GME News & Notes: November

by | Nov 18, 2021 | Announcements, Events, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community,

November is Native American Heritage Month.  In the November issue of GME News & Notes, we include updated information about the new Training Site Information Page, Holiday Gift Guidelines, the Husky Prevention Response Course, the UW Medicine Influenza Vaccine requirement and the ACGME Back to Bedside initiative.

Additionally, and as in past months, this issue of GME News & Notes has lots of information about awards, publications, new program leadership, etc.

If you have information you would like included, please send to me at hamrac@uw.edu.

 

Cindy Hamra

Cindy Hamra
Assistant Dean, GME

Policies and Processes

  • Holiday Gift Guidelines: The holiday season is often a time of giving by grateful patients, vendors, and other outside organizations. State employees within UW Medicine are governed by the Washington Ethics in Public Service Act with regard to the gifts they may accept and how they may redirect gifts they cannot accept.  Read the Gifts, Food, and Meals from External Sources – FAQs on the UW Medicine Compliance website. Additional information is available on the Internal Audit website.  Contact UW Medicine Compliance at 206.543.3098 / comply@uw.edu or UW Internal Audit at 206.543.4028 / iaudit@uw.edu if you have any questions.
  • The UW now requires all incoming students and new employees to complete the Husky Prevention & Response course — a foundational training that is tailored differently for students and employees to help them seek resources as well as recognize, interrupt, prevent and report sex- and gender-based violence and harassment. Over the coming year, all UW employees will be expected to complete the 60- to 90-minute online course. More information will be shared in winter quarter. In the meantime, any employee can complete Husky Prevention & Response employee course now. Please see UW President Ana Mari Cauce’s November 15 email for more information.
  • Healthcare Helpers Initiative: Employees interested in participating can register at Healthcare Helpers and sign up for an available shift. Please note that roles may require additional training or qualifications. You can review these items and detailed role descriptions on the Volunteer Resource Page by selecting the quick link for “Hospital Volunteers.” Please note that residents are not considered classified staff and so may volunteer but are not eligible to be paid
  • The UW Office of Global Affairs has updated the UW International Travel Rules and Restrictions Policy
  • New Program Director Appointment Policy: The GMEC approved revisions to the New Program Director Appointment Policy at the November meeting.  Revisions reflect changes to the ACGME Institutional Requirements and Common Program requirements, as well as clarification and updates to the existing appointment process.
  • The deadline for UW Medicine Influenza Vaccination is November 30. Information about compliance is as follows:
    • How can I get a flu shot?  Please swing by your local UWMC Employee Health Clinic, a local provider, or pharmacy
    • What should a resident or fellow do if they were vaccinated elsewhere?  Bring a copy of the documentation to UWMC-Employee Health or email emhealth@uw.edu (Montlake) or employeehealthnw@uw.edu (Northwest) from a UW email account. Individuals can send a photo or a scan of documentation or provide their name, Employee ID number, date of vaccine and where the flu shot was received (Rite Aid, Costco, etc.).
    • What if a resident or fellow wants to decline the vaccine? Immunization is what will protect our patients, fellow staff, and providers and public. But if a trainee chooses to decline, there are three required steps:
      • Complete the on-line education Flu vaccine declination module available on the Employee Health page of the UW Medicine intranet and print a copy or screenshot with confirmation of module completion.
      • Meet with Employee Health RN or ARNP to have one-on-one education about declination.
      • Formally decline by signing the written declination. This must be done annually!
  • Employee COVID booster eligibility: Currently, UW Medicine is scheduling booster appointments for the following individuals who completed their initial vaccine series at least six months previously for Moderna or Pfizer, and at least two months previously for Johnson & Johnson.
    • Moderna or Pfizer: Ages 18-64 with underlying medical conditions or who are at increased risk for COVID-19 exposure and transmission because of occupational or institutional setting, including healthcare workers
    • Johnson & Johnson: Age 18 and older
    • Review the COVID-19 Vaccine Updates & Information page for additional information
  • Please make sure that you’re wearing a mask when you’re in a UW Medicine or UW space! The University has published a corrective action process for violations of the Face covering policies. The process can be found on the HR website.  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 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.
  • Open Enrollment is here: For benefits-eligible employees, Open Enrollment is a once-a-year opportunity to make changes to health plan elections or enroll in a Flexible Spending Arrangement (FSA) or the Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP). Employees make changes in Workday, and changes must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. PST on Nov. 30. Open Enrollment elections go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022

Program Information

  • The ACGME is currently 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.

Events of Interest

  • The next GME Outreach event will be on Friday, December 10, at Harborview Medical Center. We will share more information closer to the event date.
  • Science Says Lecture Series: Trevor Noah, comedian and host of The Daily Show, will chat with Fred Hutch researchers – including Department of Medicine members Drs. Philip Greenberg and Rachel Issaka – who are boldly working to end cancer and COVID-19 during the event Trevor Noah Talks with Fearless Scientists Tackling Cancer and COVID-19 on Tuesday, November 30, from 2-3:15 p.m. Register for the event on the Fred Hutch website.
  • Other GME Events can be found on our calendar

Projects and Resources

People

  • The Pediatrics Residency has won the ACGME Barbara Ross Lee Diversity Award! The renamed Barbara Ross-Lee, DO Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award honors ACGME-accredited Sponsoring Institutions and programs, as well as specialty organizations, working to diversify the underrepresented physician workforce and create inclusive workplaces that foster humane, civil, and equitable environments.
  • Lauren Feld, fellow, Gastroenterology, received an Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Award from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Foundation. The purpose of this award is to encourage the academic career of exceptional hepatology trainees.
  • Fuki M. Hisama, program director, Medical Genetics and Genomics residency, is the senior author of “Exome and Genome Sequencing for Pediatric Patients with Congenital Anomalies or Intellectual Disability: an Evidence-Based Clinical Guideline of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics” published in Genetics in Medicine (2021;23:2029-2037).  This high-impact manuscript has been viewed >10,000 times in the first month following publication and has been reported in multiple national news outlets. Below are social media links regarding this publication.  See ACMGE News Release and National News Release
  • Barbara Jung, professor and chair, Department of Medicine, has been elected to the American Clinical and Climatological Association (ACCA). ACCA was organized in 1884 to improve medical education, research and practice in the U.S.
  • Cooper Kersey, resident, Internal Medicine was the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) hospital medicine oral presentation winner at the Washington American College of Physicians annual meeting for “Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Myocarditis: Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself.”
  • Whitney Kiker, fellow, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and J. Randall Curtis, professor, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, are co-authors of “Goal-Concordant Care After Severe Acute Brain Injury” in Frontiers in Neurology.
  • Joe Merrill, program director, Addiction Medicine, received an Outstanding Research Mentor Award. Nominated by students throughout WWAMI, 17 mentors were selected by the School of Medicine Scholarship Committee to receive Outstanding Research Mentor Awards
  • Danny Miller, resident, Combined Pediatrics and Medical Genetics and Genomics, received an Outstanding Presentation Award at the 2021 Seattle Children’s Hospital Fellow and Resident Research Day, and the Best Presentation Award at the 42nd Annual David W. Smith Workshop on Malformations and Morphogenesis. His mentors include  Evan Eichler PhD (Genome Sciences) and Junko Oshima, MD, PhD (Department of Pathology and Lab Medicine).
  • Joey Nelson, resident, Family Medicine, was featured in the recent article What Being First Generation Means to These Students in The Huddle
  • Olubusola Oluwole, fellow, Hematology Oncology, was selected as the 2021 National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF) Jeanne Marie Lusher Diversity Fellowship Award recipient. She was awarded $52,000/year for up to three years for her research project “A prospective study of clinical and imaging assessment of cognitive function and its association with anemia in adults with sickle cell disease at the University of Washington.”
  • Alex Stoller, program administrator, Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition, is featured in the Department of Medicine Staff Spotlight for November.

