GME News & Notes: June

Jul 2, 2021 | Announcements, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community,

First, welcome to the almost 500 residents and fellows who are joining us for 2021-22!  We also want to say congratulations and good luck to those graduating at the end of June and July.

Dr. Joyner and Dipti Chrastka and I really enjoyed meeting those of you who dropped by to pick up lunch on Thursday at Harborview Medical Center.  We’ll continue to host these GME Drop In sessions through the year and our next will be at UWMC in August.  More information to come!

The June/July academic year transition is always a very busy time of year in the GME world. This issue of GME News & Notes is packed with information – awards, publications, opportunities, new leadership and team members, etc.

Many thanks to those who reached out to me with information to share here.  Please continue to do so by sending to me at hamrac@uw.edu.

Cindy Hamra

Cindy Hamra
Assistant Dean of GME

People

2020-2021 GME Committee Transitions: Thank you to the following individuals for their service on our GME committees during AY21:

  • Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC): Robin Berger, Resident, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences; Hugo Carmona, Fellow, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine; Arjune Dhanekula, Resident, Thoracic Surgery- Integrated; Ekamjeet Dhillon, Resident, Orthopaedic Surgery; Ashley Eaves, Resident, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation; James Fink, Program Director, Neuroradiology; Jon Ilgen, Faculty, Emergency Medicine; Katie Johnson, Fellow, Child Abuse Pediatrics; Natasha Kwendakwema, Resident, Internal Medicine; Kat McGhee, Program Administrator, Rheumatology; James Owens, Program Director, Child Neurology; Brandon Peplinski, Resident,  Internal Medicine; Katie Smolinski, Resident, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation; Grace Wandell, Resident, Otolaryngology; Matthew Wise, Resident, Family Medicine; Athena Wong, Program Administrator, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences; Nicole Zern, Surgery
  • GME Position Allocation Committee (GMEPAC): Jorg Dziersk, Program Director, Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology; Bill Freeberg, Program Administrator, Radiology; Katie Nowlin, Program Administrator, Cardiothoracic Surgery
  • Clinical Learning Environment Review (CLER) Subcommittee: Lola Mudgistratova, Resident, Emergency Medicine
  • Policy Subcommittee: Sagar Chawla, Resident, Orthopaedic Surgery; Nick Freedman, Faculty, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation; Giana O’Hara, Fellow, Geriatric Medicine; Brandon Peplinski, Resident, Internal Medicine

Publications, Awards, and Staffing Updates

  • Edward Briercheck, Fellow, Hematology, is senior author of “Low-cost transcriptional diagnostic to accurately categorize lymphomas in low- and middle-income countries” in Blood Advances.
  • Daniel Cabrera, Assistant Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency, received a grant to focus on skill development for responding to bias and mistreatment from the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine, the American Board of Internal Medicine, the ABIM Foundation, the American College of Physicians and the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, which together have awarded a total of $287,500, split among 32 projects at medical schools and training programs.  More information is here.
  • Eric J. Chow, Fellow, Infectious Diseases, is author on the following:
  • Kevin Duan, Fellow, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, has been selected as a 2021 Doris Duke Physician Scientist Fellow. His research project: “Assessing the Value of Post-Discharge Home Oxygen After a COPD Exacerbation.”
  • Sherise Epstein, Resident, Otolaryngology, is a recipient of an AAO-HNSF Rande H. Lazar Health Services Research Grant. Dr. Epstein will be working with Dr. David Horn to evaluate special education outcomes among children with severe to profound hearing loss during her T32 research fellowship this year.
  • Olivia Frederiksen has joined the GME office as our Accreditation and Regulatory Specialist.  Olivia is taking on the monumental task of getting our Program Letters of Agreement in order and launching our PLA Generator.
  • Congratulations to the 2021 Department of Medicine Evans Award recipient Cody Gehring, Resident, Internal Medicine. This award is presented every year to one (or more) graduating medical student and 2nd year resident. The Evans award recognizes the special qualities of warmth, understanding, compassion and concern for the needs of others as exemplified by and expressed throughout the life of Dr. Robert S. Evans, who served as Chief of Medicine for many years at the Seattle VA Medical Center.
  • Courtney Gilliam, Fellow, Pediatric Hospital Medicine, published Grounded in Justice: An Equity Framework for Chief Residents in Academic Medicine
  • Fuki Hisama, Program Director, Medical Genetics & Genomics Residency and Associate Program Director, Combined Pediatrics & Medical Genetics/Genomics Residency, is co-author on the ACGME Milestones 2.0 for Medical Genetics.
  • Manny Jauregui, Resident, Otolaryngology, was first author of an article published in the December 2020 issue of Current Opinion in Otolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery. The article, titled “Current management of type III and IV laryngotracheoesophageal clefts: the case for a revised cleft classification,” summarizes the pediatric laryngotracheoesophageal cleft (LTEC) literature and proposes a revised cleft classification system that more accurately reflects our current understanding of these anomalies.
  • Juliet Meggs has joined GME’s Learning Gateway team as a new instructional designer. She’ll be supporting (and helping us evolve) our learner-centered design process for asynchronous programs similar to Physician Well-Being and Bystander Intervention trainings.  Among her many qualifications, Juliet holds a masters in education, doctorate in counseling psychology, and has more than a decade of experience teaching online and in-person college courses.  She brings a creative and thoughtful approach to course design that builds a culture of community where everyone feels like they can participate meaningfully.
  • Kelly Ness, Fellow, Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition, is the 2021 recipient of the Brunzell Award. Dr. Ness received the award for her research on the role of microglia in central regulation of blood glucose.
  • Susan K. Peterson, director of academic appointments and compensation at the University of Washington School of Medicine, is the 2021 recipient of the  John R. Pettit Endowed Leadership Award.  The Pettit Award is named after John Pettit, UW Medicine’s former associate vice president for business and legal affairs, a person known for his leadership, integrity and positivity — all characteristics shared by Susan.
  • Elisabeth Poorman, Fellow, Addiction Medicine, is author of “The Number Needed to Prescribe – What Would It Take to Expand Access to Buprenorphine?” in the New England Journal of Medicine.
  • Clare Richardson, Fellow, Pediatric Otolaryngology, was awarded the 1st Place William Potsic Basic Science award for her presentation, “Cross-sectional and Volumetric Assessment After Slide Tracheoplasty in 3D Printed Infant Tracheal Models,” at the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology (ASPO) Annual Meeting. Dr. Richardson was also elected to present at the “Sim Tank” event at the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery Annual Meeting (Top 3 simulation submissions) for her project: “A 3D Printed Laryngeal Suturing Simulator for Endoscopic Laryngeal Cleft Repair.”
  • Nina Tan, resident, Internal Medicine, is co-author of “Faith-Based and Federal Government-Affiliated Training Sites for Primary Care: Implications for the Provision of Women’s Health Services” in the Journal of General Internal Medicine
  • Congratulations to our many PD and APD colleagues who were recognized as Seattle Magazine’s Top Doctors for 2021!
  • Congratulations to the new members of AOA UW Chapter: Anne Erickson, Resident, OB/GYN; Mackenzie Holmberg, Resident, Internal Medicine; Allison K. Ikeda, Resident, Otolaryngology-HNS; Molly Kelly, Resident, Internal Medicine; Neeraja Konuthula, Resident, Otolaryngology; Austin S. Lam, Resident, Otolaryngology; Vanessa Leonhard, Resident, Plastic Surgery; Suzanne Seo, Fellow, Pediatric Emergency Medicine; Christopher Sorensen, Resident, Internal Medicine; Jonathan Staloff, Resident, Family Medicine; Grace Wandell, Resident, Otolaryngology; Matt Wise, Resident, Family Medicine

