Transformational Times
Words of Hope, Character & Resilience from our Virtual Community
Friday, December 10, 2021
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In This Special Global Health Issue: |
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Associate Director's Corner
Perspective/ Opinion
Post a New Message on the MCW-Froedtert Skywalk
Poetry Corner
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Your Turn
Announcements & Resource
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Associate Director's Corner
Harnessing the Power of Community in Medical Education
By Devarati Syam, PhD and Cassie Ferguson, MD
Devarati Syam, PhD, the Program Manager for the Kern Institute’s Student and GME Pillars, and Cassie Ferguson, MD, the Kern Institute’s Associate Director, team up to explain how cohort-based learning can positively impact our learning environment and provide a list of readings to dive deeper …
Every year since Dr. Ferguson graduated from the Medical College of Wisconsin in May of 2004 (except for 2020—Thank you, pandemic…), she and six of her former classmates travel from Oregon, California, Wisconsin, Connecticut, and Massachusetts to gather, catch up, and be together. These are the women that helped her pass biochemistry and who listened when she couldn’t imagine facing another day on the trauma surgery rotation. But, more importantly, they were the first people she called when she got engaged, when she experienced a miscarriage, when she got promoted, and when her grant wasn’t funded. Dr. Ferguson’s relationships with these amazing women were the reason she thrived in medical school.
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Perspective/ Opinion
Reflections Serving a Global Population, Locally
By Alec R. Baca, MS4
Mr. Baca shares his experience rotating in a Southside Milwaukee clinic that serves a global patient population, noting its value to both the community and to his own experience …
Ever since hearing about the organization, I had been excited to visit 16th Street Community Health Centers. Their clinics are spread throughout the Milwaukee area, including locations inside various schools, serving a largely immigrant patient population from Latin America. After shadowing at their Chavez Clinic near downtown, I had the opportunity to rotate there for an M4 Family and Community Medicine Elective.
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Perspective/ Opinion
Displacement Due to Climate Change: An Opportunity to Act for Health
By Caitlin Rublee, MD, MPH
Millions of people are being displaced from their homes by disasters every year. Climate change is worsening the situation and harming health. In this essay, Dr Rublee, who has completed a Climate and Health Science Policy Fellowship, describes the health-related effects of climate change and offers resources to learn more …
Standing in Glasgow, Scotland a few weeks ago at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), amidst an international body of climate and health advocates, was an extension of the care I provide at the bedside. As an emergency medicine physician working at the intersection of climate change and human health, there is no greater opportunity to advance global health and equity than to address climate change as the current public health threat that it is.
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Perspective/Opinion
Connecting Resident Physicians and Refugee Families Through Education
By Emily Tomlinson, MD; Jesse White, MD and Cynthia Zarazúa
As the refugee population in Milwaukee continues to increase, a bridge is needed to help these families and healthcare providers better understand each other to create a better healthcare experience. This story provides a concrete example of resident physicians and refugee families using education to create this bridge ...
Medical practitioners are inherently drawn to provide equal opportunities and access to health care for minority populations. There are innumerable barriers to health care including transportation, distance to clinics and specialty care, financial and insurance coverage, lack of childcare, and lack of paid time off from work to name a few.
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Perspective/Opinion
Connecting Resident Physicians and Refugee Families Through Education
By Savitri J. Tsering, Refugee Health Coordinator Division of Public Health, State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services
It is vital that we come together, not just in Milwaukee, but across the state to access the resources of shared learning and wisdom for those working in and with immigrant and refugee populations. In this essay, Savitri J Tsering from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services offers many resources for those who want to meaningfully impact the lives of our refugee populations …
Ever since I began to do refugee resettlement work it was clear it couldn’t be done without many partners every step of the way. We must walk together as one community – learning how we can do it collaboratively, and compassionately.
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Perspective/Opinion
Immigrant and Refugee Trauma-Informed Prehospital Care: Education Model for Culturally Responsive Care
By Sarah Cornell, BS, EMT-P
In cases where cultures are different, miscommunication and misunderstandings may lead to patient harm. When providers do not carefully traverse cultural obstacles, patients may not receive the full benefit of medical treatment…
I have six years of prehospital care experience but, until recently, was not aware of the unique history, needs, and experiences of immigrants and refugees in Milwaukee. As a graduate student in MCW’s Master of Science in Global Health Equity, I took a course on Health and Forced Migration. After interviewing an Iraqi refugee for a course project, I began to understand the risk of retraumatization during a healthcare emergency. I decided to survey my colleagues, emergency medical services (EMS) providers in Milwaukee to assess our cultural awareness and collective awareness of trauma-informed care.
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Post a New Message on the MCW-Froedtert Skywalk |
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The next time you cross the skywalk, stop and share your thoughts about what Covid has taught you, what you are looking forward to in 2022 or share a message of gratitude with someone through the "Dear MCW You Matter" campaign. |
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By Mary Oliver
I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?
Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?
Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.
Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?
Finally, I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.
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The best gift I have ever received has been access to an amazing journey of learning and the chance to apply the learning to help myself and others be the best version of themselves. The best gift I can give is sharing those learnings with others to pursue continuous development and improvement.
—Annette Caraulia, Staff
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I was a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding. Her grandmother, a very important person throughout her life, had passed away before she even became engaged. I was able to obtain her grandmother's handwriting and turn it into a bracelet she was able to wear on the big day, a friendly reminder to know her grandmother was with her.
—Nicole Dixon, Staff
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When the Oriental Theater was starting on their restoration project a few years ago, you could buy a seat and have your name inscribed on them. I bought both myself and my fiancé one as we are both film lovers and we had one of our first dates there.
—Avital Livingston, Staff
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Easy one! For me it was a Mother's Day gift from my kids in 2017 - John (Jr.) was in California, Tessa was in Botswana, and Alyssa was home. They did a virtual recording of a song for me.
—Linda N. Meurer, MD, MPH, Faculty
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For this week's reflection prompt, please answer one of the following:
What is your favorite holiday tradition?
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Kern Institute Book Now Available for Purchase
When classrooms and clinical rotations shut down in March 2020, medical school faculty, staff, and students craved connection, comfort, and guidance. Out of that need, the Kern Institute created the Transformational Times to gather and amplify the voices of those rushing to the front lines and of those who supported them.
The nascent community shared its reactions over the summer to racial injustice, in the fall to the COVID-19 surges and the return to school, and in the winter and spring to the continued societal discord and slow adjustment to the new normal. Character and Caring: A Pandemic Year in Medical Education, a collection of essays, stories, and creative responses, shares the voices of diverse members of the medical community and beyond through a year of disconnection and reconnection. With honesty and creativity, each contributor tries to discern what medical education–and our world–might look like on the other side.
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Share Your Thoughts
Naming Contest for the new MCW School of Medicine curriculum
The Curriculum Innovation Team invites you to submit your vote for the official naming of the new MCW School of Medicine curriculum.
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Call for Manuscripts
May 2023: IPE and Innovation
The May 2023 issue of the AMA Journal of Ethics® takes as its starting point that experimentation has long been a hallmark of IPE. This issue looks to illuminate interesting, important, complex, and neglected intersections of health professions' curricular goals.
Content interrogating what it means for IPE to productively influence (1) professional identity formation; (2) skill development, communication, and team-based care; (3) diagnostic openness and clinical and cultural humility; (4) and health equity will be prioritized for inclusion in this issue.
Erica Chou, MD (MCW) and Michael Oldani, PhD, MS (School of Pharmacy/IPE CUW) are the guest co-editors of this issue. Inquiries can be directed to Dr. Oldani.
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Kern Institute Collaboration for Scholarship Journal Club
The KICS Journal Club for Medical Education meets monthly on the second Wednesday of the month via Zoom, 12:15–1:00 PM Central. The next meeting will feature Sarah Merriam, MD, from the University of Pittsburg School of Medicine
Interested individuals can join the meeting via Zoom using the link below, or email Michael Braun to be added to the meeting invite.
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Meeting ID: 921 1154 0031
Passcode: KICSJoClub
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January 12, 2021
Zoom Presentation
12:15 - 1:00 pm CT
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Join us for the January Kern Connection Cafe
Seeking Peer Outreach: An Integrated, Tiered Approach to Address Stigma and Isolation in Healthcare Education
Student Presenters: Meg Lieb, Marissa O’Hair, Justin York, and Cassandra Balson
Please join us for a student-led discussion that will focus on a student-led initiative to address mental health and promote suicide prevention among medical students at MCW. This presentation will describe the "Seeking Peer Outreach Initiative" currently underway at the Central Wisconsin Campus and its potential application to the MCW community at large, as well as in the communities we serve.
Following the presentation, there will be an opportunity for discussion with the panel members to explore practical strategies for adoption of the "Seeking Peer Outreach Initiative" in our varied settings.
January 27, 2022
Zoom Presentation
4:00 - 5:00 pm CT
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Save the Date
2022 Well-Being Summit
Proudly Sponsored by the Kern Institute
Save the date and plan to join us for the 2022 Well-Being Summit!
This event is open to all and anyone interested is welcome and encouraged to attend. Be on the lookout for details to come!
April 5, 2022
Virtual via Zoom
9:00 am - 12:00 pm CT
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The Transformational Times publishes weekly, delivering stories of hope, character and resilience to our virtual community. |
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Editorial Board: Kathlyn Fletcher, MD, Adina Kalet, MD, Wendy Peltier, MD, Erin Weileder, Nabil Attlassy, Julia Bosco, Ana Istrate, Scott Lamm, Sophia Neman, Wolf Pulsiano, Eileen Peterson, Neehal Sukla, Sarah Torres, Anna Visser, James Wu, Serena Zacharias & Emelyn Zaworski
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