UMass FMCH Tuesday Talk - December 19, 2023/COMMUNITY | |
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 – Community
Announcements
Department Member Recognition
Frankly Speaking Podcast
Clinical Services Spotlight
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Message from the Chair
Best wishes to you and your families for a wonderful and restful holiday season. As we close this year, I continue to be so impressed with the commitment each of you make to each other, our learners, our patients, and our community.
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As we look ahead to 2024, we have some celebrations planned and I look forward to sharing these with you.
And the Tuesday Talk team has earned a break, so there will not be an issue on December 26th.
Wishing you every happiness in the coming year!
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Focus of the Week - Community
Hugh Silk, MD, MPH, Vice Chair of Community Health
Heather-Lyn Haley, PhD, Program Director
| January 6th is the deadline to list a summer medical student assistant position in the OUME catalog. UMass Chan pays for up to 160 hours between June 25 - August 16, 2024. You can request a specific student or ask to be matched. Matches must be submitted to OUME by February 29th to be considered for funding. Complete an application through OUME or talk to Heather-Lyn Haley for more information. | |
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Student proposals for the 14th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Semester of Service Student Awards are due by midnight on Tuesday, January 2nd, 2024. Students from the three schools are invited to submit proposals outlining student-initiated community service projects they hope to undertake in the Spring semester. The top four ideas will receive funding awards of $500. Winners will be announced on UMass Chan Med News on MLK Day and recognized by the Dean and Chancellor at the medical school's annual MLK Day celebration on January 31st, 2024.
Holiday resources for your patients
Know of a good one that should be on the list? Email it to Dr. Haley. Thanks!
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Sunday, December 24th,12:00-3:00pm Mint Kitchen, 79 Maywood Street, Free Phở gà (Vietnamese chicken noodle soup) and a dessert with love from Agro-Eco Project, Ha Tien Market, Worcester Women For Good , and Worcester Community Fridges. Neighbors can reserve a meal for pick up or delivery and/or volunteer to deliver a meal using the following link: http://bit.ly/mint-holiday-meals. The survey will be open until 5:00pm on Wednesday, December 20th & the first 200 reservations will be confirmed by the 22nd. Meals will also be available for pick up on a first-come, first-serve basis (250 max) on Sunday, December 24th from 12:00-3:00pm.
- Bishop’s Holiday Dinner provide Christmas Day dinners for people who would otherwise be alone. Catholic Charities volunteers serve the noontime sit-down dinner to those with access to transportation at the Cathedral of Saint Paul in downtown Worcester. St. Paul Cathedral, 15 Chatham Street, Worcester.
- Holiday Meals Delivery - These meals are delivered to home-bound elders and physically disabled individuals who would otherwise be without a holiday meal. Holiday meals delivered from 10 Hammond Street, Worcester, MA 01610, for both meal programs - Contact: 508-798-0191
- Sunday-Monday, December 24th - 25th, Holiday Alcathon online AA support from 4:00pm on the 24th through midnight on the 25th.
https://tinyurl.com/serenity-zoom
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Kwanzaa activities from December 26th -January 1st can be found on the event listing section of Dr. Haley’s Community Health teaching page or The Village Worcester Facebook page.
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Announcements
We want to remind department members that if you wish to send a Letter of condolence to Jeff Satnick's family, it can be sent to his wife Jessica Satnick and his young adult children, Sam and Sophia, at 183 Sterling Rd., Princeton, MA 01541. The family welcomes donations in memory of Dr. Jeffrey Satnick to support education in integrative medicine through the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at UMass Chan Medical School using the following link:
https://p2p.onecause.com/umassfundraising/drjeffreysatnick
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THANK YOU AND FINAL TALLY OF COAT DRIVE
We want to thank everyone in the department for their generous donations to the Annual Judy Savageau Coat Drive for Worcester Schools. In the end, with the help of the medical students, we raised $5000 and 250+ coats (some adult) and dozens of hats, mitts, and scarves. Any used or adult coats are being lateralized to FHCW coat drive and to Worcester Health Care for the Homeless and Safe Exit. Special thanks to Linda Hollis for her tireless work to purchase and deliver coats, Linda Cragin for collecting money and coats, Thomas Giauque and Jonathan Ayash, students who did a ton, and Maryanne Adams for knitting hats and mittens!
Advanced MA LTBI ECHO
Open to Massachusetts primary care team members including clinicians, nurses, care managers, community health workers, peer navigators, pharmacists, social workers! Course starts January 11, 2024!!
Interested in being able to test and treat your patients for latent TB infection within primary care and manage some of the more nuanced scenarios? Beginners and more advanced participants welcome! All participants will receive introductory material prior to the start of the seven-session virtual and interactive course. You can receive up to 7 CME credits and the course is free. Find the details in the attached brochure. Register here.
