Sharif named 4JPP Medical Director

The following is a guest post from the leadership at the University of Iowa’s Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Saima Sharif, MD, MS, has been appointed the Medical Director for 4JPP (Team A). This unit located on the main campus of University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics treats primarily hematology/oncology inpatients. 

Dr. Sharif is an associate professor of internal medicine in the Division of Hematology, Oncology and Blood & Marrow Transplantation. She joined University of Iowa Health Care and the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center (HCCC) in January 2016 from Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. She completed her internal medicine residency at Tufts University and her hematology/oncology fellowship at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where she also earned a Master of Science in clinical research. Her area of clinical and research interests are patients with gastrointestinal cancers, specifically colon and rectal cancer. She is the site principal investigator for several colon and rectal cancer trials at the HCCC. She is involved in giving core curriculum lectures to hematology/oncology fellows at University of Iowa. She is also a staff physician at the VA Medical Center in Iowa City, where she precepts fellows and nurse practitioners and has helped with quality improvement projects including streamlining of the hematology/oncology e-consult service. 

As Medical Director, Dr. Sharif will be responsible for working with the nurse manager and other administrative partners to co-lead process improvement projects; ensure coverage and training for Team A attending physicians; and review safety event follow-up. As a leader in the division, she will also monitor unit length of stay and discharge times to ensure compliance with institutional guidelines and monitor and improve patient satisfaction.

We also want to express our sincere gratitude to Laurel Lyckholm, MD, who has accepted a position at West Virginia University beginning in May. Since accepting the role as Medical Director in 2015, Dr. Lyckholm developed strong working relationships with nursing staff, hospitalists, division faculty, and housestaff, ensuring comprehensive communication and well-organized transitions in the number and types of teams assigned to care for hematology/oncology inpatients. She was recognized as a strong advocate for the nursing and medical teams and worked hard to improve the quality of care provided. Dr. Lyckholm developed an extremely beneficial attending and housestaff orientation program, which has significantly benefited the quality and consistency of the care provided to our patients.

Please welcome Dr. Sharif to her new role! Thank you, Dr. Lyckholm, for your outstanding leadership for the past six years!

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