Concierge Medicine Presents
New Way of Practicing, Receiving Medicine

The Miller School of Medicine opened its first “concierge” medical practice in Key Biscayne late last month. The practice was started in partnership with Boca Raton-based MDVIP, one of the largest networks of concierge practices.

Concierge medicine is seen as one solution to the problem of patients spending too much time waiting to see their doctors and physicians not having enough time to spend with their patients. For a set annual fee, patients receive extensive preventive medical care. Robert R. Kemper Jr., M.D., Ph.D., a board-certified internist on the faculty of the Miller School of Medicine, will run the practice.

New Program for Children Comes to Medical School
The Miller School of Medicine recently held a ceremony marking the new Jeffrey Modell Diagnostic Program for Primary Immunodeficiencies. The program will focus on the diagnosis, care, and treatment of people suffering with primary immunodeficiency (PI). It is one of only ten such centers in the nation and is a collaboration between the Jeffrey Modell Foundation and Talecris Biotherapeutics.

Every year thousands of children go undiagnosed with PI, a group of more than 120 catastrophic diseases caused by an immune system that is not working properly. The symptoms of a PI disease are often overlooked because they can appear as common illnesses, such as sinus infections, fever, and bronchitis. The delay in getting a proper diagnosis can lead to serious chronic illness or even death.

Gary Kleiner, M.D., Ph.D., is director of the PI program in the Department of Pediatrics at the Miller School. Kleiner evaluates and treats children suspected of having PI. His research includes transplant immunology and the use of new cellular therapies to make transplants safer.

UM Hosts ‘Challenging’ Urology Conference
UM Miller School of Medicine urologists presented a conference that may change the way its participants practice medicine.

“People make treatment decisions as a result of this meeting—even the panelists say we learn from each case,” says Mark S. Soloway, M.D., chairman of the Department of Urology at the Miller School. A survey after a previous “Challenging Cases in Urology” conference showed that 60 percent of respondents confirmed that what they learned there affected their methods.

The 16th annual “Challenging Cases in Urology” was held February 2 through 4 at the Trump International Sonesta Beach Resort on Miami Beach. Six distinguished urology faculty from around North America joined Miller School urologists to present and discuss real-life cases from their practice. The interactive discussion of actual medical cases makes this conference unique.

“All of the meeting is based on individual cases from my practice and those of my partners,” Soloway says.

The conference was made possible with help from Boston Scientific, Dendreon, and Imedex.