Dear GME Community,
First, our sincere thanks to our colleagues in UWMC and Health Sciences Building facilities, who replaced all mattresses and box springs in the Crow’s Nest on Friday, January 21. We advocated for this change based on information received via the GME Report a Concern form. Remember to check the GME website for Information by Training Site: Sleep/Rest Facilities, Food, Quiet Spaces.
The January issue of GME News & Notes includes information about the updated return to work policy, a reminder that the COVID vaccine is a condition of employment, and information about three updated policies. We also share information about the new GME Endowed Fund, and many individual awards and recognition. If there’s anything you’d like to see included in next month’s News & Notes, please let me know.
Please remember to check the GME website where many current forms, policies, processes, and educational resources are posted. We also appreciate your feedback about what else we can add to make website more useful.
Finally, we were excited to see that The Huddle article from June 2021 welcoming our new residents and fellows was one of the 10 most read last year! 2021 Year in Review | UW Medicine Huddle.
Happy New Year,
Cindy Hamra
Assistant Dean, GME
Policies and Processes
- UW Medicine Staffing During COVID Surge: Please read the Staffing During COVID-19 Surge; Updating Our Return-to-Work Policy announcement sent on January 19 from UW Medicine leadership.
- The Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) approved revisions to several policies at the January meeting. All are posted on the Policies and Procedures page of the GME website.
- Case and Procedures Management Policy: Revisions includes updates to guidelines for safeguarding protected health information (PHI), case and procedure log management and tracking guidelines for trainees and programs, and the addition of a new section on procedures certification management in MedHub.
- Immunization and Health Screening Policy: Includes the addition of full vaccination against COVID-19 as a requirement prior to first day of training.
- Residency and Fellowship Position Appointment (RFPA) Agreement (2022-2023): A communication about revisions to the RFPA for AY23 was sent to programs, residents and fellows on January 14. Programs currently interviewing for next academic year must share the updated agreement with applicants invited to interview.
- COVID Vaccines, Boosters and Attestations
- COVID Vaccine Requirement: Programs must continue to communicate to applicants that the COVID-19 vaccine is required as a condition of employment. This requirement is on the Prospective Resident and Fellows page of the GME website and included in the Immunization and Health Screening Policy.
- COVID Booster Signup and Documentation: Due to the rapidly increasing prevalence of the Omicron variant in our community, it is more important than ever to get a COVID-19 booster if you are eligible. Sign up on the UW Medicine Employee Website for COVID-19 Vaccine Scheduling site. If you received your booster outside of UW Medicine, please submit documentation of your booster to Employee Health so that your record can be updated. Information about boosters and how to provide documentation can be found on the GME COVID-19 Updates page under Vaccine Compliance.
- UW and UW Medicine COVID symptom daily attestations: For trainees engaged in any clinical activity during a given day, they need to complete the UW Medicine attestation, NOT the UW Workday attestation. Link to the attestation: 2019 Novel Coronavirus (nCoV) Response Program (uwmedicine.org). QR codes linking to this attestation are also all over clinical sites.
- Vaccine Requirements & Attestation for non-UW Medicine Training sites: GME has received information about vaccine requirements for non-UW Medicine training sites. See the COVID-19 Updates page of this website for details. If you know of others, please share them with us so we can distribute broadly.
- Please make sure that you’re wearing a mask when you’re in a UW Medicine or UW space! Employees are required comply with the COVID-19 Face Covering Policy on campus or the UW Medicine face covering policy at the medical centers as a condition of employment or will be subject to corrective or disciplinary action including dismissal from University employment.
- UW Medicine Employee Assistance Fund: The University of Washington launched the COVID-19 Employee Emergency Fund (EEF) in June 2020 to support employees who have experienced a financial hardship due to the COVID-19. The pandemic continues to take a financial toll and the EEF is still accepting applications. In addition, employees who have already received the maximum amount available to EEF recipients may now reapply if they experience a new financial hardship due to COVID-19 at least three months after last receiving EEF support.
