Dear GME Community,
We are excited to welcome Maureen Horgan, LICSW, to the GME wellness team as a new counselor. Maureen specializes in working with anxiety, depression, grief, caregiver stress and moral distress in professional care. Trainees can schedule with Maureen here.
September is the start of Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month; this year’s theme is “Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future.” September is also Suicide Prevention Month. The GME Wellness page has many resources and ACGME resources related to suicide prevention are included in the Projects & Resources section.
September News & Notes also includes information about tuition support for trainees, name pronunciation badges, and many professional development opportunities and resources.
Thanks,
Cindy
Policies and Processes
- The GMEC approved revisions to the following policies at the September meeting. All are posted on the Policies and Procedures page of the GME website.
- Remediation Policy and Grievance Procedure: updated to clarify process, including flow of remediation, criteria for remediation actions, and trainee protections.
- You may have received an email from UWMC and HMC hospital CEOs regarding new meal and rest break requirements. We have received several questions regarding whether these new requirements apply to residents and fellows. These new provisions apply to hospital employees; this does not include trainees, who are School of Medicine employees. Please remember, however, that trainees must be given an opportunity to transition patient care in the instance of fatigue (per ACGME requirements), have time to attend medical appointments (per RFPU CBA), and be given time to express milk (per Washington state law). If you have questions about any of these, please reach out to GME.
- The GME Office is hiring an Information Systems & Web Support Specialist, who will provide support, website administration, and more. To view the job description or to apply: Information Systems & Web Support Specialist (Req# 238092). Please direct questions to Allison Shults.
- In alignment with UW Medicine’s approach to generative AI, we are excited to announce the release of the AI Guidelines for Residency and Fellowship Applications. These guidelines provide clear and practical advice on how to responsibly incorporate AI tools throughout the application and recruitment process, including application review and interviews. We encourage you to review the guidelines and share your thoughts via the feedback form available on the webpage. Your input will help us refine and improve these resources as needed.
- UW Medicine will implement universal masking in patient care areas each year during the respiratory virus season. This precautionary measure aims to minimize the risk of exposure to and transmission of respiratory viruses. For more information about the respiratory virus season and new COVID-19 vaccine, see Fall 2024: A new vaccine for COVID-19.
- Please review the July 8 ‘Update for AY26 Recruitment and Interview Season’ email from Dr. Byron Joyner for important information regarding interview formats, second looks, sub-internships and observerships. Information is also available on our Recruitment Resources webpage.
Program Information
- Welcome new Program Administrators:
- Jonathan Dela Cruz, Addiction Medicine
- Savannah Tam, Allergy & Immunology and Global Health
- The GMEC has approved appointment of the following new program directors; ACGME appointments require Review Committee confirmation:
- Anshu Bandhlish, Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Pathology
- John Choe, Internal Medicine (Seattle)
- David Garcia, Hematology Research
- Bahar Mansoori, Cancer Imaging
- Cate Paschal, Laboratory Genetics and Genomics (Interim)
- The ACGME has a weekly e-Communication. If you wish to receive it, email ACGMECommunications@acgme.org.
Events of Interest
- GME Lunch & Learns
- The fifth session of our Cultivating Skills in Feedback and Critical Conversations Education Series will be Tuesday September 24th from 11:30am to 1:00pm. Please join Cindy Hamra, Associate Dean, GME, for a session on Trainee Remediation and Resources, including introduction of our updated GME Remediation Policy and Grievance Procedure. This session is open to all program leadership including program directors, associate program directors, program administrators, vice chairs for education, etc. For planning purposes, please RSVP by Friday 9/20. We will distribute the Zoom link via an Outlook calendar invite as we get closer to the session date. Please reach out to Amanda Easton and Jenn Johal if you have questions.
- SAVE THE DATE: The final session of our Cultivating Skills in Feedback and Critical Conversations Education Series will be on Monday, November 4th from 1:30 – 3:00 pm. The topic for the session is ‘Supporting BIPOC URiM trainees.’ A separate registration link will be shared for this session as we get closer to the presentation date.
- Registration for our Educator Development for GME Excellence (EDGE) series is now open. Please register at: EDGE Registration | UW Graduate Medical Education. We will ask that PDs plan to attend 3 of 4 events each year and APDs and Core Faculty plan to attend 2 of 4 events each year
- Tuesday, October 22, 2024; 9:00 am – 10:30 am: “Entrustable Professional Activities: Dr. Brenessa Lindeman, University of Alabama-Birmingham
- Tuesday, March 25, 2025; TBD between 9:00 am and 12:00pm: “Supporting Trainee Disability Accommodations”, Hayley Fisher, UW GME
- Thursday, April 24, 2025; TBD between 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm: “How Our Program Does It” Session: Individualized Learning Plans OR Trainee Professional Development Curricula (concurrent)
- Navigating Thalamus: Milestones to Success is a new webinar series for program users. This 8-part series (August 26 – October 16, 2024) is designed to help you effectively utilize key features of the Thalamus product suite, guiding you through essential milestones with confidence and ease. Register for the series today.
- The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is hosting Innovations in Addressing Substance Use and Addiction on September 30, from 9 AM to 4 PM at the HUB. Information including registration: Innovations in Addressing Substance Use and Addiction.
- Other GME Events can be found on our calendar.
Projects and Resources
Please review the GME Annual Program Timeline for important dates for the months of September and October.- We are pleased to share information about tuition support for clinical residents and fellows to pursue coursework at the University of Washington, including in the School of Public Health. See September 18 email from Cindy Hamra.
