Something as simple as pulling her hair behind her ears means a lot to 9-year-old Corlee Gentry of Hattiesburg.

Even wearing large, dangling earrings just like any other girl is special. That’s because Corlee, who was born without a right ear, now has a prosthetic replacement designed specifically for her, thanks to Dr. Jeff Carron, associate professor of otolaryngology and communicative sciences at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Corlee’s mother, Dawn Gentry, said her daughter was always outgoing and full of life, but she was getting to the age that she didn’t want to stand out among her peers. After checking with doctors in her area who couldn’t recommend a solution to Corlee’s condition, she turned to Carron.

Through a groundbreaking agreement, five of Mississippi’s public universities are uniting to educate nurse practitioners to care for older adults and patients with mental illness.

The goal is to improve access to quality health care and reduce health disparities in two rural, medically underserved, vulnerable populations, and the $1.2 million, three-year federal grant enables the universities to collaborate on clinical courses for gerontological and psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners.

The universities – the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), Alcorn State University, Delta State University, the Mississippi University for Women, and the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) – form the Mississippi Educational Consortium for Specialized Advanced Practice Nursing (MECSAPN).

A cadre of young orthopedists at the University of Mississippi Medical Center have teamed to provide a center for the total care of all hip problems and to raise awareness about a poorly understood cause of hip pain: hip impingement.

According to Dr. Jason Craft, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery, some patients with very subtle hip deformities can have significant hip pain. Too often, this is diagnosed as a strain or tendonitis, when the main cause may be hip impingement.

Technically known as femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), hip impingement is a mechanical disorder of the hip where there is a loss of congruence between the ball and socket as the hip rotates. This abnormal motion leads to stiffness and pain, causes labral tears and cartilage degeneration and may lead to early arthritis. As a newly

This fall, medical students will have two new faculty members in student affairs to guide them on their journey to becoming physicians.

Dr. Jerry Clark, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, has been named associate dean for student affairs in the School of Medicine, replacing longtime Associate Dean Dr. Lincoln Arceneaux who retired June 30. Dr. Loretta Jackson-Williams, associate professor of emergency medicine, also will be assistant dean for academic affairs. Both appointments were effective July 1.

Clark said these are exciting times for the school, with class expansion among the many changes on the horizon.