GME News & Notes: October

by | Oct 21, 2021 | Announcements, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community,

The October issue of GME News & Notes has important information about the UW Mask Mandate, the Washington Cares Fund, the upcoming NURF Diversity Recruitment Event and DEI resources.

Additionally, and as in past months, this issue of GME News & Notes has lots of information about awards, publications, new program leadership, etc.

If you have information you would like included, please send to me at hamrac@uw.edu.

 

Cindy Hamra

Cindy Hamra
Assistant Dean of GME

Policies and Processes

  • Please make sure that you’re wearing a mask when you’re in a UW Medicine or UW space! The University of Washington has published a corrective action process for violations of the Face Covering Policy. The process can be found on the HR website.  Employees are required comply with the COVID-19 Face Covering Policy on campus or the UW Medicine Required and Extended-Use Masking Policy at the medical centers as a condition of employment or will be subject to corrective or disciplinary action including dismissal from University employment.
  • The WA Cares Fund, the mandatory long-term care insurance benefit established by state law, is to be funded by a premium paid by employees beginning January 1, 2022. The Employment Security Department (ESD) has provided new information about how qualifying individuals can apply for a premium exemption. ESD is now accepting applications for WA Cares Fund exemption: Starting October 1, 2021, you may apply to ESD for an individual exemption to the WA Cares Fund if you have purchased a long-term care plan prior to November 1, 2021. If approved, you are required to notify the UW of your exemption and provide a copy of the premium exemption approval letter from ESD. For more information, visit the ESD’s WA Cares Fund Exemptions webpage as well as UWHR’s WA Cares Fund overview and FAQs.
  • UW and UW Medicine COVID symptom daily attestations: Residents and fellows engaged in any clinical activity during a given day 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.
  • The Washington Medical Commission (WMC) has posted a position statement about the spread of COVID misinformation by healthcare professionals.  The WMC may discipline practitioners who are found offering treatments and recommendations regarding COVID-19 that fall below standard of care as established by medical experts, federal authorities and legitimate medical research.
  • Open Enrollment is November 1-30, 2021. This is your once-a-year opportunity to enroll in or make changes to your health plan elections in Workday.

Program Information

  • GMEC approved the following new Program Directors at the October 14 meeting. All are awaiting ACGME confirmation:
    • Heather Brandling-Bennett, Pediatric Dermatology
    • Jimmy Beck, Pediatric Hospital Medicine
    • Monique Mogensen, Neuroradiology
  • Please join us in welcoming the following new program administrators:
    • Jeanine Hughes, Infectious Diseases
    • Miranda Skillin, Pain Medicine and Critical Care Anesthesiology
  • Paid personal holiday: A reminder that residents and fellows are entitled to one (1) paid personal holiday each calendar year (see Article 12 of the CBA).
  • For programs that submitted GMEPAC applications for AY23, the committee met on September 13, and we will be communicating decisions as the hospitals make funding decisions. Please reach out to Cindy Hamra with any questions.
  •  

Events of Interest

  • New Program Directors and Program Administrators, please join us for our next quarterly GME Meet & Greet, Friday, October 29, from 10 – 10:45am. More information is here.
  • NURF Diversity Town Hall for Candidates:  The Network of Underrepresented Residents and Fellows (NURF) will be holding a Diversity Recruitment event on Tuesday, November 2, from 6 – 8pm. The event is intended to answer questions for potential applicants from underrepresented and/or disadvantaged backgrounds who are currently applying to residency or fellowship at UW.  Find more information and the registration link here.
  • UW Center for Child & Family Well-Being Courses: The UW Center for Child & Family Well-Being has several upcoming courses in September that are open to all: Mindful Self-Compassion, Finding Calm – Strengthening Bonds Through Self-Kindness, RAIN, and Tools for Teens: Stress Management and Emotional Resilience. For more information, please visit their website.
  • Volunteer for the Seattle Marathon: UW Medicine has opportunities for medical and administrative volunteers at the Seattle Marathon over  Thanksgiving weekend, Sunday, November 28.  Led by Mark Harrast, MD, a sports medicine physician at UW Medical Center, Sports Medicine fellowship director, and the Seattle Marathon medical director, medical teams will manage three stations along the course and one at the finish line.  If you are interested, please complete the Seattle Marathon Medical Team Volunteer Registration form.  Residents and fellows who want to participate also need to submit a Medical Volunteer Activity Request Form consistent with the Medical Volunteer Activities Policy.  For more information, contact Dalika Ung at rmsports@uw.edu.
  • The presentations and recording from the October Program Administrator meeting are now available here.
  • Other GME Events can be found on our calendar.

Projects and Resources

  • If you have a concern that you would like to share with GME, please use our recently updated Report a Concern form.
  • GME has recently revised our GME Annual Program Timeline, which includes program activities and GME dates of note by month for the academic year.  The timeline is posted here.
  • Sign up to receive parenting and childcare emails from UW Work-Life.  Emails include regular updates on childcare-related caregiving, local and virtual family activities, webinar lectures, access to a biweekly parenting newsletter and more.
  • Did you know that the GME Office has extensive equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) resources for programs, residents and fellows, and recruitment resources for programs on our GME website?  Check them out and please let us know if you have additional suggestions.
  • Do you use the GME Website? We’re collecting feedback!  Please take this short survey and help us improve the website for you.
  • Find child care, pet care, housekeeping and more. Benefits-eligible UW employees and students can find sitters, nannies, housekeepers, pet sitters and dog walkers by registering for a free premium membership to Sittercity.
  • The GME Finance Team is hiring a Budget Analyst (Req 196582). Please share with anyone who might be interested!