Restoring Balance: Increasing Clinician Connection and Care -
A Program to Enhance Flourishing
Join our 5-hour conline course starting January 26th, 2024. The purpose of this educational program is to train clinicians in the skills to address burnout and flourish in their work life. Our learners will improve their ability to have compassionate conversations with peers and patients and learn how their values can reconnect them to being excellent clinicians and address their burnout. Course instructors, Paula Gardiner, MD, MPH and Shahida Fareed, PsyD, will lead participants over the course of 5-weeks in a training that aims to improve wellbeing and personal resilience in healthcare professionals 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 to join. The course is $180, and payment can be made by credit card, UMass internal transfer, or UMass CME funds. CEUs are available. Learn more here.
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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Department Member Recognition
On December 14th, Jillian Joseph and her team at Road to Care organized a day-long conference entitled Transforming Care – Harm Reduction, Overdose Prevention, and Management of Opioid Use Disorder. The event was held at the Beechwood Hotel and was attended by over 100 participants. Speakers from the department included Jillian Joseph, Amber Cahil, Dan Mullin, Jeff Baxter, Steve Martin, Hugh Silk, Laurel Banach, Jim Ledwith, and Erik Garcia.
Manju Mahajan as been appointed to the AAFP Commission on Education. She is one of 22 people on the Commission and the only one from Massachusetts. The mission of the Commission on Education (COE) is to provide a venue for the development of recommended policy and the dissemination of expertise and new information related to the education and professional development of family physicians until completion of the residency training period. More information is available here:
https://www.aafp.org/about/meet-our-leadership/commissions/descriptions/commission-description-coe.html
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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: There is plenty of evidence linking exercise to improved overall health. It is associated with weight loss, improved biomarkers, improved sleep, and mood. The few studies comparing types and intensity of exercise have resulted in varied and inconsistent findings. Listen in as we discuss a recent prospective cohort study examining associations between combinations of exercise and reduction in all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality and how the evidence can inform your practice to improve patients' health. Guest: Susan Feeney, DNP, FNP-BC, NP-C, presents: "Walking, Riding, Lifting-Is One Exercise Better than Another?" - Frankly Speaking Ep 359.
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Clinical Services Spotlight:
Josephine Fowler, MD, MBA, Vice Chair of Clinical Services
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COVID-19 UMMMC
- The current 7-day average positivity rate is 9.9%.
- The current 7-day average of in-house COVID positive patients is 59, up from 44 seven days ago (12 are in the ICU).
COVID-19 MASS
- There were 3,156 confirmed cases of COVID and 25 deaths.
- During this period, 3.1% of all hospitalizations were due to COVID. About 460 patients were hospitalized.
- The 7-day percent positivity was 10.19%.
Disease Prevention During the Holidays
- Stay home if you have symptoms of COVID-19, RSV, or Flu.
- Check your status if you have symptoms before travel.
- Wear a mask when in crowds, on public transportation, or traveling.
- Consider filtering the air inside your home or place of event.
- Don't forget to wash your hands.
Suicide Definition- Joint Commission
The Joint Commission is updating its sentinel event policy to provide an expanded definition of suicide deaths that hospitals report to the organization. The original definition was developed more than a decade ago and focuses on suicide deaths that occur in inpatient care settings or within 72 hours of discharge, including from the hospital's emergency department, according to a December 13th news release from the organization.
The revised definition, which takes effect January 1, applies to deaths caused by self-inflicted injurious behaviors while in a healthcare setting or within seven days of discharge from inpatient services, the ED, or a behavioral healthcare facility. The update highlights healthcare organizations' continued responsibility for patients' well-being after discharge and aligns with criteria on when suicide risk is highest for patients, according to The Joint Commission.
Source: Becker's Hospital Review
New Caregiver Vaccination Reporting Mandate
Based on a new DPH mandate, by January 26th, 2024, every UMass Memorial Health caregiver must take action on both items below:
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Either submit proof of receiving the Fall 2023 flu vaccine OR submit a flu vaccine declination form, AND
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Either submit proof of receiving the Fall 2023 COVID-19 vaccine (after 9/11/23) OR submit a COVID-19 vaccine declination form.
Wellness Committee 2024. "WOW"- Working on Wellness
Have you been looking for an area to help spread great ideas about wellness? Join the Wellness Committee in 2024. We will resume our meetings in January. Join us as we develop the plan for the next year. Thank you to everyone who has continued to support this team. Notify Maryanne Adams to add you to the invite list. Maryanne.adams@umassmemorial.org.
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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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