Utah Governor's Newsletter April 2021

Utah Chapter Banner
Mary H. Parsons, MD, FACP, ACP Governor

Mary H. Parsons, MD, FACP, ACP Governor

 

Greetings from the Governor

Dear Members of the Utah Chapter of the American College of Physicians

It is with deep gratitude that I write this at the end of my term as your governor. The four years went quickly, especially with the blur of 2020 being one of them! It was an absolute honor to become more involved locally and nationally with ACP after years of membership.

First of all, I would like to thank the faithful members of the Governor's council. Dr. Anthony Musci has served as treasurer since before my election and has been available, thoughtful, and responsive in this role.

Dr. Katie Lappe has been our student/IMIG committee chair. She coordinated several events for the students, was helpful and supportive of the development of a second IMIG in our state at Rocky Vista University in Ivins and has brought Dr. Josephine Wright on as co-chair. I would also like to thank this year's student members of our council, Lizzy Stauder, Neil Sahasrabudhe and Anurag Tripathy.

Dr. Joshua Marr is the chair of our Early Career Physicians committee along with Dr. Darren White. The ECP group has been particularly challenged by the long work hours and the restrictions on in person activities due to the COVID pandemic.

I am humbled by the dedication and hard work of our chapter meeting planning committee, with our new chair this year Dr. Sydney Leguyader, along with Drs. Kencee Graves, Nate Allred and Rachel Kroencke. They planned our first ever virtual meeting with courage and insight!

This year we elected 10 new fellows to ACP. Thank you to the commitment and help of our membership committee, Dr. Sonny Win, Yaw Boateng and Jennifer Scott.

Dr. Emily Signor served as our chair of the Resident and Fellow committee. She was able to facilitate another successful clinical vignette competition at the University of Utah grand rounds for greater exposure of the presenters and their cases to the Internal Medicine community.

Our health and public policy committee, chaired by Dr. Matthew Mulligan, was active in the UMA annual meeting as well as being our representative at the Primary Care Spending Coalition.

Finally, our newest committee is the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. Drs. Bireen Whitten, Lam Thanadabout, Beverly Chang and Josephine Wright have agreed to form this committee and are working on their initial plans and goals.

I am grateful for the enthusiasm and engagement of our governor elect, Dr. Scott Woller. He has been actively involved in our council and management meetings and was instrumental in the formation of our new DEI committee.

The national leadership at ACP and my fellow governors are passionate, responsive, and committed. They made the role of governor a true joy.

And finally, I am indebted to the hard work, thoroughness and grace of our executive director, Selma Lopez. I could not have dreamed of being effective in this role without her support.

The Utah Chapter is committed to you, our members. We would like to continue to be your professional home, and to continue to provide valuable resources in education, advocacy, wellness and equity. Please feel free to contact us if you have ideas or suggestions. And thank you, for your work every day for the patients that we serve.

Sincerely,

Mary H. Parsons MD FACP

Top

 

Message from Governor-elect

chapnews_ut_202104_p1.jpg

Upon attending the virtual Utah Chapter ACP Meeting on March 4-5th I was struck by the resilience of our ACP meeting participants and attendees. During my time as Governor-Elect I have had a front row seat observing the dynamic innovations that have been adopted by our meeting committee. As an example, Dr. Sydney LeGuyader was able to arrange an asynchronous presentation and interview with Dr. Brian E. Shiozawa, MD, FACEP, State Senator for the Utah Senate District 8 when he would otherwise have been unable to attend given that the legislature was in session. Pre-COVID we would simply have lost out on hearing from Dr. Shiozawa. I could not be more thrilled with the establishment of the Chapter Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee co-chaired by Drs. Lam Thanadabout and Bireen Whitten. Utah Chapter Member and Fellow voices will be central in informing this committee's activities, growth, and development. I am privileged to assume the role of Governor for our chapter in May, and I would like to extend my most sincere thanks and heartily recognize the superb leadership of Dr. Mary Parsons, MD, FACP, who over the last 4 years has expertly served in this capacity. THANK YOU, MARY, for all that you have done to position our chapter to continue to best serve and advocate for our members.