People

  • The Department of Surgery David Tapper Teaching & Leadership Award was awarded to Oluwatobi Afolayan. This award is presented to a General Surgery Chief Resident who exemplifies the teaching and leadership qualities that others seek to emulate.
  • Katharine Bennett, Program Director, Geriatric Medicine, is featured in the DOM Faculty Spotlight.
  • Kathleen Berfield, Program Director, Cardiothoracic Surgery, was named Chair of the inaugural National Surgery Office Thoracic Surgical Advisory Board (SAB). A s Chair, she will lead other Thoracic surgeons within the Veterans Health Administration and serve as subject matter expert to the National Surgery Office and Veterans Health Administration leadership. Dr. Berfield, previously served on the Cardiothoracic Surgery SAB, and started her 3 -year term as Chair for Thoracic Surgery on June 1st.
  • Jehan Budak, Assistant Professor, Medicine, was voted by her peers as the winner of the 2021 Bruce C. Gilliland Award for Excellence in Teaching of Residents and Fellows. The Gilliland Award is awarded annually to the faculty member who is actively engaged in clinical and didactic training or in the implementation of a graduate medical education curriculum. Read more.
  • Chris Bundy, Executive Director, Washington Physicians Health Program (WPHP), has received WSMA’s Unsung Hero Award
  • Lauren Feld, Gastroenterology fellow, talked about Pregnancy During Medical Training on the Explore the Space Podcast.
  • Jeff Friedrich, Program Director, Plastic Surgery, has been selected to join the ACGME Review Committee for Plastic Surgery.
  • Anisha Ganguly, Internal Medicine resident, is the recipient of the Lisa A. Cooper – David M. Levine Award for her abstract: “Race and Satisfaction with Pain Management among Patients with HIV Receiving Long-Term Opioid Therapy,” published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
  • Supaksh Gupta, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine fellow, is quoted in “COPD Exacerbations Up After Ambient Temperature Increase” in HealthDay.
  • Department of Surgery Resident Award for Medical Student Teaching was awarded to Alison Haruta. This award is presented to a Department of Surgery resident at any level who made a positive impact on medical students through teaching and mentoring.
  • Madeleine Heldman, Infectious Diseases fellow, is lead author of “Changing Trends in Mortality Among Solid Organ Transplant Recipients Hospitalized for Covid-19 During the Course of the Pandemic” in the American Journal of Transplantation, and lead author of “Association of Inherited Chromosomally Integrated Human Herpesvirus 6 with Neurologic Symptoms and Management after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation” in Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. DOM co-author is Michael Boeckh.
  • Cooper Kersey, Internal Medicine resident, is lead author of the case report “Anti-MDA5 Antibody-Associated Clinically Amyopathic Dermatomyositis: Case Report and Literature Review” in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
  • Christine Limonte, Nephrology fellow, was featured in Authority Magazine’s Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech
  • Anna Morenz, Internal Medicine resident and Joshua Liao, Associate Professor, General Internal Medicine, wrote “Using Area-Level Measures To Account For Social Risk In Health Care Payment” for the Health Affairs Blog.
  • Henry Ou, Program Director, Pediatric Otolaryngology, is featured in this SCH story!
  • Anna Ratzliff, Program Director, Psychiatry, and Jurgen Unutzer, Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, authored an article in the Seattle Times on addressing the mental-health crisis in Washington State.  Additionally, this article in the UW Magazine on the mental-health crisis features Jurgen Unutzer, Anna Ratzliff and Psychiatry resident James Lee.
  • Shinetra Pryor, Program Administrator for Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine fellowship programs is the subject of the DOM Staff spotlight.
  • Neha Sathe, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine fellow, is lead author of “Identification of persistent and resolving subphenotypes of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure in two independent cohorts” in Critical Care.
  • Kathryn Stadeli, current Surgical Critical Care fellow and 2021 General Surgery program graduate, is recipient of the Annual Harborview Housestaff Achievement Award. This award is presented annually to a UW resident from amongst a pool of over 1,300 residents and fellows. This incredibly prestigious award recognizes nominees for their “extraordinary clinical ability and humanitarian concern,” as best shown through their exemplary care provided to Harborview Medical Center’s patients.

GME News & Notes: September

by | Sep 17, 2021 | Announcements, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community,

We have posted the September issue of GME News & Notes.  Please read for important information about vaccine requirements and attestations (UW Medicine and other), HSB building access, and moonlighting opportunities.

Additionally, and as in past months, this issue of GME News & Notes has lots of information about awards, publications, new program leadership, GME team members, etc.

If you have information you would like included, please send to me at hamrac@uw.edu.

 

Cindy Hamra

Cindy Hamra
Assistant Dean of GME

Policies and Processes

  • UW and UW Medicine COVID Vaccine Requirement and Attestations: A reminder that UW Medicine requires all employees (including residents and fellows) to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 or receive an approved exemption no later than Monday, Oct. 18, 2021, as a condition of employment.
    • The UW Medicine attestation is located on the UW Medicine Employee Website for COVID-19 Vaccine Compliance.  Note: If you were already vaccinated with UW Medicine through the employee process, no action is needed.  Thank you to everyone who has been working to get the outstanding 30 attestations resolved.
    • Additionally, UW is requiring employees (including residents and fellows) to complete the Workday attestation.  At this time, we are partnering with UW Medicine, the Integrated Service Center (ISC) and other central offices to streamline the vaccine verification process for SoM employees (including residents and fellows) who are engaged in clinical duties with UW Medicine. Faculty and other academic personnel (including Housestaff), whose vaccination status has been verified through the UW Medicine process, will not need to go through a separate visual verification process within the department.  Instead, for current employees, information will be provided by UW Medicine to the ISC and vaccine verification status will be uploaded to Workday through a mass upload. Additional information to follow. .
  • 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.
  • Access to Magnuson Health Sciences Building: The Board of Health Sciences Deans has determined that Magnuson Health Sciences building, the Foege Building, and South Campus Center will remain locked on a permanent basis.  This means:
    • You will need to use your Husky Card to access these buildings.
    • To provide access for clinic patients and events, two Magnuson Health Sciences entrances (HS Lobby and F-wing S1) will be unlocked Monday-Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm, effective September 27, 2021.
  • Licensure Examination Policy: The GMEC approved revisions to the Licensure Examination Policy at the September 2021 meeting. Key changes include removal of the USMLE Step 2 (CS), COMLEX Level 2 PE, and MCCQE Part II exam requirements (exams were all discontinued/suspended indefinitely this year) and the addition of completion of USMLE Step 3 for candidates who require an eligibility exception review under the ACGME’s eligibility exception requirements.
  • Reminder that the updated UW Medicine Patient Rights and Responsibilities Policy is available on the intranets for Harborview and for UW Medical Center. If you experience any type of discrimination by a patient or visitor or another staff member, you can report using the UW Medicine Bias Reporting Tool.

