UMass FMCH Tuesday Talk - March 11, 2025/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
Message From the Chair
Upcoming Events
Focus of the Week - Education
Announcements
Presentations and Publications
Department Member Recognition
Frankly Speaking Podcast
Resources
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Message From the Chair
We continue to witness truly unprecedented change in federal policies. Chancellor Collins has communicated to the chairs that there are short term steps necessary to manage a worsening financial situation for the school. These will go into effect immediately. To summarize briefly, we were already under some level of austerity due to a number of factors. However, actions taken by the federal government to cut the NIH budget have taken the form of 1) reducing the federal indirect rate to 15% (the legal challenge to this is so far successful with an injunction in place), and 2) substantial slowing of funding new grants with the primary tactic being to not schedule study sections or council meetings. In the short term, delays in funding will result in up to a $25 million gap for the remainder of this year.
Thus we have been informed of a number of fiscal actions to address the shortfall. Already announced are further extension of the current hiring freeze, limits on all discretionary spending, and restriction on travel if school funds are required. Other fiscal measures are under consideration and will be decided as more information is available. We are working with the school finance officers to fully understand the implications for our department.
Please plan to join us for a Town Hall, on Friday March 21st from 7:30-8:00am. We hope to be able to provide more specifics at that time. We know that many of you have questions about other federal policies and their impact on the communities we serve, and well as the missions of the school and clinical system to build and sustain an inclusive environment. We look forward to providing as much information as we can.Link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/191986273?pwd=NEtlZmNkdWlSUGwyeTJQU3dCeUs1QT09
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50th Anniversary Reunion and Celebration
The department’s 50th Anniversary Reunion and Celebration was highlighted by the UMass Chan Office of Communications with comments by Drs. Diane McKee, Tracy Kedian, Trish Seymour, and Linda Cragin. You can read the story here. Information is also posted on facebook.
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Focus of the Week - Education
Jeanne Cawse-Lucas, MD, Vice Chair of Education
Please join us for the department retreat the afternoon of Thursday, May 15th from 1-5pm. Now is a great time to confirm that you have blocked the time to join us. The new faculty series will be the morning of Thursday, May 15 in the same facility. The intended audience for the new faculty series is faculty who have joined in the past two years and will cover content to support your transition into an academic faculty role.
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STFM is accepting applications for the Medical Student Educators Development Institute (MSEDI) until March 14th. The 18-month program includes two in-person workshops and four virtual meetings with your mentor where you can expect to develop skills in:
- Developing a curriculum
- Evaluating students
- Dealing with challenging learners
- Recruiting and maintaining preceptor networks
- Directing a course
- Providing career advice to students
- Submitting a scholarly project
- Maintaining work/life balance.
Questions can be directed to jminor@stfm.org.
Please let Linda Cragin (linda.cragin@umassmed.edu) know if you plan to attend the STFM Annual Conference in May in Salt Lake City so we can evaluate need for and availability of travel funds.
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Announcements
SAVE THE DATE: April 8th
The Annual Warren Ferguson Visiting Professorship in Community Health is Tuesday, April 8th. Dr. Joy Melnikow will give Grand Rounds followed by lunch in the UMass Chan New Education Research Building N1-1500. Dr. Melnikow is Professor of Family and Community Medicine at the University of California, Davis. She was a member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force from 2009 to 2012 and a current member of Community Preventive Services Task Force since 2013. Dr. Melnikow's research focuses on cancer screening and prevention in women, patient preferences, cost-effectiveness and value in healthcare, and how evidence is used to formulate health policy. She is a graduate of our UMass Family Practice Residency, class of 1987. Her talk is entitled: USPSTF and CPSTF – Federal Guidelines Panels and Policies – Where Are We Now? While this is a hybrid event, we hope to have a large in-person presence. This is a chance to brainstorm with a public health guru about our own community. Invitations are going out this week - please respond.
UMass Chan Women’s Professional Pods Program
is enrolling individuals who identify as women or other minoritized gender identities in medicine and science and have an academic faculty appointment at any one of the three UMass Chan Medical Campuses. This program is available for all health care providers, including APPs. If you have any questions, please reach out to Caitlin Tanski at caitlin.tanski@baystatehealth.org. See link below:
Women's Professional Pods Program (WP3) | Baystate Health.
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. Kristina Gracey provided co-leadership to the development of the CPG. For more information see flyer. You can access the full guideline on the Hub.
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/
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Presentations and Publications
Susan Hogan, MD, MPH, presented her research, entitled Engaging Community-Based Organizations in Co-design of a Social Determinants of Health Curriculum, at the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research Conference in Cleveland, OH.
Parul Chhatpar, DO, PGY-2, preventive medicine resident presented her research, entitled Unequal Burdens: Disparities in Adolescent Mental Health with SUD at the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research Conference in Cleveland, OH.
Under the supervision of Manju Mahajan, MD, and Jenna Mullarkey, PsyD, Leigh Weatherly and Danielle Coderre, PGY2, were accepted at the STFM for a poster presentation titled "Expanding Access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV Prevention in a Primary Care Clinic".
Amber Cahill was invited to speak to a group of medical students at Barts and The London School of Medicine in London, England. She presented on Social Context and The Contextual Interview, with her colleague Dr. David Bauman who is faculty in the Community Health of Central Washington (CHCW) Family Medicine Residency.
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Department Member Recognition
Congratulations to the whole Teaching of Tomorrow team, led by Philip Day, for another successful conference. This was the first year at the Wellsworth Hotel in Southbridge. Ninety-five interprofessional participants from across New England completed the four-day program.
Tracy Kedian was an invited speaker at Wellesley College on March 5th at their annual Health Professions Week. She addressed the PreMed Scholars who are selected first and second year premedical students who are first generation college or financially disadvantaged. She did an evening address to all Wellesley College premedical students.
Tracy Kedian was invited to participate on a panel on medical school admissions at Harvard College on March 7th at the 22nd Annual All-Ivy school meeting. The panel addressed changes in medical school admissions in the current political climate, data trends in applications from students from URiM identities and the use of AI in admissions.
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Frankly Speaking Podcast
Please join us for a weekly Podcast series for an overview: The use of electronic devices has increased across all ages, cultures, and socio-economic levels. Usage was also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a growing body of evidence that screen time can impact cognition and executive function in developing minds, and both the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the WHO have recommendations on screen time exposure for children. Join us as we discuss recent evidence looking at the impact of screen time on toddlers' cognition and executive function over time. Guest: Susan Feeney, DNP, FNP-BC, NP-C presents, "Toddlers and Screen Time-How Much Is Too Much?" - Frankly Speaking Ep 423.
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frankly-speaking-about-family-medicine/id1194659367
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