Plays of the Week:
Plan of the week goes to our incoming intern, 2d Lt Anna Casey, who received the USU Ildy Katona Outstanding Student in Pediatrics Award!
Play of the week also goes to Dr. Kevin Westbrook who got a champagne tap earlier this week! 🍾
Play of the week also goes to Dr. Ahmed, who was named the new Associate Program Director for the Transitional Year Program!
A big NCCPeds welcome to LCDR Meaghan Wido, who will be taking over LCDR Lara's position at USU!
Congratulations to all of our NCR Research and Inquiry Competition Presenters and Winners!
Case Report Presentations (Residents)
- IgA anti-platelet antibodies in breast milk contributing to neonatal autoimmune thrombocytopenia, LT Robert Crutcher
- When salmonella surprises – Progression of pyomyositis to osteomyelitis and brodie’s abscess following NTS infection, CPT Elizabeth Rahman
- Pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency in a newborn with congenital absence of the corpus callosum, Maj Sharen Wilson (2nd place)
- VACTERL-L: A unique presentation of VACTERL association with pulmonary manifestations, Capt Nicole Martin (2nd place)
- Open your eyes to a new variation of ethylmalonic encephalopathy, CPT Kevin Westbrook
Case Report Presentations (Fellows)
- Two cases of blau-like syndrome successfully treated with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors, CPT Janet Jang
- Itching to get to the cause of a case of urticarial vasculitis, CPT Elena Crecelius
- Massive fetomaternal hemorrhage warranting novel use of tandem therapies, MAJ Christopher Stark (1st place)
Patient-and-Family-Centered Care
- Food insecurity and the impact of WIC, Capt Sidney Zven (1st place)
- Improving outpatient pediatric endoscopy counseling through utilization of an educational patient handout, CPT Janet Jang
Evidence-Based Practice and Performance, Quality Improvement
- Evaluation of a novel, evidenced-based, pediatric nutrition status screening protocol at a tertiary care military medical center, Maj Kolasinski (1st place)
- Combating food insecurity: Increasing WIC enrollment in the Military, Capt Amy Davis
- Development and implementation of a novel abscess trainer in graduate medical education, CPT Anthony Lucido
Laboratory Presentations
- Parity increases corticosterone response to restraint-induced stress after mild blast traumatic brain injury in mice, MAJ Sarah Anisowicz (2nd place)
Clinical Presentations
- Trends of cardiac complaints in pediatric and young adult populations during the Covid-19 pandemic, CPT Emily Ferraro
- Can preschool BMI changes flag children at highest risk for adolescent obesity? CPT Sarah Jiang
- Association between celiac disease and pneumococcal infections in hospitalized pediatric patients within the United States, CPT Janet Jang
- Salivary sampling as a noninvasive method of monitoring gentamicin levels in neonates, CPT Theresa Urbina
- pRu'ach: Mastery learning tele-training to ensure effective ventilation in neonatal resuscitation, LCDR Charles Groomes (2nd place)
Schedule:
Date | Event | Time and Location | Audience/Notes |
Sunday, 5/14 Mother's Day & Elizabeth Rahman's Birthday 🎉 | | | |
Monday, 5/15 | MR: Case & MSK Exam Lecture, J Lopreiato | 0745 - 0850 America 2525 B/C | All welcome |
Tuesday, 5/16 | MR: Case & Common Musculoskeletal Problems, N Lopreiato | 0745 - 0850 America 2525 B/C | All welcome |
| SOCR Meetings | | Pre-scheduled appointments |
| MilMed Field Trip | 1200 - 1600 See separate email and continuity clinic webpage for pre-work | Broughton, Kondiles, Mauro, Caballero, Ferraro, Howard, Davis, Martin, Warren |
Wednesday, 5/17 | Grand Rounds: The Evaluation and Management of Infant/Pediatric Scrotal Swelling, Karmon M. Janssen, DO, MS | 0745 - 0845 Room A3, Bldg A, USUHS and Virtual Google Meet Platform | All welcome; outpatient providers/residents are highly encouraged to attend in-person |
| MilMed Field Trip | 1200 - 1600 See separate email and continuity clinic webpage for pre-work | Bennett, Rahman, Reddington, Ghersi, Hasler, Lucido, Liggett, McNamara |
Thursday, 5/18 National Speech Pathologist Day | MR: Case & Travel Medicine - Adventures with Bear Grylls Lecture, Penfold | 0745 - 0850 America 2525 B/C | All welcome |
| MilMed Field Trip | 1200 - 1600 See separate email and continuity clinic webpage for pre-work | Goetzman, Graziose, Wilson, Zven, Meyers, Patel, Sukenaga, Westbrook |
Friday, 5/19 | MR: Case & Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing Lecture, Covington | 0745 - 0850 America 2525 B/C | All welcome |
I will be on leave 19-28MAY. For any acute call/morning report issues, please reach out to the following:
19-21MAY: Capt Sidney Zven (732) 325-5248
22-26MAY: CPT Brian Graziose (516) 710-1483
27-28MAY: Capt Billy Bennett (401) 378-0357
Save the Date 🗓 | Upcoming Birthdays 🎉 |
21MAY: JDRF Walk | |
22-23MAY: PFCCS | |
24MAY: NICU Academic Half-Day | |
29MAY: Memorial Day | |
10JUN: Hail & Farewell | Do you have a birthday that you want added to the calendar? Email/text Britt |
Announcements:
Meet our Rotating 4th Year Medical Students!

All Staff Updates
Religion in Medicine Panel: 23MAY
Mark your calendars for the next DEI MR session on 23MAY. We will be hosting a 6 panelist discussion on the topic of Religion in Medicine.

