Başak Çoruh Receives 2022 Bruce C. Gilliland Award

by | Oct 20, 2022 | Announcements, Awards, News

Başak Çoruh Head Shot

Başak Çoruh, MD

It is our pleasure to announce that Dr. Başak Çoruh (Program Director, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowship) is the winner of the 2022 Bruce C. Gilliland Award.

The Bruce C. Gilliland, M.D. Excellence in Graduate Medical Education Teaching Award was created in 2007 as a tribute to rheumatologist and academic leader Dr. Bruce Gilliland. Dr. Gilliland was a resident in Internal Medicine and a fellow in the Division of Rheumatology University of Washington, followed by a thriving faculty career at UW Medicine that spanned 45 years. Dr. Gilliland, who died in 2007 after a lengthy battle with cancer, will long be remembered for his dedication to the UW School of Medicine (UW SoM) as a mentor and as a physician.

The Gilliland Award is given annually to a faculty member actively engaged in clinical and didactic training or in the implementation of a graduate medical education curriculum. The winner must have shown evidence of excellence over time and must have served at least 3 years within the UW SoM as a teacher of residents and/or fellows. Dr. Çoruh has been teaching at the UW SoM for 12 years and is the program director of the Pulmonary & Critical Care fellowship which led the way during our heroic efforts to safeguard the public against the COVID-19 pandemic.

To laud Dr. Çoruh as both innovator and inspiration would be an understatement. She has won nearly every teaching award in her field, including the UW Medicine Cares Team Award (2016); the Distinguished Clinical Teacher Award for UW SoM; the Darlene Buczak Award for Educational Excellence by the Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Program Directors; the David J. Pierson Award for Excellence in Education and Mentoring in the UW SoM Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine; the American Thoracic Society Innovation in Fellowship Educator Award; and finally the Distinguished CHEST Educator Award, American College of Chest Physicians. She is well known for her intellectual rigor and clinical judgement and for her ability to synthesize the literature with her own experience when rendering care or teaching a room of learners.

I have had the good fortune to know and work alongside Dr. Çoruh for many years and took this opportunity to ask her a few questions about education, career, and life.

Can you describe a favorite learning moment?

BC: Critical care is a team-based sport and I always enjoy my first day on service with a new team. I love learning about trainees’ life stories (in and especially outside of medicine), identities, and goals. This discussion builds trust and sets the stage for all the other great learning moments – the “aha” moments when a tricky concept becomes clear, the times when trainees recognize their growth, and seeing trainees supporting one another and celebrating each other’s contributions.

What is your advice for educators looking to build a sustainable and joy-filled career?

BC: First, figure out what gives you joy as an educator and ensure that your work is aligned with your interests, skills, and values. Next, keep growing, whether it is getting feedback on your teaching, learning new skills, or taking on new challenges. And finally, find a community. This includes mentors, mentees, collaborators, and people who can provide support on the tough days and celebrate with you on the good days.

What do you see coming in graduate medical education that excites you?

BC: It has been encouraging even to see the changes in GME since my time as a trainee, including competency-based medical education, interprofessional care, the use of technology, a culture of feedback, and coaching, to name just a few. I’m happy to see learners having a voice in their education and inspired by their advocacy.

From all of us here in UW GME, congratulations Dr. Çoruh! We celebrate you and your tremendous contributions to our UW GME community!

 

Jennifer Best Head Shot

Jennifer Best, MD Associate Dean, Accreditation and Education

GME News & Notes: October

by | Oct 17, 2022 | Announcements, Events, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community,

Cindy Hamra

Cindy Hamra Associate Dean, GME

I’m excited to start this month’s News & Notes with a note of congratulations to two members of our community.  First, Dr. Richard Ellenbogen, Chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery and Neurological Surgery Residency Program Director, is a winner of the 2023 ACGME Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award.  This award goes to program directors who find innovative ways to teach residents and to provide quality health care while remaining connected to the initial impulse to care for others in this environment.   

We also celebrate Dr. Başak Çoruh, Program Director for the Pulmonary Critical Care Fellowship, for being selected as winner of the 2022 Bruce C. Gilliland Award for Excellence in Teaching of Residents and Fellows.  This award goes to a faculty member who is actively engaged in clinical and didactic training or in the implementation of a graduate medical education curriculum. The winner must have shown evidence of excellence over time and must have served for at least 3 years within the UW SOM as a teacher of residents/fellows. 

As we transition to fall, the October issue of GME News and Notes is typically full, including a reminder on how to get information about your pay or benefits, information about how to sign up for HMC’s text alert system, a reminder about Paid Personal Holiday use and lots of awards and events.   

Many thanks to those shared information; please continue to do so by sending to me at hamrac@uw.edu. 

Thank you, 

Cindy 

Policies and Processes

  • UW Medicine is requiring that all employees, except for those in non-clinical roles in the School of Medicine, receive the latest COVID booster or complete an online declination by Friday November 11, 2022. UW Medicine employees can schedule their booster through our online portal. Non-clinical employees in the School of Medicine should schedule by calling 844.520.8700. 
  • Remember that RFPU-NW trainees are entitled to one (1) paid personal holiday per calendar year. If unused in the calendar year, the personal holiday is forfeit, and it is not paid at separation. It is the employee’s responsibility to schedule the personal holiday before December 31st. If before the end of the calendar year the employee requests the use of their personal holiday in accordance with the employer’s time off or leave procedures and the employer denies the request, the employee is entitled to carry over the personal holiday to the next calendar year.  Please see complete information in Article 12 of the RFPU-NW Contract.   
  • The Policies and Procedures page on the GME website has a new look!  The page has been redesigned as a searchable table and includes policy summaries, flags for program-required policies, and the option to filter on applicable programs (ACGME, CODA, non-ACGME).  These changes were made in response to feedback we received from programs and trainees. 
  • Our Clinical Learning Environment Webpage has been transformed and will track metrics for all of our CLER domains as well now houses resources for trainees and faculty looking for resources for QI work, QI data access, and curricular resources for our training programs. 

Program Information

  • The GMEC has approved appointment of the following new program directors; all appointments await ACGME confirmation:
    • Christine Rehwald, Diagnostic Radiology
    • Amber Nolan, Neuropathology
  • The GMEC approved revisions to the following policy at the October meeting. All are posted on the Policies and Procedures page of the GME website:
    • Physician Impairment Policy (minor edits / contact information only) 
  • New Institutional Post-Recruitment Survey: The GME Office has launched a post-recruitment survey to gather feedback from interviewed applicants across departments and specialties on important factors that may have influenced their decision to rank a program at the University of Washington.  An announcement was sent to ACGME program directors and administrators on October 17 with a link to the survey.  Questions about the survey should be sent to Gabrielle Pett at nathangl@uw.edu.
  • The ACGME has a weekly e-Communication.  If you wish to receive it, email ACGMECommunications@acgme.org 

Events of Interest

  • GME Lunch & Learns 
  • Program Administrator Meeting Schedule Update:  In response to recent feedback from program administrators, the GME program administrator meetings are shifting from bi-monthly 2-hour meetings to monthly 1-hour meetings starting in November.  The updated schedule for the remainder of the current academic year is posted on the Program Administrator Meetings page on the GME website.
  • Family Planning & Fertility for Resident Physicians on October 24th from 6:00-8:00pm on Zoom. Please join us at this educational event intended for all GME trainees and their guests or partners, no matter your current or future family plans.  Regardless of your vision for your future we hope the ability to become better educated on a variety of fertility considerations, and to hear from colleagues about their own experiences will be of interest.
  • The UW Network of Underrepresented Residents and Fellows (NURF) is holding their first Diversity Lecture Series of this academic year. This year’s theme is Community Engagement and Grassroots Mobilization.  They invite you to learn from Dr. Sundar who is Kaiser Permanente Family physician, a health equity leader, and community advocate at the lecture “The Making of Healthcare for Humans” on Monday October 24th at 7pm.  Register to receive the Zoom link.
  • GME Wellness is hosting a Halloween Play Day at Kelsey Creek Farm on Sunday, October 30th.  Join us for a fun farm tour with your little ones and meet some farm animal friends. Children can pick a pumpkin to decorate. We will have games, snacks, hot fall beverages, plus “make your own treat bag” and a costume parade. We can’t wait to see all the little bats, ghosties, superheroes and more! (Don’t forget to wear your own costume too!) Learn more and register.
  • On Friday, November 4th from 12:00 – 1:00 pm, the Department of Bioethics and Humanities will be presenting a Grand Rounds webinar: “Grief on the Front Lines: A Conversation with Rachel Jones and LaTonya Trotter.”  Rachel Jones, author of Grief on the Front Lines, will address some of the most challenging aspects of healthcare and explore paths to a more supportive and sustainable working environment.  Drawing on her research and interviews, Rachel will discuss the manner in which doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers are emotionally affected by the work that they do, and ways they’ve found to cope. This conversation will be moderated by LaTonya Trotter, PhD, MA, MPH, UW Associate Professor of Bioethics and Humanities.  Register to receive the Zoom link.
  • UW Medicine has opportunities for medical and administrative volunteers at the Seattle Marathon, Thanksgiving weekend, Saturday, Nov. 26th.  The race has a brand-new course and on a new day as it starts at UW and ends inside Husky Stadium! If you are interested, please complete the 2022 Seattle Marathon Medical Team Volunteer Registration. For more information, contact Ratna Sudarijanto at rmsports@uw.edu. Residents and Fellows will need to comply with the Medical Volunteer Activities Policy (please note the 2 week advance deadline). 
  • Open Enrollment is November 1 – November 30.  Complete information about the process can be found on the ISC Open Enrollment website.
  • Other GME Events including AY23 can be found on our calendar.

Projects and Resources

  • UW Medicine Harborview Medical Center Emergency Alert Messages Subscription: In response to concerns about the recent shooting incident, HMC is reintroducing the UW Medicine STAT|INFO Advisory notification system, created to disseminate official information via text message to keep the UW Medicine workforce informed during emergencies such as an active shooter event, and situations that might disrupt normal operations.  Harborview Medical Center staff, faculty, residents, fellows, and students are encouraged to subscribe to UW Medicine STAT|INFO ADVISORY using this link to receive emergency alert messages.   This is also a good time to update or check your text and email alert enrollment status for UW Alert at uw.edu/alert (please be sure to select the appropriate campus).
  • Support Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) medical students at the UW School of Medicine.  Help Healthcare Equity develop the UWSOM BIPOC Physicians Directory and add your name to the UWSOM BIPOC Physicians Directory, a directory where BIPOC students can easily talk to residents and physicians with identities similar to their own to find advice and answers to their questions. 
  • The UW Medicine Bias Reporting Tool was launched in early 2021 to provide our community with a new way to report incidents of bias. Since then, over 600 events have been reported. The first year of experience with the tool is outlined in the First Annual Community Report.   
  • New “Academic Medicine Podcast” episode on fostering psychological safety in the clinical learning environment.  Addie McClintock and Joshua Jauregui joined hosts Toni Gallo and Research in Medical Education (RIME) Committee members Andrea Leep and Paolo Martin on the “Academic Medicine Podcast” to discuss clinical teachers’ behaviors and how they support or harm students’ sense of psychological safety in the clinical learning environment. This is the first episode in a three-part series of discussions with RIME authors about their medical education research and its implications for the field. Read more on the AM Rounds website.
  • The Huddle will be writing an article to highlight trainees and faculty who were first generation students as part of the UW’s efforts to honor the National First Generation College Celebration on November 8th.  Please let Emily Boynton know if you are interested in sharing your experience.  There will be buttons available on November 8th near the UWMC-ML Health Sciences A300 office. 
  • Names matter, and the way we treat them has impact. Research shows that our brains “light up” when we hear our name, while mispronunciation can lead to feelings of isolation and alienation. The first step in creating an inclusive workplace culture is learning your colleagues’ names. Learn more about the importance of name pronunciation, including personal stories by Geetanjali Chander, Başak Çoruh, Barbara Jung, and Genevieve Pagalilauan on the Department of Medicine news site. Resources on inclusion, including help with name pronunciations (and many other topics), are available on the DOM website, in their newly updated EDI Resources section. 
  • Trainees, questions about your paycheck? Please check the following resources: 
  • The UW Medicine Center for Scholarship in Patient Care Quality and Safety is proud to announce the (re)-launch of QI Match, an online web platform to match collaborators to quality improvement and patient safety initiatives across UW Medicine. Get started today. 
  • The GME Office is currently recruiting for two roles: 
    • GME Float Administrator – the Float Administrator provides continuity of key operations of UW ACGME residency and fellowship programs during program administrator vacancies, may assist in assessment of program operations including making recommendations for operational/quality improvements, works on special projects in the GME Office, and may also support non-ACGME fellowships. The job posting is on UW Hires (Req# 210821). 
    • GME HR Manager – this new position on the Operations & Administration team will provide HR support for trainees and programs regarding leave of absence, accommodations, etc. This position is a great opportunity to work with both the GME community and with other departments in the School of Medicine.  The posting is on UW Hires (Req. # 212471). 

People

  • Suzanne Allen (Vice Dean for Academic, Rural and Regional Affairs) is featured in AMA’s “Physician residency interview invitations: What applicants should know.”
  • To improve the understanding of underpinnings and optimal management of post-Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs) right heart failure, Arjun Bahl, R3, and colleagues examined over 19,000 individuals who had LVAD placement between 2008 and 2017 from the Interagency Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support (INTERMACS) database. Learn more on the DOM residency website.
  • Nephrology fellow Justin Bullock has managed bipolar disorder and depression in part by sharing his story and listening to others. He is a suicide survivor who’s lived life openly with bipolar disorder and depression. And he’s a gay man who wasn’t accepted by his family when he came out to them. Some of his experiences are difficult. But he also knows he’s not alone. Read more about him from UW Medicine Newsroom.
  • Department of Medicine’s faculty spotlight for Women in Medicine month features Başak Çoruh, director of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine fellowship program. Learn more about her on the DOM news site.
  • Başak Çoruh, Amy Morris, and James Town (Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine) were recognized by the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) as 2022 Distinguished CHEST Educators. This designation provides national-level recognition of excellence in continuing medical education through their commitment, involvement, and leadership in CHEST education programs and activities.
  • The Huddle talked to UW Medicine employees – including Daniel Cabrera (chair, GME EDI subcommittee)– who shared some of their favorite things about their cultures and why it’s important to recognize that, even among all the differences and diversity of Hispanic and Latinx people, they are stronger together and have ties that unite them. Read the full story in The Huddle.
  • Congratulations to Anna Halpern, assistant professor (Hematology) and Nicole DeCuir Shoals, fellow (Gastroenterology) who have been accepted into the QI scholars program. The program supports junior and mid-level faculty pursuing QI as a scholarly focus.
  • Bishoy Hanna, fellow, is lead author, and Nazem Akoum, professor (Cardiology) is senior author of “Demystifying electrophysiology” in Heart.
  • Congratulations to Ramesh Iyer, who assumed the role of Medical Staff President-Elect at Seattle Children’s Hospital on October 1. The medical staff leadership team represents more than 1,800 hospital-and community-based physicians at the hospital.
  • The Huddle recently featured Evelyn Qin, PM&R Chief Resident. Read the whole interview in “Get to Know: Evelyn Qin, PM&R Chief Resident.”
  • James Wykowski, inpatient chief resident, wrote “Finding Your Voice to Champion Hope in the Intensive Care Unit” in ATS Scholar.

Dr. Joyner’s Blog: October

by | Oct 3, 2022 | Announcements, News

Dr. Byron Joyner

This month, we’re pleased to feature members of our community who volunteer on ACGME Review Committees.

Byron Joyner, MD, MPA
Vice Dean for GME and DIO

The University of Washington School of Medicine is the Sponsoring Institution for over 120 residency and fellowship training programs that are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Within the ACGME, 28 Review Committees are groups of volunteers who set accreditation standards, provide peer evaluation of Sponsoring Institutions or programs to assess the degree to which they comply with the applicable published accreditation requirements, and confer an accreditation status for each Sponsoring Institution or program as to its compliance with those requirements. There are three types of Review Committees: Specialty Review Committee (SRC), Transitional Year Review Committee (TYRC), and Institutional Review Committee (IRC). (ACGME Glossary of Terms, April 15, 2020)

We have always had strong representation from the UW School of Medicine on ACGME Review Committees.  And, for the last 3 years, our DIO, Dr. Joyner, has been an active member of the IRC. In this month’s DIO Blog, we highlight some current and past members who told us about their experiences volunteering on ACGME Review committees.

Why were you interested in participating on an ACGME Review Committee?
As a PD I wanted to understand more about how decisions are made when it comes to accreditation, probation, areas for improvement and I also wanted to have a voice in the future training requirements in pediatrics.  (And the committee consists of a number of pediatric educators that I highly respect and enjoy spending time with). Heather McPhillips Headshot
Heather McPhillips, MD
Former Program Director, Pediatrics
Professor
Pediatrics Review Committee

I wanted to see how it worked and what it was like on the “other side” of running a fellowship program. I thought it would be wonderful to be able to contribute on a national level in GME, and I wanted to be a voice for smaller specialty/subspecialty fellowship programs, which have different resources and ways of functioning compared with a large residency or fellowship program.

 

 Kristen Patton Headshot
Kristen Patton, MD
Professor of Medicine, Cardiology-Electrophysiology
Internal Medicine Review Committee

I was surprised and honored to be nominated as a Radiology RC member by the American Board of Radiology in recognition of my ABR volunteer work and leadership.  At the time, I was not fully aware of how the ACGME review committees functioned, and after speaking with former RRC members, I saw what a terrific opportunity this would be, to better understand Graduate Medical Education oversight and learn how the leaders in our field make critical decisions for the betterment of our specialty and for patient safety across the country.

 

 Teresa Chapman Headshot
Teresa Chapman, MD, MA
Former Program Director, Diagnostic Radiology
Professor
Radiology Review Committee

As a trainee, I wanted to learn more about our graduate medical education system and accreditation. I was fortunate that my former program director, Dr. Zumsteg, not only shared that there were ongoing nominations at the beginning of my training (as a PGY-2), but also supported and recommended me for the position. I was also looking for leadership opportunities at a national level and the ability to represent residents.

 

 Brian Cervoni-Rosario Headshot
Brian M Cervoni Rosario, MD
Rehabilitation Medicine Chief Resident
PM&R Review Committee

 

What has your experience been participating on an ACGME Review Committee?     

Fantastic, if I had it to do over again, I would definitely volunteer. Fuki Hisama Headshot
Fuki Hisama, MD
Program Director, Medical Genetics Residency
Medical Director, UW Genetic Medicine Clinic
Professor
Medical Genetics and Genomics Review Committee
It has been invaluable, particularly in understanding the processes behind determination of accreditation. Learning about the tremendous importance of the ACGME resident survey and site visits has been an eye-opening experience, and I have taken lessons from that to help improve our own program. Jeff Friedrich Headshot
Jeff Friedrich, MD, MC
Associate Professor, Plastic Surgery
Adjunct Associate Professor, Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine
Plastic Surgery Review Committee
I think the benefits were augmented because I was initially Chair of the ABNS and from that position was elected/chosen for the ACGME RC.  I feel thankful that I understand the two disparate yet overlapping missions, one about the standards for individual neurological surgeons and the tests required, and the other for residency program quality, mentorship, structure and standards. I feel lucky to be involved in both and saw it as a gift and not a duty. Richard Ellenbogen Headshot
Richard Ellenbogen, MD
Chair, Neurological Surgery
Program Director, Neurological Surgery Residency
Professor
When I was a member of the Urology RC, I had the chance to meet other Urology program directors around the country. I found them to be tremendously dedicated to serving the residents and fellows – and to improving their experiences during their training. Being on the Committee gave me a deeper understanding of how I could improve my own program. Now, as a member of the IRC, I feel as though I am contributing in a substantial way to the education of our future physician workforce. Byron Joyner Headshot
Byron Joyner, MD, MPA
Vice Dean and Designated Institutional Official (DIO)
Professor
Institutional Review Committee
The experience has been phenomenal. I have had the opportunity to learn from many incredible leaders in my field and in GME. I also had the unique opportunity to participate in a joint ABMS-ACGME symposium representing our field, PM&R, and learn/share ideas regarding the implementation of competency-based medical education. As a trainee, one is also part of the Council of Review Committee Residents which is partly composed of current resident members of the ACGME Board and the Review and Recognition Committees in which I have had the opportunity to discuss trainees’ ideas and concerns that then get presented to the ACGME Board of Directors. Brian M Cervoni Rosario, MD

 

Who would you recommend participate on a Review Committee?

You have to have a fairly robust knowledge of the RRC requirements for your specialty for the workload to be manageable.  I would recommend PDs from either residency or fellowship who have at least 3 years of experience but ideally more who also feel knowledgeable about details in program requirements and participate actively in ADS updates each year.  I think it is helpful if you have also experienced some changes in requirements over the years as context for some of the rules and discussions but that is less important.

 

Heather McPhillips, MD

 

Program Directors of either residencies or fellowships, and ideally active PDs with many years of experience, should consider participating on their specialty’s RC.  It is important to recognize the commitment, which is involved and long.  Over a six-year period, members meet for three separate meetings per year.  In advance of each meeting, each member is given a stack of programs to review, and the process relies on close scrutiny of the provided materials.  Because of continual changes in the program requirements, the job has never become comfortable or easy, but the value is undeniable.

 

Teresa Chapman, MD, MA

 
I would recommend any of our program directors to volunteer on their RC if they are asked to participate. It is an effective way to learn more about the ACGME requirements and to improve your own program, not only by understanding the policies – and contributing to making policies but by understanding the reasons behind the rules.

Byron Joyner, MD, MPA

 

 

What are the benefits of participating in a Review Committee?

1. Makes you a better Program Director  2. Networking with other PDs around the country and getting to work with and know the ACGME professional staff  3. Gain a deep understanding of the ACGME regulations  4. Impact the training of the next generation in your field  5. Trips to Chicago (I love Chicago)  6. RRC dinners (none during Covid however).

Fuki Hisama, MD

 

Clearer understanding of the needs both of programs and the accrediting entity.  Also, possibility of improving the process mainly for programs.

 

 David Lewis Headshot
David Lewis, MD
Section Chief, Nuclear Medicine
Professor
Nuclear Medicine Review Committee

The two-way benefits for improving the learning environment: I bring my experience in program leadership to the national level, and I bring lessons learned from the RRC back to my program, and all benefit.

