UMass FMCH Tuesday Talk - February 8, 2022/EDUCATION
Welcome to the FMCH Tuesday Talk. Please continue to send us your announcements, celebrations, and accomplishments to FMCHtuesdaytalk@umassmed.edu.
Table of Contents
Upcoming Events
Focus of the Week - Education
Announcements
Frankly Speaking Podcast
Department Member Recognition
Clinical Services Spotlight
Upcoming Events

FMCH Grand Rounds
Tuesday, February 8th, 12:00 - 1:00 pm. Sandra Augusto, MD, Presents: "Prenatal Potpourri: Updates on Hepatitis C Virus, Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy and Antenatal Testing in the Outpatient Setting".
Meeting ID: 191 986 273 Passcode: FMCH

Faculty Development Workshops
Building Quick Actions
Friday, February 11th, 12:30 - 1:30pm
The next Faculty Development Workshops will be Epic! Space is limited so please sign up as soon as possible. Please RSVP to Jennifer Masoud at jennifer.masoud@umassmemorial.org.

FMCH Grand Rounds
Tuesday, February 15th, 12:00 - 1:00 pm. John "Jake" Ponti, MD, Presents: "Regenerative Medicine and Orthobiologics".
Meeting ID: 191 986 273 Passcode: FMCH
Focus of the Week - Education

VISTA update
First call came out last week for educational leadership positions in the T.H. Chan SOM Vista curriculum and encompasses many of the roles for the Discovery phase.

Designed by faculty and students and approved by the Education Policy Committee, Vista is the new curriculum for the T.H. Chan School of Medicine and will launch in fall 2022. Vista is structured to promote curiosity and inquiry, empower learners, and enable future physicians to care for diverse patient populations equitably and expertly. To learn more about Vista, follow this link. 
 
Faculty leadership opportunities are being released, applications accepted and approved on a rolling basis. Today’s announcement includes: 
  • Block Co-Directors 
  • Early Clinical Director 
  • Early Clinical Section Directors 
  • Clinical Applications Co-Directors 
  • Pathways Program Director and Leaders 
  • Longitudinal Biomedical Topic Directors 
 
An overview of each of these curricular components and the corresponding faculty leadership position responsibilities can be found at Vista Leadership Roles (umassmed.edu).  Opportunities exist for educators at all levels of career progression, and with varied degrees, at the master’s and doctoral levels. Applicants with diverse backgrounds and lived experience from all elements of our institution are encouraged to apply.   
 
All applications will be carefully considered by a review team including Vista leadership and members of the UMass Chan community. This group will make recommendations to the Dean. Vista faculty leaders will demonstrate or aspire to excellence and innovation in content, teaching and administration. 
Announcements

We are seeking nominations for the Putterman Visiting Professor for 2022. The Professorship honors the memory of faculty member Steven Putterman, MD, who died in 1999.  Steve was a gifted physician who worked on many fronts to improve health care and education, especially health care for vulnerable populations. 
Areas of interest include when considering a potential visiting professor include:
  • Addictions Medicine/Research
  • Promoting Real Change in Health Care Systems
  • Global Health Care and Education 
  • Health Equity/Reducing Health Disparities
  • Novel models of family medicine education, etc.
  • LGBTQ + Health
  • Other suggestions?
Please send your nomination(s) of potential speakers directly by completing this survey for review by the Leadership Team no later than February 28th.  

Suzanne Mitchell is leading the search for a mid-career, tenure track, Community Health Investigator dedicated to the conduct of research aligned with our mission emphasizing the relationship between clinical practice and community health with a focus on serving vulnerable populations and promoting health equity across the lifespan. Please see the application requirements at AcademicJobsOnline position 20374. https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/20374. Please refer inquiries to Suzanne.Mitchell2@umassmed.edu.

Jennifer Bradford and Linda Cragin are co-chairing the Search Committee for the Vice Chair of Community Health. Please see the attached position announcement. Contact Linda for more information at Linda.Cragin@umassmed.edu

Effective now, every home in the US is eligible to order 4 free at-home rapid COVID-19 tests. They are completely free and will usually ship in 7-12 days. Order yours now by visiting  https://www.covidtests.gov/ or http://www.usps.com/covidtest.

