Table of Contents

Departmental Awards

Upcoming Events

Focus of the Week - Education

Announcements

Faculty Presentations/Publications

Department Member Recognition

Frankly Speaking Podcast

Clinical Services Spotlight

Department Awards

Each year, the department recognizes individuals who have contributed to the department’s mission of service and teaching. One of the teaching awards will honor a faculty member for outstanding work in Diversity, Inclusion and Social Justice. We are seeking your nominations for these recognitions. These awards are important for the faculty and call for thought and reflection on those who deserve recognition. A nomination should include the person’s name, the award you are nominating them for, and a brief paragraph describing why the individual is deserving. Written nominations will be shared with the leadership team in advance of the team’s October meeting. Nominees will be presented, discussed, and voted on by the Leadership Team. Awardees will be honored on November 15th from12:00 - 1:00pm at the Department's Annual Awards Ceremony (in lieu of Grand Rounds. The awards are: Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity Excellence, Education, Outstanding Community Clinician and the Chair Award.

Upcoming Events

FMCH Grand Rounds

Tuesday, October 11th, 12:00 - 1:00 pm. "Medical Emergencies in Flight (and Beyond): Is There a Medical Provider Aboard?", presented by Stacy Potts, MD, MEd, and Philip Day, PhD.

Meeting ID: 191 986 273 Passcode: FMCH

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/191986273?pwd=NEtlZmNkdWlSUGwyeTJQU3dCeUs1QT09

16th Annual Louis A. Cottle Event

Tuesday, October 11th at 6:30pm, (being held virtually via Zoom) Hugh Silk, MD, MPH, FAAFP, presents: "Stories, Art, Music and Photographs-Reducing Burnout and Improving Patient Care Through the Medical Humanities".

(see attached brochure)

1. Structural Inequity, Advocacy and Justice
2. Entrepreneurship, Biomedical Innovation and Design  
3. Clinical Care 
4. Clinical, Community and Translational Research 
5. Education 
6. Population, Community and Global Health 
7. Health Systems Science 
8. Population-based Urban and Rural Community Health (PURCH)

In the new curriculum, each student would be exposed to foundational principles, content and skills that apply to all Pathways and an introduction to each individual Pathway in the fall of their first year, select a Pathway in the spring and participate in related sessions through their enrollment culminating in the completion and presentation of a scholarly project. 

Dedicated time is identified for curriculum across all 4 years in core foundational areas (for all learners), common or overlapping areas (for learners across several pathways) and areas unique or specific to each pathway. The Pathway Program provides a structure that aligns skills of inquiry and critical thinking with self-directed learning longitudinally. It links to student experiences in foundational curriculum, service learning, research and clinical care throughout enrollment.

Graduate Medical Education

As we gear up for recruitment of our next class of residents and fellows, it is also an exciting time for our third-year residents and final-year fellows as they search for the position of their dreams. Congratulations to those with signed or soon to sign contracts and best wishes to those still searching for that next great step in their careers. The faculty are very proud of you all!

Faculty Development

The Board of Registration of Medicine has multiple requirements in CME for maintaining licensure. The Department wants to make these resources as readily available as possible. Grand rounds this week is approved for risk management credit. Next week's grand rounds will cover the required training for Alzheimer's Dementia. Additionally, this Thursday morning there is a Baystate Department of Family Health-sponsored event including required training on Unconscious Bias.  

Med Moth is scheduled for October 12th at 5:30pm in the Albert Sherman Center Multi-Purpose Room (Cafeteria). Med Moth is an event based on The Moth Story Hour where 6-8 members of the UMass Community (SOM, GSN, GSBS, and Baystate) share stories for 5-10 minutes each. Past talks have been about the speaker's journey into medicine, meaningful patient encounters, or other experiences that have shaped one's personal or professional identity in health care. Some have been humorous (a horrible first day of internship) and others have been more serious (coping with the guilt of making a medical error) but the topic is up to the speaker. We seek to highlight a diverse collection of voices and capture the richness of experiences of the members of our UMass-Chan community. 

Teaching of Tomorrow (TOT) is a nationally recognized and highly acclaimed faculty development program that focuses on building and refining foundational skills for effective clinical teaching in inpatient and ambulatory settings. Preceptors from any specialty and discipline will enhance their clinical teaching skills through discourse and practice. Workshop dates are November 18-19, 2022 and March 10-11, 2023 and will be held at the Hotel Northampton. Participants must attend all four days. See brochure for details and how to register. 

