On The Lighter Side – March 17, 2023 - Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Here are some things NCMS employees, members, and the general public are talking about this week!
March Madness kicks into high gear this week. The NCAA Men's Tournament kicked off Thursday with Duke and UNC-Asheville both playing in the first round. NC State is the only North Carolina team playing on Friday. As for the NCAA Women's Tournament, NC State plays today and UNC, East Carolina and Duke play Saturday.
It is a big weekend for comedians!
Tonight, fresh off his Netflix special, Jo Koy performs at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte. Tomorrow, Emmy Award-winning comedian Sarah Silverman brings her Grow Some Lips Tour to Ovens Auditorium in Charlotte.
Today is St. Patrick's Day! You can celebrate all weekend in Lake Norman. There will be food, drinks, outdoor games and a vendor village. It is in the Lake Norman Social District. More info is here.
On Sunday, Il Divo brings their mix of pop music and opera to the Belk Theater in Charlotte. Tickets are still available. Get yours by clicking here.
On Point: NCMS Member Dr. David Tayloe Responds to Report on Surging Infant Death Rates Among Black Babies
On Point submissions are individual member viewpoints and not North Carolina Medical Society policy.
David Tayloe, Jr., MD, FAAP
As the pediatrician member of our Wayne County Child Fatality Review Team, I have reviewed every death to a person under age 18 years since the program began over 20 years ago. I am not sure I remember a death in which the baby was on her/his back, in her/his own bassinet, in the parents’ bedroom, and in a home free of tobacco smoke. When the American Academy of Pediatrics launched the “Back to Sleep” campaign in 1992, North Carolina was experiencing 120 cases of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) per year, largely involving babies found dead in their cribs/bassinets, on their stomachs. Within just a year or two, that number plummeted to 40, where it has remained. Today, nearly every one of these babies is found dead in bed with one or more other people. In 2016, the American Academy of Pediatrics published policy changing the SIDS acronym to SUIDS (Sudden Unexplained/Unexpected Infant Death) to reflect both the success of the Back to Sleep campaign, and to highlight unsafe sleep practices. This policy statement and technical report can be found by going to the American Academy of Pediatrics website for parents, www.healthychildren.org, and searching “safe sleep.” Current recommendations of the AAP are that babies should sleep in their own bassinets/cribs, on their backs, in the bedrooms of the parents for at least 6 months, and no caretakers should smoke. Pediatricians emphasize this policy during most patient/family encounters from birth to six months of age, the age-range during which most cases of SUIDS occur.
Fayetteville's New Med School is Also Good For Business

Business North Carolina is reporting that the new Fayetteville medical school planned by Methodist University and Cape Fear Valley Health will also be an economic boon for the area. The university's provost says the once the school is up and running it will bring more than 800 permanent jobs to the area.
The school plans to train 80 physicians annually to begin with. The long-term goal is to grow that number to 120 and improve the region's healthcare. Chaka Jordan, Cape Fear's VP of Marketing and Communications, says "areas with medical schools are healthier overall. We will have faculty who are continually learning and keeping up with the latest, greatest techniques to teach medical students."
Methodist University opened in 1960 with the help of Fayetteville lawyer and former NC Governor Terry Sanford. This new school joins Wake Forest, which is opening Charlotte's first four-year medical school next year.
Fayetteville officials expect the new school to bring in $750 million in economic activity over its first decade.
To read the full story click here.
On The Lighter Side - March 10, 2023 - March Madness, St. Patrick's, New Edition and Oscar!
Here are some things NCMS employees, members, and the general public are talking about this week!
March Madness continues!
The 2023 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament is underway. Already Wake Forest, Duke, UNC and NC State have advanced to the quarterfinals. The Semifinals are Friday night! Number 1 Miami has been tough to beat, but you can never count out North Carolina teams. The Championship is Saturday at 8:30 on ESPN. Get your favorite team shirts on and get ready!
The full schedule and more on the teams and brackets is here.
St. Patrick's Day isn't until March 17, but across North Carolina things are starting early! Check out the Emerald Isle St. Patrick's Day Festival all day Saturday. More information on the day is available here. A bit up the coast, and also on Saturday, Wilmington invites you downtown for the annual St. Patrick's Day parade. The parade steps off at 11am, so get there early. More on what is happening in the Port City is here. Make sure you check out the annual Hooley Under the Bridge after the parade for Irish music and dancing!
The Legacy Continues! New Edition is making it's way to Charlotte Friday night. Guests include Keith Sweat, Teddy Riley, Aaron Hall and Damion Hall. Tickets are available by clicking here.
And the Oscars are Sunday night at 8. Will it be "Everything Everywhere All at Once" or "Top Gun" or any of your favorites?
There will be both a pre-show and an official lead-in broadcast ahead of the ceremony. First, ABC News will host On the Red Carpet Live: Countdown to Oscars 95, a pre-show event that airs from 1-4 p.m.. e
Then, Ashley Graham, Vanessa Hudgens, and Lilly Singh will join together to host the Countdown to the Oscars lead-in show, which kicks off at 6:30 p.m.
Fix Your Laptop or Check Your Blood Pressure, Best Buy Has You Covered! Retailer Partners with Atrium

