The dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center described the privileges associated with wearing the physician’s white coat during the school’s 11th annual White Coat Ceremony Aug. 7 in the conference center of the Norman C. Nelson Student Union.

Dr. Dan Jones, vice chancellor for health affairs, told the Class of 2012 that although prestige, honor and the ability to take care of their families financially are all valid considerations when choosing to pursue a career in medicine, the greatest privileges are the relationships physicians have with their patients, their colleagues, their families, and their Creator.

The practice of medicine “is a longtime honored profession with the ability to impact people’s lives,” Jones said. “To be a part of that special bond is a special privilege.”

A new residency program at the University of Mississippi Medical Center delivers dentistry expertise to patients with traumatic craniofacial injuries.

The four-year Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Residency Program, the first of its kind in the state, provides dentistry professionals the opportunity to obtain a certificate in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS).

“We’re like a bridge going from dentistry to medicine,” said Dr. Ronald Caloss, associate professor of dentistry and director of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Residency Program. “A certain percentage of trauma patients have oral-maxillofacial injuries. A few multi-system trauma patients have maxillofacial trauma that needs to be managed.

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).