UMass FMCH Tuesday Talk - January 21, 2025/COMMUNITY

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 - Community

Announcements

Department Member Recognition

Presentations and Publications

Frankly Speaking Podcast

Resources

Message From the Chair

Don’t forget to register for our 50th Anniversary Celebration and Reunion on March 15th in collaboration with the MassAFP spring refresher. Register here! Saturday afternoon will kick off with a casual networking lunch followed by a program that explores the role of family medicine in health and health justice and culminate with a networking reception. We have received corporate sponsorship to defray some of the costs of the event, so the ticket price is just $75. You can also make a charitable donation to fund the attendance of a medical student or resident supporting our focus on the next 50 years of family medicine. Registrations must be received by February 24th.

Upcoming Events

FMCH Town Hall

Tuesday, January 21st, 12:00 - 1:00pm

Meeting ID: 191 986 273 Passcode: FMCH

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

MLK Celebration of Service at UMass Chan

UMass Chan Medical School will welcome Imari K. Paris Jeffries, PhD, president and CEO of Embrace Boston, to serve as its keynote speaker for its 37th annual tribute in honor of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The 2025 MLK Celebration of Service at UMass Chan is scheduled for Monday, January 27th, at 11:30 am. Dr. Jeffries leads Embrace Boston, an arts, culture, research and policy center that aims to dismantle structural racism through the Embrace monument on the Boston Common and community organizing efforts, such as the Embrace Ideas Festival this summer.

The in-person celebration will be held in the faculty conference room in the Medical School building. The event will also be streamed live on Zoom.

Looking for Things to do in the Community?

Use these resources for you and your family OR with patients. Getting out for events helps increase one's activity level, decreases risk of social isolationism, and increases the happy hormone - oxytocin. Make these favorites on your search engine page.

• Discover Central Massachusetts - Events Calendar

https://www.discovercentralma.org/events/events-calendar/

• Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce - Events Calendar

https://business.worcesterchamber.org/events/catgid/3

• All Events in Worcester

https://allevents.in/worcester-ma/calendar

• Downtown Worcester - Events Page

https://www.downtownworcester.org/events-page/

New Clinical Practice Guideline for Medication Abortion Services at UMass Memorial Health Clinics

UMass Memorial Health is working to ensure equitable access to reproductive health care with the introduction of a new Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) for Medication Abortion. This evidence-based guideline provides a standardized protocol to help clinicians competently offer medication abortion services, making care more accessible to patients across our system. The initiative is part of UMass Memorial’s broader commitment to reproductive health and addressing racial disparities in accessing abortion services at earlier gestational ages, where care is safer and outcomes are improved. For more information see flyer. You can access the full guideline on the Hub.

The Family Medicine Education Consortium (FMEC) invites family physicians, residents and medical students throughout the northeastern U.S. to submit presentations for its 2025 Annual Meeting, September 18th-20th. Submissions are welcome from faculty/fellows/residents and full-time medical students that address any and all topics related to family medicine, primary care, and the teaching of family medicine.

Deadline: February 3rd, 2025. For more information on the types of presentations, review the FMEC 2025 Annual Meeting Session Overview. Submission form is available here.

2025 Thomas Zand Refugee Health Scholarship 

The Department of FMCH invites applications for the annual Thomas Zand Refugee Health Scholarships. These scholarships support medical students passionate about refugee health by funding their attendance at the North American Refugee Health Conference (NARHC). This year’s conference will be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, from June 27–29, 2025. To apply, submit your application to maria.barluenga@umassmed.edu by February 15th, 2025. (guidelines here).

More details about the conference can be found here and at refugeesociety.org/narhc-conference.  

The 2025 Faculty for Tomorrow Workshop for Residents will be held on May 3rd, 2025 as part of the STFM Annual Spring Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. See link for additional information.

https://www.stfm.org/awardsscholarships/scholarships/facultyfortomorrowresidentscholarship/overview/

Department Member Recognition

Congratulations to Rowan Magnuson, MS1 and MassAHEC Rural Health Scholar who won the first place prize in the Center for the History of Family Medicine’s Richard D Feldman MD Student and Resident Essay Contest. for their essay: Medicalizing Marginalization: The Role of Family Physicians in Treating Social Determinants of Health. The $2,000 award recognizes scholarly essays relevant to the history of family medicine in the US. A future issue of Family Medicine Moments will have an excerpt.

Presentations and Publications

Alan M. Ehrlich, MD, FAAFP, was a coauthor on a paper that was recently published: The Effect of Prebiotics, Alone or as Part of Synbiotics, on Cardiometabolic Parameters in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Frankly Speaking Podcast

Please join us for a weekly Podcast series for an overview: Listen in as we discuss chronic sacroiliac (SI) dysfunction and the role of nonpharmacological therapies, including acupuncture, in managing back pain and improving function. Hear evidence-based considerations for integrating acupuncture into your practice to offer effective, medication-free options for patients with chronic SI pain. Guest: Susan Feeney, DNP, FNP, 

presents: "My Back Still Hurts! Nonpharmacologic Approaches to Chronic Back Pain." - Frankly Speaking Ep 416. Listen on Apple Podcasts:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frankly-speaking-about-family-medicine/id1194659367

Resources

Resources to promote Family Medicine Proud and celebrate our 50th Anniversary: 

a PowerPoint template, Zoom backgrounds, logo etc:  

https://www.umassmed.edu/fmch/faculty-resources/department-logos/

Past editions of the Tuesday Talk are available at 

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

The UMass Memorial Caring for Caregivers Program is available at 508-334-HELP,

EAP at 866-263-3525, and the UMass Chan EAP at 800-322-5327.

www.LiveandWorkWell.com 

Yoga Classes with Dr. Liz Erban.

New members always welcome. 

Please join us on Wednesday(s), 6:30-7:30am, for a gentle awakening yoga session led by the talented Liz Erban.

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