UMass FMCH Tuesday Talk - August 24, 2021/RESEARCH
Welcome to the FMCH Tuesday Talk. Please continue to send us your announcements, celebrations, and accomplishments to [email protected].
Table of Contents
Upcoming Events
Department Member Recognition
Focus of the Week - Research
Announcements
Frankly Speaking Podcast
Faculty Presentations/Publications
Clinical Services Spotlight
Pisacano Scholar!

Congratulations to John Romano, 4th year medical student who has been named a Pisacano Scholar. The Pisacano Scholars Leadership Program and American Board of Family Medicine hold a highly competitive search for honorees who receive a financial scholarship and take part in substantial leadership training throughout their final year of medical school. John was nominated by Jim Ledwith. As Jim wrote in his recommendation: John is becoming a remarkable physician and I strongly endorse his professionalism, leadership, clinical aptitude, and spirit for service. My close work with John has been in our shared volunteer work in which I serve as Medical Director for the Epworth Free Clinic and, on behalf of the school, Faculty Advisor to the student organization, the Worcester Free Care Collaborative (WFCC). … John Romano is the remarkable shining light of his class, and of those who preceded him. I earnestly endorse him as a Pisacano Scholar in recognition of his selfless service, effective leadership, outstanding professionalism, and remarkable potential.  
Upcoming Events

Department of Family Medicine and Community Health Septemberfest!
Hopkinton State Park, Saturday, September 25th,11:00 – 3:00pm.
Barbecue, activities for the kids, canoe, sailboat and kayak rentals
Don't miss out on the fun at Septemberfest. Please RSVP to Jennifer Masoud by Friday, September 3rd to reserve your spot. Include the number and names of everyone in your party.
Carpooling is recommended as the parking lot fills up fast on weekends.

The WFMR is happy to announce a Fall Resident Retreat date
10/5/21 8am to 5pm at Camp Selah, Orange, MA
We appreciate faculty who will be doing additional service to allow the residents this important wellness and team building time. Also, residency faculty who are interested and able to be free are invited to join. Please mark your calendars and contact Hilda Alers for further details.

American Board of Family Medicine Maintenance of Certification
KSA (SAM) Workshop: “Care of Children”
Thursday, November 18, 2021, 8:00 – 10:00 AM
WEBINAR (no need to leave your desk) Link will be sent prior to 11/18/2021
We will complete the latest (just released) 60 question Care of Children KSA via a virtual CME event. You will record your answers while we work through the KSA, then after completion, log into your ABFM account and enter the results and claim your CME credits through the ABFM. Successful Completion of the Knowledge Self-Assessment (KSA) Module is eligible for up to 10 ABFM Credit Hours.
See the attached invitation for a WEBINAR to complete the ABFM KSA: Caring for Children. To register, please complete and follow the directions on the attached registration form.
Focus of the Week - Research

From Allison Blodgett, Director of IRB Operations and Heather Strom Tessier, IRB Educational Specialist:  eIRB is being upgraded to a cloud-based environment with an anticipated go-live date of October 2021. To accomplish this, training is available and several steps are required.
 
UMass Single Sign-on:
In order to comply with UMass Medical School data security policies and procedures, the new eIRB system will only be accessible via UMass Medical School Single Sign-On (UMMS SSO). This means that individuals need UMMS credentials for themselves or their collaborators. The attached job aid, which was developed in consultation with UMMS IT and HR may be helpful. If you need help getting UMMS credentials, please let Linda Cragin know.  

eIRB Upgrade and Training Sessions:
Registration for live, virtual training sessions for the new eIRB system is NOW OPEN! Training sessions will be held starting the last week in August through the beginning of October 2021. Ongoing training will also be available after Go Live in October. We are offering four main training courses at this time and one ‘mini’ session aimed at the PI role in eIRB. The courses and their focus are listed in the attached document. The courses should be taken in order, as many of the concepts introduced in the earlier courses will be built upon in the successive courses. Courses 1, 2 and 3 should be taken by all eIRB users, with Course 4 being optional unless you plan to rely on IRBs outside of the UMMS IRB (e.g. Advarra, WCG IRB, etc.) to review your research. The PI ‘mini course’ is also optional. Please refer to the attached document for information about when the courses are being held, instructions regarding registration, and details on how to register for the courses. Click here to register: 

eIRB Upgrade and CITI Training:
The new eIRB will automatically display current CITI training dates for Human Subjects Training, Good Clinical Practice, and Conflict of Interest. In order for the dates to display properly, you must enter your umassmed.edu email in your Institutional Profile in CITI. To do this:
  • Go into your CITI account and, using the pulldown menu under your name, select Profiles. Go to the Institutional Profile (not the Member Profile) for University of Massachusetts Worcester, click EDIT PROFILE, and add your UMMS email address as the Institutional Email Address.
You can continue to use any email you like as your preferred and secondary emails in your Member Profile. However, your umassmed.edu email must be entered in the Institutional Profile. 
 
