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Byron Joyner, MD, MPA
Jennifer Best, MD
Cindy Hamra JD, MA
Welcome to winter – a time of year with a heightened pace and here in the PNW, ever-present questions as to which local weather forecast will prove most accurate! Like many of you, we embrace many of these seasonal changes yet deeply feel the strain of nearly-three years, know that public health crises remain acutely active, impacting the lives and work of our community. In these (and all) moments, celebration can be a welcome antidote. Here at the end of 2022, the GME team wishes to share some of the year’s good work that we have accomplished as a community.
Over the past year, the GME Office has consistently focused on our strategic values of expertise, integration, quality and value, communication, advocacy, and people – even as we began development of a new GME strategic plan for AY2024 to 2029. Thank you to those of you who provided early input, and we look forward to sharing more information early in the new year.
Our team continues to evolve. This year, we said hello to team members Karyn Crow (GME Float Administrator), Amanda Easton (Program Manager, Operations and Administration), Jenn Johal (Learning Environment Specialist), Brandon Phanmaha (Business Analyst), Howard Schaefer (Wellness Counselor) and Bre Smith (HR Manager). Two new roles – Site and Contract Management Specialist and RMS and Information Systems Manager – have also been posted. We hope to have good news to share regarding these hires soon.
A highlight of 2022 was the successful negotiation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between RFPU-NW and the University of Washington. During the process, GME staff actively advocated for residents and fellows to UW Medicine Leadership – and we believe that the outcome for residents and fellows represents a well-deserved step forward.
Our Sponsoring Institution received continued accreditation from the ACGME, reflecting the collective work of all of you, as well as a new ACGME Recognition status for Non-Standard Training Programs, including several of our non-ACGME accredited fellowships.
Continuing the opportunity to cultivate community and better identify and remedy needs in the learning environment, GME Leadership continued the Chief Resident/Fellow Forum. These gatherings have been increasingly attended and extremely high yield. We remain impressed by the thoughtfulness of these leaders and their creative ideas. Together, we have tackled and resolved challenges we may not otherwise have been aware of. A more recent community gathering was a convening of our growing cohort of Vice Chairs for Education – individuals filling a role supporting learners and programs across the continuum of medical education within our clinical departments We are hoping this group will work with us and with one another to develop standards, share best practices, and connect over similar work within a learning community.
The GME Office continues to partner on School of Medicine initiatives that we feel are key to the improvement of our clinical and learning environments. The first initiative is a large-scale effort to institute a program of restorative justice in response to harms within our community. Headed by Office of Healthcare Equity, this program will provide all of us with access to an alternative means of conflict resolution focused on community building. The second initiative – trainee participation in the UW Medicine Well Being Survey – is revealing actionable information on an expanded range of domains impacting trainee well-being within the workplace. We are working to compile program-level results early next year and anticipate close partnership with Dr. Anne Browning to develop action plans aligned with UW Medicine support that we hope will lesson trainee distress.
Most importantly, we want to express gratitude to each one of you. Thank you for your daily work to maximize, provide and ensure quality specialty training within UW GME with a shared goal of taking exceptional care of our patients. We welcome every opportunity to support our residents and fellows and to improve the clinical learning environment. If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions, we always want to hear from you.
Best for the holiday season and Happy New Year!
Byron Joyner, MD, MPA
Vice Dean for GME and DIOJennifer Best, MD
Associate Dean, Accreditation and EducationCindy Hamra, JD
Associate Dean, Operations and Administration