100 Million Mouths Campaign as part of the work of the Center for Integration of Primary Care and Oral Health, a joint venture between Harvard Medical/Dental School and our UMMS Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. 
We have selected nine new state oral health education champions to add to our current five state champions in year 2. Work will be ongoing this year to assess the efficacy of Champions engaging health schools in these 14 states to produce graduates of primary care residencies and medical and nursing schools who have improved their knowledge, skill, and attitude around oral health.

Spring Department of Family Medicine and Community Health Retreat:  
Vision 2030 - The Next Chapter for FMCH
Save the Date: Friday - May 20, 2022 
8:00am-6:00pm
Plan for in-person retreat at South Street Campus, Shrewsbury
(with virtual event as back-up) 

Looking to improve oral health in your office for children? The AAP will help!
Social Determinants of Oral Health Project ECHO
The American Academy of Pediatrics is recruiting primary care practices (including family physicians) to join a 7-month learning collaborative designed to enhance pediatric primary care practices’ capacity to improve pediatric oral health outcomes for children ages 6 months – 5 years with a focus on oral health risk assessment. Participants will utilize the electronic health record, or otherwise integrate the AAP Oral Health Risk Assessment (OHRA) tool into practice. In addition, participants will learn successful strategies for medical-dental integration and learn to assess oral health through a social determinants of health/health equity lens. Practices will engage in the ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) modelTM, a telementoring platform that leverages video conference technology to connect subject matter experts with primary care teams in local communities, fostering an “all teach, all learn” approach.
Register here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OralHealthECHO_Register by Friday, February 11, 2022.
Contact Shannon Limjuco, AAP, ECHO Director, at slimjuco@aap.org for any questions.

Volunteers needed for WFCC
Worcester Free Care Collaborative is always in need of volunteer family physicians and family nurse practitioners to support its mission to address needs of the uninsured and underinsured of our community. We also need help with pediatric vaccine program management. You fill find it fulfilling to address needs for vulnerable patients and work with highly motivated student volunteers. Contact student leader Tyler Healy (tyler.healy@umassmed.edu) for needs across the 6 programs or Danielle Heims-Waldron (danielle.heimswaldron@umassmed.edu) for Monday night’s Epworth pro
Frankly Speaking Podcast

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

Please join us as we discuss menopausal transition and the unique qualities and symptoms that are bothersome to women at an early age. Guest: Jill M. Terrien, PhD, ANP-BC, presents: "Menopausal Transition: Bothersome Symptoms Sooner Than You Expect!". - Frankly Speaking Ep 262.
Department Member Recognition

Daniel Mullin, PsyD, MPH, and Stacy Potts, Md, MEd, appeared on Boston public radio (WBUR) on the program Radio Boston on January 27, 2022. In this 20 minute segment Drs. Mullin and Potts discussed communication skills and COVID vaccination during pregnancy. A recording of the interview is available here: 
A recording of a 90 minute training they have developed on communication skills, COVID vaccination, and pregnancy is available for free on the Center for Integrated Primary Care’s website: www.umassmed.edu/cipc 

Dennis Dimitri, MD, FAAFP, has been elected vice chair of the Board of The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts. The foundation was created just over 20 years ago with the funds from the sale of the former non profit HMO Central Mass Health Care. Since that time the foundation has funded over 40 million dollars to health care projects in central Massachusetts, primarily addressing social determinants of health, with special attention to issues of equity and health care disparity.
Clinical Services Spotlight:
COVID-19 UPDATES

COVID Update MA
  • The 7-day average of percent positivity is 4.78%.
  • The total number of confirmed cases in MA is 1,502,248, with 21,755 confirmed deaths. 
  • There are currently 1,583 patients hospitalized for COVID (264 patients in the ICU and 153 intubated).
  • Starting Monday Feb 14, state restrictions regarding elective procedures that require an inpatient bed will begin to loosen, starting with allowing 50% of pre-pandemic numbers.
 
COVID Update UMMMC
  • Current census of COVID-positive patients is 77 patients (21 in ICU); 64% are fully vaccinated.
  • Worcester Stop-the-Spread test positivity is 16%.
  • Asymptomatic test positivity is 6%; the symptomatic test positivity rate is 24.7%.
  • Employees out due to COVID has continued to decrease (12 in past 24 hours).
  • Length of stay for COVID patients during Omicron is slightly shorter than previous surges. Overall length of stay is much longer however due to lack of SNF beds.
 