- Please continue to check the Travel Restrictions section of our COVID-19 Updates page for updated travel guidelines from the GME Office, UW Medicine, and the UW Office of Global Affairs, including updated restrictions on international travel.
Program Information
- The GMEC approved the appointment of Lianne Hirano, as the new program director for the Palliative Medicine fellowship at the January meeting. ACGME approval is still required.
- Welcome new GME Program Administrators:
- Erin Greenfield, Pediatric Infectious Diseases
- Amanda Jamieson, Pediatric Pulmonology
- Megan Osika-Dass, Neurological Surgery
- The National Resident Matching Program announced the transition to a new combined Medicine and Pediatric Subspecialties Match beginning in 2022 for the 2023 appointment year. This change will benefit both programs as well as partners from each specialty who can now apply to the Match as a couple.
- The ACGME released a Letter to the Community on January 13 addressing Changes in Response to GME Community’s Concerns which describes the changes being implemented by the ACGME to respond to the current environment, balanced with their accreditation responsibilities to programs, residents, fellows and patient care.
- The ACGME is still accepting applications and letters of interest for the next round of Back to Bedside projects. The ACGME seeks proposals for awards for resident- and fellow-developed, innovative, grassroots strategies to improve, foster, or cultivate meaning in clinical learning environments by increasing opportunities to build connections with patients and improving the physician-patient relationship. Proposals are due February 21, 2022.
- Updated ACGME Program Directors’ Guide Available: An update to the residency version of the Program Directors’ Guide to the Common Program Requirements has been completed. This focused revision addresses changes in the requirements since the Guide was first published. The eBook is now available on the ACGME website and in Learn at ACGME. The updated fellowship version of the Guide will be available soon.
- Milestones Mid-Year Reporting Window Open Until February 11: In response to the recent COVID-19 surge and its impact on Sponsoring Institutions and programs, the reporting window has been extended by one month until Friday, February 11, 2022. This change is reflected in the Accreditation Data System (ADS). Milestones assessments can be submitted via ADS at any point before this date.
- Annual ACGME Awards: The ACGME is now accepting nominations for the 2023 Awards Cycle. Deadline is Wednesday, April 6, 2022, 5:00 p.m. Central time.
Events of Interest
- GME Lunch & Learns: The Recording and Materials from our January Lunch & Learn are now available on the GME website. Topics covered include ACGME Surveys and Disability Accommodations for Applicants and Trainees. The next Lunch & Learn on February 17 will cover GME Financing and Funding.
- Navigating Parental Leave for Resident Physicians: Thursday, February 3, from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. All residents, fellows and guests are encouraged to attend via Zoom. See agenda. For those unable to attend, the event recording will be posted on the Resident & Fellow Seminars page of the GME website. If you are looking for information on Leave prior to February, please explore our Growing Your Family webpage.
- Mindful Resilience: Managing and Thriving with Stress and Challenges: This 6-week course draws from the empirically validated approaches of both Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) curricula, as well as some of the latest neuroscience and research work around trauma and resilience. Sessions run Tuesdays, January 11 through February 15, 2022, from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. For more information, please visit the UW Center for Child and Family Well-Being website.
- Coping with Uncertainty & Effects of Chronic and Acute Stress on Well-Being: Wednesday, February 9, from 12 -1 p.m. This session of the UW Medicine Well-Being and Resilience Curriculum will look at models of post disaster recovery and emotional well-being.
- Other GME Events can be found on our calendar
Projects and Resources
- The GME Office is currently hiring for two new positions: Float Administrator (Req #199360) and Program Manager, Operations & Administration (Req # 201458).
- Thanks to UW Medicine Advancement for designing a new tool to support GME programs via the Graduate Medical Education Endowed Fund, which provides central support through the GME Office for resident and trainee research, diversity recruitment, community engagement and wellness activities.
- Congratulations to the Housestaff Quality and Safety Committee (HQSC) on the recent publication of HOUSE. This edition coincides with HQSC’s 10 year anniversary.
