UMass FMCH Tuesday Talk - January 9, 2024/EDUCATION | |
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
Focus of the Week – Education
Announcements
Presentations and Publications
Frankly Speaking Podcast
Clinical Services Spotlight
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Focus of the Week - Education
Mary Lindholm, MD and Frank Domino, MD, interim leaders
| Phillip Day has been named as the new Director of the Teachers of Tomorrow program. Dr. Day received his PhD in Philosophy from The University of North Texas, and has focused on medical education throughout his career. | |
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Since joining us in 2021 from the department of family medicine at University of Texas Southwestern where he was a curriculum educator, he has been very involved in the UMass Chan Medical schools development of the new Vista curriculum. He has helped lead and develop the Societal Forces Longitudinal Focus Theme within this curriculum and serves as Co-Director for the Interstitial Curriculum. He also serves as assistant clerkship director of education. Since joining our department, he has been an active faculty member of TOT and has led this year’s session of TOT. We are very excited to have him take full control of the TOT program which has trained so many of us as clinical educators over the years!!
Continuing our theme of developing faculty education, Dr. Dave Hatem, one of our long time faculty members of TOT was recently named director of the Health Education Academy for Leadership and Learning, or HEALL, a new academy designed to provide valuable educational skills and mentorship for faculty members of the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing, the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the T.H. Chan School of Medicine
“I think this is an incredible opportunity,” said Dr. Hatem. “One of the things that’s special about UMass Chan, historically, has been its support for education. The need to purposefully develop clinician educators and scientists in ways that foster their development and promotion has taken on new urgency.”
The next educational grand rounds sponsored by HEALL will be: Feedback Excellence: Crafting Constructive Conversations for Success with Dr. Reid Evan, PhD, on Tuesday, January 9th at 4:00pm in the Sherman Center Auditorium. Or via zoom. Register to attend at this link: here
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Ethics Corner
Philip Day, PhD
Topic: Moral Injury in Healthcare Professions
Question 1: What is Moral Injury (MI)?
Reply 1: Moral injury (MI) is the harm that one suffers on violation (as a result of their own or others’ actions) of a deeply held moral belief (1). Originally identified in military combatants, the idea has migrated to describing the moral suffering of healthcare workers since the 2010s and is conceptually distinct from burnout.
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Question 2: What are examples of MI?
Reply 2: Examples include witnessing unethical treatment of patients by colleagues or being unable to provide the best care to patients due to financial variables, or lack of cohesion in decision-making amongst a healthcare team. MI can produce psychological suffering (guilt, shame, remorse), damage to personal and social relationships, a weakened sense of empathy, and cynicism and resentment about the work environment (2).
Question 3: What can we do about MI?
Reply 3: Healthcare workers are resilient, well-trained and prepared to handle difficult work situations, but MI is the result of cumulative ethical damage, and generally not just one experience. The burgeoning literature suggests that solutions must address the root causes of MI, e.g., ensuring adequate staffing and balancing the business model of healthcare with the need to ensure the well-being of healthcare workers (2). There are currently no evidence-based treatments for MI, but it is essential that we strive to cultivate work environments where moral decisions can be discussed openly and honestly, psychological support is available, and ethics education is relevant and accessible for all.
References: 1) Day P, Lawson J, Mantri S, Jain A, Rabago D, Lennon R (2022) Physician moral injury in the context of moral, ethical and legal codes. J Med Ethics. 48:746–752. 2) Rabin S, Kika N, Lamb D, et al. Moral Injuries in Healthcare Workers: What Causes Them and What to Do About Them?. J Healthc Leadersh. 2023;15:153-160. Published 2023 Aug 16. doi:10.2147/JHL.S396659
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Announcements
Welcome to Nicole Harnett, FNP who is working at Barre Family Health Center and Laurel Banach, MD who is joining the hospitalist team.
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Restoring Balance: Increasing Clinician Connection and Care -
A Program to Enhance Flourishing
Join our 5-week, 1-hour online course starting January 26th, 2024, 8:00-9:00am. Paula Gardiner, MD, MPH and Shahida Fareed, PsyD, will lead participants over 5-weeks in a training that aims to improve wellbeing and personal resilience 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. The course is $180, and payment can be made by credit card, UMass internal transfer, or UMass CME funds. Scholarship are available for residents and fellows – contact Amy.Green@umassme.edu CEUs are available. Learn more here.
Hepatitis C and General Hepatology Project ECHO
(Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes)
You are invited to join an exciting virtual collaborative learning opportunity which will allow you to build expertise in the evaluation and management of patients living with chronic
Hepatitis C. (see attached brochure and curriculum schedule)
A new cohort begins Friday, February 16th, 2024, 12:30 - 1:30pm ~ with 10 sessions held bi-monthly.
Register Today!
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.
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Presentations and Publications
Hugh Silk had a reflection published in the Journal of the Board of Family Medicine this past week entitled Friendship as Medicine. You can read it here https://www.jabfm.org/content/36/6/1020.full
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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: Recorded live at Pri-Med East! Iron deficiency and IDA are common, especially in women of morbidity and mortality. Screening is focused on high-risk groups, specifically toddlers and pregnant women, however these conditions in women of childbearing age are also common. Please join us to discuss the recent data on the prevalence of ID/IDA, how to appropriately screen and treat this common condition. Guest: Susan Feeney, DNP, FNP-BC, NPC, presents: "I Am Tired!" How Common is Iron Deficiency in Women?" - Frankly Speaking Ep 362.
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Clinical Services Spotlight:
Josephine Fowler, MD, MBA, Vice Chair of Clinical Services
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Cervical Cancer Month
The goal of cervical cancer screening is to identify precancerous cells early. Don't forget to encourage your eligible patients to get cervical cancer screening. January is Cervical Cancer Month. Educate your patients about the importance of screening. Survival rates are high for those who are screened and identified early.
Please visit the CDC web page for information on cervical cancer prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/healthequity/features/cervical-cancer/index.html
Workday
If you have not visited Workday on the Hub to update your information, please go to the Hub to ensure your information is current. You can use the Workday icon on your desktop computer or access the link in the Hub footer. The UMass Memorial Support Center is actively taking your calls and troubleshooting ServiceNow incident tickets as quickly as possible. Reported issues are addressed in the order of severity, and all unresolved issues are actively being addressed. For details on how to get support or complete your Getting Started Checklist, visit Hub News. And when you complete the Workday checklist, you’ll automatically be entered into a weekly prize drawing for gift cards valued between $25 and $100! Check out last week’s lucky winners.
COVID-19 US
Currently, almost half the cases of COVID-19 are the variant JN.1. COVID-19 is increasing. According to the CDC, wastewater amounts have increased.
Hospital admission overall has increased with up to 24.4% of COVID-related admissions in the most recent week.
- Emergency visits for COVID-19 have increased from 3 percent to 12 percent of all Emergency visits.
- COVID deaths have increased 12.5%.
- Over the last week, there were more than 29,000 hospitalizations for COVID across the US. This is approximately a 16% increase.
COVID-MA
- Mask mandates have returned in the hospital setting.
- Massachusetts is named among the four states that have reinstated mask mandates for healthcare workers and patients.
- Weekly COVID admissions per 100K is 16.3.
- For the week of 12/24/23-12/30/23, there were 4,790 COVID-19 cases and 44 confirmed deaths.
- There are 532 confirmed deaths for the season.
COVID-19 UMMMC
- The 7-day positivity rate has increased to 16.9%, up 4.8% from seven days ago.
- As of January 9th, 2024, the in-house COVID positive patients are 53 with 6 in the ICU.
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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.
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