Program Information

  • For programs that submitted GMEPAC applications for AY23, the committee met on September 13 and we will be communicating decisions as the hospitals make funding decisions. Please reach out to Cindy Hamra at hamrac@u.edu with any questions.
  • The GMEC approved the following new program directors at the September meeting. Both appointments are awaiting ACGME approval:
    • Lisa Koch,  Gynecologic/Breast Pathology
    • David C. Mauchley, Congenital Cardiac Surgery
  • Please join us in welcoming the following new program administrators:
      • Jenelle Kirschner, Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology
      • Lauren Stoll, Child Neurology

Events of Interest

  • Due to high census in UW Medicine Hospitals, many of our clinical services are offering moonlighting opportunities. If you are interested, please complete the Moonlighting Interest Survey and make sure you get approval from your program director, consistent with the Policy on Working Outside of the Training Program (including Moonlighting).  Use the Outside Work Request Forms to request approval.  Please send completed forms to Angela James (ang226@uw.edu) in the GME Office.  GME will share the list of interested moonlighters with each service.   At this time, the services will reach out to share opportunities.
  • GME’s Family Planning & Fertility for Resident Physicians event is Thursday, September 30, from 6:00 – 7:45pm.  All residents, fellows and guests are encouraged to attend. Register here.
  • Registration for our Fall Program Director Development Series (PDDS) is now open.  Please register here.  This season we are excited to be bringing you information about Standing up to Microaggressions, the Washington Physicians Health Program (WPHP), and the Peer Support Program.  Please see the agenda for additional details on these important topics.
  • UW Center for Child & Family Well-Being Courses: The UW Center for Child & Family Well-Being has several upcoming courses in September that are open to all: Mindful Self-Compassion, Finding Calm – Strengthening Bonds Through Self-Kindness, RAIN, and Tools for Teens: Stress Management and Emotional Resilience. For more information, please visit their website.
  • The next GME Outreach Event will be on Tuesday, October 12, at Seattle Children’s Hospital. More information to come.

Projects and Resources

  • Recruitment Resources for Programs and Applicants: Check out the GME website for helpful recruitment resources for programs and applicants, including:
    • Prospective Residents & Fellows: Videos for prospective applicants, letter to applicants from Dr. Joyner, eligibility and recruitment policies, resources on appointments, salary and benefits including links to the RFPU-NW contract, RFPA, salary schedule, and benefits at a glance guide.
    • Recruitment Resources: Required notifications to applicants, eligibility requirements, application and interview tools, EDI resources, resources and best practices for virtual recruitment.
    • Recordings of Fall 2020 events:
  • NIH Loan Repayment Program: NIH will help repay student loan debt to encourage outstanding health professionals in the pursuit of research careers in biomedical or biobehavioral research careers. Loan repayment benefits are in addition to the institutional salary received for research. The LRP online application is open this year from September 1 to November 18.  More details are available on UW applicants to NIH: Loan Repayment Programs
  • We are sharing the following (excerpted) guidance from Academic Affairs to UWSOM Medical Students pursuant to the recent the Coalition for Physician Accountability (CoPA) recommendations:
    • Earlier this year, CoPA recommended that medical students should do only one away rotation in a specialty to which they are applying, and the UWSOM, like other schools in the country, has adhered to this recommendation.
    • CoPA has also announced their recommendation that all interviews for residency and fellowship during the 2021-2022 application cycle again be conducted virtually.  This decision was made because of concerns regarding the delta variant of Covid, and future variants that may pose risks and cause inequity and disruptions.  They have also recommended that the medical education community assess the value of virtual interviews along with concerns to make recommendations for future interview seasons.  You can read more information here.
    • UWSOM graduating students did very well during the 2021 Match and were well-prepared for virtual interviews.  Our career advising team, including Sarah Thomson, Linh Ngo, Tonja Brown and the specialty career advisors, are ready to help you prepare for virtual interviews for this year.  Each of you will have a mock interview with a faculty member as a core part of your preparation. Please review the resources for preparing for virtual interviews here.
  • Child Care Resources
  • The Fall 2021 Well-Being Index (WBI) survey window is from September 1 – October 15.  All residents and fellows are encouraged to participate in this 7-question survey.  Participation can help you understand your overall well-being compared to other residents/fellows across UW and the nation and provides access to resources.  All data is completely anonymous and your personal information and individual scores are private and will not be shared with UW GME, UW Medicine, or your program.  More information available on the GME website.
  • GME Website Feedback: Please take a few minutes to tell us about your experience using the GME website, good or bad, so we can better understand what is important to you, what we are doing well, and where there are areas where we need to make improvements. You can access the Feedback link here or on any of the page footers on our website.

People

 

Do you have a concern to report to GME? This QR code will take you to our Report A Concern form!

GME News & Notes: August

by | Aug 18, 2021 | Announcements, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community,

This Friday, August 20, is GME Professionals Day!  Please thank the program managers, administrators and coordinators who work tirelessly on behalf of residents and fellows.

The August GME News and Notes contains some important information and deadlines including a reminder about UW’s vaccine requirement and information about Washington’s new long term care premiums.  Additionally, and as with past months, this issue of GME News & Notes has lots of great information about awards, publications, opportunities, new leadership, 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

Policies and Processes

  • Vaccine Attestation Requirement: Residents and fellows, along with SOM faculty who are clinically active, should complete the UW Medicine attestation at UW Medicine | COVID-19 Vaccine. The revised deadline is October 18, 2021.
  • Long-Term Care Insurance Premium: Effective January 1, 2022 the University of Washington will begin to deduct from employees’ paychecks a long-term care premium and remit the funds deducted to the Employment Security Department as required in the Long-Term Services and Supports Trust Act under RCW 50B.04.080. This premium collection from the employee supports the Long-Term Services and Supports Trust Program, designated as the WA Cares Fund. More information on the WA Cares Fund is on the UW HR website.

Program Information

  • New Program Directors: GMEC approved the following new program directors. All are awaiting ACGME Review Committee approval:
    • Rebecca Wiester, Child Abuse Fellowship
    • Julie Hodapp, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Residency program
  • ACGME Common Program Requirements FAQs Updated: The FAQs related to the ACGME Common Program Requirements have been updated, effective July 1, 2021. The FAQs can be found on the ACGME Common Program Requirements page under “Additional Resources”.

Events of Interest

  • AHME’s Council of Program Administrators and Coordinators (COPAC) has designated Friday, August 20 as GME Professionals Day!  More information is here.
  • GME Drop In: GME team members will be at UWMC-Montlake on Thursday, August 26 from 11am – 1pm in the AA wing. Drop by to pick up lunch and say hello.  We will share more information via email the morning of the 26th.
  • Life After Residency & Fellowship Seminar:  The annual seminar is coming up on Saturday, August 28 from 9am – noon.  Register now. Event topics include: avoiding job search pitfalls, how to negotiate and what to look for before you sign a contact.
  • NURF Diversity Recruitment Town Hall:  The Network of Underrepresented Residents and Fellows (NURF) is hosting a Diversity Recruitment Town Hall for prospective residents and fellows on Tuesday, August 31, from 6 – 8pm. More details here.
  • Our Family Planning & Fertility for Resident Physicians event is Thursday, September 30, from 6:00 – 7:45pm.  All residents, fellows and guests are encouraged to attend. Agenda and registration information here.
  • Registration for our Fall Program Director Development Series is now open. Please register here.  This season we are excited to be bringing you information about Standing up to Microaggressions, the Washington Physicians Health Program (WPHP), and the Peer Support Program.  Please see the agenda for additional details on these important topics.
  • Other GME Events can be found on our calendar.

