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News Around the Residency
"Must Know Info of the WFMR"
Block 4 (2017-18 academic year)
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Chief's Corner
Sandra Augusto, MD (Barre); Carolyn Murphy, MD (FHCW); Liz Kardas, MD (HFHC)
Hi there WFMR!
We wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your endless support, ideas, laughs and everything in between. This year is surely flying by! As we head into Block 5, we wanted to provide you with some reminders, updates and possible opportunities :)
ITE exam 10/23-25 - good solid fun
Outpatient Curriculum Task Force - now recruiting residents and faculty members to join us as we continue to standardize and expand our outpatient core lectures. Please contact any one of us if you are interested.
As we approach recruitment season we want to encourage everyone to take part in the interviewing process, whether it be by attending dinner, lunch, tours or interviewing.
WFMR Holiday Party: December 26th at Knowles Hall - this is a time where residents, faculty and staff can get together to enjoy some good food and good times.
WFMR Residency Retreat: January 23rd at Ski Ward in Worcester - tentative theme is disaster medicine. Please let us know if you are interested in any particular topics or if you would like to present that day.
Global Health: There will be an opening on the AAFP Center for Global Health Initiative Resident Reps position. To apply please go here.
AAFP Advocacy: If you are interested in advocacy or just want to learn more about what is going on in family medicine consider joining/browsing the Massachusetts AAFP chapter.
Family Medicine Education Consortium, Inc. (FMEC) Annual Meeting: November 10-12, 2017 in Cleveland, OH. "Family Medicine: Harmonizing the Voices for Better Health. Visit their website.
Teaching of Tomorrow (TOT).
4-Day Course to be held on: November 17 - 18, 2017 and March 9 - 10, 2018.
"TOT is a Faculty Development Program for preceptors of medical students and residents. This program is presented by UMass faculty from the departments of Family Medicine, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics." More info here.
Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) Annual Spring Conference: May 5-9, 2018 in Washington, D.C. "The
nation's most energized networking forum for family medicine educators, with nearly 400 educational and interactive seminars, lecture-discussions, papers, and poster presentations." Check it out here.
Please feel free to contact us about any of the above or with any new ideas or updates.
As always thank you!
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Wellness Moment from Tina Runyan, Ph.D
T
he parable of the second arrow is a well-known Buddhist story about skillfully dealing with painful events in life.
The Buddha once asked a student, "If a person is struck by an arrow, is it painful?"
"Yes," replied the student.
"If the person is struck by a second arrow, is it even more painful?"
"Of course," replied the student.
The student then went on to explain ... "The first arrow arises from the unavoidable events that occur in life: accidents, things break, pains, losses, aging, sickness and so on. In life, we can't always control the first arrow. However, the second arrow is our reaction to the first event including uncomfortable physical sensations, tears, verbal outbursts, muscle tension, isolation, etc. This second arrow is often rooted in our thoughts about the event: "Why me? How do I change this? What will happen now?" We add more anguish to the mix by taking universal experiences personally and layering our past upon the unknown future.
This second arrow is optional!
Right now, for me the first arrow is ... EPIC. Most of us are in the midst of this massive transition to a new electronic record. The learning curve is STEEP. I found myself feeling angry earlier this week, unable to complete a cogent sentence about my frustration, searching for someone to blame, and literally flailing my arms and grunting. My previous anticipation and excitement of one seamless record throughout the system had so quickly turned to agitation and resentment which, (duh!), made interacting with EPIC that much more difficult! A more wise and skillful choice would have been to take a moment and acknowledge how hard this is (for all of us) and that this is not happening to me, it is just happening.
If we pay attention, we probably face this second arrow
of suffering many times in the course of a day. So this is a story about acceptance - accepting that we are not immune from pain. It is about having a choice in how to proceed after an arrow strikes us, hopefully by not adding more pain. Over time, having an awareness of this choice, and not casting second arrows at ourselves, may help liberate us from unnecessary suffering.
Practice Idea:
This week, when you have a strong response of pain or annoyance at a situation, ask yourself ... what story am I telling myself? Am I still dealing with the first arrow or have I moved into the second one? And if you have moved to the second arrow, how can you ease your suffering in this moment rather than adding to it?
