Welcome to the FMCH Tuesday Talk. Please continue to send us your announcements, celebrations, and accomplishments to FMCHtuesdaytalk@umassmed.edu. |
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Table of Contents
Message From The Chair
Upcoming Events
Focus of the Week - Research
Announcements
Department Member Recognition
Frankly Speaking Podcast
Clinical Services Spotlight
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MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR
Congratulations to the Health Alliance Fitchburg and Worcester Family Medicine Residency Programs on your Match Results. We have outstanding incoming classes. This reflects hard work from the faculty, residents, staff and program leadership. Well done!
Please plan to join us next week for a Town Hall at noon on March 29.
Congratulations to Josephine Fowler and Stacy Potts- both promoted to Professor! This accomplishment reflects their outstanding contributions to the field of family medicine at UMass and nationally.
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Upcoming Events
FMCH Grand Rounds
Tuesday, March 22nd, 12:00 - 1:00 pm. Dejah Judelson, MD, presents: "New Treatments in the Management of Carotid Disease".
Meeting ID: 191 986 273 Passcode: FMCH
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
RSVP to Jennifer Masoud at jennifer.masoud@umassmemorial.org
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Focus of the Week - Research
Human Subjects Research
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Studies involving human subjects typically require review by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). If you are unsure whether your study requires review, contact the UMMS IRB for a determination. Information about the IRB and how to submit applications is available at the following link: https://umassmed.edu/ccts/irb/.
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Our department requires that all IRB applications be submitted for internal review prior to their submission to the IRB. You can find information on the Department’s policies and procedures for review and where to go for questions about your application here. https://umassmed.edu/fmch/research/irb/. This also include applications that are being submitted by a medical student or resident that you’re working with and the hosting department is FMCH.
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All members of the research team involved in the design, conduct, or reporting of human subjects research must complete training. Online training is provided through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) human subjects training program. Information about the CITI exam and links to training modules are available here: https://umassmed.edu/ccts/irb/CITI-GCP/.
- CITI training must be renewed every three years. We urge all potential research team members to begin CITI training well before submitting an IRB application to avoid delays in approval of your application.
Research Support
Trying to Keep Up with the Literature?
The department pulls together the tables of contents (TOCs) for about 15 medical journals and distributes this bundle monthly to a select listserve that people can easily sign up for. The TOCs include 4-5 FM journals, JAMA, NEJM, AJPH, Health Affairs, Medical Care, JGIM, Am J Prev Med; etc. – lots of great articles that can easily be accessed through links within the bundle. We are also open to adding more journals if there’s an interest expressed! Take a look at what's been posted in the past several months by going to the department's web pages under the section on Research. You will see a tab in the left-hand margin for these TOC bundles that we post monthly: https://www.umassmed.edu/fmch/research/journal-table-of-contents/. Id you would like to be on the distribution list, please send an email to Judy Savageau (judith.savageau@umassmed.edu).
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Announcements
March 30th is Doctor's Day. UMMMC will be celebrating 10 days instead. Watch your emails for updates from Dr. Byrd, our CXO, for details concerning the appreciation day. On Doctor's Day, doctors are honored for their dedication and contribution to society. Remember to say thank you to your peers.
The learning objectives are:
- Define what mindfulness and compassion is and what it is not
- Explain the neuroscience benefits of mindfulness
- Incorporate the purposeful pause into your day
- Utilize meditation to increase calm and steadiness
This program focuses on skill building and practicing mind body techniques. Go to
For more information see attached brochure.
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Department Member Recognition
With funding from the Remillard Family Community Service Award, Sara Shields pulled together a terrific group of investigators to evaluate the Baby Box project that’s been on-going in the Worcester community for a number of years. The Maternal and Child Health Journal recently accepted the paper for publication despite numerous setbacks in the review process during the height of the COVID pandemic. This manuscript’s work also formed the foundation for a Capstone project recently completed by Alex Wenk-Bodenmiller who just matched in Family Medicine to the Hahnemann Family Health Center. In addition, Eden Hen and Paul Rizzo were UMass Chan Medical School graduates in 2021. Paul is currently a Family Medicine resident at Cambridge Health Alliance. This was a great collaboration and team effort to see the project through to publication!
Congratulations to Sara and her team for persevering through the lengthy review process: Tasmina Hydery, Sara Shields, Eden Hen, Paul Rizzo, Kate Sullivan, and Judy Savageau. The Impact of Local Education and Resource Distribution on Maternal Health Behaviors. Maternal and Child Health Journal, in press.
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Frankly Speaking Podcast
A weekly Podcast series covering newsworthy topics in primary care medicine.
Please join us for an overview: This episode will help bring awareness to the importance of educating patients about post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in the primary care setting. This talk will also discuss how to reduce the stigma surrounding this prevention method. Finally, you will hear about the newly FDA approved PrEP treatment option that could potentially improve outcomes for patients. Guest: Mariyan L. Montaque, DNP, FNP-BC, presents: "PrEP: Are We Educating Patients Effectively?". - Frankly Speaking Ep 268.
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Clinical Services Spotlight: |
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COVID-19 UPDATES
COVID-19 Updates World
- A new COVID surge is seen in several parts of the world.
- According to the WHO, cases are up 8 percent when compared to the previous week.
- The Omicron BA.2 sub-variant is more contagious and accounts for more than a quarter of the new cases.
- New cases increased about 40 percent in NY in the last two weeks.
COVID-19 Updates MA
- COVID-19 has caused a middle school in Concord, MA to close due to 44 identified cases.
- There are 813 new cases of COVID reported in MA with 6 deaths.
- There are 231 hospitalizations with 38 patients in the ICU and 15 intubated.
- The 7-day average percent positivity is 1.68%.
COVID-19 Updates UMMMC
- The total number of cases in house is 16 (4 in the ED, 9 in acute care, and 3 in ICU)
- The percentage of cases fully vaccinated was 69%. Of the 3 in the ICU, 100% were fully vaccinated.
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The 7-day average of percent positivity is 4.7% compared to 3.4% 7 days ago.
Advanced Care Planning quality metric for the Primary Care First (PCF) Program
This is a reminder to providers that they should address advanced care planning at least once per year. Details on documentation and coding are attached.
"PCF requires some form of Advance Care Planning to be done at least once in every calendar year for Medicare patients age 65 or older. The metric is satisfied when there is:
- progress note documentation
- AND use of one of the designated ACP billing codes
In some cases, you will want/need to do an extended ACP conversation and can bill accordingly. In most situations, however, you will need only to briefly review the patient’s status with respect to having/updating/documenting their surrogate decision-maker. There are two new “tracking” codes that can be used for these brief conversations.
Excerpt from Quality Measures 101. UMMH, Office of Clinical Integration, 03.09.2022.
Changes in the Massachusetts formulary effective 03-21-22.
Highlights include some changes in prior authorization status for commonly used drugs and an updated MassHealth Brand Name Preferred Over Generic Drug List. Details @
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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.
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Yoga Classes with Dr. Liz Erban
Last class will be March 2nd, and then a brief hiatus/pause, with classes resuming on May 4th, 2022.
Great time to join!
This is 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
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Zumba with Dr. Anna Zheng
Thursdays 5:45pm: In-person or ZOOM
Please join department members Thursday evenings at 5:45pm**(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 an option 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.
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