Policies and Processes

  • COVID Vaccine Requirement: On June 2, UW President Ana Marie Cauce and Provost Mark Richards sent out notification that the UW will require faculty and other academic personnel, staff, student employees, and trainees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by autumn quarter in order to work on our campuses or within our facilities.  This requirement does include medical and dental residents and fellows, most of whom have already received their vaccines.  We will share additional information as we have it.
  • Change to UW’s International Travel Restrictions: On June 3 the Provost approved revised rules for official UW international travel. 
  • USMLE to limit test attempts as of July 1, 2021: As of July 2, 2021 an examinee’s total number of allowable attempts will be reduced from six (6) attempts to four (4) attempts per Step exam, including incomplete attempts.  To learn more about this change, please review the FAQs on the USMLE website.

GME Policy Updates

The GMEC approved changes to several policies at the June Committee meeting.  Updated policies are on the Policies and Procedures page of the GME website.

  • Program Reduction and Closure Policy:  Reflects changes in the ACGME Institutional Requirements (IRs) effective July 2021.  Includes categories of program reductions and closures (voluntary, ACGME, training site, or Sponsoring Institution initiated) and actions taken by the UWSOM, program, and ACGME to continue to support resident and fellow training, education, salary and benefits.
  • Substantial Disruptions in Patient Care or Education Policy:  Previously known as Continuity of UW Graduate Medical Education and Administration in the Event of a Disaster Policy.  Reflects changes in the ACGME IRs effective July 2021, including changing term “disaster” to “substantial disruptions in patient care and education”.  Policy also revised to incorporate our institutional responses to disruptions in patient care and education over past year (COVID, SCH OR closures).
  • The following policies were approved on the Consent Agenda.  Changes to the policies are very minor, and/or edits only.
    • Policy and Procedure Policy: New ACGME institutional requirement addressing adherence to institutional GME policies
    • Appointment Policy, Credentialing Policy, DEA Registration Policy, Immunization Policy, Licensure Examination Policy, Medical Volunteer Activities Policy, Outside Work Policy, State Licensing Policy, and Telehealth Policy: Updated with new academic titles that take effect July 2021 (Fellow Non-ACGME and Fellow Non-ACGME Stipend)

Events of Interest

COVID Updates

  • We continue to update our guidance for residents/fellows and programs on the COVID-19 Updates page.

Progress, Activities and Resources

  • GME is excited to share our new Mission Statement: The mission of UW GME is to improve the health of the public by fostering the professional growth of physician-leaders within a supportive and dynamic culture of learning, building the foundation for a workforce that represents and enhances the communities we serve.
  • VAPS transition to Cerner: The VAPS EHR transition to Cerner is delayed, as is the training. We currently expect the transition to take effect in 2022 and will share more information when available.
  • Marriott Rooms for first responders: This initiative provides significantly discounted rates for first responders and health-care professionals at hotels near the hospitals where they’re working. Valid medical, government, military or relief organization ID is required for check-in.
  • Childcare resources:
    • Child care openings and tuition savings at KinderCare
      Plan now for care at KinderCare this fall. UW employees receive a 10% tuition discount and enrollment priority at select centers.
    • Backup child care is available to PEBB-eligible UW employees and UW students for when your regular care falls through. Eligible employees can access 10 days of in-center backup care annually through KinderCare, and 5 days of care annually through Bright Horizons that can be provided in-home (for adults or children) or in a local child care center. You must be registered before you request care, so plan ahead for Fall, and sign-up today!
    • In case you missed it, this recent article highlights UW resources to help your family plan for summer.