COVID Clinical Update: Myocarditis
Myocarditis after the mRNA COVID vaccine is unclear. However, two recent journal articles report on this topic. Data was received from the VAERS database.
  • Patients with COVID have a small risk of having inflammation of the heart or myocarditis. 
  • Myocarditis is higher in young people from vaccination than from COVID disease. It was found more commonly in males with median age being age 21.
  • The median time to onset of symptoms was 2 days. The highest number of cases were reported within 3 days of vaccination among males ages 12 to 15, adolescent males ages 16 to17, and young men ages 18 to 24.
  • The most common clinical findings included:
  • 98% had elevated troponin levels.
  • 2% had abnormal electrocardiogram results.
  • 72% had abnormal cardiac MRI results.
  • Approximately 96% of persons were hospitalized and 87% of these had resolution of presenting symptoms by hospital discharge. The most common treatment was nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs used in 87% of the patients.
 
COVID Testing and Medicare
Medicare will cover FREE Over-the-Counter COVID-19 Tests effective early spring 2022
To help expand access to COVID-19 testing for all Americans, CMS launched an initiative to cover the cost of over-the-counter (OTC) COVID-19 tests for people in either Original Medicare or Medicare Advantage.
Current options for Medicare patients to access FREE COVID-19 tests:
  • Request four (4) free OTC tests for home delivery at covidtests.gov
  • Seek testing at 1 of over 20,000 free testing sites - list here
  • Access lab-based PCR test and antigen test at no cost when ordered by a physician or other authorized care giver
  • Reminder: a Medicare patient can access a lab-performed test without an order (also without cost sharing) during the public health emergency 
 
Current Staffing and Labor Issues 
The number one issue reported by CEOs and CFOs across the country is the staffing issues within the healthcare system, impacting patient flow and the healthcare workforce. Healthcare leadership report the leading cause as the demands and burnout associated with working on the front lines during the pandemic. As a result of the staffing issues and burnout, health systems across the country are seeing early retirement, an increase in turnover, job changes to other opportunities, and exits from healthcare to other professions. Many organizations realize the enormous impact. 
Plausible interventions suggested by multiple institutions include:
  • Enhanced training for staff.
  • Development of flexible approached to staffing. Developing flex pool staffing among clinical and non-clinical staff.
  • Increasing telehealth.
  • Looking beyond the local area for recruiting.
  • According to recent reports, an investment in supporting the frontline is an investment in the future of healthcare. 

Wellness Coaches Available at UMass
As part of our commitment to clinician wellness, the Clinician Experience Office (CXO) is excited to offer free wellness coaching for physicians, advanced practice providers, residents and fellows. The CXO has six certified UMass Memorial Medical Group faculty members serving as the wellness coaches for this program. 
Sign-Up Now! 
  • Click here to view the Wellness Coaching website, which includes bios for each of the 6 coaches and a link to the application. Applications will close on February 25, 2022. 
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.

Wellness
You are invited to become a member of the Department Wellness Committee. Key goals for this year include improving the efficiency of use with the Electronic Health Record. Watch your email for future training sessions.
Working on Wellness
Yoga Classes with Dr. Liz Erban
New Yoga Link!
Our Yoga class hit the 1 year anniversary - which in zoomland means we need a new link. Happy anniversary yogis and much gratitude to our fearless leader, Liz!

Also, a great time to join, new members always welcome. Start your mid week with some relaxing yoga! 

Please join department members for early morning gentle yoga, Wednesday mornings 6:30am via Zoom.
Join Zoom Meeting ID: 923 9393 3653 Passcode: 764113
Zumba with Dr. Anna Zheng

Thursdays 6:15pm: In-person or ZOOM
Please join department members Thursday evenings at 6:15pm**(30 Anna Street: tall & spacious indoor location) and get moving with Zumba. Please note details and any changes via webpage: http://annazheng.zumba.com/. ZOOM still possible for all classes.
 
Much appreciation to Dr. Anna Zheng for hosting these outstanding classes. New to the class? Please email Dr. Zheng at ZumbawithAnnaZheng@gmail.com to register, complete brief health screen if it's your first class and the ZOOM link.