ECU medical resident creates app for heart risk
Physicians looking to measure heart risk have a new tool at their disposal thanks to an East Carolina University doctor.
Last year, the American Heart Association released new guidelines to help physicians determine risks for stroke or cardiovascular disease. But the measurements required statistics to be entered into spreadsheets.
Tin Nguyen, a second-year medical resident at ECU, found an easier way via a smartphone app he recently developed.
“Why would you do it on a spreadsheet?” Nguyen said. “If we can do this on a mobile phone, it's going to be easy.”
Nguyen said his app will help physicians measure patients' risks easier. The app also includes information on healthy lifestyle changes like losing weight and quitting smoking.
“All of these are incorporated,” he said. “When a physician sees a patient, they need to see if a patient has a risk of cardiovascular disease.”
Nguyen said he uses the app in his own practice, and that it received positive feedback from the American Heart Association, which released a similar app.
“Mobile technology has a lot of other things to help take better care of patients,” Nguyen said. “It’s one example of how technology can help physicians with new guidelines.”
Nguyen said although the app is targeted to medical professionals, he is not worried about patients using the app on their own, and he hopes it facilitates discussions with physicians.
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NCSU receives $3 million to expand education to rural students
Last week, N.C. State University announced it received a $3 million donation to help expand higher education access to rural students in the state.
“This is a brand new program that through the generosity of the Gordon family will help to augment and enhance programs,” said Sam Pardue, interim associate dean at the university’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
The money will help fund programs designed for students from rural areas, including some already in place, such as the ACT Supplemental Preparation in Rural Education program, which prepares rural high schoolers for standardized tests.
Another program, Student Transfer Enrollment, Advising and Mentoring, allows students studying an agriculture-related major to enroll at another institution for their first year while preparing to transfer to NCSU.
Pardue said he hopes this program encourages students to give back to their communities.
“We want kids to go back and develop a culture of philanthropy,” Pardue said. “The ultimate goal is students who graduate will have a sense of wanting to provide for future generations.”
For the first four years, the university will use 40 percent of the money from the fund, with a portion of it being used to implement the plan. After five years it will be allowed to use other funds.
WCU hosts exhibit on Hugh Morton
Western Carolina University will open an exhibit next week on the work of famous N.C. photographer Hugh Morton.
Morton, a photographer famous for documenting the life of people in the state, died in 2006. His entire photo collection was bequeathed to UNC's Wilson Library.
“We think this exhibit is wonderfully appropriate for us because not only does it depict our particular corner of the state, but it ties it to the rest of the state,” said Pam Meister, curator for the university’s Mountain Heritage Center.
“Morton was a well-known photojournalist and was probably the foremost documentarian of our state for many decades.”
“We have done other photographic exhibits but I don't know if there is a parallel,” Meister said. “It is such a fantastic collection, and we are very thankful for the North Carolina Collection and the Wilson Library allowing us to be part of the tour.”
N.C. A&T to partner with N.C. Office of Information Technology
This week, the N.C. Office of Information Technology announced it would partner with N.C. Agricultural & Technical State University to help students train for jobs in the technology sector.
“The main benefits will be our students will have opportunities to do internships,” said Clay Gloster, chairman of the university’s department of computer systems technology. “The state would benefit because it will have talented students develop their IT infrastructure.”
N.C. A&T is one of only five universities in the country with a mainframe computer system for academic purposes, which Gloster said makes its students strong job candidates at a time when many mainframe workers are nearing retirement age.
“In the past you used to have several years of experience,” Gloster said. “Now many students can secure their positions.”
Gloster said the program will also work to include military veterans in the future.
“There's a benefit to the military because their personnel will have skills,” he said. “We have some online programs in the School of Technology, and I know that these targeted military personnel in the bases in North Carolina.”
Gloster said the two departments have already begun discussing projects.
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