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Global Health Update (from Sandra Augusto, PGY-3)
Thanks to Sandra for sending us the following updates on the project work she and Lulu Tran, PGY-3, are working on while currently in Nicaragua as part of Dr. Olga Valdman's Global Health Track.
Our project is titled "Increasing Awareness and Education of Contraception in Women of Reproductive Age in the Santa Ana Population of Leon, Nicaragua."
Every morning we do informal lectures/prese
ntations at
the clinic "Puesto de Salud" and after that we go into the community to w
ork/educate. We then
spend the rest of the day going out into the community to do well child checks and give vaccines.
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| This photo is from when we did a teaching session for adolescents at an orphanage school in our community of Santa Ana. |
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It's always such a humbling experience. Living conditions are really hard for the people here but they are so wonderful.
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Resident of Block 3
Anne is a 2017 graduate of St. Georges University and completed both her BA in Political Science (2007) and her MPH (2009) from Case Western Reserve University. Anne grew up in Wellesley, MA and has academic interests in both maternal child health and geriatrics. Anne also enjoys kayaking, fishing and knitting.
From our residents: "
I'd like to nominate Anne Gifford for her time on FMIS. I was extremely impressed by her ability to jump into a very complicated team of patients with ease. She is organized, smart, dedicated to her patients, and an absolute joy to work with!"
Dr. Gracey: "
In only a couple of months, Anne has already established herself as a dedicated provider on whom her patients can depend. She is also remarkable in that she has significant public health experiences and a careful nature that allows her to consider the costs of healthcare in her decision-making. I anticipate she will combine her clinical skills and public health background and grow as a leader in Family Medicine."
Dr. Earls:
"Anne is a great choice. She has quickly demonstrated a mature approach to her work and a sincere concern for her patients. She is a great addition to Barre and the residency."
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Workshop Schedule and WFMR News Items
PGY-1
10/24 In-Training Exam
11/28 Suturing
Drs. Bombaci and Boucher
PGY-2
10/17 Managing patients with pain and addiction problems
Dr. Baxter
10/24 In-Training Exam
10/31 Labor Support/Coaching
Drs. Shields/ Melnitsky/Carter-Henry/Barnard
11/7 HC-Based
HC Faculty
11/14 Derm Procedures
Drs. Gracey and Potts
11/21 Lifelong Learning Skills
Drs. Baldor and Domino
11/28 Resident as Teacher
Drs. Potts/Mullin/Van Duyne/BH fellow
PGY-3
10/17 SWING DATE
10/24 In-Training Exam
10/31 Independent Project Time
11/7 HC Based
HC Faculty
11/14 Evaluating a Physician Employment Agreement
Dr. Broadhurst/Peter Martin, Esq
11/21 Lifelong Learning Skills
Drs. Baldor and Domino
11/28 Independent Project Time
Additional WFMR Announcements
"Potts-luck" Dinner for Residents
Recruitment Update
ERAS opened on Sept. 15 and we are pleased that just about all of our interview openings for the entire season are now filled. Interviews will begin
October 25. The
Resident Selection Committee held its kick-off meeting in September and we are looking forward to meeting many outstanding medical students between
October 25 and the end of our season on
January 26. In addition, we expect some of our applicants will get to meet Dr. Potts, Mike Smith, and our residents and faculty at the upcoming
FMEC Annual Meeting from
Nov. 10-12 in Cleveland.
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Celebrations and Congratulations
10/1 Jorge Finke, PGY-1
10/21 Abee Raveendran, PGY-2
10/27 Veronica Torres, PGY-2
11/16 Anne Gifford, PGY-1
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Useful On-line Resources
This list will be updated on an ongoing basis and will appear in each future edition of this newsletter: Please contact Dr. Potts if you would like to add a resource to this list.
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| Got news (or a fun fact) for our next newsletter? Contact Stacy Potts, MD at Stacy.Potts @umassmemorial.org or Michael Smith, MS, Associate Director of Admissions at Michael.Smith@umassmemorial.org |
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