Projects and Resources

  • We recognize that the recent crises in Afghanistan and Haiti may be very difficult for members of our GME community. Please know that you are not alone and that resources are available to you if you need support.  Talk to your friends, colleagues, review the resources for foreign national physicians and US Veterans on the Wellness page under General Wellness and Self Care, or reach out to one of our Wellness Service counselors for support.
  • The updated UW Medicine Patient Rights and Responsibilities Policy is available on the intranets for Harborview and for UW Medical Center. The Patient Rights and Responsibilities handbook is currently being revised to include this anti-discrimination language. If you experience any type of discrimination by a patient or visitor or another staff member, please reach out to your manager, supervisor or lead. You can also report an incident using the UW Medicine Bias Reporting Tool.
  • Recruitment Resources for Programs and Applicants: Check out the GME website for helpful recruitment resources for programs and applicants, including:
    • Prospective Residents & Fellows: Videos for prospective applicants, letter to applicants from Dr. Joyner, eligibility and recruitment policies, resources on appointments, salary and benefits including links to the RFPU-NW contract, RFPA, salary schedule, and benefits at a glance guide.
    • Recruitment Resources: Required notifications to applicants, eligibility requirements, application and interview tools, EDI resources, resources and best practices for virtual recruitment.
    • Recordings of Fall 2020 events:
  • The WWAMI Rural Residency Training Opportunities page has resources and information regarding rural training opportunities, including ACGME’s focus on Medically Underserved Areas and Populations.
  • The GME Office is accepting nominations for the 2021 Bruce C. Gilliland Award for Excellence in Teaching of Residents and Fellows. The award recognizes outstanding teaching in graduate medical education in any specialty and at any UW Medicine or affiliated training site. Send your nominations tp Tammy Ramirez by 5 p.m. on August 20, 2021.
  • The GME Office is hiring a temporary/project Accreditation Specialist (Req #193053).  See posting here.
  • The Program Administrator Advisory Council (PAAC) is looking for new members!  If you are interested in joining or would like to nominate a colleague, please email Gabrielle Pett.

People

GME News & Notes: July

by | Jul 22, 2021 | Announcements, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community,

Welcome to beautiful Seattle summer and the new academic year! In June we held our New Resident & Fellow Orientation, welcoming nearly 500 new residents and fellows, the biggest incoming group ever! The July issue of GME News & Notes introduces new leadership, includes information about ACGME Milestones, new policies and more.

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

  • The UW Medicine Huddle recently published an article welcoming new residents and fellows: https://huddle.uwmedicine.org/welcome-housestaff-2021/
  • Jennifer Best, Associate Dean, GME, has been named a 2021 Macy Faculty Scholar. The Macy Faculty Scholars Program is designed to identify and nurture the careers of promising educational innovators in medicine and nursing.
  • Fuki Hisama, Program Director, Medical Genetics, is senior author on the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics first Evidence-based Clinical Practice Guideline (EBG), “Exome and genome sequencing for pediatric patients with congenital anomalies or intellectual disability: an evidence-based clinical guideline of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics.”
  • Helen Jack, Internal Medicine R3, is the recipient of the Harborview Medial Center’s Annual Housestaff Achievement Award. Helen is recognized for her exceptional clinical ability, humanitarianism, and dedication to Harborview’s mission population.  
  • Julia Kocian, GME Wellness Counselor, offers wise words in this Right as Rain article: 4 Ways to Set and Keep Boundaries
  • Welcome new NURF Leadership for AY22
    • President: Joseph Nelson (FM, PGY3) 
    • Vice President: Gabriel Mendoza (Peds, PGY3) 
    • Secretary/Treasurer: James Abe (PM&R, PGY3) and Eric Robles (Peds, PGY1) 
    • Community Outreach Chair: Kelly Shontell (Peds, PGY3) 
    • Resident/Fellow Outreach Chair: Ricardo Pullido (OTO, PGY3) 
    • Medical Student Outreach Chair: Kilia Shanklin (Peds, PGY1) 
    • Education Chair: Sherise Epstein (OTO, PGY4) and Baer Karrington (Peds, PGY1) 
    • Social Media Chair: Jessica Pinto (IM, PGY1) 
    • HQSC-Liaison: To be filled 

Policies and Processes

  • The following policy updates were approved at the July GMEC meeting. All are posted to the GME Policies and Procedures website:
    • Transfer Policy
    • GMEC Approved (Non-ACGME Accredited) Programs Policy:
    • Special Review Policy

Program Information

Events of Interest

  • ACGME Annual Educational Conference and Coordinator Forum Pre-Conference: The Call for Sessions for the 2022 Annual Educational Conference is now open! Session proposals are being accepted for the Conference itself and the Coordinator Forum Pre-Conference to be held February 24-26, 2022. All accepted sessions will be presented on site at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando, Florida. Submit proposals by Monday, August 2, 2021 11:59 p.m. Central. Click here to learn more and submit a proposal!
  • Montlake (Seattle) Bridge Closure: the Montlake Bridge summer closure will now be from August 9 to September 3, not September 2 as previously communicated. WSDOT crews will have up until 5 a.m. on September 3 to complete their work. Please see UWMC’s Montlake Bridge Closure webpage and Montlake Bridge Closure FAQ for more information.  WSDOT will post regular Twitter updates during the closure
  • AHME’s Council of Program Administrators and Coordinators (COPAC) has designated Friday, August 20, 2021as GME Professionals Day.  More information is here.
  • We will host another GME Drop In session at UWMC-Montlake on Thursday August 26 from 11am to 1pm. Stop by, say hello and pick up lunch and other goodies.  More information including location will be shared soon.  We look forward to meeting you!
  • Register now for Life After Residency & Fellowship Seminar on Saturday August 28th.  Register now. Event topics include: avoiding job search pitfalls, how to negotiate and what to look for before you sign a contact.  You will leave the event with strategies, valuable insights and advice to support your transition into independent practice.
  • Other GME Events can be found on our calendar.

COVID Updates

  • Vaccine Requirement Update: UW Medicine is requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 or claim an exemption no later than Friday, September 10. This requirement aligns with UW’s broader campus policy for faculty, other academic personnel, staff, trainees and student employees.
  • We continue to update our guidance for residents/fellows and programs on the GME COVID page: https://sites.uw.edu/uwgme/covid-19-updates-gme-community/

Projects and Resources

  • UW CareLink Financial Connect is a free service that can support your family’s financial well-being. Make a confidential call to receive help on topics like these:
    • Making the most of the increased and expanded Child Tax Credit.
    • Planning for commute, food and child care costs that may change with the return to onsite work and/or in-person schooling.
    • Assessing your financial well-being as the COVID-19 economic impact payments expire.
    • UW CareLink consultants are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They will ask questions to understand your needs and schedule free appointments for you to meet with UW CareLink experts who can help.
  • Whole U Discounts: Save money and time this summer with The Whole U discount network
  • This recent article highlights a generous donation from Curt and Libba Anderson, which will support a new non-ACGME Sarcoma Fellowship and other Sarcoma research.

GME News & Notes: June

by | 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.

GME News & Notes: May

by | May 20, 2021 | Announcements, GME News & Notes, News

Our May News and Notes includes recent publications from members of the GME community, several program director changes, the new process for new rotation and PLA requests, new ACGME Survey resources, the AY22 GME event calendar, and open positions in the GME Office.

If you have feedback, and/or information or events that you would like us to include in future posts, please send them to me at hamrac@uw.edu.