 

Jeff Friedrich, MD, MC

 
Volunteering as a Review Committee member is a lot of work. It requires patience and persistence and many hours of reading and reviewing other programs’ applications of the ACGME requirements to their learning environments. It teaches your that there are many ways to apply the rules. Byron Joyner, MD, MPA
a) Learn a lot about GME and one’s specialty when it comes to how programs are reviewed and accredited.
b) Networking with various leaders in our field.
c) Opportunity to voice trainees’ perspectives and concerns which could shape how training requirements.
d) Although COVID-dependent, travel to Chicago!		 Brian M Cervoni Rosario, MD

Big thanks to our colleagues who contributed to this blog post and we thank them for their service and leadership at the ACGME.  Review Committees have members with expertise in specialty/subspecialty areas or other relevant expertise, resident/fellow members and public members.  If you’re interested in learning more, visit the ACGME’s page on Committee Members and Selection Process.

Thank you,

Cindy and Amanda

Cindy Hamra Amanda Easton
Cindy Hamra, JD, MA Amanda Easton
Associate Dean, Graduate Medical Education Program Manager, Ops & Admin

 

NAME REVIEW COMMITTEE
Brian M Cervoni Rosario, MD Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Tess Chapman, MD, MA Radiology
Seine Chang, MD OB-GYN
Richard G. Ellenbogen, MD, FACS Neurological Surgery
Jeffrey B. Friedrich, MD, MC, FACS Plastic Surgery
Fuki Hisama, MD Medical Genetics and Genomics
Byron D. Joyner, MD, MPA Institutional Review Committee
David Lewis, MD Nuclear Medicine
Heather A. McPhillips, MD Pediatrics
Kristen K. Patton, MD Internal Medicine
Gautham Reddy MD, MPH Radiology

**Did we inadvertently leave you off this list?  Please contact Amanda Easton (amande@uw.edu) and we’ll update!

GME News & Notes: September

by | Sep 21, 2022 | Announcements, Events, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community,

Cindy Hamra

Cindy Hamra Associate Dean, GME

Latinx and Hispanic Heritage Month started on September 15 – an opportunity to celebrate the Latinx and Hispanic members of our community.  This article in the Huddle has more information and resources. 

We have some additional reasons to celebrate – first, UW Medical Center was named the top hospital in Washington state and the Seattle metropolitan area for the 11th consecutive year by U.S. News & World Report.  Additionally, Forbes ranked UW Medicine a top healthcare employer in Washington and third best in the state.    

The GME News and Notes for September is very full, including information about our revised Policies and Procedures page, lots of interesting events, information on where to go with questions about your pay or benefits.   Please also remember that any member of our community can raise concerns confidentially (and anonymously) via GME’s Report a Concern tool.   

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

Thank you,

Cindy  

Somos UW Medicine

Policies and Processes

  • The Policies and Procedures page on the GME website has a new look!  The page has been redesigned as a searchable table and includes policy summaries, flags for program-required policies, and the option to filter on applicable programs (ACGME, CODA, non-ACGME).  These changes were made in response to feedback we received from programs and trainees. 
  • Revisions to the GMEC-Approved (Non-ACGME Accredited) Fellowship Programs Committee Charge: include changes that reflect the evolving role of the subcommittee, support of the Sponsoring Institution’s oversight of the new ACGME Non-Standard Training (NST) Program Recognition Requirements, inclusion of the UW Educational Standards for Non-ACGME Fellowship Programs, and the subcommittee’s role in recommending approval of new non-ACGME fellowship programs to the GMEC. 
  • UW Medicine is requiring that all employees, except for those in non-clinical roles in the School of Medicine, receive the latest COVID booster or complete an online declination. UW Medicine employees can schedule their booster through our online portal. Non-clinical employees in the School of Medicine should schedule by calling 844.520.8700. 
  • Our Clinical Learning Environment Webpage has been transformed and will track metrics for all of our CLER domains as well now houses resources for trainees and faculty looking for resources for QI work, QI data access, and curricular resources for our training programs. 

Program Information

  • Welcome New Program Administrator: 
    • Gretchen Lindenstein, Radiation Oncology 
    • Jaime Williams, Medical Physics
  • The GMEC has approved appointment of the following new program directors; all appointments await ACGME confirmation:
    • Jeffrey Forris Beecham Chick, Independent & Integrated Interventional Radiology
    • Stephen Kennedy, Orthopaedic Surgery
    • Manoj Menon, Hematology Oncology
    • Jaclyn Omura, Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine
    • Alireza Torabi, Hematopathology
  • The GMEC has approved the following non-ACGME program director changes:
    • Felix Chew, Musculoskeletal Radiology 
    • Christopher Lee, Breast Imaging
  • The ACGME has a weekly e-Communication.  If you wish to receive it, email ACGMECommunications@acgme.org 

Events of Interest

  • GME Lunch & Learns 
    • September 15th: Visas and International Medical Graduates, slides and recording now available 
    • October 20th: Interpreter Services 
  • GME Meet & Greet: October 2022 on October 17th from 3:00 – 4:00pm on Zoom. Join in meeting some of our GME Office staff, learning about their roles and responsibilities. This is highly recommended for new Program Directors and Program Administrators but welcome to all.
  • Family Planning & Fertility for Resident Physicians on October 24th from 6:00-8:00pm on Zoom. Please join us at this educational event intended for all GME trainees and their guests or partners, no matter your current or future family plans.  Regardless of your vision for your future we hope the ability to become better educated on a variety of fertility considerations, and to hear from colleagues about their own experiences will be of interest.
  • GME Outreach Event for trainees at SCH on October 6th from 11am to 1 pm.  We encourage trainees to stop by to say hello, meet our GME team members and take a packed lunch.  Please look for an email closer to the event with specific room details. 
  • ERAS Drop in Session on September 22nd from 1 to 2 pm. We are holding an ERAS drop-in session for program administrators to ask questions and share best practices.  This is intended as a forum for discussion and is not a formal training session.  Questions?  Contract Gabrielle Pett at nathangl@uw.edu. 
  • The Department of Medicine is partnering with the Institute for Common Power to sponsor a lecture by Dr. Quinn Capers from UT Southwestern, “Unequal Treatment in Cardiovascular Care: Evidence for Racial Bias and the Way Forward.” Dr. Capers will review current evidence and studies from the recent past detailing Black-White disparities in cardiac care, and strategies to reduce or eliminate racial disparities in care.  Dr. Barabara Jung will join Dr. Terry Scott from Common Power for a Q&A after the lecture to discuss how we engage in EDI goals and objectives, increase engagement, and move initiatives forward. The event is on Tuesday Oct. 11, 12-1:30pm PST and everyone is invited. Sign up and further information can be found on the Department on Medicine news site.  
  • Another round of UW community support and skill building sessions aka “Got Burnout” will be running from late August through mid-October.  These sessions are focused on the impact that working in healthcare has on us, similar to Schwartz Center Rounds, but think impromptu and theme based.  Please see the event flier for more details. 
  • The Fall Series of Well-Being and Resilience starts on September 15th and runs through December 15th.  The series is designed to support a team’s well-being during the transitions and challenges of the coming year. Please see the event flier for more details. 
  • 17th Annual Latino Health Forum: Call for Posters: The LHF poster session is a great opportunity to foster the dissemination and discussion of best practices, research and innovative projects to address health care access, health equity and community engagement among Latinos. The topic of a poster would address an issue that affects Latino health and behavioral health and would fall under one of four categories: clinical services, advocacy/policy, research or community-based health and behavioral health promotion.  If you are doing research, this is a great opportunity to connect with other professionals and community members who share your interests. The “Become a Poster Presenter” document features basic information about the poster session and guidelines for participation.  Deadline to submit your poster abstract is Saturday, October 1, 2022 by 11:59PM. 
  • Thank you to the Network for Underrepresented Residents and Fellows (NURF) for hosting the September 1st Diversity Town Hall.  This was the third year for this event and there were over 300 virtual participants!  NURF hosted a success event and assembled a diverse panel of representatives from across the GME community and there were impressive presentations.  Stay tuned for more information regarding the NURF Second Look (exact date TBD). 
  • Other GME Events including AY23 can be found on our calendar.

Projects and Resources

  • Trainees, questions about your paycheck? Please check the following resources: 
  • The UW Medicine Center for Scholarship in Patient Care Quality and Safety is proud to announce the (re)-launch of QI Match, an online web platform to match collaborators to quality improvement and patient safety initiatives across UW Medicine. Get started today. 
  • The GME Office is currently recruiting for two roles: 
    • GME Float Administrator – the Float Administrator provides continuity of key operations of UW ACGME residency and fellowship programs during program administrator vacancies, may assist in assessment of program operations including making recommendations for operational/quality improvements, works on special projects in the GME Office, and may also support non-ACGME fellowships. The job posting is on UW Hires (Req# 210821). 
    • GME HR Manager – this new position on the Operations & Administration team will provide HR support for trainees and programs regarding leave of absence, accommodations, etc. This position is a great opportunity to work with both the GME community and with other departments in the School of Medicine.  The posting is on UW Hires (Req. # 212471). 

People

  • Alwiya Ahmed, (resident, Internal Medicine) is quoted in “More Black People Eligible for Lung Cancer Screening Under New Guidelines [bit.ly]” in Real Health. 
  • Joseph Bellairs (Otolaryngology Resident) won a poster blitz award at the meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO) in February 2022 for “Development of an In Vivo Biomarker for Evaluating the Biologic Characteristics of Ototoxic Drugs and Novel Therapeutics that Mitigate Ototoxicity.” 
  • WebMD annually recognizes individuals who work to improve the mental health of medical professionals, veterans, first responders, and older adults. Justin Bullock, fellow (Nephrology) is recognized for speaking out about suicide and mental health in medicine, using his own personal struggles to help others overcome the stigma. Learn more on WebMD[wb.md]. 
  • Harrison Cash (Otolaryngology Resident) under the mentorship of former Oto assistant professor Jeff Houlton presented on Feb. 25, 2022, at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium: “A Novel Intratumoral Microdosing Approach for Simultaneously Evaluating Multiple Drugs and Combinations in Patients with Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC).” 
  • The Latinx Health Pathway (LHP) was one of the first Pathways established in 2008 to help medical students provide culturally humble care for Latinx communities. Daniel Cabrera, clinical associate professor (General Internal Medicine), assistant program director, assistant student clerkship director and interim associate chair for DEI, has directed the pathway since 2016.  Read the full story from UW Medicine. 
  • Eve Champaloux (Otolaryngology resident)  is lead author in a recent article published in Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology.  The study, titled “Otolaryngology residents’ experiences of pregnancy and return to work: A multisite qualitative study,” was designed to “understand the experiences of childbearing otolaryngology residents and support them during this major life event.”  
  • Sherise Epstein (Otolaryngology Resident) was lead author (with UW Oto professor Kathy Sie, and others) on an article published in the Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology titled “Sensitivity to Deaf Culture Among Otolaryngology and Audiology Trainees.” 
  • Some important innovations in the Otolaryngology recruitment efforts over recent years have been reported and analyzed in an article by resident Sherise Epstein and resident Neeraja Konuthula and others. The article, titled “Implementing a ‘Distance Travelled’ Question to Improve Resident Diversity: Process and Feasibility,” was featured in Oto Open, the Official Open Access Journal of the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation, and describes efforts to increase diversity in the physician workforce through a more holistic review of applicants to the residency program using a “distance travelled” metric. 
  • Neal Futran (Chair, Department of Otolaryngology) delivered a talk on advances in midface reconstruction at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Israeli Society of Otolaryngology-HNS, held in March 2022.  
  • Whitney Harper, program specialist (IM Residency), is co-author of “AAIM Recommendations to Promote Equity and Inclusion in the Internal Medicine Residency Interview Process” in the American Journal of Medicine. 
  • Congratulations to the Housestaff Quality and Safety Committee on their recent publication of HOUSE! 
  • Ian Humphreys (Rhinology Program Director) made a recent guest appearance on the podcast, The Original Guide to Men’s Health. In this episode, Dr. Humphreys spoke to Dr. Richard Perlman about a range of basic ENT health issues, including chronic irritation of the sinuses, disordered smell, ringing ears, hearing loss, swallowing problems, vocal cord issues, and oral cancers. 
  • Ellora Karmarkar, fellow, is lead author and Sylvia LaCourse, assistant professor (Allergy and Infectious Diseases) is senior author of “Report: A pox presenting without pox [bit.ly]” in Sexually Transmitted Diseases. DOM co-authors are Desta Russom, Alwiya Ahmed, Maria Amoreth Ramiro Gozo, Anna Cogen, Steven Disharoon and W. Conrad Liles. 
  • Congratulations to Nicole Kim, fellow (Gastroenterology) who received an Advanced/Transplant Hepatology Award and Philip Vutien, assistant professor (Gastroenterology) who received the Clinical, Translation and Outcomes Research Award in Liver Diseases for his project “Development and validation of models that estimate risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and cured hepatitis C virus infection” from the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) Foundation. Their mentor is George Ioannou. 
  • Jimmy Ma, fellow (Allergy and Infectious Diseases) is lead author and Mari Kitahata, professor (Allergy and Infectious Diseases) is senior author of “Current Antiretroviral Treatment Among People with Human Immunodeficiency Virus in the United States: Findings from the Centers for AIDS Research Network of Integrated Clinic Systems Cohort [bit.ly]” in Clinical Infectious Diseases. DOM co-authors are Drs. Robin Nance, Bridget Whitney and Heidi Crane. 
  • Linzee Mabrey, fellow, is lead author, and Pavan Bhatraju, assistant professor (Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine) is senior author of “Presence of Antibodies to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 on Admission Is Associated With Decreased Mortality in COVID-19 Critical Illness [bit.ly]” in Critical Care Explorations. DOM co-authors are Leila Zelnick, Eric Morrell, Mark Wurfel and Conrad Liles. 
  • A poster titled “Exploring Female Otolaryngologists’ Experiences with Gender Bias and Microaggressions” has been accepted for presentation at American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery’s 2022 annual meeting in Philadelphia in September. The poster reports on a project funded by AAO–HNS’ Governing Council of the Women in Otolaryngology (WIO) Section which sed survey tools and a qualitative interview process to explore how female otolaryngologists manage gender bias in the workplace. It revealed strategies and tools that women (and all individuals) can employ to not only survive, but thrive, in surgical specialties.  Tanya Meyer (Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Program Director) was co-investigator and mentor for the project with PI Amanda Hu. 
  • Congratulations to our Otolaryngology residents and fellows for awards received at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology (ASPO) held this past May in Dallas, TX. 
  • “What is earwax?” asked 8-year-old Helen E. For a very thorough answer, read the interview with Henry Ou, (Pediatric Otolaryngology – Program Director), in the “Curious Kids” section of The Conversation, a nonprofit independent online news organization dedicated to unlocking the knowledge of experts for the public good. 
  • Judith Pauwels is lead author of “Rural Graduate Medical Education: Choosing the Road “Less Traveled By” in Academic Medicine.  Judy is a professor emeritus in the Department of Family Medicine and a consultant, Health Resources and Services Administration Rural Residency Program Development—Technical Assistance Center. 
  • The Huddle recently featured a profile “Get to Know: Peter Tarczy-Hornoch, Chief Data Officer.”  Peter is the Chair of Biomedical and Health Informatics. 
  • Neurology resident Jamie Wright was featured in a story on the UW Medicine newsroom. 

Dr. Joyner’s Blog: September

by | Sep 9, 2022 | Announcements, News

Dr. Byron Joyner

This month, I’ve invited Olivia Frederiksen, GME Accreditation & Regulatory Specialist, to share the GME team’s incredible work surrounding Workplace Health & Safety.

Byron Joyner, MD, MPA
Vice Dean for GME and DIO

 

I am excited to share the efforts that our GME team has diligently been working on to improve and enhance the safety of our residents, fellows, and faculty. Safety is our top priority in the working and learning environment.

Over the last year, we have launched in systematic efforts to effectively improve the workplace health and safety of trainees and faculty at clinical learning environments. To identify the main areas of focus, we collaborated with the leaders of participating and closely affiliated sites to analyze health and safety issues and enhance security measures.

While evaluating, we learned:

  • Participating sites, including UW Medicine sites, have their own protocols in how incidents should be reported.
  • Participating sites, including UW Medicine sites, have varying ways of tracking, monitoring, and ensuring workplace safety.
  • Property theft, which most often is a bicycle, is the most prevalent crime across UW sites. In some instances, UWPD can assist in obtaining security footage.
  • UW has numerous safety and security programs.

In response to our findings, we implemented several mechanisms to improve the workplace health and safety of our community:

  • Creation of the Workplace Health and Safety webpage on the GME website that centralizes useful resources across all primary training sites. This aims to provide both trainees and the GME community with a wide variety of workplace safety resources, such as how to report an incident, what may happen once reported, commuting safely, and health and safety data. I highly recommend programs and trainees familiarize themselves with this resource!
  • Standing representation on the monthly UW Medicine’s Health & Safety Committee. This committee is responsible for reviewing and evaluating health and safety data and recommending actions to resolve health and safety concerns.
  • Collaboration with leadership of participating sites to enhance security measures. A comprehensive update on site improvements will be presented to the Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) annually. This includes bicycle security, surveillance, parking, etc.
  • Collection and analysis of health and safety data, including incident reports, data from security offices at participating sites, Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) reports, and annual security reports. Pertinent information within these data and/or UW Medicine’s Health & Safety Committee monthly meetings is included in a newly established standing monthly report of health and safety data during our monthly GMEC meeting.
  • Established a workgroup within the GME Office that is tasked with monitoring workplace safety data and responding to any workplace safety issues that occur in the learning environment. The workgroup responds immediately to any incident reported by trainees and meets monthly to promote initiatives that enhance workplace safety. Incidents and issues brought forward to the workgroup are also included in the standing monthly report to GMEC.

We welcome all opportunities to improve the health and safety of our community. We greatly appreciate your partnership in these efforts.  If you have any areas of concern, suggestions, or general feedback, please send to ofred@uw.edu or submit through Report a Concern so we can address in a timely manner.

Thank you for all you do. Continue to keep yourself, and others, safe!

Best,

Olivia Frederiksen
Workplace Health and Safety
Accreditation & Regulatory Specialist

 

GME Professionals Day

by | Aug 19, 2022 | Announcements, News

The Association of Hospital Medical Education (AHME) has designated August 19, 2022 as GME Professionals Day.

GME Professionals Day is an opportunity for ACGME Sponsoring Institutions and Residency and Fellowship programs to celebrate the important contributions made by the GME Professionals who staff their programs and central GME offices. As defined in the ACGME Common Program Requirements (CPRs), program administrators manage the day-to-day operations of the program and serve as an important liaison with learners, faculty, other staff members, as well as the ACGME.  They serve as members of the leadership team, are critical to the success of the program, must possess skills in leadership and personnel management, and are expected to develop unique knowledge of the ACGME and Program Requirements, policies, and procedures. Sponsoring institutions and programs are highly dependent on the knowledge, skills, and attitudes GME professionals possess, and the dedication they exhibit in supporting the learning environment of the institution, their programs, and the success of their trainees.

We in the UW GME Office would like to take this time to recognize the immense dedication of each of you who make up the 110+ ACGME program administrators, dental residency program administrators, non-ACGME program administrators, and numerous additional program staff that support our 200+ training programs. You are key to our success. 

Every year brings new requirements and challenges to navigate.  During the last year you have continued to navigate management of your programs and support of your trainees through COVID-19, felt impacts of staffing challenges across the institution, and found new opportunities to effectively manage your programs. 

We have also welcomed 20 new program administrators to our GME community. Thanks for all that you do!

We recognize this work and realize that it supports the mission of this institution, the education and wellness of our trainees.  Your work does not go unnoticed, and we want to thank you for being such an important part of our GME community.

The UW Graduate Medical Education Office Team

GME News & Notes: August

by | Aug 18, 2022 | Announcements, Events, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community,

Cindy Hamra

Cindy Hamra Associate Dean, GME

This Friday, August 19, is GME Professionals Day!  Please thank the program managers, administrators and coordinators who work tirelessly on behalf of residents and fellows. 

It is exciting to be part of such a dynamic graduate medical education community and it has been inspiring to see how our community has risen to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and impactful social issues.  While these efforts and accomplishments stand on their own, it is always wonderful when our sites and programs are recognized.  UW Medical Center has been named as the top hospital in Washington state and the Seattle metropolitan area for the 11th consecutive year by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to being the best hospital in the state, UW Medical Center received top-50 rankings in seven specialties as well as “high performing” designations in four specialty areas and 16 common adult procedures and conditions. 

Our community is always growing and evolving.   I look forward to seeing the impact of the newly launched Digital Health Office and Digital Front Door not just for patients but for our physicians and healthcare providers.  Dr. Tim Dellit and Lisa Brandenburg noted in their launch email “The Digital Front Door will link access to all UW Medicine services, virtual care delivery programs, in-person care services and care management. The goal is to create a seamless, consistent patient experience and build better efficiencies and equity across the UW Medicine system.” 

The August GME News and Notes contains great information about policies & processes, awards, publications, resources, new leadership team members, etc.  Please also remember that any concerns can be raised (including anonymously) via GME’s Report a Concern tool. 

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. 

Thank you,

Cindy  

Policies and Processes

  • Our Clinical Learning Environment Webpage has been transformed and will track metrics for all of our CLER domains as well now houses resources for trainees and faculty looking for resources for QI work, QI data access, and curricular resources for our training programs. 
  • Exceptions to All-Virtual Interview Season for Small, Non-ACGME-Accredited Fellowships: In his August 2nd email, Dr. Byron Joyner noted that UW Medicine and the GME leadership have decided to entertain exemptions to the all-virtual interview policy for non-ACGME programs with faculty-appointed fellows programs during the 2022-2023 recruitment season.  The email details the requirements for consideration and outlines the process for applying for an exemption.  The deadline for submission of applications to be considered for an in-person interview exemption this recruitment season is August 25, 2022.  Please send requests to Tammy Ramirez (tkh971@uw.edu). Not all programs that apply are guaranteed to receive an exemption. 
  • Updated Quarantine, Leave and Telework Guidelines posted on Covid-19 Updates: GME Community Website. 