Consumer electronics mega-retailer Best Buy is partnering with Charlotte-based Atrium Health to enhance its hospital-at-home program. Under the partnership, Best Buy's Geek Squad will be in charge of setting up remote patient monitoring technology in patient's homes. Best Buy will also teach patients how to use their devices.
The move is part of the retailer's push into healthcare. Best Buy has also partnered with Geisinger, Mount Sinai Health System, and Langone Health on remote patient monitoring.
According to mobihealthnews.com, Best Buy has been taking steps to expand into the connected home healthcare space for a while. In 2022, the company invested millions of dollars into Coeus.health, a cloud-based IT and logistics platform that coordinates in-home digital health devices and data. The plan is for the retail giant to use Coesu.health's Home Hybrid Cloud (H3C) to help customers access home health devices. Other investments by Best Buy include the aging-in-place brand Great Call for $800 million, remote senior monitoring service Critical Signal Technologies for an undisclosed amount, and Current Health for $400 million.
Time to Spring Forward!
Daylight Saving Time starts Sunday morning at 2 a.m.. It is time to spring forward!
This is a reminder to set your clocks one hour forward before you go to bed Saturday!
Here is a guide to how to change your clocks:
Say Ahhhhh! New Members Can Win Trip to Beautiful Beaufort Hotel.

The North Carolina Medical Society wants to help you get away from it all!
For the month of March, all new members will be entered into a drawing to win a fabulous two-night stay at the Beaufort Hotel! It is known for its beautiful waterfront location, luxurious rooms, and breathtaking sunsets. It is on the waterfront and just steps from the Rachel Carson Reserve. It is also very close to the Beaufort Historic Site, the North Carolina Maritime Museum, and the Old Burying Ground Historic Cemetery.
The trip includes a two-night stay with breakfast for two each morning and valet parking!
Join NCMS now and we will announce the winner in the first week of April. Good luck!
NCMS Goes to High School

The NCMS was invited to participate in the Enloe STEM Career Fair Friday. It was hosted by Enloe's Medical BioScience Academy (MBSA).
The MBSA program is designed with a curriculum inclusive of technical skills and terminology that fosters interest in health-related careers and provides guidance on the steps needed after high school to achieve those careers.
NCMS staff, Kristen Spaduzzi and Emma Kate Sowder, had the privilege of hearing from MBSA students about their aspirations, as well as sharing how they made their way to the NCMS. They also answered questions for the students.
What a great way to spend a Friday and get a glimpse of the future leaders in health care!
On Point: Joint Statement on Team Based Care in North Carolina From North Carolina Medical Society and Old North State Medical Society Presidents
On Point submissions are individual member viewpoints and not North Carolina Medical Society policy.
Arthur Apolinario, MD, MPH, President North Carolina Medical Society, and Charlene Green, MD, President Old North State Medical Society, have released the following statement on Team Based Care in North Carolina:


As the President of the North Carolina Medical Society and the President of the Old North State Medical Society, we represent thousands of expert, evidence-based, patient-centric physicians and physician assistants who are devoted to promoting quality, affordable, and patient-centered care in all communities in North Carolina. Our members treat patients across the state and are intimately familiar with the needs of our most vulnerable patients and those present in rural and underserved areas.
To best serve the needs of North Carolina patients, we must have a system of care that keeps the patient at the center of the care team. When that team includes clinicians with varying levels of experience, education, and training, strong leadership and physician involvement is needed to define responsibilities and develop a coordinated approach that promotes patient success. There are those who disagree with team-based care and who advocate for removing physician involvement with patients. Their arguments often suggest they are seeking nothing more than getting rid of burdensome red tape. We believe this grossly understates the impact on patients. When physicians are removed from the care team, patients are denied access to health care practitioners who have the education and training needed to make critical medical judgments.
After medical school, we were required to complete a residency program in our respective areas of practice. Residency is a mandatory step to achieve medical licensure because physicians cannot take their national exams without completing a residency program, typically at least two years in duration. Physicians must complete their licensing examination and submit their scores along with verification of their medical education and post-graduate training verification before their application will be considered by the North Carolina Medical Board.
The requirements for licensure are strict because that is what patient safety requires. Although other members of the clinical care team have requirements for licensure, their requirements differ significantly in years of education, training, and direct, hands-on patient care. Allowing other members of the care team to provide medical care that a medical school graduate could not legally provide in the state does not put the patient first.
Removing physician involvement also limits patient choice – especially patients in rural and underserved areas. Patients expect a physician to be involved in their care. In fact, a recent AMA survey found 95% of U.S. voters believe it is important for physicians to be involved in diagnosis and treatment decisions. Creating a two-tiered system that allows physician access for some but not all does not put the patient first.
The North Carolina Medical Society and the Old North State Medical Society stand united in our goal to always put the patient first.