Cindy Hamra

Cindy Hamra
Assistant Dean of GME

People

  • Katherine Bennett, Assistant Professor Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine and Program Director for the Geriatric Medicine fellowship, is one of the authors of the ACGME Geriatric Medicine Milestones.
  • Chase Cannon, Acting Instructor in Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is the recipient of the Sexually Transmitted Infections Cooperative Research Centers (STI CRC) 2021-2022 Developmental Research Project (DRP) award. Project title: “Predictive Value of Serologic Tests for Syphilis Diagnosis in Asymptomatic Persons with a History of Syphilis.”
  • Basak Coruh, Program Director for the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship, will co-lead the UW Cystic Fibrosis Outpatient Integration program (UW CT OPTIN) which has been selected to receive funding from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
  • Anisha Ganguly, Internal Medicine resident, is lead author of Race and satisfaction with pain management among patients with HIV receiving long-term opioid therapy in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
  • Cindy Hamra, Assistant Dean for GME, is corresponding author of A Critical Reflection on the Experience of Non-Physician (“Public”) Members in Milestones 2.0 Work Groups in JGME.
  • Incho Lee, (former Director of Education for GME) and Jennifer Best, Associate Dean for GME, authored Call for Collaboration: The Role of Accreditation in the Transformation, Accountability, and Sustainability of Education in Social Determinants of Health published in JGME.
  • Marisa Osorio, Program Director for Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine Fellowship, will begin a new role as Division Chief of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine at Seattle Children’s Hospital
  • Lindee Strizich, Director, GME Quality and Safety, has been invited to sit on a panel at the AAMC’s Integrating Quality Conference
  • Matthew Thau, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine fellow, was selected to receive an American Thoracic Society International Conference scholarship for his abstract “Serial Markers of Endothelial Dysfunction are associated with Acute Kidney Injury in a Population of Severe Trauma Patients.”

Policies and Processes

Program Information

  • The GMEC has approved the following new Program Director appointments.  All must be approved by the ACGME:
    • Andrew McCoy, Emergency Medical Services fellowship program, replacing Michael Sayre
    • Mark Kilgore, Anatomical and Clinical Pathology residency program, replacing Kelly Smith
  • The GME Accreditation team has revised the PLAs and Rotation Requests page to include the new process for new rotation and PLA requests.
  • To facilitate review of the Resident/Fellow and Faculty Survey reports, crosswalk documents listing the applicable Common Program Requirement(s) corresponding with each item on the survey reports are available on the ACGME website in the Common Resources section for each specialty, on the DIO page, and on the Surveys resource page, as well as in the Accreditation Data System (ADS) Help Center.

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

  • ACGME Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer, William McDade, is featured on Black Men in White Coats podcast: “From The Southside of Chicago to Top Doctor! – Dr. William McDade”
  • UW Medicine is now accepting applications for a second round of Patients Are First Innovation Pilots. This program awards up to $50,000 in project funds to UW Medicine faculty and staff with an innovative idea to improve patient care or address issues in our care delivery process.
  • The Organization of Resident Representatives (ORR) is now accepting resident nominations for the Community Service Recognition Award. The purpose of the award is to foster a service ethic among resident physicians by recognizing those who have made contributions above and beyond the rigors of residency training to improve the local communities surrounding their training institution. The award includes funded registration to attend Learn Serve Lead 2021: The AAMC Annual Meeting, a virtual recognition award ceremony, and a contribution to a community non-profit. Learn More.  Submission deadline: May 31, 2021.
  • The GME Office is currently hiring for two roles:
  • The UW Housestaff Quality and Safety Committee (HQSC) is excited to announce the 2021 Gene Peterson Faculty Award nomination process.  This annual resident-nominated award is given to a faculty member who demonstrates commitment to resident learning in the areas of quality improvement and patient safety. Please nominate a deserving faculty member here. The deadline is June 1, 2021.
  • Seattle Children’s Center for Diversity and Health Equity Releases Grant RFA: The Mentored Scholars grant has been expanded to include post-docs this year.

GME News & Notes: April

by | Apr 26, 2021 | Announcements, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community,

This is our third monthly “News and Notes” post, including updates about members of our community, policy updates, program changes, events of interest, and other updates.  If you have feedback, and/or information or events that you would like us to include in future posts, please send them to me at hamrac@uw.edu.

 

Cindy

Cindy Hamra

Cindy Hamra
Assistant Dean of GME

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

People

Policies

  • Attention ACGME- and CODA-accredited programs, the GMEPAC process for AY23 (2022-2023) is now open. Information on the process and the application are posted on the Commitees page under “GMEPAC”.
  • Revisions to the Eligibility, Recruitment and Selection Policy were approved at the April GMEC meeting. The policy reflects changes to the ACGME Institutional Requirements, effective July 2021 and includes guidelines and resources addressing diversity in recruitment.
  • Updated Verification of Graduate Medical Education Training (VGMET) Form Now Available. The ACGME, National Association of Medical Staff Services (NAMSS), American Hospital Association (AHA), Organization of Program Director Associations (OPDA), and others created the VGMET form to standardize the training verification process and alleviate the burdens placed on hospitals, medical services professionals, and program directors. Form is available here: https://www.aha.org/resources/2016-04-12-verification-graduate-medical-education.

Program Information

  • The GMEC has approved Shani Delaney as the new program director the Maternal Fetal Medicine fellowship, replacing Jane Hitti.
  • The GME Office has partnered with colleagues in the UWSOM to develop a resource on our webpage regarding WWAMI Rural Residency Training Opportunities for programs interested in this area. Please review and reach out if you have questions.  Thanks to Judy Pauwels, Suzanne Allen and Freddy Chen, Dwane Liuska, Hadar Duman and Gabrielle Pett for their help building this resource!

Events of Interest

  • Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction: The UW Center for Child & Family Well-Being is offering an 8-week course in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Research on MBSR consistently demonstrates positive outcomes for a wide variety of challenges including highly stressful work or family circumstances, sleep disturbances, anxiety, depression and chronic pain. Wednesdays, April 28 – June 16, 6-8:30pm. For more information and to register, please visit their website.
  • You can still watch “Picture a Scientist” via the UW Medicine Libraries website.  Access using your UW NetID.

Other GME Events can be found on our calendar: https://sites.uw.edu/uwgme/calendar/

COVID Updates

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

Progress, Activities and Resources

  • AACOM, AAMC, ACGME, and ECFMG Release Transition to Residency Toolkit. The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, Association of American Medical Colleges, ACGME, and Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates | Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research created a toolkit to help learners transition from medical school to residency during the COVID-19 pandemic. The toolkit is designed to aid both programs preparing for incoming residents, as well as students entering residency after a challenging and potentially disrupted final year of medical school.  Email questions and comments to umegmetoolkit@acgme.org
  • An updated MOU between the School of Medicine and School of Public Health allows for the continuation of tuition waivers for Masters Programs (fee-based Masters not included). Please see Dr. Joyner’s March 29, 2021 email.