Program Information

  • Welcome New Program Administrator: 
    • Kayleen McGinley, Clinical Informatics 
  • The GMEC has approved appointment of the following new program directors; all appointments await ACGME confirmation:
    • Markus Boos, Dermatology 
    • Jose Mantilla, Surgical Pathology 
    • Rebecca Petersen, General Surgery (Interim) 
    • Paul Swanson, GI/Hepatic Pathology (Interim) 
  • The ACGME has a weekly e-Communication.  If you wish to receive it, email ACGMECommunications@acgme.org 

Events of Interest

  • GME Outreach Event for trainees at UWMC-ML on August 25th from 11am to 1 pm in Room AA-504.  We encourage trainees to stop by to say hello, meet our GME team members and grab a packed lunch (which must be taken to the appropriate breakrooms / lunch areas to be eaten in accordance with the current infection prevention guidelines).   
  • ADS Annual Update Office Hours on August 23rd from 10 to 11:30 am.  Join the GME Accreditation Team to get your ADS Annual Update questions answered.  No registration required.  See the reminder email from Hadar for Zoom details. 
  • Life After Residency Seminar is on Saturday August 27th.  This event is intended to educate and support graduating trainees on their transition to independent practice, addressing topics such as writing cover letters, negotiating salary and benefits, how to read your employment contract and more.  Trainees of all levels are invited to attend. 
  • ERAS Drop in Session on August 23rd from 2 to 3 pm. We are holding an ERAS drop-in session for program administrators to ask questions and share best practices.  This is intended as a forum for discussion and is not a formal training session.  Questions?  Contract Gabrielle Pett at nathangl@uw.edu. 
  • Chief Resident Listening Session on August 31st from 5:00 to 6:00 pm at UWMC-ML and Zoom.  This event is for appointed Chiefs only.  Please see the 7/26 email from Cindy Hamra for complete details. 
  • GME Lunch & Learn on September 15th: IMGs and Visa Sponsorship.
  • The University of Washington Network of Underrepresented Residents & Fellows (UW NURF) welcomes your participation in their Virtual Diversity Recruitment Town Hall on Thursday, September 1st, 2022, from 6:00 – 8:00pm PDT.  This event welcomes prospective applicants from underrepresented and/or disadvantaged backgrounds with the goal to introduce them to the University of Washington and spark interest in our outstanding residency and fellowship programs in preparation for their interview season.  The Zoom link will be provided via email closer to the event date. If your program would like to participate, please complete this survey.
    • Agenda:
      • 6:00pm – Welcome, logistics, land acknowledgement, agenda setting
      • 6:10pm – Info about UW Network of Underrepresented Residents and Fellows
      • 6:20pm – Info about UW Graduate Medical Education
      • 6:30pm – Info about UW Office of Healthcare Equity
      • 6:40pm – Panel Q&A on Top Applicant Questions
      • 7:30pm – Program-Specific Break-Out Sessions
  • Other GME Events including AY23 can be found on our calendar.

Projects and Resources

  • The GME Office is currently recruiting for a second GME Float Administrator.  The Float Administrator provides continuity of key operations of UW ACGME residency and fellowship programs during program administrator vacancies, may assist in assessment of program operations including making recommendations for operational/quality improvements, works on special projects in the GME Office, and may also support non-ACGME fellowships. The job posting is on UW Hires (Req# 210821). 
  • The GME Office is accepting nominations for the 2022 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. Nominations are due by 5 p.m. on August 19, 2022.  Nominations can be submitted by faculty and trainees involved in UW graduate medical education programs. If you have questions or need a copy of the materials, please contact Tammy Ramirez in the GME Office at tkh971@uw.edu. 

People

Dr. Joyner’s Blog: August

by | Aug 4, 2022 | Announcements, News

Dr. Byron Joyner

This month, I’ve invited Dr. Lindee Strizich, GME Director of Quality and Safety to share her incredible work surrounding trainee education and engagement in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety.

Byron Joyner, MD, MPA
Vice Dean for GME and DIO

 

Most of us are likely familiar with the seminal publication, “To err is human,” which estimated that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the US. While humbling, this paper catalyzed a movement in medicine to improve the safety of the care we provide to our patients. One result was that both the ACGME and the AAMC identified quality improvement and patient safety skills as core competencies for physicians. Guided by the ACGME’s Clinical Learning Environment Review (CLER) program’s feedback, GME programs across the country have been working tirelessly to ensure that our trainees’ clinical learning environments provide them this key aspect of their education. This work appears to be paying off as a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that the rates of adverse events for hospitalized patients has decreased significantly from 2010-2019.

As your GME Director of Quality and Patient safety, I have the distinct honor of occupying a position known as a bridging leader, which means that I work at the intersection of our GME community and medical center leadership and am fortunate to have both a GME community with so many passionate trainee and faculty leaders in QI and patient safety, and health system leadership fully committed to trainee education. Together we have improved trainee engagement in our culture of safety, as evidenced by increased patient safety event recognition and reporting, increased participation in intensive reviews (>70% of intensive reviews at UW Montlake have had trainees present!), multiple medical center QI/PS committees with trainee representation, the continued success of our Housestaff Quality and Safety Committee, and multiple trainee led quality improvement projects.

While we have made tremendous strides in improving trainee education and engagement in QI/PS within our medical centers, as with any good QI project there are always opportunities for continued improvement. I am excited to share several resources that we have been working on over the past year to further support trainee engagement in UW Medicine quality improvement and patient safety work and bolster education in this area across our community.

  • QI Match – this home-grown tool has officially launched and provides a platform for trainees and faculty to find QI projects to participate in or post QI projects they are trying to build a team to complete. Thanks to Dr. Nicholas Meo for his tireless efforts in creating this resource!
  • Intensive reviews – we are excited to announce that as of July 2022, UW-Montlake Intensive reviews (previously termed event reviews) will be posted on QI Match so trainees who wish to participate in an intensive review of a patient safety event will be able to find upcoming reviews to attend on this platform. We will continue to send invitations for trainee participants for adverse event reviews directly to programs directors.
  • GME Quality and Safety Foundations Course – we have collaborated with the Center for Scholarship in Patient Care Quality and Safety to offer our first ever GME wide educational curriculum in QI/PS. The goal of this program is to provide a resource for our training programs to deliver basic QI/PS education to our trainees and jumpstart faculty development in this area.
  • Clinical Learning Environment Webpage – our CLER webpage has been transformed and will track metrics for all of our CLER domains as well now houses resources for trainees and faculty looking for resources for QI work, QI data access, and curricular resources for our training programs.
  • GMEC CLER Subcommittee – our CLER Subcommittee continues to meet monthly to coordinate QI/PS activities and educational initiatives between GME and administration and includes representation from trainees, program directors and faculty, patient safety leadership, and medical center leadership. Updates regarding committee meeting agendas will be included on the Clinical Learning Environment Webpage.

None of our progress could have been achieved without the dedication of all those who contribute to our GME community. As always, your feedback is critical to our improvement process and I welcome all feedback about how our work is impacting the University of Washington’s clinical learning environment.

Sincerely,

Lindee Strizich, MD, MSc

GME Director of Quality and Patient Safety

Lindee Strizich

 

GME News & Notes: July

by | Jul 22, 2022 | Announcements, Events, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community,

Cindy Hamra

Cindy Hamra Associate Dean, GME

It’s the start of the new academic year and we welcome our new residents and fellows.  News & Notes is a monthly blog post from the GME Office sharing useful information.

In this month’s issue, you’ll find information about new policies, several upcoming events, and awards and honors for members of our community.  Please also remember that any concerns can be raised (including anonymously) via GME’s Report a Concern tool. 

As usual, if there’s anything you’d like to see included in next month’s News & Notes, please let me know.

Thank you,

Cindy  

Policies and Processes

  • Rapid antigen tests are available: UW is making FDA-authorized, over-the-counter rapid antigen self-test kits available to UW students and personnel at no cost. Distribution and use of these kits is not part of any research study.  More info is available at the UW COVID-19 testing website. 
  • Quality and Safety Foundations Course: The COVID-19 pandemic, financial crises, and overdue calls to enhance the equity of all we do have created unprecedented professional and personal strains. As we partner to overcome these challenges, it is vital that we undertake activities directed at improving the quality, safety, value, and equity of our work.   
  • The 2022-2023 academic year introduces a number of changes within our community.  Program Directors and Program Administrators should be sure to review: 
  • The door code to the UWMC-ML Housestaff Quarters (the “Crow’s Nest”) changed on June 7. Please see the same day email from Cindy Hamra for complete information.

Program Information

  • Welcome New Program Administrator: 
    • Elsa Hagos, Interventional Radiology (Integrated and Independent) 
  • The GMEC has approved appointment of the following new program directors; all appointments await ACGME confirmation:
    • Jonathon Cogen, Pediatric Pulmonology 
  • Application for ACGME Recognition of Sponsoring Institution with Non-Standard Training (NST) Programs for J-1 Sponsorship:  At the July GMEC meeting, the Committee reviewed the application for ACGME Recognition of the UWSOM as a Sponsoring Institution with NST Programs for J-1 Sponsorship. The new requirements apply to all non-ACGME accredited clinical training programs that plan to have fellows on an Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG)-sponsored J-1 starting July 2023.  Please direct questions to Gabrielle Pett (nathangl@uw.edu). 
  • The Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) approved revisions to several policies at the July meeting. All are posted on the Policies and Procedures page of the GME website. 
    • Clinical Competency Committee (CCC) Policy: The policy was updated to reflect the current ACGME requirements. Revisions include adding a policy purpose statement; updating the language to reflect current requirement for CCC membership and functions of the CCC; adding recommendation for EDI, feedback, and remediation training for CCC members; updating the language for documentation and confidentially of CCC meetings and updating ACGME resources for CCC to the current ones.
    • Eligibility, Recruitment, and Selection Policy for Non-ACGME Programs: new policy for all non-ACGME accredited clinical fellowship programs, requiring programs to define eligibility criteria and communicate to applicants in a program-specific eligibility and selection policy.
    • GMEC Approved (Non-ACGME Accredited) Programs Policy: policy revised to incorporate the new ACGME NST recognition requirements and remove program requirements and standards which have been folded into the revised Educational Standards for Non-ACGME Programs (separate document).  
    • New Program Director Appointment Policy: Revisions were made to include non-ACGME programs (including Non-Standard Training (NST) Programs) in the scope; adding a policy purpose statement; and outlining the procedure for GMEC approval of PDs of non-ACGME programs.

Events of Interest

  • GME Lunch & Learns
    • July 21: ADS Annual Update, recording and slides available
    • AY23 schedule posted  
  • July GME Meet & Greet on Tuesday July 26 from 2 – 2:45pm PT!  At these quarterly events we welcome new Program Directors and Program Administrators (<1 year) into the community, introduce you to a few key GME staff members and share more about our areas of work.  This is an informal, introductory event for our newest colleagues to meet each other and the GME team.
  • GME Program Administrators Meeting: Tuesday, August 9, 8:30 to 10:30 am.  Dipti Chrastka, Director, GME Wellness Service will facilitate the session focused on PA Wellness. 
  • IMGs and Visa Sponsorship: Thursday, September 29, 3-4pm 
  • Life After Residency Seminar is on Saturday August 27th.  This event is intended to educate and support graduating trainees on their transition to independent practice, addressing topics such as writing cover letters, negotiating salary and benefits, how to read your employment contract and more.  Trainees of all levels are invited to attend. 
  • Other GME Events including AY23 can be found on our calendar.

Projects and Resources

  • GME’s Chief Resident and Chief Fellow Resources webpage contains many resources to guide Chief Residents and Fellows through their appointment.   
  • The UW Medicine Center for Scholarship in Patient Care Quality and Safety is proud to announce the (re)-launch of QI Match, an online web platform to match collaborators to quality improvement and patient safety initiatives across UW Medicine. Get started today. 
  • The American Medical Women’s Association hosted a 1-hour Program, Guiding Challenged Residents in Challenging Times featuring Dr. Chris Bundy, Executive Director, WPHP.  Recording here. Please feel free to distribute. 
  • The General Surgery Resident Room at HMC celebrated its grand opening on June 15th. 

People

  • Welcome to new NURF leadership for AY23!  
    • President: Dr. Gabriel Mendoza, Pediatrics (incoming Allergy and Immunology Fellow) 
    • Vice President: Dr. Sherise Epstein, OTO (incoming PGY5/R4) 
    • Secretary/Treasurer: Dr. Eric Robles, Pediatrics (incoming PGY2) 
    • Education Chair: Dr. Ivonne Beltran, Family Med (incoming PGY2) 
    • Community Outreach Chair: Dr. Andrea Diaz, Internal Med (incoming PGY2) 
    • Medical Student Outreach Chair: Dr. Adil Malik, PM&R (incoming PGY3) 
    • Social Media Chair: Dr. Osayd Assad, Internal Med (incoming PGY2) 
    • HQSC Liaison: Jessica Sher, PM&R (incoming PGY2) 
  • Welcome to new HQSC leadership for AY23!
    • Vickie Hau, Anesthesiology, Co-Chair 
    • Karly Williams Silva, Internal Medicine, Co-Chair
    • Brianne Caoyonan, Anesthesia, Squirrel 
    • Spencer Pecha, Anesthesia, Squirrel  
    • Omar Bayomy, Pulmonary and Critical Care, Chair of Development 
    • Jessica Pinot, Internal Medicine, Chair of Publications  
    • Andrew Barbour, Radiation Oncology, Chair of Equity and Diversity 
    • Juri De Jong, Internal Medicine, Chair of Sustainability 
  • Recent graduates of the UW internal medicine residency, Ryan Abe, Lynsey Bernfeld, Anna Morenz, and Hasib Yousufzai, have received a $20,000 grant from leading internal medicine organizations to build a longitudinal Health Equity and Anti-Racism (HEAR) curriculum within the internal medicine residency and thus help develop a more trustworthy health care system. Read more on the Department of Medicine news site. 
  • Justin Bullock, fellow (Nephrology) talks about Pride and Intersectionality in the latest issue of Med.  
  • Eric Chow, fellow, is lead author, and Helen Chu, associate professor (Allergy and Infectious Diseases) is senior author of “The Clinical and Genomic Epidemiology of Rhinovirus in Homeless Shelters-King County, Washington” in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. 
  • Ruth Deya, R1 (Medicine), is lead author, and Susan Graham, professor (Allergy and Infectious Diseases) is senior author of “Yield and Coverage of Active Case Finding Interventions for Tuberculosis Control: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis” in Tuberculosis Research and Treatment. DOM co-authors are Linnet Masese and David Horne. 
  • Callistus Ditah, Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellow, provides his insights in the “New Beginnings for Heart Failure Patients” feature in the Spring Surgery Synopsis. 
  • Lauren Feld, fellow (Gastroenterology) is senior author of “On the Importance of Safe Access to Reproductive Options for Adolescents and Women with Liver Disease” in Gastroenterology. 
  • Whitney Harper, program specialist (IM residency) is co-author of “Emerging from the Pandemic: AAIM Recommendations for Internal Medicine Residency and Fellowship Interview Standards” in the American Journal of Medicine. 
  • Duncan Hussey, R3 (Internal Medicine), has received the 2022 Harborview Housestaff Achievement Award for Clinical Ability and Humanitarian Concern. This award is bestowed by Harborview faculty to a graduating resident (selected from all the residency programs) who has demonstrated excellence in patient care and exceptional humanism in line with the Harborview mission. 
  • The Internal Medicine Residency Program staff are inaugural recipients of the Gender Equity Trailblazer Award. This team (Andréa Campbell, Kelli Corning, Gevelle Cullen, Keli Lock, Brian Valentine) has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to promoting a culture of inclusion – within that core value is a commitment to increasing equity for women and gender minorities in our department – and they have been trailblazers in recruitment, policies and practices, leadership diversity and communications. Read more on the Department of Medicine news site. 
  • The GME Office is pleased to welcome Jennifer Johal as our new Learning Environment Specialist on the Accreditation and Education team. Her first day with GME will be August 1, 2022. Jenn is joining us from Virginia Mason, where since 2020 she has served as Program Coordinator for Internal Medicine, Preliminary Medicine and the Transitional Year Residency Program. Prior to that role, she also worked as Hospital Development Coordinator at LifeCenter Northwest. Her background includes a BA in Early Childhood and Family Studies from the UW as well as a double masters degree in Health Advocacy and Child Development from Sarah Lawrence College.
  • Whitney Kiker, fellow (Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine) is lead author of “Prognosis Predictions by Families, Physicians, and Nurses of Patients with Severe Acute Brain Injury: Agreement and Accuracy” in Neurocritical Care. DOM co-author is J. Randall Curtis. 
  • Alex Lois, former Surgical Outcomes Research Center T32 NIDDK post- doctoral research fellow & current general surgery R4, led a research team conducting a national study of peroral endoscopic myotomy that was published in JAMA Surgery: “Use and Safety of Per-Oral Endoscopic Myotomy for Achalasia in the US.” 
  • W. Robb MacLellan, professor and head (Cardiology) has accepted the newly created position of Department of Medicine Executive Vice Chair, effective July 1, 2022.  
  • Jacob Mayfield, fellow, is lead author and Catherine Otto, professor (Cardiology) is senior author of “The Young and the Breathless” in the New England Journal of Medicine. DOM co-authors are Danelle Hidano, Alexander Torres, and Mathilde Pioro. 
  • Blake Murphy (Vascular Surgery R1) was selected by the Society of Vascular Surgery Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI) as the inaugural recipient of the Jack Cronenwett MD Fellowship in Training (SVSFIT) Program.   
  • Lara Oyetunji (UW Cardiothoracic Surgery graduate, Section Chief of Cardiac Surgery at the VA, physician at UWMC-ML) is the inaugural recipient of the Dr. Patricia L. Dawson Endowed Faculty Fellowship award.  
  • Joshua Rosen, Research Resident, published “Unrealistic optimism about treatment risks for acute appendicitis” in the British Journal of Surgery.  
  • Melissa Upton (Emeritus Professor of Pathology) will serve on the Joint Capstone Advisory Committee for the CMSS & ACGME joint ACGME Equity Matters™ project which aims to drive measurable improvements in equity, diversity, and inclusion in Medicine. 
  • Congratulations to Hunter Wessells, Chair, Department of Urology, for his new roles as President of the UWP Practice Plan.  He will retain his Chair role. 
  • Denzel Woode, General Surgery R3, published “Asa G Yancey: The first to describe a modification of the Swenson Technique for Hirschsprung disease” in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery. 

Dr. Joyner’s Blog: July

by | Jul 6, 2022 | Announcements, News

Dr. Byron Joyner

Byron Joyner, MD, MPA

Welcome!

We are excited that you are here to begin your new journey with us. Many of you have traveled from around the country – and from around the world to be at the University of Washington School of Medicine. We welcome your eagerness to learn and wide-eyed curiosity about this next chapter in your life.

We have all faced challenges and uncertainty, especially the last 3 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and racial unrest. Many of you are wondering what life will be like in Seattle. Many of you have never been to Seattle and you are trusting that this will be the right home for you. As you start your new journey, we want you to know that we are here for you. A world-class faculty and staff are committed to teaching you and to helping you along the way. We want you to gain all of the experiences and have all of the learning opportunities you need to do your work. We want you to feel that you are working in a diverse learning environment, one that is inclusive and equitable.

There will be uncertainty during your training, not only because of the unpredictability of COVID-19, but because you will be – and should be – learning new things about your chosen specialty. You will meet your colleagues and find new friends. You will encounter new interdisciplinary teams with whom you will learn to take care of patients, and, along the way, you will learn more about yourself.

Matriculating now into your new residency or fellowship program should be an adventure – even for those of you who are UW alumni returning as subspecialty fellows. Our top priority is to offer you the best and safest clinical learning environment so that you can develop the skills, behaviors, and attitudes you will need to be successful, independent doctor.

You are one of the amazing high-caliber physicians-and dentists training in one of our 127 residency or fellowship programs that sets UW apart from other institutions. The new wave of 450+ residents and fellows joining us over the next 3 months only highlights this point. You represent an exceptional, diverse, and exceedingly qualified class who will enrich each other’s lives and learning experiences.

Who you are

Exceptional.

  • In total, you are 471 incoming residents and fellows
  • You are pursuing 117 different specialties
  • 287 of you are first-year residents

In some cases, nearly a third of all US medical school graduates going into your specialty applied to your UW program, and you are among the select few to be admitted to these very competitive programs.

Diverse.

  • Altogether, you were born in 29 different countries
  • 14% of you were born outside of the United States
  • 15 of you graduated from a medical school outside of the United States.
  • You span generations – you are Gen X, Y and Z.

This is no accident. Diversity and inclusion are core values of UW Graduate Medical Education.

Qualified.

77 of you have achieved other graduate degrees. To name a few, these include:

  • 18 PhDs
  • 16 MPHs
  • 3 MBAs
  • 22 MSs

Where you are

Graduate Medical Education (GME).  GME programs sponsored by the UW School of Medicine are designed to train skillful physicians with ingrained habits of life-long learning and well-formed ethical and professional modes of practice.

UW Medicine. Among nearly 860 institutions, UW Medicine ranks sixth in the number of programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and 9th in the number of trainees. The UW School of Medicine offers over 121 residency and clinical fellowship programs accredited by the ACGME, two Board-approved fellowship programs, and over 80 non-accredited clinical fellowship programs.

For more information about each of our accredited programs, see our list of the Residency and Clinical Fellowship Programs.

WWAMI. UW Medicine, through its School of Medicine (SOM), is by far the largest sponsor of GME programs in the five-state region of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho (WWAMI). We have a very important role in building physician workforce capable of meeting the requirements of a rapidly-evolving healthcare environment for rural and underserved areas in our region.

In addition to Seattle-based training, there are three distinct models for Graduate Medical Education across the WWAMI region – Community Based–UW Affiliated, Regional Training Tracks, and Regional Resident Rotations.

Who we are

GME Leadership. We are responsible for the administrative oversight and academic quality of UW’s residency and clinical fellowship programs. Most importantly, we are here for you. Please contact any of us with questions, comments, or concerns.

Byron Joyner, MD, MPA, Vice Dean for Graduate Medical Education and Designated Institutional Official

Jennifer Best, MD, Associate Dean, GME Education & Accreditation

Cindy Hamra, Assistant Dean GME Operations & Administration

From The Huddle: 3 Pieces of Advice from GME Trainees

by | Jun 24, 2022 | Announcements, News, Sticky

Group photo of Radiology ResidentsThis year, UW Medicine Graduate Medical Education is welcoming 471 new trainees. Each year, UW Medicine sponsors over 1,500 residents and fellows, which means that about one in six physicians is a trainee — making up a significant part of our physician population.

“Our residents and fellows play an important role in caring for our patients at UW Medicine, from providing exceptional care to contributing to our research and education efforts,” says Tim Dellit, MD, chief medical officer for UW Medicine, executive vice dean for clinical affairs in the UW School of Medicine, and president of UW Physicians. “We are excited to welcome our incoming trainees.”

Read more >

GME News & Notes: June

by | Jun 24, 2022 | Announcements, Events, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community,

Cindy Hamra

Cindy Hamra Assistant Dean, GME

We’re all experiencing the changes that typically come in June each year – we say good-bye and thank you to our graduating residents and fellows, and welcome the new group.  At Orientation this week, GME welcomed many of the 471 new trainees joining us this year. 

