St. Jude Children's Research Hospital recently honored Dr. Fletcher Goode (College of Medicine '56, residency '70) during the Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors of ALSAC, held in Miami Beach, Florida on February 9, 1996. Dr. Goode, Clinical Associate Professor, has retired from clinical service to patients at St. Jude after 26 years of providing ophthamological examination and consultation for children afflicted with catastrophic disease. This included not only primary eye and orbital tumors such as retinoblastoma and rhabdomyosarcoma, but also the ophthalmic manifestations of systemic disease such as leukemias and brain lesions, and the complications of radiation and chemotherapy.

Dr. Goode was presented with a plaque in appreciation of his service, and thanked not only those participating in the ceremony, but also those with whom he has worked over the years. (insert pic)

While Dr. Goode will remain available for consultation on specific ophthalmic problems, the Ophthalmology Service at St. Jude will be continued by our faculty members with specific interest and expertise in childhood cancers: Drs. Barrett Haik, Gregory Carroll, Natalie Kerr and R. Christopher Walton. These physicians seek to continue the standard of premier ophthalmologic care which Dr. Goode has left as his legacy.

New clinical facilities and operating rooms are currently being constructed, to expand the scope of diagnostic and therpeutic modalities, and we will report on their completion and utilization in our next issue.

Major Renovation at VA Medical Center completed.   Clinic Opens at Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Dr. Walton examines a patient, observed by Dr. Haik and Dr. Daryl Kaswinkle, Third Year Resident

The new Ophthalmology Clinic at the Veteran's Affairs Medical Center in Memphis opened on April 15, 1996. This renovated and expanded space includes five new examination rooms, dedicated space for diagnostic testing such as visual fields and ultrasonography, a spacious, fully-equipped treatment room for minor operative procedures and enlarged waiting and administrative areas. Dr. R. Christopher Walton, Chief of Ophthalmology at the VAMC, designed and supervised the renovation and is delighted with the result. "The additional space and equipment allows us not only to better serve our large patient population at the VA, which was our primary goal, but also improves the quality of our resident training program," said Dr. Walton.

He continued: "Our residents spend a significant portion of their training at the VA and we feel the new facilities and equipment will be extremely beneficial to their experience."

The residents strongly agree: "This is great for both the patients and the physicians," said first year resident Dr. Bill Mallon, "especially the minor operating room, which allows us to perform more complex procedures on an out-patient basis, thus avoiding the need for an admission."

These facilities have improved both patient flow and privacy, as well as the scope of care and services provided to veterans.

The Health Sciences Consortium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina has recently made available a study guide on ophthalmic pathology prepared by Dr. William Morris (College of Medicine '64 and residency "70), Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Assistant Professor of Pathology.

This four volume videotape series deals with the histopathologic findings of the most common diseases that affect the eye and the adnexa. Each area of the eye is systematically presented, as well as specific pathologic changes due to trauma, surgery, vascular diseases and congenital anomalies. The final volume serves as a means of testing recognition skills, displaying all 275 images for the student's identification.

The series is an invaluable learning asset for medical students and residents in both Ophthalmology and Pathology, and allows them to benefit from Dr. Morris' vast experience and expertise in ophthalmic pathology. Dr. Morris is to be congratulated on this outstanding achievement, which we know will be welcomed and incorporated into many instruction programs.

Dr. Stephen V. Scoper joined the faculty as Associate Professor and Director of Cornea, External Disease and Refractive Surgery in July, 1995, coming to the Department from the University of Virginia where he was Assistant Professor and Director of Resident Education.

Dr. Scoper attended medical school at the University of Mississippi, and completed his internship at the University of Virginia Affiliated Hospitals in Roanoke. He spent his Ophthalmology residency at Tulane University Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, followed by a fellowship in cornea, external disease and refractive surgery under the guidance of Dr. J. James Rowsey of the Dean A. McGee Eye Institute in Oklahoma City.

One of Dr. Scoper's particular areas of clinical interest is refractive surgery, the correction of nearsightedness. Many patients are unable to wear contact lenses, or glasses are an impediment to their profession, so reshaping the cornea via surgery or laser greatly improves the quality of their professional and personal lives. The newest advance in refractive surgery is the excimer laser used to perform photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) to reduce nearsightedness and for phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK) to remove corneal scars. This latter technique may obviate the need for many corneal transplants. Dr. Scoper helped develop excimer applications during his training in Oklahoma City seven years ago, and he is the Medical Director of a new $500,000 laser recently purchased by the Baptist Memorial Hospital and installed at the East Memphis Surgery Center. He is responsible for the training of ophthalmologists approved to use the laser for this technique.