Drs. Judson Brewer and Lia Antico in conjunction with the Brown Mindfulness Center is conducting a research study to test if a short mindfulness-based training is effective at reducing burnout in physicians. Participants must be physicians. If you are a physician and you are interested in helping us to learn about burnout, please contact Brown affiliated contact person at [email protected]. Use of this message for recruiting participants has been approved by Brown's Human Research Protection Program. Protocol # 2022003296. 

Faculty Presentations/Publications

FMEC Poster Presentation Award

Congratulations to second-year medical students Grace Mascha, Priscilla Lee, and Nick Kumkari (and their faculty mentors Philip Day, PhD, and Stacy Potts, MD, MEd) for their third-place award at the Family Medicine Education Consortium poster competition, titled

"Life after 80: A qualitative study of age and aging in adults over 80 years old"

Frankly Speaking Podcast

A weekly Podcast series covering newsworthy topics in primary care medicine.

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frankly-speaking-about-family-medicine/id1194659367.

Please join us for an overview: The efficacy of probiotic formulations in the prevention of antibiotic-associated diarrhea remains unclear. Join us to review a recent study in JAMA Pediatrics that attempts to answer this question. Guest: Robert A. Baldor, MD, presents: "Probiotics to Prevent Diarrhea During Antibiotic Course in Children". - Frankly Speaking Ep 297.

COVID-19 UPDATES

COVID-19 US

Hot spots for COVID-19 are in the following areas:

Average Daily Cases

• New York           4,447.6
• New Jersey        2,058.9
• Massachusetts   1,434.6
• Kentucky            1,245.7
• Maryland               670.9
• Maine                    271.7
• Rhode Island        256.6

COVID-19 MA

• There were 43 new deaths in 7 days with a total of 20,341 confirmed deaths in MA.
• The 7-day percent positivity is 7.76%.
• There are 227 patients hospitalized primarily for COVID-related illnesses; 758 hospitalized patients are COVID positive. 

COVID-19 UMMMC

• The 7-day average percent positivity is 17.8% (increased from 13.2% last week).
• In-house cases 7-day average is 67, up 23% from last week. Of the 67 patients, 75% are fully vaccinated. 
• There are 8 cases in the ICU with 50% fully vaccinated. 

CDC Alert- Ebola October 6, 2022

• An Ebola outbreak has been declared in Uganda- the largest outbreak in 20 years.
• Please avoid non-essential travel to these regions.
• Currently, there are no cases in the state of MA or in the US. 
• The US will begin screening air passengers from Uganda.
• Travel restrictions will begin this week. 
• Passengers who have been from Uganda in the last 21 days will be funneled to:
• Kennedy Airport - New York
• Newark Liberty Airport - New Jersey
• Dulles Airport - Washington D.C.
• Hartsfield- Jackson Atlanta International - Atlanta, GA
• CDC urges physicians to take a travel history from anyone they suspect of having Ebola. 
• Symptoms may occur on days 2-21. Symptoms include:
• Mild respiratory symptoms
• Bleeding from the eyes, nose, mouth, or rectum
• Fever
• Aches and pains
• Severe headaches
• Sore throat
• Abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea
• Red eyes, rash, and hiccups in the late stage. 
• Transmission
• Blood and body fluids or objects contaminated with blood and body fluids.
• Infected animals.
• Travelers should isolate themselves immediately and seek medical care if they develop signs and symptoms.

Health Equity- Osteoporosis 2022

The system True North goal for 2022 was to reach 54.4% in the number of screens for osteoporosis. Among the four practices, all met this goal among white patients, both Hahnemann Family Medical Health Center and Health Alliance Fitchburg Family Medicine surpassed the goal for Hispanic patients, the gap was not closed among African American /Black patients. Barre Family Medicine (small number) and Family Medicine University Benedict surpassed the goal for Asian patients. The group will continue to work on closing the gap in the coming year with the aid of OCI and the staff using outreach.

Screening: The US Preventive Task Force recommend screening in all women greater than 65 years of age or older and at 60 years of age for those with an increased risk of osteoporotic fractures. 

Wellness Resources

The Caring for the Caregiver Program provides resources such as the Caregiver Support Line (508-334-HELP) and The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) which offers a variety of services and supports (including virtual peer support and wellness tips. EAP can be accessed at 866-263-3525, or www.LiveandWorkWell.com, [company code UmassMemorial]. More information is available on the Caring for the Caregiver page.