GME News & Notes: March

by | Mar 19, 2021 | Announcements, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community,

Happy Match Day!  This is our second “News and Notes” post, including bi-monthly updates about members of our community, policy updates, program changes, events of interest, and other updates.  If you have feedback, and/or information or events that you would like us to include in future posts, please send them to me at hamrac@uw.edu.

Cindy

Cindy Hamra

Cindy Hamra
Assistant Dean of GME

Table of Contents

    

Table of Contents

People

  • Barbara Jung, Chair of the Department of Medicine, joins the presidential line up for the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA). She will serve as vice president, president-elect and will become president in 2023. She will be the 4th woman holding this office.
  • Jennifer Best, Associate Dean for GME and Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program, and Hadar Duman, GME Director of Accreditation, joined colleagues from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and University of New Mexico School of Medicine to present “Special Reviews: When You Still Haven’t Found What You’re Looking For” at the 2021 ACGME Conference in February
  • Estell J. Williams, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, and General Surgery Residency Program alum, received the 2021 Distinguished Service Award for Community Service and Volunteerism, in celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy. The award is sponsored by the UW Health Sciences Administration & University of Washington Medical Center.
  • John Choe, Associate Professor, General Internal Medicine, and Associate Program Director in the Internal Medicine Residency Program, has been elected to the governing council for the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine (APDIM), part of the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM).
  • Judy Pauwels, Associate Director of Program Development in the UW Family Medicine Residency Network, is the recipient of the Senior Women Faculty Mentor Awardee from the Dean’s Standing Committee on Women in Medicine.

Policies

  • The Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) approved a new Chief Resident/Fellow Policy at the March meeting, which is posted on the Policies and Procedures page.
  • The New Program Application for GMEC Approved Non-Accredited Fellowship Programs was revised by the GMEC-Approved Non-ACGME Fellowship (GAF) Programs Committee in February and is available for new programs on the Non-ACGME Programs Resources page on the GME website.  In addition to the revised application, the GAF Committee also developed a new Department Chair Letter of Support letter template for new non-ACGME program directors.  Questions about the application can be directed to Gabrielle Pett at nathangl@uw.edu.
  • The Residency and Fellowship Position Appointment (RFPA) Agreement 2021-2022 is now posted to the Policies and Procedures page.
  • A friendly reminder that pursuant to the MedHub User Access Controls Policy, requests for MedHub accounts must now be requested via forms posted to the MedHub page of the GME website.
  • The ACGME has released new Institutional Requirements, which will take effect July 2021.

Program Information

  • Today is Match Day for the NRMP Main Residency Match.  Please join us in congratulating our residency programs that filled all 285 available positions offered in this year’s Match.  You can read the NRMP’s Press Release here.  We will share a larger update on UW’s Match results in the coming weeks.
  • The GMEC has approved the following new ACGME program director appointments. All are awaiting ACGME approval:
    • Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology: Dr. Nazem Akoum, replacing Dr. Kristen Patton
    • Epilepsy, Dr. Jeffrey Tsai, replacing Dr. Norman So
    • Hematopathology: Dr. Dan Sabath, replacing Dr. David Li
    • Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Dr. Emily Myers, replacing Dr. Samuel Zinner
  • The GMEC also approved Dr. Travis Nelson, as the new Program Director for Pediatric Dentistry, replacing Dr. Zheng Xu

Events of Interest

  • Registration for the Spring Program Director Development Series is now open. If you haven’t yet signed up to join us, please register before noon on March 29.
  • Join us for our Program Administrator Meeting, on Tuesday, April 13.  Topics include Annual Program Evaluation (APE) best practices and presentations from the Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) contest.  Event details can be found here.
  • Other GME Events can be found on our calendar: https://sites.uw.edu/uwgme/calendar/

COVID Updates

  • Reopening Vaccine First-Dose Appointments to Eligible 1A and 1B1 Employees: With a third COVID-19 vaccine now approved and vaccine supply increasing nationwide over the next few months, we are pleased to begin scheduling first-dose vaccinations for employees who meet the Washington State Department of Health eligibility criteria. Eligible employees are those in Phase 1A or 1B tier 1. This includes healthcare workers at high risk for COVID-19 infection, first responders, people who live or work in long-term care facilities, anyone 65 and older, people 50 and older who also live in a multigenerational household, and educators, staff and child care workers in pre-K, K-12 or daycare settings. If you are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination, please visit the UW Medicine employee COVID-19 vaccine site to schedule your appointment.
  • Travel restrictions for UW Medicine employees remain in place, even for those who have already received the vaccine. This includes work-related travel for conferences and meetings. Non-essential personal travel also is strongly discouraged until further notice.
  • Scheduling for COVID Moonlighting shifts is transitioning from the GME Office back to the services effective shifts starting 3/22/2021. Residents with questions can still contact Cindy Hamra (hamrac@uw.edu) for help navigating.
  • UW COVID-19 Employee Emergency Fund: The roll-out of the coronavirus vaccine has brought new hope to all of us. At the same time, members of our community continue to feel a variety of impacts on their lives.  For many, the financial strain of this time is significant.   We want to remind everyone that the UW COVID-19 Employee Emergency Fund (EEF) remains available to employees most in need.  In addition, we know that changes in the availability of child care resources and the addition of remote learning have at times felt overwhelming.  To help ease some of these challenges, we are excited to announce that the Employee Emergency Fund is now offering an additional child care supplement.
  • We continue to update our guidance for residents/fellows and programs on the GME COVID page: https://sites.uw.edu/uwgme/covid-19-updates-gme-community

Progress, Activities and Resources

  • Bias Incident Reporting Tool Our commitment to a culture of inclusivity is shaped by the actions we take to recognize injustice and address and correct it where it occurs. One such measure, now available for the UW Medicine community, is the Bias Incident Reporting Tool, created and maintained by the UW Medicine Bias Response Team. This tool offers a mechanism for all community members to safely report incidences of bias and misconduct, and to receive a clear and streamlined response.
  • 2021 PAAC Continuous Process Improvement Contest: Do you have the perfect tracking sheet for leave or trainee publications? The perfect CCC process or excellent MedHub evaluations? A great idea for how to innovate GME through program improvement? Send in a submission to the 2021 PAAC Continuous Improvement Contest! Send a brief summary (250 words) of what tool you’re submitting, the issue it addresses, and any examples to the PAAC at paac@uw.edu by March 26.
  • 2022 ACGME Awards Nominations Open The ACGME recognizes notable designated institutional officials, program directors, residents and fellows, and institutional and program coordinators for their outstanding work and contributions to graduate medical education through its Awards Program. Nomination materials are available in the Awards section of the ACGME website.  The deadline for nominations is March 24, 2021, at 5:00 p.m. Central.
  • UW Human Resources is launching an Advisory Committee on Work-Life. Formed at the recommendation of the COVID-19 Caregiver Task Force, this group will help guide the University’s continued response to COVID-19 caregiving challenges and shape post-pandemic work-life initiatives. UW Medicine will be represented in the committee by Anne Browning, School of Medicine Assistant Dean for Well-Being and Aimee Buckius, UW Medicine Human Resources. To help us understand the unique and nuanced needs of our community, please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us.
  • The American Hospital Association, in partnership with ACGME, the National Association of Medical Staff Services, and the Organization of Program Director Associations and others, recently released an updated version of the Verification of Graduate Medical Education Training (VGMET) Designed to streamline and standardize the residency verification process and meet hospital credentialing needs, the template letter and form provide the necessary information to meet credentialing needs while reducing the need for residency programs to complete multiple requests for information.