- Add a Name Pronunciation Tag to Your Badge: Medical student Sudiptho (suh-dip-doe) Paul started the initiative and shares his tips for pronouncing names correctly.
- Please see the following ACGME resources related to suicide prevention.
- Depression in Physicians video module
- Psychological First Aid handout
- Mental Health and Well-Being during Transitions
- Overcoming Barriers to Mental Health Care for Residents
- If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, know that resources and help are available. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 988.
- Before open enrollment begins, get your questions answered at these benefits fairs Oct. 21-24. The Whole U brings the annual UW Benefits Fairs to four on-site locations.
- See all the hair and skincare products available for your BIPOC patients [UW Medicine password required]
- Thanks to Michael Hardin in Facilities for this guide to the all gender restrooms on the Harborview campus [UW Medicine password required]
- We have posted an updated letter for prospective residents and fellows from Dr. Joyner on our Prospective Residents & Fellows Please share this information with prospective trainees and/or link from your own recruitment materials.
- A web page dedicated to coordinators, centralizing essential resources in one location, is now available on the ACGME website. ACGME also has two new resources available for Program Coordinators: a Program Coordinator Handbook and a Program Coordinator Handbook Companion: Paving Your Path to Success. Review the Handbook and access the Learning Path. The Handbook has also been added to the GME Program Administrators
- Parent trainees are encouraged to join our Parenthood Peer Mentorship Program as either a mentor or mentee. This program is designed to support parent trainees by matching them with peers to share knowledge and support each other. Additional information is on the Parenthood Peer Mentorship Program webpage.
- Nominations are open for the UW School of Medicine Distinguished Alumni Awards. Nominations are due by Dec. 31, 2024, for consideration of recognition in 2025. Learn more about the awards and past recipients here, where you will also find the nomination form.
- The Career Advising team, their Student Advisory Board Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) Group and UWSOM Student Affairs are seeking physicians to participate in the BIPOC Physicians Directory. The Directory is a private, secure database that gives UWSOM students a safe avenue to connect with BIPOC physicians who share similar identities, including non-UW affiliated physicians and residents from across the country. Please consider signing up here.
- The GME Office would like to update our trainee photos for use on our website, promotional materials, and articles for The Huddle/other in-house publications. We would appreciate programs submitting photos of trainees in training, wellness, learning, or volunteering activities. Please use our GME Photos Request form to upload photos; for compliance purposes there must be a photo waiver on file for any individual in the photo.
- GME has launched a UW GME WhatsApp group for residents and fellows, including interest groups for parents and IMGs. We encourage trainees to join!
People
- Tyler Albert, associate professor is lead author and Paul Cornia, professor (General Internal Medicine) is senior author of “The Evolution of Internal Medicine Chief Residents: A 20-year Multicenter Study” in the American Journal of Medicine.
- Justin Bullock, clinical researcher (Nephrology) is lead author and Jennifer Best, professor (General Internal Medicine) and GME Associate Dean, is senior author of “Our House Won’t Rebuild Itself: Peace, Love, and Hope as Tools to Transform Graduate Medical Education” in the Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges.
- Jeremy Hess, Population Health Research Program Director, discusses why and how we should assess patients for weather-related health risks in “Extreme Weather Can Impact Health Risks” from The Huddle.
- Jerry Huang, Hand Surgery Program Director, explains the ins and outs of carpal and cubital tunnel syndromes in “Tingling in Your Fingers? It Could Be One of These Syndromes” from Right as Rain.
- Shin Lin, associate professor (Cardiology) is lead author of “Highly Sensitized Patients Listed for Heart After Liver Transplantation With or Without Domino” in the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. Department of Medicine co-authors are Elina Minami, Renuka Bhattacharya (Transplant Hepatology Program Director), April Stempien-Otero, Aris Karatasakis, and Richard Cheng (Advanced Heart Failure/Transplant Cardiology Program Director).
- Mark Mayo, clinical assistant professor, and Laura Quinnan, UWMC-NW Medical Director, have received What’s Right in Health Care® Hero Awards, sponsored by Huron.
- Ganesh Raghu, Interstitial Lung Disease Program Director, is lead and senior author of “Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis mortality: update on trends in the modern treatment era” in The European Respiratory Journal. He is also co-senior author of “Inhaled Nitric Oxide in Fibrotic Lung Disease: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial” in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.
- Dushyant Sahani, Chair of Radiology, is featured in “Inside the controversial world of full-body health scans” from GeekWire.
- The Department of Surgery Newsletter ‘Surgery Synopsis’ features many voices of the GME community: Check out the Annual Education issue.
- The GME Wellness Team is featured in “The Whole U brought a summer of wellness and connection events to UW Medicine” for their most recent outreach event at Harborview Medical Center. We encourage residents and fellows at Seattle Children’s Hospital to join the team at their next outreach event on Friday, October 4. Details will be emailed closer to the event.
- Crystal E. Brown, assistant professor (Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine) is senior author and Bessie Young, Vice Dean of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, is co-author of “Medical Mistrust Among Black Patients with Serious Illness: A Mixed Methods Study” in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Dr. Young is also co-author of “Single-Ancestry versus Multi-Ancestry Polygenic Risk Scores for CKD in Black American Populations” in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
- UW Medical Center Makes Becker’s List of 100 Great Hospitals in America
- Forbes Ranks UW Medicine Top Healthcare Employer in Washington
- UW Medical Center Gets a 5-Star Rating