Dr. Scoper's clinical and academic pursuits encompass many facets in the diagnosis and management of corneal disease. The Ophthalmology Department at UT is a Beta site for a new corneal topography unit, which uses elecation topography rather than placido disk technology to identify corneal irregularities. He is also developing a study for the use of systemic drugs in ocular rosacea.

Dr. Scoper is a member of the Eye Bank Assocaition of America (EBAA) and serves on the accreditation committee of that organization, inspecting and certifying eye banks nationally. He is also a member of the Medical Advisory Board of the EBAA.

He was accompanied in his move to Memphis by his wife, Nancy, and his two young daughters.

Natalie Kerr, M.D. presented a scientific poster entitled "Fat Adherence Syndrome: An Animal Model " at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in April, as did Howard Jernigan, Ph.D.: "Compartmentation of Phospholipid Synthesis and Phospholipid Precursors in Galactosemic Rat lenses."

Kathryn Byrd, M.D. and William Morris, M.D. were invited speakers at the Tennessee Ophthalmologic Personnel Society Annual Meeting in Nashville, on April 27th. Gregory Carroll, M.D. was the invited speaker at a meeting of the Michigan Ophthalmologic Society in Southfield, Michigan on April 18th. Dr. Carroll spoke on "Pediatric Orbital Tumors." Barrett Haik, M.D., Gregory Carroll, M.D. and Suzanne Linsmeier Kilmer, M.D. recently published a chapter entitled "Periocular Hemangiomas" in EYE AND SKIN DISEASE, a new textbook edited by Drs. Mannis, Macsai and Huntley, and published by Lipincott-Raven.

"Greetings to my many friends in the Ophthalmology Department and to the many others to whom this publication is sent. I'm very busy with my Mission work. The mission carries me into most of Northern Luzon where I am responsible for almost forty thousand church members distributed in a hundred congregations. My medical activities are many and varied. We run a clinic, seeing not only pediatric, but also adult patients; I've given lectures to the Pediatric and Ophthalmology residents, and I've given five named lectures in Manila and Baguio since my arrival.

The most startling thing to those of you at home would be the advanced stage of disease we see here. I've seen children with eyes protruding from retinoblastoma and lid lesions half as large as your fist. Unfortunately, the equipment was so sparse, that it was difficult to perform the simplest procedures. I am very grateful to many sources, the church Humanitarian Services, Mabuhay-Deseret, Dr. Jerre Freeman and UT Ophthalmology, among others. In particular, the Lions Club helped sponsor a visit by Lenscrafters where eleven thousand patients were fitted with glasses, and two hundred identified with medical disorders which required hospitalization.

The status of the medical delivery system is about fifty years behind the U.S. When I was at the John Gaston Hospital in the late 1940's, it was far better equipped than the hospitals here today.

Despite these obstacles, there is a real sense of family with the patients and the people whom I serve. It is a challenging but fulfilling situation and we truly enjoy it."

Dr. Hiatt's unselfish service to this missionary community is a true inspiration to all. It is a continuation of his extraordinary dedication to the practice and teaching of Ophthalmology. In recognition of Dr. Hiatt's tenure as Chairman of the Department, Dr. Audrey Tuberville, Associate Professor and alumnus (College of Medicine '75; residency '79), has donated a portrait of Dr. Hiatt, which occupies a prominent place in our Administrative suite. We thank Dr. Tuberville for her generous and greatly appreciated donation.

A meeting of the Department of Ophthalmology's Development Council has been scheduled for Saturday morning, June 1st, to coincide with our Annual Residents'/Alumni Day and the Annual Convention of the Memphis Eye Society.

The breaksfast/business meeting will be held at 7:00 a.m. in the the Adam's Mark Hotel. Dr. Ralph S. Hamilton, President of the Council, encourages all council members and regional coordinators to attend: "This has been an exciting and productive year, and this meeting will be integral for planning the future."

On June 30th, four third-year residents will graduate and begin the next stage of their careers. Two graduates will enter fellowships in cornea and external disease: Dr. James Loden with Drs. Price and Whitson in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Dr. Daryl Kaswinkle with Dr. Richard Eiferman in Louisville Kentucky. Dr. Chris Devine will be staying in Memphis to complete a fellowship in vitreo-retinal disease with Dr. Steve Charles and Dr. Edward Curran will begin private practice in Laurel, Mississippi.

The entire faculty and staff of the Department wishes the best of luck to these fine young physicians in their new positions.