eIRB Upgrade and Continuing Reviews:
For a period of time prior to go-live, the UMMS IRB will need to freeze receipt of new studies, modifications, and continuing reviews to ensure data integrity across the two systems. We will do our best to keep the period as short as possible and to minimize the impact this may have on researchers. We encourage researchers to think ahead to time sensitive submissions (e.g., NIH JIT awards) that may require attention during this period and to submit to the IRB well in advance. 
IF YOU’RE A PI ON A STUDY THAT IS CURRENTLY ACTIVE WITH THE IRB: 
Please take a moment to identify all studies that are set to expire between now and November 30 and submit the corresponding Continuing Review by Wednesday, September 1, 2021. The IRB Office will conduct the continuing review early to help ensure that these studies are reapproved prior to data migration into the new system. To assist study teams with preparing for the transition from the legacy system to the new eIRB, we have updated the attached checklist.
Announcements


Annual Compliance Training, 7 days and counting!
The Annual Required Education completion for UMass Memorial Health System has been extended until August 31, 2021.

Please consider becoming a LPP (longitudinal preceptors program) for the incoming class of medical students. PGY-2 and PGY-3 residents are welcome to serve as a LPP. There are 11 sessions during the first year and 6 in the second year. The Urban and Rural Health Scholars Pathways supported by MassAHEC/FMCH works with LPPs in these specific settings. For more information about LPPs you can ask Mike Ennis or go to: https://www.umassmed.edu/oume/curriculum/longitudinal-preceptor-program/. On the left column click on “Current preceptors” then at the bottom there are links to objectives and preceptor packets. To apply go to: https://umassmed.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5ps4tnY5U4YZzj8 
If you want to specifically work with Urban or Rural Health Scholars, email [email protected].  Thanks in advance!

Acting Patients Applicants Needed
Acting Patients will work independently to accurately portray specific emotions, behaviors and symptoms while interacting with participants of our Motivational Interviewing Program.
The actor may serve as a standardized patient with various health issues including smoking, anxiety, hypertension, and prescription opioid use. If interested, or know someone, please see attached Acting Patients Job Description for more details and contact [email protected].

Medical School Applicant Interviews
The School of Medicine is seeking raters for the Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI) to choose the next class of medical students. It is a great opportunity to meet enthusiastic MD applicants. Please forward any questions to Stacy Potts at [email protected] or Brenda Fusaro at [email protected]. Here is the doodle link for the training sessions:

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 (www.umassmed.edu/fmch/research)
If you’d like to be on the distribution list, please send an email to Judy Savageau ([email protected]). 

Call for Participation in Research Study
Greetings from the Family Medicine & Community Health Department!
We are searching for Healthcare Providers (e.g., nurses, doctors, clerkship or resident students, behavioral health providers, etc.) who have experience working with chronic pain patients to take part in a 90-minute Teleconference Interview/Focus Group. It will help us evaluate GEMINI (H00017069), an online tool that’s goal is to provide patients with integrative medicine tools that can be used in their daily lives, and to host online telemedicine groups made up of patients and providers. 
  • Research Study Expectations
  1. Answer a brief (15 minute) survey about your professional background and experience with medical group visits and telemedicine programs.
  2. Participate in a 90-minute (at most) structured interview/focus group during which you will be introduced to GEMINI and asked for feedback.
  3. You can earn $50 for your time and participation.
We need your help to understand 1) the features that you expect to see in GEMINI; 2) the benefits that you expect from GEMINI for your work specifically and for other professionals with similar roles in general; and 3) the barriers to adoption of GEMINI that you foresee in your practice and in other similar organizations.
If you are interested in participating in our research study or would like to learn more, contact Diana Rinker (Research Coordinator) by phone at 774-314-9509 or email at [email protected].

FHCW Wednesday Cultural Rounds
The residents at FHCW host the event each Wednesday from 5 – 5:30pm. We welcome a member of the community to talk about their culture and the ways it can impact their health and the care they receive. The sessions are informal and involve a robust Q&A. Through these weekly discussions, we hope to promote cultural humility and the continuous process of learning about perspectives outside of our own in order to improve the care we provide. We welcome anyone interested in joining us each week at the link below:

Upcoming Conferences and Calls for Abstracts
The research staff maintains a list of upcoming meetings and conferences that FMCH faculty members often attend. The list has information on deadlines for abstract submissions and links to conference websites. The list can be downloaded from the Department website:

Research Support
A reminder that the Department offers support for FMCH faculty research leading to scholarly publications and/or presentations. You can find more information, including a form for requesting support, on the FMCH website: Research Initiatives - UMass Medical School - Worcester.
Frankly Speaking Podcast

