Monthly Newsletter | March 2023

Announcing DHM's 8^th Annual Internal Grants Program (IGP) Winners!

Esther Hsiang and Sarah Flynn

(Primary Mentor: Molly Kantor)

Improving MD-RN Communication for Hospitalized Patients

• This proposal tackles an important and persistent challenge that has been exacerbated by rollout of VOALTE. This topic has been prioritized by our QI leadership, the PFAC and division members
• A strength is that it deeply engages nurses and is likely to result in an intervention
• Utilizes strong A3 methodology
• Well-aligned with PI career goals and track record (they are already champions of this work) and it is well supported by the entire QI/UBLT team

Neal Tambe and Sissi Chen

(Primary Mentor: Brad Monash)

Booster Shots: A Quick-hit Clinical Update Podcast for the Hospitalist Community

• This proposal has the potential to develop audio content relevant to hospitalists beyond the division and also to promote the careers of DHM people by providing a forum to hone presentation and public speaking skills on a widely available platform 
• A strength is that it is a joint project between a Parnassus-based and St Mary's-based faculty
• Builds on track record and infrastructure of the CKC Booster Shots; content could include practice-changing clinical updates and health systems/QI updates relevant to hospitalists
• Sustainable through partnership with journals and even sponsorships

The IGP provides $60,000 awards used to support the careers and academic projects of junior faculty over 1-2 years. This year will be the inaugural year of an accompanying early Career Academic Accelerator (eCAAP) for all winners; adapted from our successful Academic Hospital Medicine Fellowship mentorship structure, the grant will come with built-in biweekly mentorship meetings with Margaret Fang and Kirsten Kangelaris on the proposal and career development.

Meet DHM

Get to know our division by reading our faculty and staff interviews!

Armond Esmaili is the new Neurosurgery QI Director!

Cindy Lai was named president-elect of the CDIM Council of the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM). 

Nancy Choi received the CA-HI Regional SGIM Excellence in Clinician Education award for 2023 for her commitment to medical education.

Nancy Choi, Bassem Ghali, Beth Griffiths (DGIM), and Katie Brooks (ZSFG) led a workshop on teaching learners about patient advocacy tools at the Developing Medical Educators conference in SF.

Martha Ockenfels-Martinez was awarded a WINGS Grant for the course: Designing Interventions to Change Organizational Behavior.

Madison Sui was awarded a WINGS Grant for the course: Intro to Lean.

The oppression of women is a global tragedy. The work towards gender equity includes a critical look at race and other social identifying characteristics that impact intersectionality and how any individual moves through their world. Check out the 2023 International Women's Day week of events.

Including one event that will be facilitated by Yalda Shahram: "Critical Dialogue about the Woman Life Freedom Movement: a Special Session of the Tea House Series" hosted by The WomanLifeFreedom at UCSF group.

Date: March 9, 2023

Time: 5-6:30PM

Location: Mission Hall room 3700

For feedback, or to share pearls in the next DHM newsletter, please email yalda.shahram@ucsf.edu. 

Teddy Peng and Nora Goldschlager put together a case report about a man who presented with cardiac arrest who ultimately was diagnosed with Brugada Syndrome. Fortunately, he made a full recovery.

Logan Pierce and colleagues published a study in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons which quantified the type and frequency of ACP documentation done in this patient population.

Himali Weerahandi is a coauthor on a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. This study examined the amount of rehabilitation patients with COVID-19 received in a skilled nursing facility and found that most patients tolerated moderate to high amounts of rehabilitation.

Logan Pierce and colleagues published a study in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons which examined how often ACP documentation is viewed in the EHR after unplanned ICU admission.

Sachin Shah, Sandra Oreper, Margaret Fang, and colleagues published the "Social Frailty Index," a 10 question tool that predicts longevity and independence. Quote from Sachin: "We often overemphasize the importance of medical conditions when thinking about longevity. This research demonstrates that our social lives are as important as medical conditions."

Brandon Scott was a coauthor on a New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst case study describing an academic medical center's entry into the retail health space by opening primary care offices in shopping malls and the implications on access to care and health system growth and finances.

Margaret Fang, Priya Prasad, and colleagues published a description of the “Anticoagulation Length of Therapy and Risk of New Adverse Events In Venous Thromboembolism (ALTERNATIVE)” study, a cohort of people with venous thromboembolism.

Akshay Ravi, Ben Weia, and Simone Arvisais-Anhalt were coauthors on an editorial discussing the role that the clinical informatics community can play in promoting women’s health after the recent Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v Jackson.

Martha Ockenfels-Martinez

"Thank you to Martha Ockenfels-Martinez has stepped up to lead efforts to submit a grant to RWJF. Martha has gone above and beyond to work with internal and external stakeholders to submit this grant that is focusing on aligning a number of health equity projects across UCSF and exploring the creation of health equity metrics. She has skillfully navigated competing stakeholders perspectives and pre-award staff to achieve group consensus on the proposed grant activities. Honestly, this grant would not have been submitted without Martha!"

-James Harrison