In June we also celebrate the Juneteenth holiday and Pride month – both are opportunities to celebrate the diversity in our UW Medicine and GME communities.  Other opportunities to celebrate include welcoming our new, fourth wellness counselor, Howard Schaefer.  Finally, this Huddle article highlights the great work of our Boise-based training programs in Internal Medicine, Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine.  We also enjoyed meeting many of you at our Outreach event at Harborview yesterday. 

On a more serious note, I want to highlight this Message from Dr. Thomas J. Nasca, president and CEO of the ACGME, following the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas: “This calls for a response from the medical community. We must approach violence and incivility with the same selflessness and generosity of spirit as we have for those afflicted with COVID-19. We are confronting a disease of the spirit manifested by isolation, disrespect, and hatred. This must be countered with community, courtesy, and kindness. As members of the healing community, this is a prescription we can deliver.” 

The June 2022 issue of GME News & Notes includes reminders for programs regarding changes taking effect in AY23, ACGME resources and opportunities and many celebrations and awards for members of our community.  As usual, if there’s anything you’d like to see included in next month’s News & Notes, please let me know. 

Thank you, 

Cindy  

Pride UW Medicine Logo

 

 

Policies and Processes

Program Information

  • The GMEC has approved appointment of the following new program directors; all appointments await ACGME confirmation:
    • Rebeca Alvarez, Breast/Gynecologic Pathology (Interim)
    • Manjiri Dighe, Abdominal Radiology (Interim)
    • Sarah Golub, Adolescent Medicine
    • Christina Lam, Medical Biochemical Genetics
    • Bahar Mansoori, Abdominal Radiology
    • Elina Quiroga, Vascular Surgery – Independent & Vascular Surgery – Integrated
    • David Siebert, Sports Medicine
  • The GMEC-Approved (Non-ACGME Accredited) Fellowship Programs Committee (GAF) recently approved two new non-ACGME fellowships:
    • Emergency Medicine: Advanced Emergency Medicine Ultrasonography (July 2023)
    • Laboratory Medicine and Pathology: Pathology Informatics (July 2022)
  • The Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) approved revisions to several policies at the June meeting. All are posted on the Policies and Procedures page of the GME website.
    • Institutional Clinical and Educational Work Hours Policy:  Revisions include updating the policy scope to include fellows in ACGME Non-Standard Training (NST) Programs and adding a definition of NST programs; adding a policy purpose statement; adding relevant clinical and educational work hour requirements for NST programs; addressing applicability of program policies for boarding residents; and addition of considering work hour non-compliance when recommending programs for Special Reviews.
    • Telehealth Policy:  Added a purpose statement which includes expansion of policy beyond telehealth training.  Added relevant telehealth related definitions from the telehealth training for providers, updated section on supervision to include ACGME Requirements on Direct Supervision Using Telecommunication by Specialty and added new section on out-of-state licensing requirements for telehealth, which includes restriction on obtaining out-of-state licenses solely for telehealth and allowable telehealth activities for out of state activities (educational vs consultative activities).   New licensing language in policy is in-line with UW Physicians (UWP) and Children’s University Medical Group (CUMG) requirements.  VA exception for out-of-state licensure

Events of Interest

  • GME Lunch & Learns
    • April GMEPAC Process for AY24, recording available and application posted (deadline is July 25, 2022) 
    • May 19: MedHub Procedure Certification, recording and slides available
    • June – cancelled 
    • AY23 schedule posted  
  • GME Program Administrators Meeting: PA Wellness Workshop; Tuesday, August 9, 8:30-10:30am
  • Seattle Pride Parade: Sunday, June 26, 2022, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Fourth Avenue, Downtown Seattle Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year we are limited to 200 participants, and we will fill the spots on a first-come, first-served basis. Please RSVP to let us know that you’re interested in volunteering and/or participating. All participants will receive a UW Medicine Pride t-shirt (while supplies last). 
  • The Life After Residency Seminar is on Saturday August 27th (registration will open in July).  This event is intended to educate and support graduating trainees on their transition to independent practice.  Featured speakers typically discuss topics such as writing cover letters, negotiating salary and benefits, how to read your employment contract and more.  Trainees of all levels are invited to attend. 
  • Other GME Events including AY23 can be found on our calendar.

Projects and Resources

  • UW Medicine has launched a multi-phase, multi-year renovation project to protect important clinical areas located below ground level from water intrusion at UW Medical Center – Montlake and the Health Sciences Building. For details, visit our website or read staff FAQs. 
  • Starting June 21, shuttle stops at UWMC change.  In the next few weeks, crews will install fencing screens to contain the work areas in the front entry and patios. At that time, the third floor BB entrance will be closed but the main entrance to the hospital will remain open throughout this phase of the construction.  While all shuttles to our Montlake campus will continue to operate, stop locations will change starting June 21. Please plan additional travel time. For details, read the shuttle stop change update. 
  • On May 23, Dr. Joyner emailed the GME Community with a Recruitment Season 2023 Update.  In line with the AAMC recommendation, we are requiring now that all of our programs have a virtual-only interview format for this recruitment cycle.  In-person and “blended” (virtual and in-person) interviews will not be allowed this year including for UW medical students and candidates performing sub-internships at UW.  Please see email for more details. 
  • Over the last year, the GME Office has transitioned from a live Chief Resident and Fellow seminar to a webpage chock full of resources that will guide Chief Residents and Fellows through their appointment.  Please review the resources available on our Chief Resident and Chief Fellow Resources webpage.  Our intent is to regularly update this page and fill it with not only what we think Chiefs should know, but also what they want to know, and Chief recommendations for peers as they enter their Chief year. 
  • Grant Funding is Available for Projects to Improve Patient Care Delivery: Apply Now for Up To $50K.  The UW Medicine Patients Are First Innovation Pilots recognize and empower faculty and staff to collaborate and explore solutions with grants for projects addressing patient care experience, clinical outcomes and/or delivery of care. Learn more and submit your project application by June 21.  
  • The UW Medicine Center for Scholarship in Patient Care Quality and Safety is proud to announce the (re)-launch of QI Match. QI Match is an online web platform to match collaborators to quality improvement and patient safety initiatives across UW Medicine. Projects get posted to the site and any faculty, student, staff, or trainee can notify the project lead of their interest. Projects that are posted to QI Match may be a single event (such as a patient safety root cause analysis or a QI focus group) or longer term QI projects. Get started today. 
  • Please see a recent highlight of ACGME resources and opportunities:
    • The ACGME is offering additional self-directed ACGME Equity Matters content in Learn at ACGME. The latest release includes modules about racial and ethnic experiences, as well as identities and populations. These educational resources provide diverse perspectives while raising historical and current injustices in the medical education system in an organized and intentional way. The materials are designed for organizations with leadership support, as well as resources and infrastructure commitments to equity for making meaningful change. (Note: A free account is required to access content in Learn at ACGME.) 
    • ACGME Coordinator Advisory Group Call for Nominations:  The ACGME is accepting nominations for the next cohort of the Coordinator Advisory Group, which serves as a consultative body concerning coordinator, graduate medical education, learning environment, and accreditation matters. Members will serve three-year terms, from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2026.  Additional information, including the group’s charge, information about the nomination process, the nomination form, and the disclosure form, can be found on the Coordinator Advisory Group page of the ACGME website. Completed nomination packets are due August 15, 2022. Please contact Amanda Easton by Friday, August 5, if you are a Program Director interested in nominating a Program Administrator or if you are Program Administrator interested in joining the Group and need DIO assistance with the nomination form. 
    • 2022 – 2023 ADS Annual Webcast and Q and A: The webcast on the ADS Annual Update from May 26, 2022 is now available to view in the ACGME’s online learning portal, Learn at ACGME.  The session provided an overview of the changes made to questions in the ADS Annual Update regarding Common Program Requirements and programs’ experience with the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, a third part to the COVID-19 questionnaire with questions for program directors will not be introduced this year as originally planned.  The ACGME has created an accompanying Q and A document, available in the ADS Help Desk and Learn at ACGME. A free account is required to access Learn at ACGME. Email questions about the webcast to accreditation@acgme.org. 
    • Revised Milestones Available: Updated versions of more than 20 Milestones are now available. Programs will officially start using the new Milestones in July 2022, with the first reporting in January 2023. See the Milestones page of the ACGME website.
    • Meeting and Agenda Closing Dates Posted: Meeting dates are listed on the overview page of each specialty section on the ACGME website. While many specialties have already updated their information, updates may continue until July 1, 2022.
    • Milestones Year End Reporting: The Milestones reporting window is now open and closes Friday, June 24, 2022. Milestones assessments can be submitted via ADS.
  • Please remember to check the GME website where many current forms, policies, processes, and educational resources are posted. We also appreciate your feedback about what else we can add to make it more useful. The GME Report a Concern form is a way for community members to report concerns to the GME Office (including the opportunity to report confidentially).

People

  • Nauzley Abedini, assistant professor (Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine) is the new Assistant Program Director for Wellness in the Internal Medicine Residency Program, co-leads the Cambia Palliative Care Center of Excellence’s (CPCCE) Global and Cross Cultural Palliative Care Initiative, is a consultant to the Cambia Palliative Care Training Center, and is a member of the CPCCE’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee. She is also a co-director for the upcoming 2022 Pacific Northwest Palliative Care Conference on June 13, “Lifting Voices & Building Bridges: Working Towards an Inclusive Future for Palliative Care.” Read more about her on the Department of Medicine news site. 
  • Alwiya Ahmed, R2 (Medicine), is quoted in “Nearly half of patients at high risk for lung cancer delayed screening follow-up” in Medical Xpress. 
  • Mariam Alam and Caitlin Crimp will co-lead a project titled, “Mitigating Bias and Burnout Through Patient-Centered Narrative Medicine,” focused on developing a narrative medicine curriculum for dermatology residents, with the aim to improve residents’ understanding and connection to patients and mitigate both bias and resident burnout. Dr. Andrea Kalus, Associate Professor, and Dr. Michi Shinohara, Associate Chief for the Division of Dermatology, will both serve as faculty mentors for the project.  This project was awarded funds from the ACGME Back-to Bedside initiative.
  • Priyanka Anand and Hao Tong were winners at the Washington Chapter American College of Physicians Spring Scientific Scholarship Day. Dr. Anand won the Oral Abstract Resident Presentation: “Online Patient Portal Use Among Marginalized Groups at a Safety Net Hospital” and Dr. Tong was Top Poster Winner: “Care for Patients Receiving Comfort Measures Only: Experiences of Bedside Nurses.” 
  • Omar Bayomy, fellow (Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine) has been selected as the new Chair of Development for the University of Washington Housestaff Quality & Safety Committee (HQSC) leadership board for the 2022-23 academic year. The HQSC is a trainee-led organization chartered under UW Graduate Medical Education and the UW Patient Safety & Quality Coordinating Committee that strives to engage trainees in the quality and safety work pursued everywhere throughout UW Medicine. 
  • Omar Bayomy, fellow (Medicine), and his mentors, Kathleen Ramos, assistant professor and Christopher Goss, professor (Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine), have received funding from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for their project: Hemoptysis and serious outcomes in cystic fibrosis. 
  • Ermias Diro, R3 (Medicine), is lead author of “Adherence to chronic hepatitis B screening guidelines for persons from intermediate to high prevalence countries” in the Journal of Community Health. DOM co-authors are Maria Corcorran, Ayushi Gupta, Kristine Lan and H. Nina Kim. This work was made possible with the support of the AID/DOM Research Collaboratory. 
  • Chronic Hepatitis (Hep) B infection disproportionately affects low- and middle-income countries such as those in South East Asia and Africa. The CDC recommends a single blood test for Hepatitis B virus for anyone born in a region with 2% or greater prevalence. This screening guideline is relevant for a large immigrant population in Seattle. Together with H. Nina Kim, Ermias Ejara, R3, performed a retrospective study of guideline adherence among adults treated within UW affiliated primary care clinics between 2016 and 2019. A study of local medical records showed low likelihood of guideline-concordant screening for Hepatitis B and high prevalence of infection among those screened. This research highlights a need for new strategies to meet this important care gap for communities like the East African community in Seattle, to which Dr. Ejara belongs. 
  • Mary Ezeanuna, fellow (Medicine), is lead author, and Namrata Singh, assistant professor (Rheumatology) is senior author of “Association of rheumatoid arthritis with mortality in chronic kidney disease: a cohort study” in Clinical Rheumatology. DOM co-authors are David Prince and Nisha Bansal. 
  • Seth Judson, R3, is lead author of “COVID-19 data reporting systems in Africa reveal insights for future pandemics” in Epidemiology & Infection. 
  • Seth Judson, R3 (Medicine), is the editor for a recently published collection of articles called Ecology and Evolution of Coronaviruses: Implications for Human Health. He is also lead author of the editorial “Ecology and Evolution of Coronaviruses: Implications for Human Health” in Frontiers in Public Health. 
  • Barbara Jung, professor and chair of Medicine, is quoted in “CRC Screening: Blood Test Accuracy Compared to Colonoscopy” in Medscape. 
  • Mike Leu is recipient of Physicians in American Medical Informatics Association’s 2022 Innovator of the Year award for creating the first electronic match for clinical informatics fellowship programs. 
  • G. Burkhard Mackensen will serve as Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine, beginning June 16th.  Permanent Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine.  He has served as the department’s interim chair since November 2020. 
  • George Mo, R1 (Medicine), was selected to receive a 2022 Hematology Opportunities for the Next Generation of Research Scientists (HONORS) Award from the American Society of Hematology (ASH). This award supports medical students and residents conducting hematology-related research and provides them with the opportunity to attend annual conferences. Dr. Mo is researching cell phenotypes in CAR T cell therapy with Dr. Brian Till, associate professor. 
  • Preethy Pankaj (Neurology) participated in the recent Harborview Medical Center The Joint Commission (TJC) Review Stroke Survey.  The TJC representatives were very impressed with her work with Interpreter Services on a review of stroke symptoms.  Natalie Weathered (Neurology Program Director) and Preethy summarized her work as follows: As a resident running stroke codes Preethy realized that non-English speakers have significant delays in their acute stroke evaluations. Given that an estimated 1.9 million neurons die per minute in each minute1, each minute of delay has potential to significantly impact the outcome in those individuals. While probably all staff know that involving an interpreter causes critical delays, Preethy didn’t just accept that as the status quo. Rather, she has designed a series of interventions to help. The first, is that she coordinated with our translator services to create a phone number that we call during a stroke code that bypasses all of the initial questions regarding patient demographics. The number also connects us more rapidly with an interpreter. The next intervention is that the interpreters who participate in this program have been educated as to what a stroke is, why there is urgency in our evaluation, and what our evaluation consists of. The interpreters are also educated about the NIH stroke scale itself. In addition, Preethy is now trialing more commonly used English words in an attempt for the provider to assess dysarthria . This education will hopefully aid them in helping us in a more timely fashion because they will better understand our process and goals. The education that is given to the interpreters is accomplished through a 10 minute video that Preethy created herself.  Dr. Weathered noted “ Preethy is one of those special people who was simply meant to be a doctor. I have no doubt that she will continue to help patients from all walks of life and is going to continue to make UW proud.”  [1Saver JL. Time is Brain – Quantified. Stroke. 2006;37:263-266.]
  • Anneliese Schleyer, professor (General Internal Medicine) will take on new leadership roles as interim chief medical officer of UW Medicine and interim vice president for medical affairs University of Washington, effective July 1. As interim chief medical officer, Schleyer will oversee more than 4,500 clinicians, provide strategic guidance on the integration of clinical practice with education and research activities across all UW Medicine sites, and is responsible for physician led activities to improve the quality of care and clinical practice transformation.  Read more from The Huddle. 
  • Chenwei Wu has been awarded the 2022 Gene Peterson Award on behalf of the University of Washington Housestaff Quality and Safety Committee. The Gene Peterson award was named after Dr. Peterson, who had a great appreciation for the involvement of trainees in the fields of quality improvement and patient safety, and for the unique perspective they bring at the University of Washington. HQSC members cited Dr. Wu’s tireless commitment to fostering productive discussions regarding trainee reported PSNs at Squirrel meetings, his mentorship of numerous housestaff led quality improvement efforts, and his leadership in many QIPS educational endeavors. HQSC members additionally spoke of his ability to empower leadership and ownership amongst housestaff in their QIPS projects.  
  • Jay Yao (R4) has been selected and granted a scholarship to participate in the Orthopaedic Research Society’s Clinician Scholar Career Development Program. 
  • Congratulations to the 2022 Radiology Graduates!
  • The American Society of Hematology (ASH) Hematology-Focused Fellowship training Program (HFFTP) is an exclusive pathway that offers physicians the opportunity to pair comprehensive classical hematology training with career-enhancing education in transfusion medicine, sickle cell disease, hemostasis/thrombosis, as well as fields like medical education, systems-based hematology, outcomes research, health equity research, global health, safety/quality improvement, lifespan hematology, and more. Funded entirely by ASH, 10 new hematology-focused fellowship tracks have been created within existing hematology-oncology programs at nine rigorously selected institutions accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) across the United States. HFFTP aims to strengthen the next generation of hematologists, with the goal of producing 50 new academic hematologists by 2030.  The UW HFFTP will be led by Hematology Professors Mike Linenberger, program director, and David Garcia, associate program director. 

Welcome Howard Schafer, New GME Wellness Service Counselor

by | Jun 9, 2022 | Announcements, News

Howard Schafer with catPlease join us in welcoming Howard Schafer, our new GME Wellness Counselor!  Howard starts with us Monday, June 27.  Howard is a marriage and family therapist, with over 20 years of experience. He has worked in multiple medical settings with a diverse population.  His strong clinical skill set, a sense of compassion, deep respect and commitment to health and wellness will enhance our team and serve our trainees well.  We are thrilled to have him on board! Look for Howard’s schedule to open on Schedulicity soon – more details to follow.

Below is Howard’s welcome message to the GME community:

In the midst of the winter, I found there was within me an invincible summer.
~Camus

A bit about me…

I have been a marriage and family therapist for over two decades, working as a counselor and guide for hundreds of clients over the years. It’s been an honor and privilege to call this my life’s work. But this is just the beginning of my story…

I am inextricably connected to my professional skills, bringing my own life experiences marching from the beat of a different drum. Beginning with an AB degree in Literature and Cross Cultural Communication that took me around the world; to an MA in English Literature; to a college instructor teaching English as a Second Language; then an MS in Psychology and the true start of my avocation. Life has always had its winters but it’s always taken me to the place I needed to be at that time.

This mosaic of experiences has brought to my practice a healthy sense of humor, successes and failures and a respectful reverence for the art and mystery of this work which in turn has fortified my commitment to the health and wellness community. I have worked in multiple medical settings with a diverse population focusing on stress and crisis management, depression, anxiety, grief, mood and eating disorders, in addition to LGBTQ+, academic, and work related issues.

My role as a therapist is as a compassionate ally and guide. My approach provides each individual a safe environment as they rediscover their own language and re-chart or re-author their lives in order to find meaning and balance in a world that sometimes feels out of control.  My solution-focused approach incorporates motivational interviewing, mindfulness and narrative practices.

I believe in the importance of holding hope when things are really bad, and when they continue to get worse. I hold onto the hope that people can change, circumstances can change and despite where you are now, the power of human persistence and perseverance will prevail.

But this isn’t the end of my story…

The beauty of the PNW has been inspirational since we moved here 30 years ago…the forests…the beaches…the green, and, even the rain.

The arts are a big part of my life. As are peaceful trips to the Oregon Coast and hikes in the forest. But the moments that provide the greatest pleasure are having a great conversation with friends over an amazing meal, or just hanging out with my wife and cats (yes, Henri has a sister)…and a dose of daily meditation and exercise doesn’t hurt.

A bit about my assistant Henri…he’s a slow typist and takes a few too many naps. He’s also easily distracted by a seemingly “empty” belly. But he’s an affable chap and a reliable friend and ally.

I am excited to embrace a new path in my life as I join the GME Wellness team. This is an incredible opportunity to help support the UW medical residents, fellows and their partners during this challenging and rewarding time in their career.

GME News & Notes: May

by | May 20, 2022 | Announcements, Events, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community,

Cindy Hamra

Cindy Hamra Assistant Dean, GME

This week we reflect on our collective sadness and horror over the deaths of Black shoppers in Buffalo last weekend.  Please remember that our GME Wellness Service can be a source of support for trainees and UW Medicine’s Employee Mental Health resources includes support for members of the broader community.   

In her blog, President Cauce reflects, “ [a]s we grieve for the victims in Buffalo, we must examine our own responsibilities and capacity for reversing what has become a public health crisis.”  Here at UW Medicine, the Office of Healthcare Equity has launched a new blueprint and website.  More information is available in this Huddle article, 6 Goals to Improve Health Equity. 

May is Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month and we want to acknowledge contributions by members of the AAPI community here at UW.  I enjoyed reading about the meaning of the flowers in the Flowers of the AAPI Solidarity Email Signature.  The Huddle feature also features Voices of Our Asian American Colleagues. 

The May 2022 issue of GME News & Notes includes information about newly proposed ACGME common program requirements, Pride Events, language/interpreter services resources, QI match, a UW safe ride home program and many other valuable resources.  As usual, if there’s anything you’d like to see included in next month’s News & Notes, please let me know. 

Finally, a reminder that if you are uncertain about new or updated GME policies, please check the GME Policies and Procedures page, where each policy has a parenthetical indicating when it was last revised, and follow News & Notes, where any policy updates will be listed with a brief description. 

Thank you, 

Cindy  

 

 

Policies and Processes

  • The ACGME Task Force on Burden Reduction recently completed its work on the revision of the Common Program Requirements. The revised proposed Common Program Requirements are now posted on the ACGME website for public review and comment.  Visit the Review and Comment page for details on the revisions.  Please fill out this survey with your comments by June 10.  Our GME Accreditation Team will compile and submit feedback on behalf of the institution by the deadline.
  • During resident/fellow onboarding, programs should remain mindful of the COVID Vaccine requirement and disability accommodation requests.  The COVID vaccine requirement remains a condition of employment for all incoming residents and fellows. During onboarding, trainees may also notify you of a disability or request specific accommodation.  If you have an incoming resident/fellow seeking a COVID vaccine medical or religious exemption or a resident/fellow requesting a disability accommodation, please notify GME as soon as possible.  
  • UW Medicine residents and fellows who will conduct their own human subjects research are required to take a one-time, 60 minute, on-demand, e-learning tutorial. The UW Human Subjects Division: IRB 101 Online Tutorial covers the basics of human subjects research and provides important practical information about navigating the approval process through the Human Subjects Division, a unit of the UW Office of Research. The learner needs to provide their Certificate of Completion with their IRB application in order to receive approval to do human subjects research.  
  • The ACGME has made revisions to supervision related requirements over the last few years (CPR VI.A.2) to allow for direct supervision through telecommunications technology for some specialties in recognition of the wide adoption of telemedicine as a result of the pandemic. The GME office has updated the Institutional Supervision & Accountability Policy as well as the program policy template to reflect the CPR revisions. 