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

Join us to discuss important changes in the 2021 USPSTF recommendation on lung cancer screening. Given lung cancer's high prevalence and poor prognosis in later stages, it is important for the primary care clinicians to know which patients to screen and what method to use. You will also learn the appropriate time to stop screening. Guest: Robert A. Baldor, MD, FAAFP presents: Lung Cancer Screening-Expanded Recommendations! - Frankly Speaking Ep 238.
Faculty Presentations/Publications

Dan Mullin, PsyD, MPH, Judy Savageau, MPH, and Kate Sullivan recently had a paper published related to the integrated BH/primary care training conducted by CIPC:
Mullin DJ, Savageau JA, Sullivan K. Online Training of Behavioral Health Providers for Primary Care Practice. Families, Systems, & Health 2021;39(2):327-335. https://doi.org/10.1037/fsh0000627.

Jennifer Reidy, MD, Judy Savageau, MPH and Kate Sullivan's work with our Palliative Care colleagues was just published based on a study done during the COVID-19 pandemic: Reidy J, Savageau JA, Sullivan K, Nagpal V. Assessing Goals of Care Documentation During the COVID-19 Patient Surge in an Academic Safety-Net Medical Center. J Palliative Medicine 17 August 2021, ePub ahead of print
Clinical Services Spotlight:
COVID-19 UPDATES
Massachusetts
  • Confirmed COVID cases 694,442.
  • Current percent positivity of COVID tests is 2.81%.
  • Hospitalizations 467 with 108 in the ICU and 89 intubated.
  • Confirmed deaths are 17, 805.
  • More than 12,500 COVID breakthrough cases in MA and 124 deaths.

UMass Memorial
  • Current inpatient census is 32 (10 in ICU).
  • Worcester Stop-the-Spread percent positivity is 5.4% (up ~2% from last week).
  • In house symptomatic test positivity is 14.7% (up from ~9% last week).
  • Employees diagnosed with COVID in past week = 20 (6 unvaccinated).

US
  • The number of children with COVID is increasing across the country.
  • The FDA is considering approval of the Pfizer vaccine this week.
  • In the US, more children are being diagnosed with COVID and admitted to the hospital. 
  • MA has a lower number of children testing positive for COVID when compared to other states.

What is the Multisystem inflammatory Syndrome seen in Children with COVID?
  • Children may present with a fever and one of the following:
  • Abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea, chest tightness, fatigue, bloodshot eyes, headache, neck pain, rash, and low blood pressure.
  • Children may be asymptomatic.

Monoclonal Antibody Treatment
  • Do you have patients that have recently tested positive for COVID?
  • Monoclonal antibody treatment is available at UMass. The treatment is approved for Emergency Use.
  • Monoclonal antibodies help to lessen the symptoms of COVID.
  • When patients test positive, patients must be treated within 10 days.
  • To be eligible, patients must meet the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) definition of “high risk” but do not need to be existing UMass Memorial patients or live in Massachusetts. Same-day COVID-19 tests can be performed, followed by a telemedicine visit for evaluation and qualification for therapy. The infusion treatment takes 20 minutes, then patients are monitored for an hour. There is no cost to the patient and treatment is offered regardless of immigration status or health insurance. UMass Memorial is able to treat up to 40 patients per week.
  • Treatments are available Monday to Friday between the hours of 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.
  • Internal referrals can be done by placing a referral order for “Amb Referral to Monoclonal Antibody Clinic.” The patient’s COVID diagnosis date and symptom onset date will need to be entered. 
  • For external referrals, providers need to request an Ambulatory Referral to the Monoclonal Antibody Clinic by using one of the following contact points:

a.      Phone: 800-431-5151
b.      Email: [email protected]
c.      Fax: 508-334-1486; 508-334-8317; 508-334-7616
  • Patients who do not have a referring provider but wish to inquire about their eligibility for mAbs should contact 855-UMASS-MD. 
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.
Working on Wellness
Yoga Classes with Dr. Liz Erban
Please join department members for early morning gentle yoga, Wednesday mornings 6:30am via Zoom.

Much appreciation to Dr. Erban for hosting these outstanding classes. Join Zoom Meeting
Zumba with Dr. Anna Zheng

May 2021 & summer months (until Sep 2021):
Please join department members Monday mornings at 6:00am, Thursday evenings at 6:15pm, some Saturday mornings at 9:15am**(only 1x/month; outdoor location) and get moving with Zumba. Please note schedule changes via webpage: http://annazheng.zumba.com/. ZOOM still possible for all classes.

Much appreciation to Dr. Anna Zheng for hosting these outstanding classes. Join Zoom meeting: https://kennedychc.zoom.us/j/5578995952?pwd=bzVnY0xXdFNTQkpQQ1hmZkw3Snh6Zz09.