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The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) would like to call your attention to the ongoing national shortage of Bicillin L-A®. In the context of this shortage, appropriate staging for syphilis is especially important to ensure optimal treatment and preserve the supply of Bicillin L-A®. Massachusetts clinicians should contact the Partner Services and Reporting Line at 617-983-6999 for technical assistance including historical syphilis testing and treatment information for their patients. Clinical consultation on complex cases is available through the STD Clinical Consultation Network (www.stdccn.org) or by calling the DPH Division of STD Prevention clinical team at 617-983-6940.
DPH's Division of STD Prevention operates a Bicillin L-A® Delivery program. If you are a clinician unable to obtain Bicillin L-A® to treat patients with infectious syphilis or their contacts, DPH will deliver the medication to your clinic as long as there is sufficient inventory at DPH. Massachusetts clinicians in need of Bicillin L-A® for their patients diagnosed with infectious syphilis should first try to place an order for the medication via their clinic’s routine processes. If they are unable to obtain the medication, clinicians may call the DPH STD Partners Services and Reporting line at 617-983-6999 to arrange for Bicillin L-A® delivery.
Additional information and guidance can be found in attached communication, and on the DPH website. It will be updated as the situation evolves.
Give Family Medicine a powerful voice! Participate in the medical school interview process to select the next generation. Multiple-Mini Interviews are 90 minute sessions done remotely using zoom. Each interviewer is assigned a brief “scenario” with a few follow-up questions and spends 8 minutes with 8 applicants. There is no preparation and a quick, 5 question, on-line form is completed about each encounter. Sessions are timed to have limited impact upon our daily schedules starting at 8:00 AM or 4:30 PM). You sign up for whatever number of sessions works for you. The training is at your convenience using a 30-minute, online module. This is a wonderful way to perform academic service. To participate, reach out to Brenda.Fusaro@umassmed.edu. For any questions or comments email me at Tracy.Kedian@umassmed.edu
Simulation-Based Training
Are you passionate about patients and caregivers feeling seen and heard, especially when they are living with serious illnesses? Do you enjoy teaching medical students the fundamental skills of communication and compassionate presence to form therapeutic relationships? If so, we have a great opportunity for you! We are recruiting faculty facilitators for a required simulation-based training for all 3rd-year students during their family medicine and internal medicine clerkships. During the 3-hour session, students work in small groups with a patient actor and faculty facilitator to take turns leading a discussion about the patient as a person, their prognosis, goals of care and treatment options. Experienced faculty from palliative care have designed the curriculum and will prepare new facilitators via formal faculty development and coaching. The time commitment is variable, depending on level of interest, but at a minimum includes 2 hours of faculty development and participation in two 4-hour sessions per year at iCELS. For background on this curriculum and teaching method, please see our MedEd Portal publication on our resident curriculum which was adapted for students:
https://www.mededportal.org/doi/full/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.11122
If you're interested in participating, and/or for more information, please contact Jennifer Reidy, MD (jennifer.reidy@umassmemorial.org), Vandana Nagpal, MD (vandana.nagpal@umassmemorial.org), Mary Lindholm, MD (mary.lindholm@umassmemorial.org) and Nancy Skehan, MD (nancy.skehan@umassmemorial.org)
UMass Memorial Health received grant funding to upskill providers in Central MA with respect to Suboxone access. We are offering a free one-day CME course on December 14th. Any provider from Central MA is welcome. We will be focused on the why behind Suboxone prescribing as well as its nuts and bolts. There is a registration link and more information here: https://www.rizema.org/foundations-support-umass-memorial-health-prescriber-training-to-expand-opioid-use-disorder-treatment/
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