VCU Medical Center launches medical television show

By Joe Kuttenkuler

Beginning Sunday, Oct. 3, television viewers in Central Virginia will have an opportunity to go behind the scenes at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center when “2 Minutes in Medicine, ” a bi-monthly medical information program debuts on the local CBS affiliate, WTVR-TV 6.

The two-minute segments will air on selected Sundays at 6:58 p.m., right before “60 Minutes," and will be produced entirely in-house by VCU’s Department of Strategy and Marketing and University News Services. In all, 13 segments will be broadcast by June 2005. In addition, a special half-hour show will air on April 14 at 7 p.m.

“This is a great opportunity for us to show off the medical center while providing information people can use to make better decisions about their health care,” said Mandy Setliff, director of marketing in the Department and Strategy and Marketing. “There are so many great stories happening here every day and this gives us a chance to share them.”

Some of the subjects covered will be a young boy who was the first in the state to receive bilateral cochlear implants to improve his hearing; a new piece of surgical equipment a VCU neurosurgeon developed for use in deep brain stimulation surgery – a procedure for treating Parkinson’s Disease; a look at how angioplasty has advanced in 25 years; and a tour of the new breast imaging center at Stony Point.

“The fact that we produce the show entirely in-house allows us to take people behind the scenes at one of the country’s largest academic medical centers and present the latest medical and research information in visually interesting and understandable ways,” said Pam Lepley, director of University News Services.

The current schedule for “2 Minutes in Medicine” is as follows:

Oct. 3, 10 and 24
Nov. 21
Dec. 5 and 12
Feb. 13 and 27
March 13 and 27
April 10 and 24
May 22
June 12

For more information about 2 Minutes in Medicine, call 828-5378.