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Vinh Q Mai, DO
Chief, Endocrinology,
Diabetes and Metabolism
CDR
|
MC
|
USN
WRB
Henry B Burch, MD
Director, Endocrinology
COL
|
MC
|
USA
USU
The Endocrinology,
Diabetes
and
Metabolism Service
at
Walter
Reed
Bethesda and Fort
Belvoir Community
Hospital, known as
the
Endocrinology
Product
Line,
underwent
major
changes in business
operations this past
year, with a focus across the NCR on customer
service, improved access to care, and
innovative patient-centered approaches. Our
primary mission is to provide outstanding
endocrine care to a diverse population of
enrolled beneficiaries and uniformed service
members. A key priority is also to sustain a
sound endocrinology fellowship training
program in order to support operational
readiness, ongoing military medical education
and clinical research.
Revamping Clinical Care by Embedding
Resources and Technology at Point-of-Care
Sites to Focus on Diabetes and Obesity
One of the most significant changes in the
Endocrinology Service has been to revamp our
clinical efforts to provide cutting-edge care to
patients afflicted with obesity and diabetes
mellitus. According to the Military Times, an
estimated 7.8% of active duty service
members in 2015 met Body Mass Index (BMI)
criteria for being overweight or obese—
soaring significantly from only 1.6% in 2001;
and approximately 8% suffer from type 2
diabetes mellitus.
The Endocrinology Service has developed its
first-ever multidisciplinary Diabetes, Obesity
and Metabolism Institute (DOMI) in the NCR
to address this alarming epidemic. This special
program is being spearheaded by Dr. Alicia
Warnock and Dr. Kasey Nadolsky and involves
embedded nurse practitioners throughout the
NCR, including at Kimbrough Ambulatory Care
Center at Fort Meade, Fairfax Health Clinic and
Dumfries Clinic in Virginia.
The DOMI focuses on diabetes and obesity
management, with a strong emphasis on
advanced technology (such as insulin pumps
and continuous glucose monitoring devices)
and lifestyle modification via motivational
counseling using our embedded health
psychologist, Dr. Lindsey Dorflinger, from the
Directorate for Behavioral Health.
In collaboration with our surgical team, the
DOMI is also positioned to help patients who
can further benefit from bariatric surgery to
promote weight loss. This comprehensive
approach not only effectively addresses the
current obesity epidemic, but also efficiently
promotes healthy living, physical fitness and
operational readiness.
New Health IT Tool Improves Efficiency,
Endocrine Access and Patient Satisfaction
In keeping up with the ever-expanding
technological revolution, the Endocrinology
Service initiated the electronic consultation
(eConsult) service to improve efficiency of care
delivery, access to endocrine care and patient
satisfaction. The eConsult Initiative allows us
to take specialty care to remote areas of the
Endocrinology
Above, a classic cytology
photo of papillary thyroid
cancer, diagnosed via
ultrasound-guided fine-
needle aspiration and
routinely performed in
the Endocrine clinic.
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region where there is a general lack of
specialty
access
and
reduces
the
inconvenience of our patients needing to
travel a long distance to receive care. Coupled
with our Secure Messaging service and in
collaboration
with
our
primary
care
colleagues, this innovative service reduces the
burden of unnecessary visits for our patients
while allowing them to continue receiving the
same high-quality care rendered remotely.
The Endocrine Service, along with other
specialty services throughout the DoD, has
been using this electronic process to care for
our
deployed
units
overseas
through
teleconsultation, which has successfully
prevented thousands of unnecessary medical
evacuations and has facilitated thousands of
other needed evacuations since its inception.
Furthermore, the Endocrinology Product Line
plans to expand its services regionally via our
telehealth program, providing remote care for
patients via video teleconferencing with an
emphasis on chronic illness management for
conditions such as diabetes and obesity.
The Strong Balance between Student
Mentoring and Academic Scholarship Guides
Enhancements to Endocrinology Care
The
endocrinology
fellowship
program,
currently led by Dr. Thanh Hoang and the
Endocrine Division at USU, chaired by Dr.
Henry Burch, has consistently maintained
academic excellence and a military footprint
for many decades with leading scholarly
research,
national
representation
and
recognition. As the only endocrine training
program in the Army and Navy, all
endocrinologists stationed at various military
treatment facilities throughout the world are
graduates of this program, many of whom are
current leading authorities in the field and
community. Our core faculty members are
intimately involved in the educational
mentoring of the university’s medical students
through a shared curriculum and the Unity of
Effort initiative.
2016 was also a highly productive year for our
endocrinology fellowship program, with a
100% first-time board pass rate for our
fellows. Our fellows also were able to publish
several articles in nationally recognized
journals such as
Thyroid, The Journal of Clinical
Endocrinology and Metabolism and Endocrine
Practice
—describing clinical practice guidelines
for the diagnosis and management of
hyperthyroidism and obesity.
Also, our full-time clinical staff had seven
articles published in peer-reviewed journals
this year. USU division staff and our clinical
volunteers
also
contributed
numerous
additional publications, including, among
other publications, a New England Journal of
Medicine review article on the management of
thyroid nodules.
Endocrinology fellows in
training examining a
cytology slide to diagnose
various thyroid disorders.