Faculty Leadership Position opening for AAP Chapter East
The American Academy of Pediatrics Uniformed Services Chapter East is looking for motivated pediatric clinicians to fill upcoming vacancies on the executive board. The Vice President assists in program development, district initiatives, planning for the annual gathering at the national meeting. The Member at Large aids in special projects with involvement time scalable to the member’s bandwidth. The treasurer manages fund dispersal, as well as annual taxes. The treasurer role is also joined with the secretary to aid in minutes during chapter meetings.
Being a part of the executive board affords an opportunity to learn about national AAP governance, as well as collaboration with district and section partners. Travel, when recommended, is funded by the AAP. Although not required, travel opportunities include the annual leadership forum each spring, the district meeting each summer, and the national conference each fall. The spring and summer meetings are in Itasca, which is near Chicago. The fall conference rotates in location each year. For any questions please reach out to Lt Col Nitasha Garcia (mailto:nitasha.d.garcia.mil@health.mil), immediate past president or Maj Caitlin Hammond (mailto:caitlin.e.hammond.mil@health.mil), current president. Thank you!
Hail & Farewell Coverage
We are looking for 1-2 volunteers to cover the ward Saturday 10JUN (0600-0600) to allow our hardworking residents to attend the NCC Peds Hail & Farewell. Below are the available shifts (this can either be two 12-hour shifts, or one 24-hour shift). A BIG thank you to the NICU team and their already planned coverage.
Saturday, 10JUN 0600 – 1700
Saturday, 10JUN 1700 – Sunday, 11JUN 0600
Email Britt (chief.resident@nccpeds) if you are interested!
Get to know our incoming interns and returning GMO
Check out the PDF below!
The Annual JDRF One Walk: Saturday, May 21st

Updated Base Gate Operations
Over the next few months, Naval Support Activity Bethesda will be working to expand its gate operations, providing more options for traffic entering and exiting the installation.
Gate 4 – which is the Navy Lodge gate located at the top of the USU garage tunnel exit ramp – will open from 5:00 a.m. until 8:00 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Do you want gate updates texted to your phone? Text "nsabtraffic" to 888777
Resident-Specific Updates
PI/QI Project
6JUNE: Final Presentations
Each group should finalize their A3 Slides in order to present a summary of Steps 1-8.
You will have 10 minutes for your presentation.
If you haven't done so already, please ensure that one of the members of your group can present on 6/6.
Transition to Practice (PGY-3s only)
This week's focus: Out-Processing Section
Educational/Teaching Opportunities
USU Teaching Opportunities
Clerkship Round Robin (recurring throughout the year)
Contact Dr. Brian Hughes (brian.hughes@usuhs.edu) if interested
Tentative Dates and Times:
3May2023 1300-1700*
30Aug2023 1300-1700*
Able to interact with students of the class who have their Peds rotation coming up in the subsequent 3 months. Designed to mimic a clinic half day, each faculty member will be in an MDL room with your particular case. The students have 30 minutes with you to go through the case/skills. Then there is a 10-minute buffer between rooms. The students will move. You stay put and will deliver the same content 5 times. There are 9-10 students per group.
Research Opportunities & Upcoming Conferences
Upcoming Conferences:
6th annual Architecture of High Value Health Care: October 12-14th in Baltimore, MD
Abstract submissions are due by April 30th 2023 at 11:59pm EST. Abstract submission site
Abstract submission categories:
Improving equitable delivery of high value care (Health Equity Award)
Reducing out of pocket costs for patients (Costs of Care Affordability Award)
Improving appropriateness of diagnostic or screening services
Improving appropriateness of treatment/interventional services
Clinical care pathways to improve quality & reduce unwarranted practice variability
Optimization of patient care setting to reduce avoidable ED visits & hospitalizations
Improving the discharge process and other care transitions
Preventive medicine and evidence-based screening for early disease detection
Effective cost transparency for patients
Provider behavior modification (comparative effectiveness of interventions)
Information technology innovations
High value care educational curricula (medical school, GME, CE, CME)
AAP NCE 2023: October 20-24th in Washington, DC
Registration and hotel reservations will open for AAP members on May 2 at 10AM CDT and open for all on May 9 at 10am CDT. The conference schedule will be released on May 2.
ARMY
The leave process has changed!
Please use IPPS-A for all leave/absence requests; go to https://myaccess.dmdc.osd.mil/identitymanagement/app/login and login with your CAC
Make sure you change your email -> My Profile -> My Current Profile -> down arrow next to name -> Personal Details -> Contact Details
Submit leave
Continue to submit a DA31 to Britt for signature
Once documents are reviewed and signed, follow these instructions:
Click My Absences in the home page
Complete the appropriate information, an example of chargeable leave is below:
Absence Type: 1-Chargeable Absence
Absence Name: Absence
Absence Reason: 01- Annual (Ordinary) Absence and complete the remainder of the page
Enter Start and End Dates
For supervisor ID: direct it to SSG Gappa
Complete address information with the location of where you are going
Attach all leave documents with my signatures at the bottom
Click submit
OERSFs are due May 15th
AIR FORCE
Laurie Creel is on extended leave; please forward any questions/concerns to Dr. Zanetti or Britt Bumgardner
PT Tests:
To schedule a test, please contact the following individuals:
TSgt Wilson: jonathan.a.wilson41.mil@health.mil
Every Thursday @1400
SSgt Starr: cody.j.starr2.mil@health.mil
Mondays and Fridays @1400
NAVY
For graduates, please see the recent email correspondence regarding your Fitreps.
Navy PFA - 2023 Cycle:
PRT: 1 May-2 Jun 2023; late PRT is case-by-case 5-9 Jun 2023

Training Schedule