Scott C. Woller, MD FACP

Top

 

ADVOCACY & PUBLIC POLICY

“Virtual” Leadership Day 2021

May 25-26, 2021

Leadership Day 2021 will be held virtually this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Please join us for an exciting virtual program that will include educational briefings, lively Q&A, and an opportunity to meet virtually with your members of Congress.

This event is open to ACP members only. ACP members interested in participating in Leadership Day 2021 should contact their chapter Governor to let him/her know of your interest and to be included in the chapter delegation congressional meetings. A $25 registration fee will be charged to attendees at the time of registration, with the exception of medical student and resident/fellows in-training members, who are exempt.

For more information about the “virtual” Leadership Day 2021, click here. If you have further questions, please contact Shuan Tomlinson or at 800-338-2746, ext. 4547.

Enroll in the Advocates for Internal Medicine Network (AIMn)

Join more than 15,000 colleagues in the AIMn program in advocating for interest of internal medicine in Washington, D.C. By joining, you will receive legislative updates on key policy issues and engage in outreach to your federal lawmakers. If you already an AIMn members, you do not need register again. Sign up here.

Top

 

CHAPTER MEETING

2021 Utah Chapter Virtual Meeting

Our first ever virtual Utah Chapter Meeting this past March was an overall success! Big thank you to all the speakers, attendees, and our scientific program committee (Drs. Sydney Leguyader, Nathan Allred, Kencee Graves, Rachel Kroencke)! This event couldn't be done without their time and leadership devoted each year.

Our meeting video recordings are now available on the Utah Chapter meeting hub. Please visit the hub and click on the event titles to access individual videos. If there are any questions, please email us at contact@utahacp.com. Don't forget to claim for your CME credit/MOC points.

If you were unable to attend the live virtual meeting you can still purchase the recordings.

Awards & Recognition

chapnews_ut_202104_p2.jpg

The 2021 awards ceremony coincided with our chapter meeting to honor six Utah Chapter members:

Mastership in the American College of Physicians – Jeannine Engel, MD, MACP

Laureate Award – Deepika Reddy, MD

Volunteerism Award – John Doane, MD, FACP

Chapter Advocacy Award – Emily Signor, MD

Resident Award – Benjamin Harris, MD

Medical Student Award – Ben Berger

Read more here.

Welcome New Fellows

Drs. Amanda Breviu, Stephen Carr, Shaun Chadna, Dixie Harris, Andew Pavia, Ahad Sabet, Adam Spivak, Alexandra Sundberg, Mary Tipton, Darren White

STUDENTS, RESIDENTS & FELLOWS

2021 Virtual Poster Competition

March 4, 2021

We had 29 terrific poster submissions this year:

The 8 individuals selected from a very competitive pool who presented their posters were:

  • Black Tar Heroin-Associated Clostridium Botulinum Bacteremia In The Absence Of Clinical Botulism | Tess Battiola, MD (PGY1)
  • Increasing Incidence of Early Onset Colorectal Cancer (EOCRC) in the State of Utah: Newer Guidelines Lower the Screening Age to 45 Years Old | Evan Daugherty, MD (PGY3)
  • Thyrotoxic Periodic Paralysis with Associated Hypokalemia | Sarah Goaslind, OMS-III
  • Checkpoint Inhibitor-Induced Myofasciitis | Libby Petersen, BS Clinical Vignette Winner
  • Identifying Novel Meningitis-Associated Sequence Elements Through Genome-Wide Association Analysis of Pneumococcal Isolates | John Sanchez, MS3 Research Winner
  • Discharge Antibiotic Use for Community Acquired Pneumonia Following an Inpatient Clinical Decision Support Pathway Initiative | Shreya Sreekantaswamy, BS
  • Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Transgender Adolescents | Ambur Staab, MD (PGY2)

We had two winners for each the clinical vignette and research category, and all received a cash prize. Our grand prize winner, John Sanchez, who presented the case “Identifying Novel Meningitis-Associated Sequence Elements Through Genome-Wide Association Analysis of Pneumococcal Isolates” John will join our leaders at the 2022 ACP National Meeting to be held in Chicago, IL.

