UMass FMCH Tuesday Talk - January 2, 2024/CLINICAL

Welcome to the FMCH Tuesday Talk. Please continue to send us your announcements, celebrations, and accomplishments to FMCHtuesdaytalk@umassmed.edu. 

Table of Contents

Message From The Chair

Upcoming Events

Focus of the Week – Clinical

Announcements

Department Member Recognition

Frankly Speaking Podcast

Clinical Services Spotlight

Message from the Chair


Happy New Year- I hope everyone had time to enjoy the holidays. I wish everyone a healthy, prosperous and fulfilling 2024.

 

We anticipate an exciting year as we start our celebration of 50 years of training Family Medicine Residents and 25 years of teaching and integrating Behavioral Health Fellows into our practices. These milestones are significant! We are starting to outline our celebration plans starting in the fall of 2024 – some fun events, some educational efforts including a Grand Rounds series by some of our alumni and so on. We welcome your involvement and ideas!  

 

Our first step is reaching our alums. If you have contact information for any alumni – please contact Linda.Cragin@umassmed.edu and share. She is putting together a master contact list of residents and fellows so we can involve them.

Upcoming Events


FMCH Grand Rounds

Tuesday, January 2nd, 12:00 - 1:00pmKatherine Hsu, MD, MPH, FAAP, presents, "Earthquakes in Management of Chlamydia and Gonorrhea: Updates from CDC STI Guidelines and Beyond".

Meeting ID: 191 986 273 Passcode: FMCH

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


Psychiatry Grand Rounds

Thursday, January 4th, 12:00 - 1:00pmMarc Gagnier, MD, presents, "Substance Use Disorders in Youth: Overview, Contextualization, and Evidence-Based Approaches".

Meeting ID: 818 349 233 Passcode: PsychGR1

https://umassmed.zoom.us/j/818349233?pwd=VVRDNUxZZmF4K3NqNXppTHJiVmNSUT09

Focus of the Week - Clinical

Josephine Fowler, MD, MBA, Vice Chair of Clinical Services


Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2024! As you may have noticed, Workday has gone live. Please be sure to pay close attention to your email for information to update your profile.

Accessing Workday

Access Workday by launching the Workday icon, visible on the desktop of all UMass Memorial Health workstations. You must be on the UMass Memorial Health network and use your UMass Memorial credentials. (Firstname.Lastname@umassmemorial.org). Workday uses single sign-on, so once you are logged into the UMass Memorial Health network, you can access Workday without another login. If you have a primary and secondary job, please use your primary job network account to log in to Workday.

Announcements


Welcome to Nicole Harnett, FNP who is working at Barre Family Health Center and Laurel Banach, MD who is joining the hospitalist team.

We want to remind department members that if you wish to send a Letter of condolence to Jeff Satnick's family, it can be sent to his wife Jessica Satnick and his young adult children, Sam and Sophia, at 183 Sterling Rd., Princeton, MA 01541. The family welcomes donations in memory of Dr. Jeffrey Satnick to support education in integrative medicine through the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at UMass Chan Medical School using the following link: 

https://p2p.onecause.com/umassfundraising/drjeffreysatnick


Advanced MA LTBI ECHO

Open to Massachusetts primary care team members including clinicians, nurses, care managers, community health workers, peer navigators, pharmacists, social workers! Course starts January 11, 2024!!

Interested in being able to test and treat your patients for latent TB infection within primary care and manage some of the more nuanced scenarios? Beginners and more advanced participants welcome! All participants will receive introductory material prior to the start of the seven-session virtual and interactive course. You can receive up to 7 CME credits and the course is free. Find the details in the attached brochureRegister here.


Restoring Balance: Increasing Clinician Connection and Care -

A Program to Enhance Flourishing

Join our 5-hour online course starting January 26th, 2024. The purpose of this educational program is to train clinicians in the skills to address burnout and flourish in their work life. Our learners will improve their ability to have compassionate conversations with peers and patients and learn how their values can reconnect them to being excellent clinicians and address their burnout. Course instructors, Paula Gardiner, MD, MPH and Shahida Fareed, PsyD, will lead participants over the course of 5-weeks in a training that aims to improve wellbeing and personal resilience in healthcare professionals by teaching mindful self-compassion skills to deal with distressing emotional situations, and difficult patient interactions as they occur at work. All healthcare professionals interested in enhancing patient connections, improving communication skills, or promoting well-being in the healthcare field are welcome to join. The course is $180, and payment can be made by credit card, UMass internal transfer, or UMass CME funds. CEUs are available. Learn more here.  


HOLD THE DATE FOR BOOK EVENT - March 6th

Lucy Candib has authored/edited a book entitled Family Doctors Say Goodbye with her co-author/editor Will Miller. The Department, in partnership with the medical school library, will host an event on March 6th at 6:00pm live on campus for a discussion of the book and about transitions in general as a medical clinician. Please plan to attend.

Department Member Recognition


Hugh Silk was the keynote speaker for The Longest Night Vigil on December 21st in memory of residents who were homeless. 

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: In this episode, we delve into a topic of growing interest in medicine-the use of psilocybin to treat depression. Join us as we discuss the pharmacotherapeutic action of psilocybin and the results of a recent study that has suggested that a one-time dose of psilocybin can be an effective treatment for depression. Hear valuable insights into the potential benefits and limitations and feel prepared to respond to patient questions about this treatment. Guest: Robert A. Baldor, MD, FAAFP, presents: "Psilocybin for Depression: Are Magic Mushrooms Doing the Trick?" - Frankly Speaking Ep 361.

Clinical Services Spotlight:

Josephine Fowler, MD, MBA, Vice Chair of Clinical Services

COVID-19 UMMMC

  • Positivity rate: the prior 7-day average is 12.0%. (4.5% last week)
  • Yesterday, there were 343 COVID-19 ED visits.
  • On January 1st, there were 59 confirmed positive COVID tests.
  • Of the 59 COVID positive patients in-house, none were fully vaccinated.
  • Of the 59, 44% had a primary diagnosis of COVID.


COVID-19 MA

  • Weekly COVID admissions per 100k was 13.2%.
  • The community risk level remains low.
  • The total COVID-19 cases in MA for this season is 54,320 as of 12/23/23.
  • The COVID-19 deaths are at 481 for the season as of 12/23/23.


According to the CDC, respiratory virus activity is high and increasing across the US.


January National Health Awareness Observance is Cervical Cancer Awareness. In the US, there are about 11,000 persons diagnosed annually with cervical cancer.

Key Facts:

  • Black and Hispanic women have the highest mortality rate.
  • The number one risk factor is having an infection with HPV.
  • There are more than 130-150 types of HPV.
  • Screening rates are the lowest among blacks.
  • Cervical cancer is markedly reduced and prevented with HPV vaccination and regular screening. Certain types of HPV pose the highest risk.
  • The incubation period is long. You can have cervical cancer for 10-20 years before knowing it.


Please see the enclosed link to print out valuable information for your patients from the CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/cervical/basic_info/index.htm.


Medline Plus has information about cervical cancer screening in multiple languages. https://medlineplus.gov/languages/cervicalcancerscreening.html.

The information is in English and Spanish

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.

Yoga Classes with Dr. Liz Erban



New members always welcome. 

Please join us at 6:30-730am for a gentle awakening yoga session led by the talented

Liz Erban. All are welcome. 

Happy third year anniversary to the yoga class.  

https://umassmed.zoom.us/j/91343267992?pwd=ZHF3NHVrVlR1MVdMV09HSE5lTzdsQT09

Past editions of the Tuesday Talk Newsletter are available at 

https://www.umassmed.edu/fmch/ under Resources.