysiologist, cardiac surgeon specializing in electrophysiology, and for his involvement in the development of many of the tools and procedures used to manage complications related to pacemakers and defibrillators. Notable are the development of the Spectronetics Eximer Laser in the 1990’s, the Cook Vascular Electrosurgical Dissection Sheath in the early 2000’s and recently the Cook Vascular Evolution.