Program Information

  • Welcome New Program Administrators:
    • Lynda Schumacher, Pediatric Rheumatology
    • Becca Smith, Pediatric Pulmonology
  • The GMEC approved the following policy at the May meeting:
    • The “Working Outside of the Training Program (Including Moonlighting) Policy” has been renamed to Moonlighting and Outside Work Policy. 
    • Additional information about moonlighting and outside work is available on our Outside Work page.

Events of Interest

  • GME Lunch & Learns
  • GME Session on ACGME Non-Standard Training (NST) Recognition: Wednesday, May 25, 3:00 to 4:00 pm 
  • GME Program Administrators Meeting: Tuesday, June 14, 8:30 to 10:30 am
  • UW Medicine Pride Flag Raising: Wednesday, June 1, noon, at all UW Medicine hospital campuses.
  • Pride in the Park: Saturday, June 4, noon to 7 pm, Volunteer Park, Seattle This free-to-attend event will feature a can’t-miss lineup of local LGBTQIA+ performances co-curated in partnership with Taking B(l)ack Pride, activities, food trucks, an alcohol garden, non-profit booths and much more.
  • Trauma Stewardship Institute Workshops: UW Medicine and the School of Medicine are partnering with Laura van Dernoot Lipsky and the Trauma Stewardship Institute to address the accumulative toll of the pandemic on UW Medicine healthcare staff and providers through a 2-hour system-wide workshop. June 21, 4 to 6 pm, Register for the June Trauma Stewardship Training.
  • Seattle Pride Parade: Sunday, June 26, 11 am to 3 pm, Fourth Avenue, Downtown Seattle Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year we are limited to 200 participants, and we will fill the spots on a first-come, first-served basis. Please RSVP to let us know that you’re interested in volunteering and/or participating. All participants will receive a UW Medicine Pride t-shirt (while supplies last).
  • The Life After Residency Seminar is on Saturday, August 27 (registration will open in July). This event is intended to educate and support graduating trainees on their transition to independent practice.  Featured speakers typically discuss topics such as writing cover letters, negotiating salary and benefits, how to read your employment contract and more.  Trainees of all levels are invited to attend.
  • Other GME Events including AY23 can be found on our calendar.

Projects and Resources

  • The GME Office is now recruiting for a Learning Environment Specialist. This position provides accreditation and learning environment project management, website improvements and support, event planning and management, and administrative support to the Associate Dean, the Director of Accreditation, the Clinical Learning Environment Review Subcommittee, and the Learning Gateway team. Please feel free to share and ask interested parties to apply.
  • The Language Access module from Learning Gateway offers training regarding interpreter/language services in the hospitals and also highlights health equity and delivering high quality care for patients who are non/low English proficient. The Huddle recently highlighted the amazing work of the Harborview Interpreter Services Team.
  • UW Medicine is now accepting applications for a third round of Patients Are First Innovation Pilots. This program awards up to $50,000 in funding to UW Medicine faculty and staff with an innovative idea to improve patient care or address issues in our care delivery process. They intend to award up to four pilot grants. The recorded webinar on the PAFIP website covers the application and approval process, implementation timeline for approved projects and Q&A.
  • The AAMC’s Organization of Resident Representatives 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. Learn More. Submission deadline is June 12.
  • The UW Medicine Center for Scholarship in Patient Care Quality and Safety is proud to announce the (re)-launch of QI Match. QI Match is an online web platform to match collaborators to quality improvement and patient safety initiatives across UW Medicine. Projects get posted to the site and any faculty, student, staff, or trainee can notify the project lead of their interest. Projects that are posted to QI Match may be a single event (such as a patient safety root cause analysis or a QI focus group) or longer term QI projects. Get started today.
  • Ride Home reimbursement is a benefit for those in the Faculty/Staff U-PASS program, and Bike Locker or House permit holders at the Seattle Campus. This benefit is in addition to the GME Emergency / Safe Ride Home program.  For more information, please visit the Emergency Ride Home page.
  • Please see a recent highlight of ACGME Resources:
    • Webcast for Program Directors and Coordinators on the 2022-2023 Annual Update Changes: This webcast will provide information about the Accreditation Data System (ADS) Annual Update timelines and changes for Academic Year 2022-2023 to help designated institutional officials, program directors, and coordinators better prepare for and effectively complete the Annual Update. Register for the Thursday, May 26, 2022 event (11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Central). The recorded webcast will be available in Learn at ACGME within a week of the live presentation.
    • Burden Reduction – Faculty Board Certification Update: As part of the ACGME’s commitment to and continued efforts toward improving the user experience, beginning July 1, 2022, the ACGME will default to using data obtained from the American Board of Medical Specialties and American Osteopathic Association for faculty certification. These data will be populated into the Faculty Roster in the Accreditation Data System (ADS) and used during program review and in accreditation and recognition site visit materials. This change is intended to reduce programs’ data entry burden. Programs will no longer be required to manually enter faculty members’ ABMS/AOA board certification data in ADS. Physician faculty members will be matched to the datasets based on National Provider Identifier (NPI) number, as well as name, date of birth, and medical school graduation year.  NPI numbers entered in ADS must be accurate and complete ASAP.
    • Resident/Fellow and Faculty Survey reports are now available: Additional ACGME Resident/Fellow and Faculty Survey reports are now available in ADS for programs that participated in the 2021-2022 surveys but had fewer than four survey takers scheduled to participate. These reports aggregate survey data across multiple reporting years, allowing the ACGME to provide feedback to programs that would otherwise not receive a report due to a smaller cohort of survey takers. Programs will receive this multi-year report if they had at least four total survey takers complete the survey over the past few academic years.
    • Transitions in Medical Education Toolkits: The ACGME, in collaboration with several other medical education organizations, has released three toolkits to aid programs and learners as they progress through the medical education continuum from medical school to practice. The toolkits are meant to help guide programs and learners as they deal with disrupted years of education due to the pandemic. See Transitions in Medical Education on the ACGME website.
    • Revised Milestones Available: Updated versions of more than 20 Milestones are now available. Programs will officially start using the new Milestones in July 2022, with the first reporting in January 2023. See the Milestones page of the ACGME website.
    • Meeting and Agenda Closing Dates Posted: Meeting dates are listed on the overview page of each specialty section on the ACGME website. While many specialties have already updated their information, updates may continue until July 1, 2022.
    • Milestones Year End Reporting: The Milestones reporting window is now open and closes Friday, June 24, 2022. Milestones assessments can be submitted via ADS.
  • Please remember to check the GME website where many current forms, policies, processes, and educational resources are posted. We also appreciate your feedback about what else we can add to make it more useful. The GME Report a Concern form is a way for community members to report concerns to the GME Office (including the opportunity to report confidentially).
  • Resources for parents:
    • UW WorkLife recently hosted a panel discussion about your childcare benefits through Bright Horizons, UW CareLink, and KinderCare, including information about new reimbursable out-of-network backup care program. The recording is now available.
    • The National Institute of Health (NIH) now provides eligible NRSA and Institutional Training Grant trainees (such as postdoctoral trainees appointed on T32 awards) an NIH Childcare Allowance. This allowance is up to $2,500 per year, per trainee and goes towards assisting with childcare costs.  To see if you qualify, please contact your grant administrator.

People

Dr. Joyner’s Blog: May

by | May 6, 2022 | Announcements, News

Dr. Byron Joyner

Byron Joyner, MD, MPA

Nearly a quarter of a Century ago, the Institute of Medicine’s, To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System was a call to action that shook the medical community into the realization that we needed to educate our residents and fellows in how to better safeguard patients from harm. Medicine, once a cottage industry, could no longer deny the age of big data and incredible innovation. We needed to learn from commercial aviation and other highly reliable industries, which for years had been delivering faultless services in the face of immense operational complexity. There were standards of quality in these businesses that we could apply to our own business of care.

The UW Housestaff Quality & Safety Committee (HQSC) is a group of residents and fellows which has, for more than 10 years, been learning about the business of delivering care more consistently and safely to our patients at UW Medicine. The HQSC learns about quality not just in theory but in practice. For example, HQSC members have studied the triumphs and more recent missteps of the Boeing Co., including taking a field trip to its Flight Safety Center, to learn about the indivisible relationship between an organization’s Culture of Safety, the quality of its products, and its financial bottom line.

I am so proud of the Housestaff Quality & Safety Committee, which began more than 10 years ago as a nod to the ACGME’s requirement that all housestaff learn more about—and actually participate in—patient safety and quality improvement experiences during their training. Although a brilliant idea, actualization of this concept has been challenging because the generations of physicians before had not learned the fine skills of quality improvement, the culture of safety.

This month, I’ve invited Drs. Chen Wu, Vickie Hau, and Vince Raikhel, faculty sponsor and co-chairs of HQSC, respectively, to share the incredible work of the HQSC.

Byron Joyner, MD, MPA
Vice Dean for GME and DIO

 

In spring 2015, after traveling four billion miles across deep space, the New Horizons spacecraft approached the planetoid Pluto at the outer fringes of our solar system for a cosmic rendezvous 10 years in the making.

In spring 2022, Dr. Bonnie Buratti, senior planetary scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a key figure behind the New Horizons mission—who has a bona fide asteroid 90502 Buratti named after her—spoke to members of the UW Housestaff Quality and Safety Committee (HQSC) about the extraordinary lengths to which NASA engineers go to ensure the safe transit of these extremely fragile, highly complex, astronomically expensive spacecraft. It was a topical lesson in proactive risk assessment and mitigation, one of the cornerstones of High Reliability Organizations which are distinguished by their complicated operations and failure rate far below statistical expectations (think commercial aviation, not the present state of U.S. healthcare).

Dr. Buratti’s talk was just one of many activities organized and curated by the HQSC to introduce core patient safety and quality improvement (QI) concepts to the GME community, inclusive of residents, fellows, and program faculty. Having recently notched its own 10-year milestone, the HQSC is busy at work improving existing offerings and gestating novel pathways for trainees to engage in this important domain. Current noteworthy programs include:

  • The annual HOUSE journal meant to serve as a portable showcase of trainee-involved improvement projects; check out the latest edition and archived volumes here
  • A generous project grant funding mechanism supported by Dr. Aalap Shah, an HQSC alumnus now practicing in southern California, that you can check out here alongside a portfolio of earlier projects involving HQSC members
  • The SQuIRREL (Subcommittee on QI Event Reporting & Resident-Engaged Learning) program where trainee-submitted patient safety reports are reviewed in front of Harborview and UW Medical Center patient safety officers

 

SQuIRREL logo

Keep an eye out for monthly announcements and join a session to gain insights and get closure on a patient safety incident that you reported. You might even earn free coffee along the way. 😉

 

In addition to constantly tweaking these programs in response to feedback and measured performance (hey, we walk the QI walk as much as we talk the QI talk!), the HQSC hopes to expand its portfolio of experiences to better serve training programs, large and small, in teaching QI concepts and surpassing important accreditation requirements. We also recognize the immense wealth of talent, creativity, and entrepreneurial drive that resides within our GME community and hope to both nurture and harness these instincts for system improvement.

Ideas that we’re actively exploring include a streamlined, standardized pathway for QI manuscripts married to coaching support from project inception through publication; resumption of field trips to non-healthcare role models such as Alaska Airlines and the U.S. Army; and investigation of public-private coalitions to tackle health outcome determinants that reside outside the walls of our training hospitals.

A few of these ideas are in early prototype stages while others remain only conceptual. Propelled by the excitement of our residents and fellows and the support of their sponsoring programs, however, we’re confident that these ambitions can be realized. Big opportunities require bold vision, and as President Kennedy once reminded us at the start of the Space Age, bold visions are worth pursuing.

If this vision is one that you share, then please consider joining the HQSC if you are a resident or fellow or contacting us at uwhqsc@uw.edu if you are a faculty member, program director, or departmental leader interested in collaboration. HQSC is proud to have worked with UW Orthopaedics in the past to co-develop QI Match, a unique site meant to connect QI project leads to enthusiastic trainees, that recently went live with backing from the UW Center for Scholarship in Patient Care Quality & Safety.

QI Match Logo

Check out QI Match if you’re interested in posting or joining a project! And reach out to us if you’re at all curious about how HQSC could fit into your training program’s educational strategy. Let’s start a conversation about how we, together, can seek out our own New Horizons.

Photo of Vickie Hau, MD.
Vickie Hau, MD
(Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine)
Co-chair
UW Housestaff Quality & Safety Committee

Photo of Vince Raikhel, MD 
Vince Raikhel, MD
(Internal Medicine)
Co-chair
UW Housestaff Quality & Safety Committee
 Photo of Chen Wu, MD
Chen Wu, MD
Faculty Director
UW Housestaff Quality & Safety Committee

GME News & Notes: April

by | Apr 20, 2022 | Announcements, Events, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community,

Cindy Hamra

Cindy Hamra Assistant Dean, GME

Most of you have probably seen Dr. Paul Ramsey’s announcement that he will be retiring as CEO of UW Medicine and Dean of the School of Medicine in June of this year.  On behalf of the GME Office, we are grateful to Dr. Ramsey for his support and leadership and wish him the best in this next phase.  We’re also looking forward to working with Dr. Tim Dellit, who will serve in an interim capacity for the next two years during the transition.   

I want to open by highlighting a few resources – first, we want to remind our trainees who are observing Ramadan that our Information by Training site page includes information about prayer and meditation rooms for many training sites. 

Second, we are often asked how program leadership can know when a policy has been added or updated.  Two easy ways to keep up are to check the GME Policies and Procedures page, where each policy has a parenthetical indicating when it was last revised, and to follow News & Notes, where any policy updates will be listed each month with a brief description. 

We’ve begun the process of onboarding the new residents and fellows who will join us this summer to begin training.  Please see Dr. Joyner’s April blog post regarding Match results and the onboarding resources for information about how get started. 

The April 2022 issue of GME News & Notes includes a reminder about the COVID vaccine and booster requirements, information about a UW safe ride home program, resources for parents, and information about upcoming events.  As usual, if there’s anything you’d like to see included in next month’s News & Notes, please let me know. 

Thank you, 

Cindy  

Policies and Processes

  • Booster Requirement: Please remember that UW Medicine clinical employees are required to be boosted.  UW Medicine Employee Health has asked GME to reach out to programs with trainees who are not yet in compliance.  Please let us know if you have questions. 
  • UW Medicine is now providing second booster doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to all individuals 50 years and older who received their first booster shot at least four months prior.  Under the new CDC and FDA guidance, certain immunocompromised individuals ages 12 and older also are eligible for a second Pfizer or Moderna booster shot at least four months after their first booster dose, as are individuals ages 18 and older who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for both their primary series and first booster. 
  • During the incoming resident/fellow onboarding process, programs should remain mindful of the COVID Vaccine requirement and disability accommodation requests.  The COVID vaccine requirement remains a condition of employment for all incoming residents and fellows. During the onboarding process, trainees may also notify you of a disability or request specific accommodation.  If you have an incoming resident/fellow seeking a COVID vaccine medical or religious exemption or a resident/fellow requesting a disability accommodation, please notify GME as soon as possible.  
  • Programs can plan to host in-person graduation ceremonies, orientation activities, and recruitment interviews. Please see Dr. Joyner’s April 1 email for more information.
  • Starting mid-November, UW Medicine residents and fellows who will conduct their own human subjects research will be required to take a one-time, 60 minute, on-demand, e-learning tutorial. The UW Human Subjects Division: IRB 101 Online Tutorial covers the basics of human subjects research and provides important practical information about navigating the approval process through the Human Subjects Division, a unit of the UW Office of Research. The learner will need to provide their Certificate of Completion with their IRB application in order to receive approval to do human subjects research.  
  • The GME Office is seeking nominations for membership on GME committees for the 2022-2023 academic year (AY23).  Descriptions of each committee are provided on the Committees page of the GME website. Members of these committees should have an interest in serving as representatives of their peers, knowledge of UW GME activities, and a desire to serve as an advocate for housestaff.  Committee members are expected to regularly attend scheduled committee meetings (70% expectation). Please submit self- or peer-nominations by Friday April 30 by filing out the following form. We will follow up with nominees and new members in early June. 
  • The ACGME has made revisions to supervision related requirements over the last few years (CPR VI.A.2) to allow for direct supervision through telecommunications technology for some specialties in recognition of the wide adoption of telemedicine as a result of the pandemic. The GME office has updated the Institutional Supervision & Accountability Policy as well as the program policy template to reflect the CPR revisions. 

Program Information

  • The GMEC has approved appointment of the following new program directors; all appointments await ACGME confirmation:
    • Jennifer Bauer, Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery 
    • Chris Ingraham, Interventional Radiology – Independent & Integrated 
    • Richard Sheu, Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology 

Events of Interest

  • GME Lunch & Learns
  • The recording from the April 7 MedHub Scheduling workshop is now available. Other helpful scheduling resources can be found on the GME Finance and GME MedHub sites.
  • The recording from the April 19 Program Administrator Meeting is now available. For those of you interested in reviewing the resource site for the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, the link to the site is on the PA Toolkit under Handbooks.
  • Trauma Stewardship Institute Workshops: UW Medicine and the School of Medicine are partnering with Laura van Dernoot Lipsky and the Trauma Stewardship Institute to address the accumulative toll of the pandemic on UW Medicine healthcare staff and providers through a 2-hour system-wide workshop. Recordings will be posted online for those unable to attend live.
  • Other GME Events can be found on our calendar

Projects and Resources

  • Since our October 2020 update on Call Rooms, Lactation Rooms, and Parental Support, the GME Office has continued to work on improvements for parent trainees, in partnership with the hospitals. Updates over the last year were captured in GME Updates: Lactation Rooms and Parental Support. Our team continues to work to improve amenities and experiences for our parent trainees.   
  • Please complete the 2022 UW Medicine Annual Workforce Survey All individual responses to this survey are confidential. Read FAQ for more information. 
  • On April 1, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and UW Medicine completed the restructure of their longtime relationship and the formation of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, a unified adult cancer research and care center.  A summary of changes, benefits of the restructure, and other helpful information are available at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center: The Future of Cancer Research and Care. 
  • UW Transportation Services offers reimbursement for one-way trips, up to 60 miles. This Emergency Ride Home reimbursement is a benefit for those in the Faculty/Staff U-PASS program, and Bike Locker or House permit holders at the Seattle Campus.  This benefit is in addition to the GME Emergency / Safe Ride Home program.  For more information please visit the Emergency Ride Home page. 
  • Please see a recent highlight of ACGME Resources:
    • Transitions in Medical Education Toolkits: The ACGME, in collaboration with several other medical education organizations, has released three toolkits to aid programs and learners as they progress through the medical education continuum from medical school to practice. The toolkits are meant to help guide programs and learners as they deal with disrupted years of education due to the pandemic. See Transitions in Medical Education on the ACGME website. 
    • Revised Milestones Available: Updated versions of more than 20 Milestones are now available. Programs will officially start using the new Milestones in July 2022, with the first reporting in January 2023. See the Milestones page of the ACGME website. 
    • Milestones Year End Reporting: The Milestones reporting window is now open and closes Friday, June 24, 2022. Milestones assessments can be submitted via ADS.  
  • Please remember to check the GME website where many current forms, policies, processes, and educational resources are posted. We also appreciate your feedback about what else we can add to make it more useful. The GME Report a Concern form is a way for community members to report concerns to the GME Office (including the opportunity to report confidentially).
  • Thanks to UW Medicine Advancement for designing a new tool to support GME programs via the Graduate Medical Education Endowed Fund, which provides central support through the GME Office for resident and trainee research, diversity recruitment, community engagement and wellness activities.
  • UW Benefits has partnered with TIAA to bring a new resource for Public Student Loan Forgiveness program!  To get started, go to the TIAA/Savi webpage. It will take around 15 or 20 minutes to answer the questions and get results. The results will show the optimal repayment plan and estimated monthly savings, as well as whether the employee qualifies for a forgiveness plan, how much could be forgiven, and when.  For more information, please visit Public Student Loan Forgiveness webpage. If you have any questions, please contact UW Benefits at 206-543-4444. 
  • Resources for parents:
    • New Bright Horizons backup care benefit: out-of-network backup care.  From April 1 – June 30, you will have the option to secure care from within your own personal network (a neighbor, friend, or babysitter) and receive reimbursement of $100 per day. Each use will count towards your 5-use limit per calendar year and can be requested on the Bright Horizons backup care webpage.  To access this benefit, select “Request Reimbursement” during the backup care reservation process and elect to use out-of-network care. Bright Horizons has also provided a step-by-step guide on how to submit an out-of-network care reservation request. 
    • Child care openings for ages 3-5 available now at Harborview.  Apply now for immediate child care availability by submitting your application to the UW Children’s Center Harborview location. 
    • The National Institute of Health (NIH) now provides eligible NRSA and Institutional Training Grant trainees (such as postdoctoral trainees appointed on T32 awards) an NIH Childcare Allowance.  This allowance is up to $2,500 per year, per trainee and goes towards assisting with childcare costs.  To see if you qualify, please contact your grant administrator.   

People

Dr. Joyner’s Blog April: Match Results – Together We Succeed

by | Apr 8, 2022 | Announcements, News

Dr. Byron Joyner

Byron Joyner, MD, MPA

This month, we celebrate our incoming class of 2022-2023! Our National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) was a success, again this year, for University of Washington GME programs. The 83 residency and fellowship programs that participated in the NRMP matched physicians from around the country at percentages above the national average.  We also matched many of our own medical students and residents into UWSOM residency and fellowship programs. We did this by working together, being innovative and believing in our great community. 

  • In the Main Match, the 26 participating UW residency programs had a match rate of 97% compared to 94% nationally.  
  • For the Specialties Match, the 57 participating UW fellowship programs had a match rate of 94% compared to the national average of 88%.  
  • UWSOM fellowship programs offered 173 spots, 40 of which were filled by UW residents, continuing an encouraging 3-year trend. 
  • Once again, this year the Main Residency Match was the “largest Match on record,” with over 39,000 positions available. But, for the first time in years, there was a slight decrease in the number of registered applicants (47,675; down 2.1%) and a very slight increase in those who submitted rank order lists (0.1%).  
  • Though the total number of allopathic and osteopathic medical school seniors increased from last year, the total number of US and non-US citizen international medical graduates (IMGs) decreased in both the Main and Specialties Matches. 

In this year’s Match, based on self-reported data, UWSOM saw an increase in both Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) as well as Underrepresented in Medicine (URM) candidates who matched in both our medical and dental programs. In fact, the last three years has seen an encouraging upward trend in Black and African American matriculants to our programs. As we work together to increase and, more importantly, sustain inclusivity and diversity in our workforce, we can continue to provide better equity of patient care in our community. 

I want to congratulate our program leadership, the residents and fellows, as well as the Network of Underrepresented Residents and Fellows (NURF) for their tremendous efforts in our journey to diversify our learning community. Below is this year’s representation of BIPOC, URM and women who have historically been minoritized in Medicine, as reported by our clinical department chairs. 

 

 

These past two years have been difficult, but the University of Washington continues to have strong match results and we remain a competitive training institution, as reflected by the 5-year trend below: 

 

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us many things, one of which is we do well when we work together. In 2021, we worked together to recruit the next group of trainees who will be a part of our learning communities in Seattle and the WWAMI region. For the second year, the GME Office and NURF hosted Town Halls to help our programs attract underrepresented and vulnerable minority candidates. This year, one of our NURF Town Halls had more than 600 participants, curious to know what it is like to train in the UW community. 

All members of our community, including the clinical chairs, residents and fellows, program directors and administrators, faculty and staff, worked together to produce these excellent results. Especially during these challenging times, it is critical that we cultivate an environment where everyone feels safe and as though they belong, an environment in which everyone can be successful. 

Congratulations and thank you!   

Byron Joyner, MD, MPA
Vice Dean for GME and DIO

 

GME Updates: Lactation Rooms and Parental Support

by | Mar 29, 2022 | News

Since our October 2020 update on Call Rooms, Lactation Rooms and Parental Support, the GME Office has continued to work on improvements for parent trainees, in partnership with the hospitals.

Improvements over the last year have included:

  • Mamava Lactation Pod in Harborview Medical Center

    Mamava Lactation Pod at Harborview Medical Center

    Addition of three new lactation spaces at Harborview Medical Center (HMC)

    • Ninth and Jefferson Building (NJB) 512
    • Pat Steele Building (PSB) 5097
    • Basement West Hospital (BWH) – Mamava Pod
  • All HMC lactation spaces are now equipped with hospital-grade pumps and additional standardized amenities
  • Supply and amenity improvements at UWMC-Montlake at the L2000L Lactation Room
  • Addition of 4 new lactation spaces at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VAPSHCS)
    • Building 100, 1st Floor, Veterans Lobby (ADA Lactation Pod)
    • Building 100, 4th Floor, Near Elevators (Lactation Pod)
    • Building 101, 2nd Floor, Room 2E80A (Lactation Room)
    • Ribbon cutting for the VA of Puget Sound Mamava lactation pod

      Ribbon cutting ceremony for one of the new VAPS Mamava Pods

      Building 101, 1st Floor, Near Entrance (Lactation Pod)

  • Placement of lactation refrigerators in three program-specific spaces for two of our larger programs, Internal Medicine and Psychiatry
  • Increased utilization of GME’s lactation supply loaning program – please reach out if you are in need!
  • Hosted events on Family Planning & Fertility and Navigating Parental Leave for residents, fellows and their partners. See recordings of these events on the Growing Your Family webpage.
  • Our Parenthood Peer Mentoring Program (launched in Fall 2019) continues to pair experienced parents with newcomers. On average the program has had 6 mentoring pairs per year.

A huge thank you to our colleagues at:

  • HMC: Allison Zelikoff, Manager, Employee Health; Dr. Linda Liu, Internal Medicine Chief Resident; and Dr. Chris Nguyen, Psychiatry Chief Resident
  • UWMC-Montlake: Jose Rodriquez, Program Operations Manager, Environmental Services; Eric Higashi, Nurse Manager – 6NE; Elaine Martyn Hickcox, Jordan Mollot and Kathleen Schaefers from Design & Construction Management
  • VAPSHCS: Lisa Mizamoto, Health System Specialist; and Robin Wille

Their partnership and dedication have been immensely helpful to achieve the improvements made.  We would also like to extend our appreciation to Dr. Julie Lamb and our own Director of Housestaff Affairs, Hayley Fisher for sharing your expertise through housestaff-directed events.

Our team continues to work to improve amenities and experiences for our parent trainees.  We are working in partnership with the GME Committee (GMEC) to ensure compliance with the new ACGME requirements around parental leave (effective July 2022).

Please be sure to share any feedback or needs you may have with us by either emailing uwgme@uw.edu or using our anonymous Report A Concern tool.  We are happy to explore options and work to improve the environment.

GME News & Notes: March

by | Mar 23, 2022 | Announcements, Events, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community,

Cindy Hamra

Cindy Hamra Assistant Dean, GME

First, I want to express our concern and support for the members of our community with connections to Ukraine.  If you can benefit from support, please look to UW Medicine Employee Mental Health Resources.

It’s the start of spring, warmer weather, and longer days.  In addition, there are exciting signs of change and progress, like the hopeful decline of COVID in our community, and Match day results.  The GME Office is excited to start the process of welcoming and onboarding the residents and fellows who will join us this summer.  Dr. Joyner will share more information about Match results in his April DIO Blog.

We’re also excited to welcome two new members to our GME Team: Amanda Easton joins GME as Program Manager for Operations and Administration, and Karyn Crow joins us as a second Float Administrator!  We’re thrilled to continue to strengthen the GME Team and our capacity to support trainees, programs and departments.

A rite of spring is the blooming of the UW Quad cherry blossoms.  UW arborist Sara Shores put together this interactive graphic to explain how different parts of the tree work.

The March 2022 issue of GME News & Notes includes a reminder about the COVID vaccine and booster requirements, information about new and updated policies, resources for parents, and information about upcoming events. As usual, if there’s anything you’d like to see included in next month’s News & Notes, please let me know.

Policies and Processes

  • The Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) approved revisions to several policies at the March meeting. All are posted on the Policies and Procedures page of the GME website.
    • GMEC Approved (Non-ACGME Accredited) Programs Policy: Revisions include adding language on restrictions on creating parallel non-ACGME programs if ACGME-accredited programs currently exist at the institution, restrictions on creating non-ACGME positions in ACGME programs, guidelines on appointments for non-ACGME programs seeking to apply for ACGME accreditation once available, and a requirement for non-ACGME programs to develop a program-specific eligibility and selection policy.
    • Institutional Supervision and Accountability Policy: Revisions include updated supervision requirements addressed in the ACGME Common Program Requirements, specialty-specific requirements for direct and indirect supervision via telecommunication technology, reference to procedure certifications outlined in the Case and Procedure Management Policy, and program requirements for supervision of handoffs.  The Supervision Policy template for programs was also updated and programs will be contacted soon to revise their program policies.
  • The COVID Vaccine requirement remains a condition of employment for all incoming residents and fellows. Programs, please see email from Hayley Fisher outlining the verification process (“COVID-19 Vaccine Verification Requirements for Incoming Residents and Fellows” dated 3/11/2022).  If you have an incoming resident/fellow seeking a medical or religious exemption, please notify GME as soon as possible.
  • COVID Booster requirement: All UW Medicine employees (except for those in non-clinical roles in the School of Medicine) are required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot or complete a declination process by March 31, 2022. There is still time to get your booster or to fulfill the other requirements for compliance. More information is available at the COVID-19 Booster Campaign.
  • UW Medicine has updated the Policy on Professional Conduct

Program Information

  • ACGME Emergency Categorization: Emergency Categorization for the UWSOM was granted on February 1, 2022, and expired March 2, 2022. The GME Office did not request an extension of Emergency Categorization. All previously suspended ACGME activities resume, and programs are subject to all Common and Specialty-Specific Program Requirements.
  • The GMEC has approved appointment of the following new program directors; all appointments await ACGME confirmation:
    • Kenneth Steinberg, Alaska Internal Medicine Rural Residency Program
    • Cary Paine, Nephrology
    • Amanda Maskovyak, Forensic Pathology

Events of Interest

  • We welcome new Program Directors and Program Administrators (<1 year) to join us for our April GME Meet & Greet on Monday, April 4 from 12 – 12:45pm (no registration is required).  This is intended to be an informal introductory event for our newest colleagues to meet each other and GME office staff.
  • GME Lunch & Learns
  • GME Program Administrators Meeting: Tuesday, April 19, 8:30-10:30am
  • Trauma Stewardship Institute Workshops: UW Medicine and the School of Medicine are partnering with Laura van Dernoot Lipsky and the Trauma Stewardship Institute to address the accumulative toll of the pandemic on UW Medicine healthcare staff and providers through a 2-hour system-wide workshop. Recordings will be posted online for those unable to attend live.
  • Register now for the GME Spring Program Director Development Series (PDDS) sessions!  See agenda. Registration closes at 8am on March 25.  Topics are:
    • Morning: Interdisciplinary Teamwork in the Clinical Learning Environment
    • Afternoon: Harmonizing the Milestones
  • Other GME Events can be found on our calendar

Projects and Resources

  • Please remember to check the GME website where many current forms, policies, processes, and educational resources are posted. We also appreciate your feedback about what else we can add to make it more useful. The GME Report a Concern form is a way for community members to report concerns to the GME Office (including the opportunity to report confidentially).
  • Thanks to UW Medicine Advancement for designing a new tool to support GME programs via the Graduate Medical Education Endowed Fund, which provides central support through the GME Office for resident and trainee research, diversity recruitment, community engagement and wellness activities.
  • Resources for parents:
  • UW Benefits has partnered with TIAA to bring a new resource for Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program!  To get started, go to the TIAA/Savi webpage. It will take around 15 or 20 minutes to answer the questions and get results. The results will show the optimal repayment plan and estimated monthly savings, as well as whether the employee qualifies for a forgiveness plan, how much could be forgiven, and when. For more information about this service, please visit our Public Student Loan Forgiveness If you have any questions about this new service, please contact UW Benefits at 206-543-4444.

People

Dr. Joyner’s Blog: March

by | Mar 9, 2022 | Announcements, News

Dr. Byron Joyner

Byron Joyner, MD, MPA

In Seattle, the sun is beginning shine and the number of people getting sick from COVID-19 is declining. As spring approaches, I want to thank the many heroes in our community: all of the residents and fellows; the faculty and nurses; the staff and leaders – all of you who worked countless hours on behalf of our patients and their families.

In the long shadow of COVID-19, we learned a lot of things. We learned that the unknown can be daunting, especially in the face of social conflagration. We learned that teamwork makes the work easier. We also learned the magic – and the monotony – of Zoom, and how it accelerated the care of our patients and of each other.

Our residents and fellows play an important role in caring for our patients at UW Medicine and they continue to be vital in all that we do. We value their work and their commitment to our community. In spite of the unknown that the pandemic wrought and the challenges of communicating hardships of death, we learned that we are resilient. You did that.

I am conscious of the sacrifices you have made during the last two years with your education and your patients. Our hope is to continue to find ways to support and partner with you in building a healthy work environment that continues to support you in the best way possible.

While showing appreciation for each other is something we can all do year round, I want to especially acknowledge all of you now. I am proud to recognize your efforts and your patience.

The mask mandate will be relaxed earlier than we had anticipated. We will be able to face each other and see the faces of others. It will be a welcomed relief for many and a sign that we are trying to get back to normal – albeit a new normal.

On behalf of the entire GME Team, I would like to thank you for your care of our patients and acknowledge how challenging the last two years have been for you as healthcare professionals. Thank you.

Byron Joyner, MD, MPA
Vice Dean for GME and DIO

 

GME News & Notes: February

by | Feb 25, 2022 | Announcements, Events, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community,

Cindy Hamra

Cindy Hamra Assistant Dean, GME

First, I want to express our concern and support for the members of our community with connections to Ukraine.  If you can benefit from support, please look to UW Medicine Employee Mental Health Resources.

Today, Friday, February 25, is Thank a Resident Day, sponsored by the Gold Foundation!  Please join the GME Office, and over 500 Institutions and programs in thanking our residents and fellows for their incredible mentorship, tireless hours of care, and for caring for patients with the deepest compassion!

As Black History Month comes to a close, I want to highlight blog posts by Dr. Daniel Cabrera on the work of the GME EDI Subcommittee and Dr. Joey Nelson, featuring a poem he recently published in the Family Medicine Journal.

We also want to say thank you – the GME Team enjoyed meeting many of you on February 3 at UWMC-ML.  We handed out 75 lunches and about 300 antigen tests.  Big thanks to our colleagues in UW Medicine Advancement and Faculty Affairs for the antigen tests.  We also enjoyed meeting with our Boise-based residents and fellows on January 27 following the annual Academic Affiliations Partnership Council meeting with the Boise VA.

The February 2022 issue of GME News & Notes includes a reminder about the COVID booster requirement, resources for parents, and many, many awards and publications.  As usual, if there’s anything you’d like to see included in next month’s News & Notes, please let me know.

February 2022 marks one year since the GME Office launched our DIO and News & Notes blogs.  Our goal was to provide information to our community in a clear and consistent way.  In the last year, we’ve had over 4000 unique views of blog posts, and Dr. Joyner’s April 2021 post regarding recruitment and match results has been the most read so far.  Thank you for reading and sharing and please let me know if you have feedback on how to make this better.

Policies and Processes

  • COVID booster requirement: All UW Medicine employees (except for those in non-clinical roles in the School of Medicine) are required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot or complete a declination process by Friday, March 4, 2022. If you haven’t received your booster, please go to the UW Medicine Employee Website for COVID-19 Vaccine Scheduling site to schedule your appointment.
  • UW Medicine has updated the Policy on Professional Conduct
  • UW Medicine Employee Assistance Fund: The University of Washington launched the COVID-19 Employee Emergency Fund (EEF) in June 2020 to support employees who have experienced a financial hardship due to the COVID-19. The EEF is still accepting applications. In addition, employees who have already received the maximum amount available to EEF recipients may now reapply if they experience a new financial hardship due to COVID-19 at least three months after last receiving EEF support.  Details are available on the UW COVID-19 Employee Emergency Fund.

Program Information

  • GMEC has approved appointment of the following new program directors.  ACGME approval is still required.
    • Ginny Ryan, Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility
    • Hannah Tully, Child Neurology
  • Welcome new GME Program Administrators:
    • Anthony Crookes, Clinical Neurophysiology, Epilepsy, Neuromuscular Medicine, and Vascular Neurology
    • Margot DuBois, Surgical Critical Care

Events of Interest

  • Join the Program Administrator Advisory Council (PAAC) from noon-1pm on Thursday, March 3 for an Onboarding Workshop to discuss onboarding requirements and timelines for the 2022-23 onboarding season.
  • Registration for the Spring Program Director Development Series (PDDS) is now open.  This season we are excited to be bringing you information about Interdisciplinary Teamwork in the Clinical Learning Environment and Harmonizing the Milestones.  Sessions will be offered Tuesday, March 29 and Thursday, April 28.  Please see the agenda for additional details on these important topics.  All sessions will be held on Zoom. Visit the PDDS Registration page to register.
  • A recording of the February GME Lunch & Learn on GME Finance and Funding is posted to the GME Lunch & Learn page. Please join us on Thursday, March 17 from noon-1:30 to discuss Annual Program Evaluations.
  • Join the Friday yoga series with Zem Yoga Studio. Ease into your Fridays with this eight-week, Friday morning yoga series beginning February 18. Classes are instructed by Amity Neumeister, resident director of the UW Rome Center.
  • Other GME Events can be found on our calendar

Projects and Resources

  • Please remember to check the GME website where many current forms, policies, processes, and educational resources are posted. We also appreciate your feedback about what else we can add to make it more useful. The GME Report a Concern form is a way for community members to report concerns to the GME Office (including the opportunity to report confidentially).
  • The GME Office is hiring a fourth Wellness Counselor! Please share with anyone who you think might be interested.
  • Thanks to UW Medicine Advancement for designing a new tool to support GME programs via the Graduate Medical Education Endowed Fund, which provides central support through the GME Office for resident and trainee research, diversity recruitment, community engagement and wellness activities.
  • Check out these discounts for winter adventures from the WholeU.
  • UW Medicine Office of Healthcare Equity Launches New Website: The new site includes information about the Healthcare Equity Blueprint, resources for employees, and information about OHCE programs.
  • Access TurboTax for free or receive a discount through UW CareLink: Use TurboTax for free or save up to $15 on TurboTax products. Log into your CareLink account, go to “Finances,” “Tax” and click “Save on TurboTax” to find out more.
  • Resources for parents:
    • Looking for a nanny? Through Bright Horizons, UW employees receive discounted rates for nanny services from College Nannies and free background checks for care providers through Sittercity.
    • Did you know that UW CareLink can research summer camps for your kids?  UW CareLink’s family specialists will ask about your family’s needs and identify options to keep your child safe, engaged and growing all summer long. The service is confidential and no-cost.
    • $0 co-pay for Bright Horizons in-center backup care:  During March and April, Bright Horizons is waiving co-pays for all in-center backup care. Reserve your spot now.
    • Child care openings for ages 3 to 5, available now at Harborview: Apply now for immediate child care availability at Harborview by submitting your application to the UW Children’s Center Harborview location.

People

  • Ryan (Johnson) Abe, acting instructor and chief resident, Internal Medicine, is lead author, and Tyler Albert, assistant professor (General Internal Medicine) is senior author of “Chief Residency Selection in Internal Medicine: Who Is Left Out?” in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. DOM co-authors are Oyinkansola Osobamiro, Anna Morenz, Nancy Mugisha, and Linda Liu.
  • Anne Browning, UW Medicine Assistant Dean for Wellbeing, is featured in this article about the UW Resilience Lab.
  • Eric Chow, fellow, Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is lead author of “SARS-CoV-2 Infections in Children” in Infectious Disease Clinics of North America.
  • Andre Dick, associate program director, Abdominal Transplant Surgery, has been appointed Seattle Children’s senior vice president (SVP) and surgeon-in-chief.  Dr. Dick also had a presentation at the American College of Surgeons annual meeting October 2019 and a publication entitled, “Does the Funding Source Influence the Long-term Patient Survival in Pediatric Liver Transplantation” in Pediatric Transplantation, March 2021.
  • The GME Office is thrilled to welcome Amanda Easton as Program Manager for Operations and Administration! In this newly created GME role, Amanda will help knit together the complex functions of the operations and administration team, providing program and project management.  Amanda joins us from the Department of Radiology where she is has served as Education Manager for almost 2 years, responsible for administration of education programs including 100+ full time trainees and 200+ other individuals rotating through the 10+ training programs.  Her first day with GME will be Monday March 14. 
  • Melissa (Moe) Hagman receives 2022 Laureate Award. Dr. Hagman, associate professor (General Internal Medicine) and program director for the Boise Internal Medicine Residency Program was selected for the 2022 Laureate Award by the Idaho American College of Physicians. The Laureate Award honors those Fellows and Masters of the College who have demonstrated by their example and conduct, an abiding commitment to excellence in medical care, education, or research and in service to their community, their Chapter, and the American College of Physicians.  She was selected for her track record of hard work in supporting and role modelling in medical education, professionalism and academic leadership in the state of Idaho and nationally.
  • Madeleine Heldman, fellow, is lead author and Joshua Hill, assistant professor, Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is senior author of “Assessing and restoring adaptive immunity to HSV, VZV and HHV-6 in solid organ and hematopoietic cell transplant recipients” in Clinical Microbiology and Infection.
  • Aris Karatasakis, senior fellow, is lead author and Kelley Branch, professor, Cardiology, is senior author of “Prevalence and Patterns of Resuscitation-Associated Injury Detected by Head-to-Pelvis Computed Tomography After Successful Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation” in the Journal of the American Heart Association. DOM co-authors are Linda Liu, Peter Kudenchuk, and David Carlbom.
  • Michael Leu, program director, Clinical Informatics fellowship, is the new Chair of the American Medical Informatics Association Community of Informatics Program Directors.
  • Michael Linenberger, program director, Hematology-Oncology fellowship, has been awarded the American Society for Apheresis Presidential Award for 2022. This is the apheresis society’s most prestigious annual award and is bestowed upon a member of the Society who has consistently made major contributions to, and performed outstanding service for the Society over a number of years.
  • Tanya Meyer, program director, Otolaryngology – HNS, reports new findings on the benefits to work productivity of ongoing botulinum neurotoxin injections for those experiencing spasmodic dysphonia, a rare disorder that makes the voice sound strangled and hoarse. The findings will help many patients receive the treatment they need in order to be able to function at work, where communication is so critical. Read the full article in the UW Medicine Newsroom.
  • Dr. Meyer is also working on Project West, a multi-institutional research project with Emory, Vanderbilt, and Michigan. Grace Wandell, resident, Otolaryngology – HNS, is serving as UW’s resident liaison. The project is a longitudinal perspective survey of surgical trainees from multiple fields including otolaryngology. It investigates work satisfaction, such as how certain workplace experiences relate to URM and gender status, and explores factors associated with well-being and burnout.
  • Anisha Noble, R5, Otolaryngology – HNS, has been named the 2021 WIO Exemplary Senior Trainee. This award, from the Women in Otolaryngology section at AAO-HNS, “recognizes an outstanding female senior resident or fellow in an otolaryngology – head and neck surgery training program who demonstrates excellence in leadership, research, education, and mentoring.”
  • Henry Ou, program director, Pediatric Otolaryngology fellowship, received a 2021 Family Choice Award from Seattle Children’s. This is the only award exclusively nominated by patients and their families and voted on by the Family Advisory Council. Oh created a Minecraft World of Seattle Children’s Hospital. 
  • The UW Medicine Office of Student Affairs joined with the career advising team to host its inaugural First-Generation advising session on November 9, 2021, the day after National First-Generation College Day. The AAMC defines first-generation students as those whose parents have not earned an associate’s degree or higher. The goal was to create a sense of community among all UW medical students from across the WWAMI region by acknowledging their paths to medical school, providing an opportunity to network, and providing holistic advising and support for students for successful progression through medical school. Ricky Pulido, resident, Otolaryngology – HNS and Jessica Pinto, resident, Internal Medicine, co-hosted the event.
  • Vince Raikhel, acting instructor and chief resident for Quality and Safety at the VA Puget Sound and Kevin Blau, inpatient chief resident at the VA Puget Sound, are co-first authors, and Jeff Redinger, clinical assistant professor (General Internal Medicine), is senior author of “From Panic to Promise: Harnessing Medical Student Leadership in COVID-19” in the American Journal of Medicine.
  • Tara Reid, fellow, Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been awarded the Sexually Transmitted Infections Cooperative Research Centers (STI CRC) Developmental Research Project (DRP) award for her work in Syphilis vaccine strategies.
  • Doug Wood, Chair, Department of Surgery, is featured in this article in the UW Newsroom regarding screening to prevent cancer deaths.
  • David Yun and Matt Wolter, residents, Boise Internal Medicine residency program, won Best Clinical Vignette for their poster “A Seasonal Case of Encephalitis: Neuroinvasive West Nile” at the recent Northwest Chapter of the Society for General Internal Medicine conference.
  • Two UW Otolaryngology – HNS residents have been awarded prestigious CORE grants from two of the member societies of the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery: ARS and AAO-HNSF.
    • Eve Champaloux was awarded an ARS Resident Research Grant for her project, “Olfactory Stimulation of Dopaminergic Reward Pathways in the Rat Brain.”
    • Allison Ikeda was awarded an AAO-HNSF Resident Research Grant for her project, “Decision Making Among Adults Considering Sleep Surgery.”
  • The American College of Surgeons 2021 Clinical Congress “Resilience in the Pursuit of Excellence” was held virtually in October 2021. Department of Surgery faculty and residents were well represented at the event, notably participating in the following lectures and panels:
    • Nina Clark, resident, was nominated for the 2021 Emergency Medicine Consultant of the Year Award. This award recognizes the exceptional work of those who assist in the care of patients within the Emergency Departments at the UWMC-ML and Harborview Medical Center.
    • Lindsay Dickerson, resident, general surgery, was awarded a postdoctoral training fellowship from the Cancer Research Institute. This is a prestigious research fellowship that “furthers career development and supports laboratory research for promising young scientists working under the mentorship of leading immunologists.”
    • David Droullard, resident, general surgery, “Assessing the Impact of Diverticulitis on Quality of Life Over Time
    • Alex Lois, resident, general surgery, “The Use and Safety of POEM and Other Definitive Management Strategies for Achalasia”
    • Amit Pujari, resident, vascular surgery, “How I Do It: Left Renal Vein Transposition”
    • Joshua Rosen, resident, general surgery, “Treatment Risk Perceptions Vary Based on How Risk Information is Communicated” and “Unrealistic Optimism About Surgical Treatment Risk”
    • Abra Shen, resident, plastic surgery, “Medical Student Program–Resident Panel: Transitioning into Residency”
    • Denzel Woode, resident, general surgery, was awarded second prize for his presentation, “DEI in the Department of Surgery: Exploring Our Present and Building Our Future,” at the 2021 WA/OR ACS Annual Meeting
    • Irene Zhang, resident, general surgery, “Perspectives on Opioid Minimization After Surgery and The Impact of Surgeon Messaging”
  • Congratulations to members of the GME community nominated for the Together We Will Awards. Temporarily replacing the Distinguished Staff Awards, the Together We Will Awards were created to celebrate outstanding staff contributions made during extraordinary challenges. The nominees include:
    • Gwen Credit, Associate Director, Family Medicine Residency Program
    • Sonya Fukeda, Program Operations Specialist, School of Medicine Obstetrics and Gynecology
    • Stephanie Timm, Education & Training Programs Manager, Dermatology

Thank a Resident Day

by | Feb 25, 2022 | News, Resident & Fellow Events

Dear Residents and Fellows,

Today is Thank a Resident Day, sponsored by the Gold Foundation.

On behalf of the entire GME Team, we want to expressly thank you for your care of our patients, and acknowledge how challenging the last 2+ years have been for you as healthcare professionals. We are conscious of the sacrifices you are making for your education and your patients. Our hope is to continue to find ways to support and partner with you in building a healthy work environment.

We have some small thank you gifts available at many of our training sites today.  Please drop by if you are on site during business hours:

  • UWMC-ML: Medical Director’s Office (AA-316)
  • HMC: Medical Director’s Office (Room 1CT-97) **Office only open until 3:45pm**
  • VA Puget Sound: Morning Report Room (Building 100, Room 4B-102)
  • Seattle Children’s Hospital: GME Office (Ocean, Room 7.830)

**Thank you to Drs. Tom Staiger, Rick Goss, Vince Raikhel, Katherine Alberty, and Susan Marshall, and Kari Dietrich and Natalie Brady for your help!

Grateful for you today – and every day,

Byron Joyner, MD, MPA
Vice Dean for GME and DIO

Jennifer Best, MD
Associate Dean, Accreditation and Education

Cindy Hamra, JD
Assistant Dean, Operations and Administration

Thank A Resident Banner From Arnold Gold Foundation

Reflection – by Joseph Nelson

by | Feb 17, 2022 | News

Dr. Byron JoynerI am honored to be able to share a poem by Family Medicine R3 Dr. Joseph Nelson, which was recently published in the Family Medicine Journal and presented at GMEC. I thought that this poem was so impactful, that it should be published in this 2nd blog post for the month of February.

Byron Joyner, MD, MPA
Vice Dean for GME and DIO

Joey NelsonResidents and trainees often encounter language or behaviors that may display indifference or may even feel hostile. Language and actions that perpetuate negative stereotypes that lack empathy or express bias against marginalized groups of people is not unexpected in a workforce that has historically lacked diversity. But, these types of words and actions are still hurtful. The following poem was written in response to statements and actions made to me by medical professionals during a week-long teaching conference I attended.

Joseph Nelson, MD

Reflection

Joseph Nelson, MD
Family Medicine R3

It was the water that calmed him, this Native American man. The soothing clatter against nearby rock, the rhythm and dance of current, and the crystal clearness which revealed a mysterious world unseen by many.

It was a doctor who asked him earlier, “can’t we do a fish dance?” a reference as clear as the water before him.

It was a doctor who mentioned the “Redskins” of football fame as they spoke to him and his skin of red.

It was a doctor that taught him how an infant sits “Indian-style” as it passes breech from its mother’s womb.

It was a doctor who jokingly named a child “Sleeps-with-snakes,” a parody of an honor he was yet to receive.

It was a doctor who shared an imaginary case about an IHS patient who was, of course, high, a stereotype too often made.

It was a doctor who shared the same story months ago, also in teaching, but this time very clearly an “Indian” and very bluntly “drunk.”

It was a doctor who mockingly imitated a Chilean woman in jest, cursing through her labor.

It was a doctor who mentioned “scalping,” while placing a vacuum extractor on an infant model. And it was a doctor who smiled for a photo, proudly raising the same dark-skinned model by a cord up high, as it dangled lifeless and still, as if lynched by his white hand.

No matter how brief or subjective in view, it was doctors who said and did these things, even while teaching. And it was a doctor resting at the water’s edge, calmed in the presence of his ancestral land, as these acts of racism faded only in spoken word.

It is important that we recognize the power of our words and actions, and the potential for harm, even if harm was never intended.

Source:
Nelson J. Reflection. Fam Med. 2022;54(2):142-142. https://doi.org/10.22454/FamMed.2022.882975
Copyright Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. Used by permission.

Dr. Joyner’s Blog: February

by | Feb 9, 2022 | News

I’ve been reading The 1619 Project – a historical reflection of our American history which stresses the significance of Black people in this country and our long shadow in that history. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about what happened, why we are who we are in this country and what we can do to be better.

Black History Month is a time to celebrate Americans who have contributed immensely to our present culture and yet are still struggling to be recognized as valuable citizens of these United States. This is the third reconstruction era of our 400 years as Black people in this country, and it is critical that we all work together to maintain the right to vote for all Americans, to support better housing and healthcare for the vulnerable and people of color and to be vocal about anti-Black racism in our community and in our country.

I am proud that we have begun our work together in all of these areas. Residents and fellows, faculty and staff have risen to the challenge. The Network of Underrepresented Residents and Fellows (NURF), the Committee on Minority Faculty Affairs and the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Graduate Medical Education Subcommittee have all been active in planning and dedicated to this work. There is a lot to do, which          Dr. Daniel Cabrera reflects upon in his message to our GME community.

I have invited Dr. Cabrera to be the guest writer for the DIO Blog this month, which is timely and relevant. Let’s not forget that this is the opportunity for us all to make a big difference.

Byron Joyner, MD, MPA
Vice Dean for GME and DIO

Dear Colleagues,

Daniel Cabrera, MD

February is a time of year usually filled with a great deal of introspection and reflection of what matters most in my world. This is probably because it’s my birth month and birthdays seem to be a good day to examine a multitude of questions. What am I doing with my life? Are we going to be ok? Do my work clothes still fit after months of working in scrubs or wearing pajama bottoms for endless Zoom meetings? Ultimately, I have gratitude for the little and big things creating fulfillment in my own life while recognizing the larger issues around us that create continuous challenges as we roll into the early part of 2022.

One of the things I am grateful for is my role as the chair of GME’s Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (EDI) Subcommittee. I am honored to serve alongside a diverse group of committee members with a unified vision to make UW GME better. The committee’s work continues because there is no shortage of areas needing change. The goal is to ensure that GME programs are provided with the resources and tools to recruit and retain diverse trainees, make the training environment more inclusive for historically excluded and minoritized housestaff, and educate all trainees on integrating health equity into the care of patients. In the coming months, be on the lookout for new resources on the GME website that will support these goals.

As I reflect on our diverse trainees, I can’t help but be concerned about their wellbeing during these difficult times. This latest wave of Omicron, which appears to be improving, has been especially hard on our residents and fellows across the UW. And for those whose identities intersect with backgrounds not usually welcomed in medicine, the impacts may be far greater. I’ve heard anecdotally from BIPOC trainees about the worsening isolation that comes during periods like this, especially for folks who lack community during training. So, what are we to do?

I believe that Black History Month is the perfect time to reflect upon and recommit to the importance of EDI. Black history is sometimes referred to as America’s history. In thinking about this statement rather than remembering, reflecting, and celebrating the contributions of Black folk during the shortest month of the year, we should work to do this all year round. Integration rather than separation allows for sustainable change.   And by that same token, EDI is not just the work of a few or the work of “minorities.” EDI is everyone’s responsibility. It is a WE issue not a ME issue.

As the cloud of COVID clears I encourage everyone in the GME community to integrate the goals of our EDI subcommittee into their regular practice. Let’s get back to the practice of checking in on each other while recognizing that not everyone experiences a situation the same because of their identity. Let’s find ways to provide equitable care for our patients. Let’s find ways to diversify UW Medicine even more. For those who have yet to take part in EDI, don’t worry, our table has a lot of room. I am confident that on my birthday next year I will look back and think “Look at how we have all made UW GME better.”

 

Daniel Cabrera, MD, MPH
Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Medicine

GME News & Notes: January

by | Jan 24, 2022 | Announcements, Events, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community,

First, our sincere thanks to our colleagues in UWMC and Health Sciences Building facilities, who replaced all mattresses and box springs in the Crow’s Nest on Friday, January 21.  We advocated for this change based on information received via the GME Report a Concern form.  Remember to check the GME website for Information by Training Site: Sleep/Rest Facilities, Food, Quiet Spaces.

The January issue of GME News & Notes includes information about the updated return to work policy, a reminder that the COVID vaccine is a condition of employment, and information about three updated policies.  We also share information about the new GME Endowed Fund, and many individual awards and recognition.  If there’s anything you’d like to see included in next month’s News & Notes, please let me know.

Please remember to check the GME website where many current forms, policies, processes, and educational resources are posted.  We also appreciate your feedback about what else we can add to make website more useful.

Finally, we were excited to see that The Huddle article from June 2021 welcoming our new residents and fellows was one of the 10 most read last year!  2021 Year in Review | UW Medicine Huddle.

Happy New Year,

 

Cindy Hamra

Cindy Hamra
Assistant Dean, GME

Policies and Processes

  • UW Medicine Staffing During COVID Surge: Please read the Staffing During COVID-19 Surge; Updating Our Return-to-Work Policy announcement sent on January 19 from UW Medicine leadership.
  • The Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) approved revisions to several policies at the January meeting. All are posted on the Policies and Procedures page of the GME website.
    • Case and Procedures Management Policy: Revisions includes updates to guidelines for safeguarding protected health information (PHI), case and procedure log management and tracking guidelines for trainees and programs, and the addition of a new section on procedures certification management in MedHub.
    • Immunization and Health Screening Policy: Includes the addition of full vaccination against COVID-19 as a requirement prior to first day of training.
    • Residency and Fellowship Position Appointment (RFPA) Agreement (2022-2023): A communication about revisions to the RFPA for AY23 was sent to programs, residents and fellows on January 14.  Programs currently interviewing for next academic year must share the updated agreement with applicants invited to interview.
  • COVID Vaccines, Boosters and Attestations
    • COVID Vaccine Requirement: Programs must continue to communicate to applicants that the COVID-19 vaccine is required as a condition of employment. This requirement is on the Prospective Resident and Fellows page of the GME website and included in the Immunization and Health Screening Policy.
    • COVID Booster Signup and Documentation: Due to the rapidly increasing prevalence of the Omicron variant in our community, it is more important than ever to get a COVID-19 booster if you are eligible.  Sign up on the UW Medicine Employee Website for COVID-19 Vaccine Scheduling site.  If you received your booster outside of UW Medicine, please submit documentation of your booster to Employee Health so that your record can be updated.  Information about boosters and how to provide documentation can be found on the GME COVID-19 Updates page under Vaccine Compliance.
    • UW and UW Medicine COVID symptom daily attestations: For trainees engaged in any clinical activity during a given day, they need to complete the UW Medicine attestation, NOT the UW Workday attestation. Link to the attestation: 2019 Novel Coronavirus (nCoV) Response Program (uwmedicine.org). QR codes linking to this attestation are also all over clinical sites.
    • Vaccine Requirements & Attestation for non-UW Medicine Training sites:  GME has received information about vaccine requirements for non-UW Medicine training sites.  See the COVID-19 Updates page of this website for details.  If you know of others, please share them with us so we can distribute broadly.
  • Please make sure that you’re wearing a mask when you’re in a UW Medicine or UW space! Employees are required comply with the COVID-19 Face Covering Policy on campus or the UW Medicine face covering policy at the medical centers as a condition of employment or will be subject to corrective or disciplinary action including dismissal from University employment.
  • UW Medicine Employee Assistance Fund: The University of Washington launched the COVID-19 Employee Emergency Fund (EEF) in June 2020 to support employees who have experienced a financial hardship due to the COVID-19. The pandemic continues to take a financial toll and the EEF is still accepting applications. In addition, employees who have already received the maximum amount available to EEF recipients may now reapply if they experience a new financial hardship due to COVID-19 at least three months after last receiving EEF support.  
  • Please continue to check the Travel Restrictions section of our COVID-19 Updates page for updated travel guidelines from the GME Office, UW Medicine, and the UW Office of Global Affairs, including updated restrictions on international travel.

Program Information

  • The GMEC approved the appointment of Lianne Hirano, as the new program director for the Palliative Medicine fellowship at the January meeting.  ACGME approval is still required.
  • Welcome new GME Program Administrators:
    • Erin Greenfield, Pediatric Infectious Diseases
    • Amanda Jamieson, Pediatric Pulmonology
    • Megan Osika-Dass, Neurological Surgery
  • The National Resident Matching Program announced the transition to a new combined Medicine and Pediatric Subspecialties Match beginning in 2022 for the 2023 appointment year. This change will benefit both programs as well as partners from each specialty who can now apply to the Match as a couple.
  • The ACGME released a Letter to the Community on January 13 addressing Changes in Response to GME Community’s Concerns which describes the changes being implemented by the ACGME to respond to the current environment, balanced with their accreditation responsibilities to programs, residents, fellows and patient care.
  • The ACGME is still accepting applications and letters of interest for the next round of Back to Bedside projects.  The ACGME seeks proposals for awards for resident- and fellow-developed, innovative, grassroots strategies to improve, foster, or cultivate meaning in clinical learning environments by increasing opportunities to build connections with patients and improving the physician-patient relationship. Proposals are due February 21, 2022.
  • Updated ACGME Program Directors’ Guide Available: An update to the residency version of the Program Directors’ Guide to the Common Program Requirements has been completed. This focused revision addresses changes in the requirements since the Guide was first published. The eBook is now available on the ACGME website and in Learn at ACGME. The updated fellowship version of the Guide will be available soon.
  • Milestones Mid-Year Reporting Window Open Until February 11: In response to the recent COVID-19 surge and its impact on Sponsoring Institutions and programs, the reporting window has been extended by one month until Friday, February 11, 2022. This change is reflected in the Accreditation Data System (ADS).  Milestones assessments can be submitted via ADS at any point before this date.
  • Annual ACGME Awards: The ACGME is now accepting nominations for the 2023 Awards Cycle. Deadline is Wednesday, April 6, 2022, 5:00 p.m. Central time.

Events of Interest

  • GME Lunch & Learns: The Recording and Materials from our January Lunch & Learn are now available on the GME website.  Topics covered include ACGME Surveys and Disability Accommodations for Applicants and Trainees.  The next Lunch & Learn on February 17 will cover GME Financing and Funding.
  • Navigating Parental Leave for Resident Physicians:  Thursday, February 3, from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.  All residents, fellows and guests are encouraged to attend via Zoom.  See agenda.  For those unable to attend, the event recording will be posted on the Resident & Fellow Seminars page of the GME website.  If you are looking for information on Leave prior to February, please explore our Growing Your Family webpage.
  • Mindful Resilience: Managing and Thriving with Stress and Challenges: This 6-week course draws from the empirically validated approaches of both Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) curricula, as well as some of the latest neuroscience and research work around trauma and resilience. Sessions run Tuesdays, January 11 through February 15, 2022, from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. For more information, please visit the UW Center for Child and Family Well-Being website.
  • Coping with Uncertainty & Effects of Chronic and Acute Stress on Well-Being: Wednesday, February 9, from 12 -1 p.m. This session of the UW Medicine Well-Being and Resilience Curriculum will look at models of post disaster recovery and emotional well-being.
  • Other GME Events can be found on our calendar

Projects and Resources

  • The GME Office is currently hiring for two new positions: Float Administrator (Req #199360) and Program Manager, Operations & Administration (Req # 201458).
  • Thanks to UW Medicine Advancement for designing a new tool to support GME programs via the Graduate Medical Education Endowed Fund, which provides central support through the GME Office for resident and trainee research, diversity recruitment, community engagement and wellness activities.
  • Congratulations to the Housestaff Quality and Safety Committee (HQSC) on the recent publication of HOUSE. This edition coincides with HQSC’s 10 year anniversary.
  • Bright Horizon’s Backup Care: Effective January 1, 2022, all Bright Horizons backup care can be reserved up to 60 days in advance, with a cancellation notice of 48 hours. Additionally, for those needing care for mid-winter break or spring break, please note that in March and April of 2022, Bright Horizons will offer $0 co-pays for in-center backup care.
  • Looking for discounts to on winter activities in the region? Check out the list of Winter Discounts offered from the WholeU.

People

  • Cammie Bullock, program administrator for Pediatric Cardiology, Congenital Cardiac Surgery, and the Pediatric Cardiology subspecialties, is the new co-Chair for the Program Administrator Advisory Council (PAAC).
  • Daniel Cabrera, chair of the GMEC EDI Subcommittee is featured in The Huddle: “Building Equity Within Graduate Medical Education”
  • Congratulations to Cameron Chalker, resident, Internal Medicine, who has been selected as a recipient of the Fall 2021 UW Medicine Cares Awards. UW Medicine established the UW Medicine Cares Award in 2013, a program to formally recognize and celebrate the accomplishments and excellence of those in the UW Medicine community who consistently exemplify the UW Medicine Service Culture Guidelines.
  • Başak Çoruh, associate professor and fellowship program director, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, will serve as Vice Chair of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) Education Committee, effective May 2022.
  • Jedediah Doane, resident, Internal Medicine, is lead author and Eoin West, professor, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, is senior author of “Progressive Pulmonary Fibrosis After Non-Critical COVID-19: A Case Report” in the American Journal of Case Reports. DOM co-authors are Mark Wurfel and Kellen Hirsch.
  • Kat McGhee Drummond, program administrator, Rheumatology fellowship, is the subject of the Department of Medicine Staff Spotlight for December.
  • Lauren Feld, fellow, Gastroenterology, co-wrote “Progress still needed for pregnant and postpartum gastroenterologists” in GI & Hepatology News.
  • Vickie Hau, resident, Anesthesiology, has been selected for the 2022 HQSC co-chair position. Dr. Hau is completing her residency in Anesthesiology this year and will continue at UW as a fellow next year in Obstetric Anesthesiology.  She has expressed a passion for increasing housestaff engagement in patient safety and quality improvement and has been involved in efforts to standardize operating room procedures to decrease variance and waste.
  • Cooper Kersey, resident, Internal Medicine, is lead author, and Younghoon Kwon, associate professor, Cardiology, is senior author of “Cardiac Arrest during Transesophageal Echocardiogram (TEE) due to Acute Right Ventricular Failure” in Case Reports in Cardiology. DOM co-authors are Fitsumberhan Medhane, Andrew Pattock, Linda Liu, and Gary Huang.
  • Amy Law, GME learning gateway lead instructional designer, is co-author of A Brief Online Implicit Bias Intervention for School Mental Health Clinicians
  • Olubusola Oluwole, fellow, Hematology and Oncology, is the inaugural recipient of the National Hemophilia Foundation Diversity Jeanne Marie Lush (JML) Diversity Fellowship.
  • Gabrielle Paras, resident, Internal Medicine, is lead author, and Roland Walter, professor, Hematology, is senior author of “Conditioning Intensity and Peri-Transplant Flow Cytometric MRD Dynamics in Adult AML” in Blood. DOM co-authors are Filippo Milano, Brenda Sandmaier, Lucas Zarling, Mary Flowers, H. Joachim Deeg, Frederick Appelbaum, and Rainer Storb.
  • Shobha Stack, fellow, Palliative Medicine, is lead author and Jennifer Best, associate dean, GME, is senior author of “Parental Leave Policies in Residency: A National Survey of Internal Medicine Program Directors” in Academic Medicine.
  • Congratulations to the following recipients of Idaho American College of Physicians Awards:
    • Clinical Vignette by Resident: Pramod Chavali and Rick LeCheminant, residents, Internal Medicine-Boise
    • Quality Improvement Project: James Yan, resident, Internal Medicine-Boise and a group of interprofessional colleagues

January Blog: Negotiations Pledge GME 2022

by | Jan 6, 2022 | Announcements, News

Dear Residents, Fellows and GME Community,

Happy New Year!

Dr. Byron JoynerAs we enter 2022, the Resident & Fellow Physician Union – Northwest (RFPU-NW) and the University of Washington begin bargaining for the third collective bargaining agreement. The last two negotiations were both lengthy and challenging.  We hope that the next six months will be different with each side coming to the table with goodwill and shared commitment towards collegial, productive discussions.

The UW GME Office looks forward to celebrating housestaff wins. Our role in negotiations is to advocate for the housestaff to UW Medicine leadership, serve as subject matter experts regarding matters of policy, accreditation, and finances, and to connect with other subject matter experts whose scope affects residents and fellows.

Accordingly, the GME Office commits to the following values as we enter negotiations in 2022:

  1. Be at the table regarding decisions that affect our residents and fellows
  2. Articulate clear common goals in support of the work that residents and fellows do and to secure resources for them
  3. Serve as an expert in accreditation and education, bridging UW Medicine and the housestaff during and after negotiations
  4. Appreciate and enculturate a healthy, diverse and inclusive learning environment
  5. Promote well-being so that our community can grow and thrive
  6. Consistently interact in a professional and collegial manner with all parties involved in negotiations

All contract negotiations are challenging, and the reality is that compromises are necessary to arrive at any agreement.  We expect difficult conversations but look forward to a process that is collegial and ultimately elevates us all.

Byron Joyner, MD, MPA
Vice Dean for GME and DIO

GME News & Notes: December

by | Dec 17, 2021 | Announcements, Events, GME News & Notes, News

Dear GME Community,

Our team enjoyed meeting so many residents and fellows at Harborview last week to hand out lunches.  Thanks to UW Medicine Advancement for providing the Peet’s coffee as well.  There’s lots to share in the December 2021 issue of News & Notes including a how to submit documentation of your COVID booster, updated information about the UW Medicine Employee Assistance Fund, Holiday Gift Guidelines and an update to UW’s Bereavement Policy, in addition to events, resources and publications.

As the end of 2021 approaches, we want to make sure you’re aware that the GME website is the first place to go to find current forms, policies, processes, and educational resources. We also appreciate your feedback about what else we can add to the website to make it more useful.

Finally, we want to (re) share A Message From Dr. Paul Ramsey, CEO: Holiday Greetings and Thank You to Our UW Medicine Community.

If you have anything you would like included in future News & Notes posts, please send to me at hamrac@uw.edu.

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season,

 

Cindy Hamra

Cindy Hamra
Assistant Dean, GME

Policies and Processes

  • Industry Interactions Policy:  The GMEC approved revisions to the Industry Interactions Policy (formerly known as the Vendor Interactions Policy) at the December meeting.  Changes include closer alignment with the UW School of Medicine Policy on Potential Financial Conflicts of Interest for Commercial and Non-Profit Entities; new sections on speeches/presentations at meetings and consulting; and updates to the FAQs.
  • COVID Boosters and Attestations
    • COVID Booster Signup and Documentation: Due to the rapidly increasing prevalence of the Omicron variant in our community, it is more important than ever to get a COVID-19 booster if you are eligible.  Sign up on the UW Medicine Employee Website for COVID-19 Vaccine Scheduling site.  If you received your booster outside of UW Medicine, please submit documentation of your booster to Employee Health so that your record can be updated.  Information about boosters and how to provide documentation can be found on the GME COVID-19 Updates page under Vaccine Compliance.
    • UW and UW Medicine COVID symptom daily attestations: For trainees engaged in any clinical activity during a given day, they need to complete the UW Medicine attestation, NOT the UW Workday attestation. Link to the attestation: 2019 Novel Coronavirus (nCoV) Response Program (uwmedicine.org). QR codes linking to this attestation are also all over clinical sites.
    • Vaccine Requirements & Attestation for non-UW Medicine Training sites:  GME has received information about vaccine requirements for non-UW Medicine training sites.  See the COVID-19 Updates page of this website for details.  If you know of others, please share them with us so we can distribute broadly.
  • UW Medicine Employee Assistance Fund: The University of Washington launched the COVID-19 Employee Emergency Fund (EEF) in June 2020 to support employees who have experienced a financial hardship due to the COVID-19. The pandemic continues to take a financial toll and the EEF is still accepting applications. In addition, employees who have already received the maximum amount available to EEF recipients may now reapply if they experience a new financial hardship due to COVID-19 at least three months after last receiving EEF support.  
  • Update to Bereavement Policy to support staff impacted by miscarriage or stillbirth: UWHR has updated the Bereavement time off webpage to note that the policy applies to miscarriage or stillbirth of the employee’s child. In accordance with collective bargaining agreements, eligible employees may take up to three days of paid bereavement time off. Managers may approve sick time off to extend an absence when a staff member needs more time to grieve, heal, make arrangements and cope with a loss.
  • 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.
  • Please continue to check the Travel Restrictions section of our COVID-19 Updates page for updated travel guidelines from the GME Office, UW Medicine, and the UW Office of Global Affairs, including updated restrictions on international travel.
  • 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.

Program Information

  • Welcome new GME Program Administrators:
    • Kay Burke, Thoracic Surgery and Thoracic Surgery-Integrated, Department of Surgery
    • Arielle Miles, Addiction Medicine, Department of Medicine
    • Meryl Yang, Allergy and Immunology; Global and Rural Health, Department of Medicine
  • 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

  • “Got Burnout?”: Monday, December 20, 4-5pm Zoom Link, Meeting ID: 9990929 Passcode: 371555
  • Exploring Gratitude: Positive Emotions and Expansive Thinking: The next session of the UW Medicine Well-Being and Resilience Curriculum is on exploring gratitude. Practicing gratitude is one of the keys to experiencing resilience and to mitigating risks of burnout. Wednesday, January 12, 12-1pm.
  • Free drop-in mindfulness meditation: Reflect with gratitude on compassion given and received this past year, and learn ways to cultivate and recommit to a compassionate new year with the Center for Child & Family Well-Being.
  • Other GME Events can be found on our calendar

Projects and Resources

People

  • Sarah Baker, fellow, Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is lead author, and. Conrad Liles, professor and associate chair, is senior author of “Clinical presentation, complications, and outcomes of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in an academic center with a centralized palliative care consult service” in Heath Science Reports. DOM co-authors are Doug Leedy, Jesse Abbott Klafter, Yilin Zhang, Tristan Osborn, Richard Cheng, Seth Judson, Susan Merel, Carmen Mikacenic, and Pavan Bhatraju.
  • Jennifer Best, associate dean, GME, Weston Powell, fellow, Pediatric Pulmonary, and Heather McPhillips, program director, Pediatrics residency, were recently featured on the AAP podcast for their research on parenting during pediatric residency. 
  • Workplace discrimination common among liver doctors: Hepatologists say they experience workplace discrimination, especially if they are women or BIPOC, results from a new survey reveal. Lauren Feld, fellow, Gastroenterology, presented her results at the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease this month. The study was conducted through the AASLD Women’s Initiatives Committee. Read the story from UW Medicine Newsroom.
  • Lauren Feld, fellow, Gastroenterology, is quoted in “Workplace Discrimination Common in Hepatology” in Medscape and “’Concerning’ Opioid Prescribing in Patients With Cirrhosis— PCPs more than twice as likely as gastroenterologists to prescribe opioids” in MedPage Today.
  • Christine Johnston, associate program director, Infectious Diseases fellowship, talked to KUOW for “Seattle Now: Your booster questions, answered.”
  • Heather McPhillips is the new Associate Dean for Curriculum for the University of Washington School of Medicine. She will officially begin the position on December 1, 2021 and will transition to the full scope of responsibilities on March 16, 2022. Heather will transition out of her current role as Program Director, Pediatrics.
  • Ryan Murphy, senior fellow, is lead author and Teal Hallstrand, professor, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine) is senior author of “Selecting the Optimal Therapy for Mild Asthma” in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society. DOM co-authors are Garbo Mak and Laura Feemster. 
  • The VA Puget Sound welcomes new Deputy Associate Chief of Staff for Education, Aaron Norr, who will primarily be responsible for Staff Development. Norr also holds an appointment as an Acting Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
  • Please join GME in welcoming Branden Phanmaha as Business Analyst in GME Finance starting December 15th.  The Business Analyst role will support billing and accounts receivable as well as lead several continuous improvement projects. 
  • Paul Pottinger, Program Director, Infectious Diseases Fellowship, is quoted in “Healthy Living: Staying safe while traveling for the holidays” from Q13 Fox.
  • Evelyn Qin, resident, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, is primary author of Patient-reported functional outcomes 30 days after hospitalization for COVID-19 – PubMed (nih.gov) Mentors include James Andrews, assistant professor, Division of Rheumatology.
  • Vax the Max: Over the summer of 2021 it was noted that there were tens of admitted patients at the VA Puget Sound who had no documented COVID-19 immunization. In response The Chief Residents at the VA implemented the Vax the Max This is a gamification of COVID-19 tasks where internal medicine ward teams are awarded points for COVID-19 vaccine engagement. Points are awarded for vaccine administration, scheduling vaccination after discharge, and for counselling vaccine hesitant patients. The competition has been paired with a vaccine hesitancy workshop that is offered monthly to all medical students and residents rotating on medicine services at the VA. Team points are tallied weekly, and a trophy rotates to the team with the most points. At the end of the block a certificate, signed by VA and Internal Medicine Residency leadership, is awarded to the team with the most points accumulated over the 4-week block. Since implementation, we have observed an increase in our hospitals rate of COVID-19 immunization, and recently passed the milestone of 100 vaccines being administered since implementation of Vax the Max. Thanks to Chief Resident for Quality and Patient Safety VA Puget Sound, Vincent Raikhel for sharing.
  • Lauren Samples, Hematology Oncology fellow, was awarded the title of Practitioner Lead in Quality & Safety within the Hospital & Specialty Medicine service line at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. This new, annual award recognizes and celebrates providers involved in quality improvement and patient safety endeavors. Lauren was specifically acknowledged for her participation in the “Medicine call cycle restructuring” project.
  • Neha Sathe, fellow, is lead author and Mark Wurfel, professor, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, is senior author of “Relationships Between Age, Soluble Triggering Receptor Expressed On Myeloid Cells-1 (Strem-1), And Mortality Among Critically Ill Adults: A Cohort Study” in Shock. DOM co-authors are Pavan Bhatraju, Carmen Mikacenic, Eric Morrell, F. Linzee Mabrey, and W. Conrad Liles.

December Blog: Happy Holidays and Reflecting on 2021

by | Dec 10, 2021 | Announcements, News

The hustle of this holiday season can be a welcome change from daily routines. The season can also bring extra pressure – extra commitments, in-person gatherings and the unpredictability of COVID-19 and the newly identified Omicron variant. Yet there is also much to celebrate, including Washington State’s high vaccination rate, which is our community’s best path toward health.

As we near the end of 2021, we wish to share some of the year’s good things from the GME perspective. Throughout 2021, the GME Office has consistently held to our strategic plan to advocate for our residents and fellows, and provide expertise, quality and value.

Wellness has been a top priority this year, with the pandemic’s ebb and flow leaving many feeling isolated and anxious. In response to trainee distress, the GME Office expanded Wellness counseling access for residents and fellows by hiring a third wellness counselor, Patty Long-Brohm, LICSW. Patty’s addition has already significantly improved the availability of appointments. We are also thrilled to announce that we will be hiring a fourth Wellness Counselor soon!  Stay tuned for details.

The GME Office has taken advantage of Washington State’s successful vaccination campaign and resumed hosting select in-person events. This fall we enjoyed pumpkin patch and movie events in Seattle and look forward to a botanical garden visit in Boise.

Since June, we’ve also enjoyed hosting GME Outreach Events at our hospitals, inviting residents and fellows to pick up free lunch and GME swag. Our team has enjoyed saying hello to so many of you!  This fall GME Leadership hosted what we hope is the first of many Chief Resident/Fellow Listening Sessions – another opportunity to hear directly from trainees about how we can better support housestaff.

We’ve also worked closely with our partner hospitals to review sleep/call rooms and food access.  This year we launched the Information by Training Site web page which lists Sleep/Rest Facilities, Food, and Quiet Spaces.  We also have documented and posted Lactation Rooms by Hospital to better support our new parents.

In our ongoing efforts to improve the learning environment, we have significantly revised the GME Concern Reporting Form, which allows concerns to be submitted anonymously or not. We review all concerns and attempt to act on each one, working with various leaders in our hospitals and community to make positive change. GME also has an active presence in the UW Medicine Bias Reporting Tool response team.

The GME Office is also heavily invested in efforts to enhance equity, diversity and inclusion. We were part of the Network of Underrepresented Residents and Fellows’ (NURF) Diversity Recruitment events, which reached over 500 individuals applying to our programs. We also launched a GMEC EDI Subcommittee chaired by Dr. Dan Cabrera, which is working to develop curriculum and tools regarding implicit bias and other relevant topics for our community.

We welcome every opportunity to support our residents and fellows and to improve the clinical learning environment.  If you have questions, concerns or suggestions, we always want to hear from you.

Best for the holiday season and Happy New Year!

 

Byron Joyner, MD, MPA
Vice Dean for GME and DIO

Jennifer Best, MD
Associate Dean, Accreditation and Education

Cindy Hamra, JD
Assistant Dean, Operations and Administration

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.

November Blog: New Training Sites Resources

by | Nov 8, 2021 | Announcements, News

Dear GME Community,

We hear from many of you that one of the UW GME learning environment’s greatest attractions and strengths is our diverse range of clinical settings across Seattle, the region and the world.

With that comes the need for UW residents and fellows to adapt to navigate many settings and systems, which can add a cognitive and logistic load when time is limited. In today’s edition of the GME Blog, we wish to highlight a new resident-friendly resource on the GME Website: the Information by Training Site: Sleep/Rest Facilities, Food, Quiet Spaces resource page

Our team’s hope is that this will become the “one-stop shop” for information on resident and fellow resources located at each of our major training sites: UWMC-Montlake, Harborview Medical Center, Seattle Children’s Hospital, VA Puget Sound, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, and UWMC-Northwest. The page offers links for essential information on sleep and rest facilities, food, lounges, and in response to resident and fellow feedback, information on prayer and meditation rooms. This information has been added to existing information on our website that summarizes lactation facilities and parking information by training site.

Though this long-term project reflects effort involving many in the GME Office, we especially wish to thank Natalie Brady, our Learning Environment Specialist, for her detailed work and persistence in compiling this information from our training sites and formatting it so nicely for use.

Please take a look! Our office welcomes feedback from anyone in our community on additions or corrections, as we look to improve and maintain this as a high-quality and reliable tool.  Please send any feedback about this new page to uwgme@uw.edu.

Wishing you a wonderful week,

Jennifer Best, MD
Associate Dean, Accreditation and Education

Byron Joyner, MD, MPA
Vice Dean for GME and DIO

Cindy Hamra, JD
Assistant Dean, Operations and Administration

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.

Dr. Joyner’s Blog: October

by | Oct 7, 2021 | Announcements, News

Concern Reporting

Dear GME Community,

Two of GME’s strategic focus areas, Advocacy and Integration, highlight our office’s commitment to our residents, fellows, programs and the clinical learning environment. These values manifest every day.

One that we would like to describe here is how you can report a concern.  Residents, fellows, faculty and program leadership raise concerns to the GME team in many ways, including calls, emails, hallway conversations, Special Reviews and survey results. Within GME, we view each report as an opportunity to support members of our community.

We would like all of you to be aware of GME’s newly revised Report a Concern Form. This web-based tool allows anyone in our community to raise a concern – even anonymously – directly to the GME Office.  Past concerns have included clinical and educational work hours, hostile work environment, quality of sleep rooms, challenging faculty interactions and parking safety.

When the GME Office receives a concern via the Report a Concern Form, we first seek to understand what was submitted.  We’ll reach out to get more information if the individual has shared contact information.  Our goal is to mitigate any immediate safety issues, identify a long-term solution and find the safest path to that solution. Next steps may include reaching out to hospital leadership, program directors, department chairs or others who influence the clinical learning environment. Most solutions will arise from partnerships between these groups and GME.

We want to work with you to find solutions. We know that it can be uncomfortable to report a concern, but feedback from members of our community allows us to actively make improvements.  Reporting can also support other residents, fellows, faculty or staff by ensuring that their learning and working environment is the best it can be.

We especially want to hear from our residents and fellows, understand their concerns and advance trainee-centered solutions. We encourage you to use the Report a Concern Form.

Help us help you!

Byron Joyner, MD, MPA
Vice Dean for GME and DIO

Jennifer Best, MD
Associate Dean, Accreditation and Education

Cindy Hamra, JD
Assistant Dean, Operations and Administration

Jehan Budak Receives Bruce C. Gilliland Award

by | Oct 5, 2021 | Announcements, Awards, News

Dr. Jehan Budak 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. The winner must have shown evidence of excellence over time and must have served for at least 3 years within the University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSOM) as a teacher of residents/fellows.

Dr. Budak is originally from Long Beach, California, where she was a substitute teacher before going to medical school.  She has won nearly every teaching award there is while completing her Internal Medicine residency in the UWSOM and during her Infectious Diseases fellowship at UCSF. She is well known for her intellectual rigor and clinical judgement and for her ability to synthesize the literature with her own experience when rendering care or teaching a room of learners. This degree of expertise is usually attained after many years of practice but Dr. Budak arrived at this point in only a couple of years.

Currently, Dr. Budak is the director of the UW IM Residency HIV Pathway as well as the Director of Clinic Education at Madison Clinic for the Infectious Disease Fellows. Over her very short career, she has developed a local and national reputation in her field by creating the clinical curriculum for teaching HIV and HIV primary care and has formally published a curricula as the Associate Editor of the National HIV Curriculum developed at UW, a CDC supported project used by clinicians nationwide to learn HIV care.

Congratulations to Dr. Budak who has worked tirelessly to engage all of those with whom she interacts to be better teachers and caregivers, not through just what she says but through her actions.  We should all aspire to his unparalleled commitment to teaching, innovation, mentoring, and patient care.

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!

Dr. Joyner’s Blog: September

by | Sep 10, 2021 | News

Dr. Joseph Nelson, a PGY-3 Family Medicine resident is the president of the Network of Underrepresented Residents and Fellows (NURF) this year. With the help of the NURF executive board and many allies, Dr. Nelson has been deeply engaged with diversity recruitment efforts. Last year, when Dr. Nelson was the vice president of NURF, the group hosted its inaugural, virtual diversity recruitment town hall for medical students from all backgrounds but mostly those who identified as underprivileged or underrepresented in medicine (URiM).

This month, I have invited Dr. Nelson write the DIO Blog, highlighting the diversity efforts that NURF is organizing.

Byron D. Joyner, MD, MPA
Vice Dean and Designated Institutional Official (DIO)
Graduate Medical Education, UW Medicine

 

Dear Colleagues,

As the summer winds down and Green Day’s Wake Me Up When September Ends undoubtedly plays once or twice as we go to work each day, it’s hard not to reflect. The Summer began with a resurgence of COVID-19 by way of the Delta variant, just as we thought vaccination had altered the curve for the better. A heat wave engulfed the Pacific Northwest, fires rampaged across the country, dramatic floods struck Asia and Europe, and now hurricanes threaten the southeast once again. With our inevitable exit from Afghanistan came a wave of horror as the Taliban and ISIS resurfaced, leaving a country and many lives lost. And now, Texas approves the most extreme anti-abortion law in US history.

Despite all of this, we continue to move forward.  On August 31st, the Network of Underrepresented Residents and Fellows hosted our second annual Virtual Diversity Recruitment Town Hall, where we had the privilege to meet hundreds of prospective residency and fellowship applicants who are underrepresented in medicine or who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. In an impressive showing, it was a bright spot amidst a challenging time. These individuals represent the future of healthcare and are the outcome of centuries of resilience and strength by people of color and others who have faced discrimination in a land where liberty and justice are meant for all. I thank everyone involved, from administrators, to faculty, to trainees, for helping to show that the University of Washington is dedicated to the support and advancement of those who have overcome so much adversity in not only their training, but also their lives.

We look forward to an exciting year, with a powerful line-up for our Diversity Lecture Series with the theme of Intersectionality in mind. We are also partnering with the Resident and Fellow Physician Union – Northwest to host a happy hour for trainees, which will be our first since the onset of the pandemic. And speaking of changes during the pandemic, my own Family Medicine residency will soon be welcoming an in-person underrepresented in medicine visiting sub-intern later this month. We are also looking to continue our virtual URM experience. I am hopeful that other residency and fellowship programs share my excitement and are working to create similar opportunities.

Here’s to the year ahead.

 

A note from the GME Office: as Dr. Nelson mentions, there are many difficult events going on in the world that may be difficult for members of our community. In addition we remember the events of 9/11, twenty years on. If you are struggling or need support, please reach out: GME Wellness Service and UW Medicine Employee Mental Health Resources.

Welcome Patty Long-Brohm, New GME Wellness Service Counselor

by | Sep 7, 2021 | Announcements, News

Please join us in welcoming Patty Long-Brohm, our new GME Wellness Counselor!!  Patty starts with us today, September 7, and will be based at Seattle Children’s Hospital.  She comes with more than two decades of experience and training and will be a wonderful addition to our counseling staff. Look for Patty’s schedule to open on Schedulicity soon – more details to follow.

Below is Patty’s welcome message to the GME community:

Hello! I’m thrilled to be joining the GME Wellness team! I’m grateful for the opportunity to help support the UW medical residents, fellows, and their partners during this challenging and rewarding time in their careers.

To share a bit about myself, I am first and foremost shaped by my early experiences growing up the youngest of four in a small town in the Midwest. My early experiences, some of which included adversity and loss, helped to shape my concern and compassion for others and for the suffering in the world. These early experiences also planted the seeds for core values of integrity, equity, and social justice, which together with my psychological interests led me to the field of clinical social work.

My graduate education at Smith College School for Social Work provided a strong clinical foundation of psychological and developmental theories – while also providing a critique of these theories and a broadening of their application from the lenses of diversity, equity, and social justice. Moving to New England for graduate school and other parts of the country for training has also been a significant part of my development as it allowed me to experience new perspectives and more diversity than my early life afforded, and fostered internal strength and courage as I adjusted to different settings. 

During my career over the past 20+ years I have had the privilege to work with children, youth, families, and adults from diverse backgrounds in a variety of clinical settings including residential, school-based settings, community mental health clinics, an eating disorder clinic, a hospital emergency department, and most recently a community health clinic. My clients have been important teachers and my years of practice have strengthened my clinical interests in trauma, attachment, grief and loss, mindfulness-based therapies, and holistic health and wellness. Furthermore, my work is guided by my personal mindfulness meditation training and practice.

I am so grateful to be living in the Pacific Northwest – having moved to Seattle seven years ago from Minneapolis. I appreciate the more temperate climate, the incredible beauty of the many bodies of water and mountain ranges, and the diversity and cultural experiences that Seattle offers. I enjoy the natural beauty we live in as much as possible through hiking and kayaking. I am also sustained by gardening, meditation, music, the arts, and spending time with friends, my spouse and our pup, Biela.

I look forward to working with you and the GME Wellness team!