UAB Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery , Wei creating educational content for patients and trainees
by Julia Kasmirski
UAB Cardiothoracic Surgery Professor and Thoracic Residency Program Director Benjamin Wei , M . D ., has created educational video content to help patients , medical students , and surgery trainees learn more about procedures they may encounter .
To inform patients and instruct trainees , Wei narrates these videos with information on the anatomy and steps required to perform safe and successful surgeries , as well as technical pearls and pitfalls . Many of his videos focus on robotic lung surgery and especially techniques of complex segmentectomy , which are challenging operations that help preserve lung function and are not offered by most centers .
" Surgical education videos are vital tools for medical students during their surgery clerkships and for surgery residents to learn the necessary steps of an operation ," says Wei . ? Video content is also a great tool for patients or loved ones to learn more about an upcoming operation .?
Wei has a strong interest in surgical education and has created various educational resources for students and trainees . His research interests include evaluating outcomes of teaching thoracic robotic surgery and exploring techniques to enhance the technical skills of cardiothoracic surgery trainees . Wei has presented his videos at the annual meetings of societies such as the Southern Thoracic Surgical Association and the American Association of Thoracic Surgery .
Viewers can access the content on the UAB Marnix E . Heersink School of Medicine YouTube channel .
New procedure rooms for interventional pulmonology provide new treatment options by Andy Currie
The UAB Interventional Pulmonology ( IP ) program , led by Hitesh Batra , M . D ., M . B . A . and Joseph Thachuthara-George , M . D . will be expanding clinical practices to new space near the end of Summer 2024 .
This new space , located in Jefferson Towers , will offer advanced diagnostic bronchoscopy , robotic bronchoscopy , medical thoracoscopy , pleural biopsies , and other essential IP procedures .
The UAB IP program , the first and only such program in Alabama , offers a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to a wide range of pulmonary and pleural diseases including central airway obstruction lung mass , mediastinal lymphadenopathy , malignant pleural effusions , and undiagnosed exudative pleural effusions .
? Our fundamental philosophy is that all patients with thoracic malignancies or complications thereof deserve prompt attention . We work to see patients referred by physicians within one calendar week of the referral . Diagnostic procedures required after the first visit are generally completed within one week ,? Batra explained .
? The biggest advantage to these new procedure rooms will be more space and therefore more availability to do these procedures and less wait times ,? Batra said .
UAB IP is the only program in Alabama with the expertise to perform the full range of interventional pulmonology procedures such as flexible / rigid bronchoscopy , fiducial placement , silicone , metallic , and hybrid airway stents , photodynamic therapy , and pleural biopsy .
? These procedures will be new for the Jefferson Towers suite . With the new rooms , we will have anesthesia available . This will allow us to do all those procedures that we currently do in the OR which need general anesthesia ,? Batra said .
Photography : Andy Currie
PULMONARY , ALLERGY , AND CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE