Clinical Activities at the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Faculty:
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Sheila J. Goodnight-White, M.D., DABSM - Chief Pulmonary and Critical Care, MEDVAMC
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Charlie Lan, M.D., DABSM
- Rolando E. Rumbaut, M.D., Ph.D.
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Amir Sharafkhaneh, M.D., DABSM
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Said Soubra, M.D., DABSM
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Kanta Velamuri, M.D., DABSM
Built in 1991, the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center is one of the most comprehensive patient care complexes in the VA system. The new, ultra-modern, 1,037 bed facility is located on a 118-acre campus within the Texas Medical Center. The Medical Service, with 256 beds, provides a major teaching site for Baylor College of Medicine's Department of Medicine. The state-of-the-art facility provides care to veterans from the Texas regional area and to patients referred from across the nation.
The Pulmonary/Critical Care Service at the MEDVAMC is directed by Sheila Goodnight-White, M.D., who is also associate chief of the Medical Service. The Pulmonary/Critical Care Section oversees the care of patients on a 10-bed step-down unit and an 8-bed critical care unit. In addition to the MICU/step-down rotation, there is a busy consultation service for the assessment and treatment of pulmonary diseases in patients housed on other units and for outpatients. A large outpatient continuity clinic with more than 2,800 clinic visits per year is held daily and is staffed by pulmonary attendings, physician assistants, residents and fellows. Special operative procedures performed include transthoracic lung aspirations and biopsies, pleural biopsies, and approximately 350 bronchoscopies per year. A pulmonary function laboratory is fully equipped for complete pulmonary function testing. These clinical experiences provide an excellent opportunity to learn about diseases common in a population of elderly males, such as lung cancer, COPD, tuberculosis and respiratory failure.