Top

 

EARLY CAREER PHYSICIANS

New ACP Club on Strava

We are happy to announce we have started a club page on Strava. To find us, search for Utah American College of Physicians in the club section of the app or go to www.strava.com/clubs/UtahACP. Strava is a social fitness tracking app that also links with other tools like Garmin, Fitbit, Zwfit, Peloton, and many others. It allows you to track and share cycling or running routes, as well as track other activities like skiing, weight training, and even rock climbing. The app is free, although there are more advanced options with a subscription. This has motivational applications for competition, inspiration, and fitness with the ability to connect with others and share routines, routes, and activities. Although we aren't yet able to meet in person, we are hopeful we can develop a sense of community through Strava and sharing our fitness achievements in our club. We are looking forward to receiving inspiration from seeing our members achievements in the future!

Top

 

HOT TOPICS

New—ACP's Virtual POCUS Mentorship Training Program

Continue your point-of-care learning and hone your skills with personalized, longitudinal training through ACP's new POCUS Mentorship Program. Beginning in May 2021, this live, virtual course builds on previous foundational POCUS course training with ongoing live instruction and mentored scanning sessions over the course of six months. Plus, enjoy the benefit of learning with a partner! ACP's POCUS Mentorship Program provides expert mentorship to two learners in the same location.

The Program offers:

  • Live instruction covering content personalized to your needs across five key POCUS skill areas
  • Hands-on remote and mentored scanning sessions - each dyad receives 2 hours of virtual mentoring per month
  • Directly observed feedback, skill demonstrations, and cognitive framework from internists expert in POCUS
  • Two 1-hour group image review sessions led by course directors
  • Loaned ultrasound equipment is provided for the course duration that enables participants to share a live ultrasound stream with a remote mentor via computer or tablet

Successful course completion will be recognized with a course certificate. Plus, you'll earn CME credit and MOC points.

Register with a local learning partner to continue your training in a dyad format. Sign up with a colleague or find a local qualifying ACP member by April 8. Remember, ACP members receive the best rate.

Learn more and register today.

ACP's New I.M. Emotional Support Hub Offers Resources to Safeguard Physician Health and Well-being

As part of ACP's Well-Being and Professional Fulfillment initiative, ACP has launched a collection of resources aimed at helping members improve their emotional well-being. As a recognition of the unprecedented stresses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to internists and internists-in-training, ACP created the I.M. Emotional Support Hub to offer curated resources and information to protect physicians' emotional health and sustain ACP members' ability to care for those in need.

Resources include easily-accessible peer-support through the Physician Support Line and free and affordable, confidential counseling through The Emotional PPE Project and The Therapy Aid Coalition. Check out the hub for additional well-being tools and resources for individuals and organizations and to view all of ACP's Physician Well-being activities. For more information and questions, please contact acpwellbeing@acpprograms.org

Edith Irby Jones, MD, MACP: A Pioneering Primary Care Internist, Educator, and Activist

This historical vignette focuses on Edith Irby Jones, a sharecropper's daughter who became a renowned internal medicine physician and who never wavered in her commitment to treating underserved communities in the U.S. and abroad.

Edith Mae Irby was born in Faulkner County, Arkansas on December 23, 1927, the third of four children born to Robert Irby, a sharecropper, and homemaker Mattie Buice Irby. When Edith was six, her father died in a riding accident, requiring a then-pregnant Mattie Irby to move her family in with her elderly father. In the months that followed, Edith's younger brother, Louis was born, her grandfather died, and her older siblings, Juanita and Robert Jr. contracted typhoid fever. While Robert eventually recovered, Juanita died at age 12. Edith believed her sister received substandard care because their family was poor; she would later describe these events as her impetus to become a physician, with the goal of helping impoverished and underserved communities.

