February 27, 2008

       Dear Colleagues,

• Nothing could be more important to our ID fellowship program than the upcoming March 26th ACGME site visit. This review only occurs once every five years. In preparation for this visit Dr. Wills and I have spent many hours preparing materials in order to meet all ACGME requirements. In order to educate our faculty on the best approaches for this process and what to expect we have rescheduled the faculty meeting for Wed. March 19, 6pm at 17 Davis. Faculty should make every effort to attend this meeting. We will review the adverse findings compiled from visits to other sites, the Site Reviewer's itinerary, and discuss the role of each of the faculty and fellows in this process.

• We are developing an ID image library for the web. The first module will be an extensive collection of parasitology slides.
• In conjunction with the COM's Office of International Affairs, we are solidifying affiliation agreements with the following universities: Yeungnam University, College of Medicine, South Korea, and Srinakharinwirot University, College of Medicine, Thailand. Dr. Menezes and Dr. Somboonwit have spearheaded these efforts. Please read the "Pioneering International Exchange"  article documenting the visit of the students from South Korea.
• At a recent meeting for the south side faculty, we discussed how to improve our billing process and increase revenues by more accurately billing for all procedures we perform. Gary Lifshin and Brooke Engman have developed a billing guidelines document as a result of this discussion. This document is available for download through the secure area of the ID website, accessible using your USF Health ID and password. A hard copy will also be mailed to your attention.
• In 2007, approximately $100,000 was generated through educational grants. In order to exceed our 2007 educational grant total, we need faculty input. Brooke Engman recently emailed the faculty an electronic form that can be used to identify future opportunities. Please submit at least one form and remember that a three month lead time is necessary.
• Please bookmark these links in your browsers:
  
  The ID Division website:
  http://id.health.usf.edu
  
  The COM IA website:
  http://health.usf.edu/medicine/ia
  
  If you have corrections or ideas for our websites email Juliancorvin@gmail.com.

    Warmly,

    John Sinnott MD FACP

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