- Bright Horizon’s Backup Care: Effective January 1, 2022, all Bright Horizons backup care can be reserved up to 60 days in advance, with a cancellation notice of 48 hours. Additionally, for those needing care for mid-winter break or spring break, please note that in March and April of 2022, Bright Horizons will offer $0 co-pays for in-center backup care.
- Looking for discounts to on winter activities in the region? Check out the list of Winter Discounts offered from the WholeU.
People
- Cammie Bullock, program administrator for Pediatric Cardiology, Congenital Cardiac Surgery, and the Pediatric Cardiology subspecialties, is the new co-Chair for the Program Administrator Advisory Council (PAAC).
- Daniel Cabrera, chair of the GMEC EDI Subcommittee is featured in The Huddle: “Building Equity Within Graduate Medical Education”
- Congratulations to Cameron Chalker, resident, Internal Medicine, who has been selected as a recipient of the Fall 2021 UW Medicine Cares Awards. UW Medicine established the UW Medicine Cares Award in 2013, a program to formally recognize and celebrate the accomplishments and excellence of those in the UW Medicine community who consistently exemplify the UW Medicine Service Culture Guidelines.
- Başak Çoruh, associate professor and fellowship program director, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, will serve as Vice Chair of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) Education Committee, effective May 2022.
- Jedediah Doane, resident, Internal Medicine, is lead author and Eoin West, professor, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, is senior author of “Progressive Pulmonary Fibrosis After Non-Critical COVID-19: A Case Report” in the American Journal of Case Reports. DOM co-authors are Mark Wurfel and Kellen Hirsch.
- Kat McGhee Drummond, program administrator, Rheumatology fellowship, is the subject of the Department of Medicine Staff Spotlight for December.
- Lauren Feld, fellow, Gastroenterology, co-wrote “Progress still needed for pregnant and postpartum gastroenterologists” in GI & Hepatology News.
- Vickie Hau, resident, Anesthesiology, has been selected for the 2022 HQSC co-chair position. Dr. Hau is completing her residency in Anesthesiology this year and will continue at UW as a fellow next year in Obstetric Anesthesiology. She has expressed a passion for increasing housestaff engagement in patient safety and quality improvement and has been involved in efforts to standardize operating room procedures to decrease variance and waste.
- Cooper Kersey, resident, Internal Medicine, is lead author, and Younghoon Kwon, associate professor, Cardiology, is senior author of “Cardiac Arrest during Transesophageal Echocardiogram (TEE) due to Acute Right Ventricular Failure” in Case Reports in Cardiology. DOM co-authors are Fitsumberhan Medhane, Andrew Pattock, Linda Liu, and Gary Huang.
- Amy Law, GME learning gateway lead instructional designer, is co-author of A Brief Online Implicit Bias Intervention for School Mental Health Clinicians
- Olubusola Oluwole, fellow, Hematology and Oncology, is the inaugural recipient of the National Hemophilia Foundation Diversity Jeanne Marie Lush (JML) Diversity Fellowship.
- Gabrielle Paras, resident, Internal Medicine, is lead author, and Roland Walter, professor, Hematology, is senior author of “Conditioning Intensity and Peri-Transplant Flow Cytometric MRD Dynamics in Adult AML” in Blood. DOM co-authors are Filippo Milano, Brenda Sandmaier, Lucas Zarling, Mary Flowers, H. Joachim Deeg, Frederick Appelbaum, and Rainer Storb.
- Shobha Stack, fellow, Palliative Medicine, is lead author and Jennifer Best, associate dean, GME, is senior author of “Parental Leave Policies in Residency: A National Survey of Internal Medicine Program Directors” in Academic Medicine.
- Congratulations to the following recipients of Idaho American College of Physicians Awards:
- Clinical Vignette by Resident: Pramod Chavali and Rick LeCheminant, residents, Internal Medicine-Boise
- Quality Improvement Project: James Yan, resident, Internal Medicine-Boise and a group of interprofessional colleagues