UMass FMCH Tuesday Talk - October 21, 2025/COMMUNITY

Table of Contents

Upcoming Events

Focus of the Week - Community

Announcements

Presentations and Publications

Department Member Recognition

Frankly Speaking Podcast

Resources

Upcoming Events

FMCH Grand Rounds

Tuesday, October 21st, 12:00 - 1:00pm, "Promoting Person-Centered Care Through New Quality Guidelines for Alcohol Use Disorder in Family Medicine", presented by Laurel Banach, MD, AAHIVS.

Meeting ID: 191 986 273 Passcode: FMCH

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

The Annual Judy Savageau Coat Drive has started! Happening NOW through November 2nd to provide new winter coats for children at Worcester Public Schools. To make a financial donation, Venmo Tim Matthews, a UMass Chan medical student helping with the coat drive (it is a House Cup event too), at @tmatthews9 (4-digit confirmation # 3977).

Checks can be mailed to Linda Cragin at 6 Alcott Drive, Northborough, MA, 01532. To donate a new coat, you can bring it to the Department Awards dinner on October 28th or drop it off in our collection box in Benedict on the 3rd floor. Questions - email Hugh Silk (hugh.silk@umassmemorial.org).

The UMass Chan Preventive Medicine Residents have done 3 of 4 educational sessions this year at the medical respite for people who are homeless including topics on nutrition, environmental effects on health, and sleep hygiene.

Remember to Vote on November 4th in your city or town. Your vote is your power. You can find local election info here.

AHEC Urban Scholars –

Erik Garcia did his annual tour of 30+ 1st and 2nd year medical 

Urban Health Scholars for a tour of Worcester and social service agencies last week.

Announcements

Intro to Pocus Hands On Course (Introduction of Point of Care Ultrasound)

October 25th, 8:00 - 5:00pm, iCELS Simulation Lab, Albert Sherman Center

Please see flyer for additional information. https://www.umassmed.edu/icels

UMass Chan 30th Research Retreat, October 28th-29th, 2025

We cordially invite you to attend the UMass Chan 30th Annual Research Retreat, October 28-29, 2025. The retreat is scheduled on-site at the UMass Chan Medical School University Campus and typically features talks from new UMass Chan faculty and students, and offers opportunities for networking. More details regarding the agenda will follow as we get closer to the event. See flyer.

The Shriver Center is happy to host a training on Autism diagnosis for Primary Care Providers on November 6th and 7th. These will be all day sessions and will take place in the Paul DiMare Center. The training will be provided by Behavioral Pediatrics from Vanderbilt University. Training will include: Screening Tool for Autism in Toddlers and Young Children (STAT™) training plus implementation planning. CMEs will be provided, and the training is free to those participating. Please contact Deborah Dreyfus (Deborah.Dreyfus@umassmemorial.org) by October 6th if you would like to attend.

Presentations and Publications

Parul Chhatpar, DO, authored a recent publication titled "Exploring the Relationship Between Narcolepsy and Cannabis Use Disorder." PSAM Review: The Pennsylvania Society of Addiction Medicine Journal, Fall 2025, pp. 18–19.

https://issuu.com/nhgi/docs/psam_review_fall_2025

Drs. Jennifer Bradford and Shahida Fareed gave a presentation titled "Heal Thyself: A Restorative Justice Approach" at the Annual Conference of Collaborative Family Health Association, Raleigh, NC, on October 16th.

Shannon McCleery, PsyD, BH Fellow in Fitchburg, gave a poster presentation titled "Addressing Barriers to Depression Screening Completion: A Quality Improvement Project" at the Annual Conference of Collaborative Family Health Association, Raleigh, NC, on October 16th.

Department Member Recognition

Thanks to Drs. Dennis Dimitri and Mike Richardson for inspiring 57 MassAHEC Scholars, FMIG and Org Med students at the second advocacy session: Advocacy in Action: Family Medicine’s Role in Health Policy held October 15th. If you want to share your advocacy for something you are passionate about, please contact Linda Cragin. (Linda.Cragin@umassmed.edu) 

Check out this article in UMass Chan Department of Medicine Chair's Spotlight, which mentions the excellent work of Drs. Beth Mazyck and Jeannette Alkasab in building an obesity medicine fellowship. 

https://www.umassmed.edu/medicine/about-us/department-administration/chairs-spotlight-series/2021-23/54/chairs-spotlight-amin-sabet-md/

Congratulations to Dr. Shahida Fareed who was elected to serve on the Board of Directors of CFHA.

Frankly Speaking Podcast

Please join us for a weekly Podcast series. Microscopic hematuria is common in primary care, but not every patient needs an urgent urology referral. Tune in to learn how to apply the latest evidence-based guidelines to risk-stratify patients and confidently manage workup and follow-up from your clinic, improving care while reducing unnecessary testing. Guest: Robert A. Baldor, MD, FAAFP, presents, "Microhematuria and the Right Time to Refer: Guideline Updates". Frankly Speaking Episode #455. Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frankly-speaking-about-family-medicine/id1194659367

Resources

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