GME News & Notes: February

by | Feb 19, 2021 | Announcements, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community –

Many of you may know that the GME Office has been working to improve our communications mechanism, primarily by shifting to a robust website.  Our goal is to provide information to our community in a clear and consistent way.  Since September 2020, Dr. Joyner has penned a monthly DIO GMEC Update.  After careful discussion, we have decided to expand our updates to bi-monthly.  Dr. Joyner will continue to share a monthly blog post and we will add a monthly “GME News & Notes” blog post.  This post will include updates about members of our community, policy updates, program changes, events of interest, and other updates.

If you have feedback, and/or information or events that you would like us to include in future posts, please send them to me at hamrac@uw.edu.

I enjoyed compiling this information and hope you enjoy reading,

Cindy

Cindy Hamra

Cindy Hamra, JD
Assistant Dean of GME

Table of Contents

    

Table of Contents

People

  • Check out this interview and article on KOMO featuring Paul Pottinger, who wears many hats, among them Program Director for the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program: Meet Seattle’s pandemic power couple: Julia Quinn and Dr. Paul Pottinger
  • Lara Oyetunji, MD, MPH, former UW Thoracic Surgery fellow and current attending in Cardiothoracic Surgery was recently featured in The Huddle
  • The Department of Medicine announced the inaugural Diversity Academic Development Scholar Awards, developed to promote and foster the transition of meritorious URM trainees to the roles of junior faculty and principal investigator. Awardees from the GME Community include:
    • Chase Cannon, Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program
    • Erik Kimble, Hematology-Oncology Fellowship Program
    • Helen Stankiewicz Karita, Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program
    • Kennedy Ukadike, Rheumatology Fellowship Program
  • Lisa Vande Vusse, Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program was first author and Dr. Jennifer Best, Associate Dean for GME and Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program, was senior author, on a paper in Academic Medicine titled “Maximizing Career Advancement During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Recommendations for Postgraduate Training Programs”
  • Melissa (Moe) Hagman, Program Director for the UW Boise Internal Medicine Residency program, received the Idaho American College of Physicians chapter Distinguished Teacher Award at the 2021 Virtual Hindson Winter Conference.
  • Chris Knight, Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program, and associate professor, General Internal Medicine, has been appointed Governor-elect of the Washington Chapter of the American College of Physicians.

Policies

  • In January, GMEC approved a new MedHub User Access Controls Policy, which establishes criteria and processes for requesting MedHub user access.
    • In response to an audit by the University of Washington Internal Audit, the GME Office also recently completed an extensive audit of MedHub administrative user accounts, to bring us into compliance with this new Policy. Thank you to programs for all your work on this!  User audits will be carried out annually in the future.
    • The new policy also specifics that MedHub accounts must now be requested on the MedHub page of the GME website.
  • Revisions to the Visa Policy were approved at the February GMEC meeting. The revisions add information and practice that weren’t addressed in the previous version, including:
    • Addition of requirements for participation in early orientation and eligibility for compensation
    • Addition of restrictions on gaps in visa sponsorship
    • Restrictions on eligibility for outside work

Program Information

  • Congratulations to the Orthopaedic Sports Medicine fellowship program in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, which received initial ACGME accreditation in January. The program director is Albert Gee.
  • Welcome to the following new Program Directors:
    • Michael Bamshad is the new program director for the Medical Biochemical Genetics Fellowship program, replacing Dr. Lawrence Merritt.
    • Julie Rivers is the new program director for the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Fellowship program, replacing Dr. Amy Geddis. Dr. Geddis is transitioning to a role as Division Chief for Hematology at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
  • Welcome to the following new Program Administrators:
    • Jill Fulmore, Clinical Informatics Fellowship
    • Danielle Townsend, Urology and Pediatric Urology programs

Events of Interest

  • Programs are encouraged to invite their URM applicants to the Second Look Event, scheduled for Thursday, February 25th, 2021 from 6:30 pm – 8:30pm Pacific Time. This event is intended for applicants from underrepresented and/or disadvantaged backgrounds to ask questions of and get answers from our faculty and housestaff as they make their final rank list. Register online.
  • February 26 is 2021 Thank a Resident Day!  Residents and fellows make up 1 in 5 physicians at UW Medicine – please make sure to thank your resident/fellow colleagues for their important work!
  • Please join GME and campus partners for the documentary film “Black Men in White Coats.”
    • The film will be available for viewing anytime between February 27 and March 3, 2021. A unique streaming code will be emailed to attendees. Register Here
    • Please join us on March 3rd from 5:00 pm – 6:00 p.m. PST/6:00 pm – 7:00 p.m. MST, for a virtual Q&A and discussion panel with Dr. Dale Okorodudu, founder and executive director of the film, Dr. Paula Houston, Chief Equity Officer, UW SOM Office of Healthcare Equity (facilitator), Dr. Byron Joyner, Vice Dean for Graduate Medical Education, Dr. Ben Danielson, Dr. Chase Cannon (Infectious Diseases Fellow) and Dr. Gregory Walker (Orthopaedic Surgery resident).
  • The GME Office held our AY22 Onboarding Kickoff Meeting for programs on February 2, 2021. Onboarding information is posted to the Appointments & Credentialing page of the GME website. Big thanks to Khrystine Buccat and Hayley Fisher for their incredible work in this area!
  • Other GME Events can be found on our calendar.

COVID Updates

  • Thank you to the 100+ residents and fellows who have participated in moonlighting shifts to help support UW Medicine hospitals address increased service needs driven by COVID. Beginning in early December 2020, these individuals have worked nearly 600 moonlighting shifts.  As a result, we have been able to minimize any voluntary redeployments to 19 total shifts (around 3% of the total) and therefore minimize COVID impacts on resident / fellow education.
    • Thank you also to the 7 residents from Internal Medicine and Family Medicine who have voluntarily redeployed to cover these 19 shifts.
  • Please note that Dr. Joyner sent an email to programs on February 16, with ongoing guidance regarding restrictions for away rotations, recruitment events and interviews. Specifically, the February 16 message stipulated that all graduation activities should be virtual for AY21 graduates.  Remember please that in-person interviews will not be allowed at any time during the 2021-2022 recruitment season, including in-person interviews for our own, local UW medical students or residents.
    • The GME Guidance for Programs Regarding Medical Students & Residents/Fellows: Rotations & Interviews on the GME website was updated to reflect these changes.
  • We continue to update our guidance for residents/fellows and programs on the GME COVID page.

Progress

  • UWSOM received continued accreditation status from the ACGME with no citations or Areas for Improvement.
  • Call Rooms, Lactation Rooms and Parental Support: Over the last year the GME Office has made a concerted effort to improve resources for our residents and fellows, in particular call rooms and parenting support. Information is posted in our news. Thanks to Natalie Brady for her work in this important area!