Shortly after her sister's death, Edith contracted rheumatic fever with joint pain so intense she could not walk or attend school for over a year. Eventually, Mattie relocated the family to Hot Springs, Arkansas, where she was able to get work as a domestic and cook. While Edith was unable to attend school during her illness, her mother, who only had an eighth-grade education, taught her from her older brother's schoolbooks. She learned to read and write at home and when she finally was able to attend school, she was placed in the same grade as her older brother and eventually skipped an additional two grade levels.

Edith graduated with honors from Langston Secondary School, then received a scholarship to attend Knoxville College, a historically black liberal arts school in Tennessee. She studied chemistry, biology, and physics receiving her B.S. degree in 1948 (and remaining a steadfast supporter of her alma mater throughout her life). Edith went on to become the first African American accepted at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and the first African American accepted at an all-white medical school in the South. Irby Jones received financial support from her high school's alumni, neighbors and the Arkansas State-Press, a Black-owned local newspaper which started a fundraising campaign to help with tuition and living expenses.

Although she had been accepted to attend classes, UAMS was still a segregated institution, so Irby Jones was not allowed to use the same dining, lodging, or bathroom facilities as her fellow students. Defying the racist regulations, many of her classmates chose to eat and study with her at her apartment. During her second year at UAMS, she married Dr. James B. Jones, with whom she would eventually have three children. She became the UAMS's first African American graduate in 1952. She then opened a general practice in Hot Springs, Arkansas, eventually moving her family to Houston, Texas, in 1959, where she became the first Black woman to intern at Baylor College of Medicine Affiliated Hospital. Unfortunately, the segregated hospital limited her contact with staff and patients. In the end she was forced to complete the last three months of her residency at Freedman's Hospital in Washington DC.

In 1962, she opened her private practice in the inner city “third ward” of Houston, to provide medical services for those without access to healthcare. That same year, she became the chief of cardiology at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Houston, later becoming an associate chief of medicine at Houston's Riverside General Hospital and Clinical Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine. In time, she accumulated staff privileges at nine Houston-area hospitals, while always maintaining her practice as a primary care internist in Houston's “third ward.” Dr. Irby Jones was also a civil rights activist, and the only female and physician to be a member (along with attorneys Floyd Davis, Bob Booker, and Harold Flowers) of the “Freedom Four.” The group spoke across the South in homes and churches encouraging people to join the civil rights movement.

In keeping with her commitment to provide care to underserved populations, Dr. Irby Jones taught, consulted, and provided healthcare in Haiti, Mexico, Cuba, China, Russia, and Africa, while maintaining her “third ward” Houston practice. She provided support for two international healthcare locations that bear her name: the Dr. Edith Irby Jones Clinic in Vaudreuil, Haiti (which she helped to build), and the Dr. Edith Irby Jones Emergency Clinic in Veracruz, Mexico. She was one of the founders of Mercy Hospital in Houston and one of twelve physician owners and developers of the Park Plaza Hospital.

Throughout her career, Dr. Irby Jones received numerous awards and recognition for her contributions to medicine as well as the civil rights and women's movement. She was the first woman to become President of the National Medical Association (NMA), was a charter member of the group Physicians for Human Rights, was an active board member of Planned Parenthood and was the only female founding member of the Association of Black Cardiologists. She became a member of the American College of Physicians in 1998, an ACP Fellow in 2001, (the same year she received the Oscar E. Edwards Memorial Award for Volunteerism and Community Service) and was awarded ACP Mastership in 2007. Dr. Edith Irby Jones died July 15, 2019 at the age of 91 at her home in Houston, TX, leaving a legacy of true excellence, achievement, and compassion.

Sources:

Photos:

Top