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In this Issue:
- Greetings from the Governor
- ADVOCACY & PUBLIC POLICY
- RESIDENT/FELLOWS & STUDENTS
- HOT TOPICS
Mary H. Parsons, MD, FACP, ACP Governor
Greetings from the Governor
“Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.” John Lennon
A lot has happened since the last time I had the honor of writing to you all, and a lot of other plans have been cancelled too! I hope you are all finding ways to rest and recharge while finding meaning in your work, if in different ways than we might have planned. It is now summer, but COVID 19 is not taking a summer vacation as some might have hoped. Our hours are still long, and our work, while a little more familiar than it was at first, is still different. What is constant is our commitment to care for our patients.
ACP nationally remains busy learning how to meet the needs of membership in new ways. As a reminder, the strategic themes this year are identity, value, communication, engagement and leadership. Identity speaks to our identity as internists, and value to what our organization can bring to improve our knowledge, practice, and the environment in which we provide care. I hope many of you have been able to take advantage of “CME 30” which was offered after the cancellation of the annual meeting, and the regularly updated information on coronavirus.
This newsletter has been one of our primary means of communication at our chapter level. You are always welcome to contact me if you have input or ideas for our chapter or would like to become more involved. You will read about the work of our committees later in this newsletter. I am very proud to work with our committed leadership council, and with our governor elect, Dr. Scott Woller. Finally, I am excited to welcome our new student leaders Neil Sahasrabudhe, Anurag Tripathy, and Lizzy Stauder.
It will be interesting to see what else has changed by the fall. In the meantime, whether the need is our families, our teams, our patients or each other, let us “cure sometimes, relieve often, and comfort always”.
Mary Parsons, MD, FACP
ADVOCACY & PUBLIC POLICY
Woah, has it been a whirlwind of a year for health policy! Between a health care system overhaul because of COVID-19, integration of new telehealth and billing practices, funding for healthcare systems in an economic downturn, Black Lives Matters movement and conversations and programs to end racism in healthcare, Supreme Court decisions (and more to come, particularly on the fate of the ACA) a lot has happened! And all of this in only half a year with a presidential election yet to come! Fortunately, ACP is there to advocate on your behalf, and https://www.acponline.org details the many policy positions and recommendations it has made this year to support our profession and your practice.
I want to bring your attention upcoming local policy events. The Utah Medical Association is having the 2020 House of Delegates meeting, virtually On September 11-12th. We are looking for delegates to represent the American College of Physicians and internists here in Utah.
We are also looking for health policy related proposals or ideas that we could submit as resolutions for the House of Delegates meeting. This is a great way to advance health policies to our Utah legislature.
As always, we would love to hear your policy interests and ideas, and brainstorm on how we could turn these into meaningful action.
Please do not hesitate to reach out and contact me at mattmulligan41@gmail.com if you have ideas or suggestions, are willing to serve as a ACP delegate for the UMA House of Delegates meeting, or are interested in getting more involved in health policy.
Matt Mulligan, MD
Health and Public Policy Committee, Chair
RESIDENT/FELLOWS & STUDENTS
Clinical Vignette Competition
October 08, 2020| Salt Lake City, UT | Virtual Session
Our annual clinical vignette competition will be held on October 08, 2020 as a virtual session. This is a great opportunity to present a medical patient case that is an unusual presentation of a common disorder; or an uncommon disorder; or a something you found very interesting.
More details to be announced soon.
MEDICAL STUDENT/IMIG
New Medical Student Mentorship Program: The University of Utah Internal Medicine Interest Group is forming a new mentorship program this year for pre-clinical medical students interested in pursuing Internal Medicine. If you are interested in serving as a mentor or learning more, please email Josephine Wright at Josephine.Wright@hsc.utah.edu.
HOT TOPICS
ACP Policy Statement on Racism and Health
On Friday, June 19th, 2020 (“Juneteenth”) Annals published a new ACP policy statement on Racism and Health, co-authored by Bob Doherty and Josh Serchen, and the chairs and vice chairs of ACP's Health and Public Policy Committee, Dr. Omar Atiq and Dr. David Hilden. The statement was approved by the ACP Board of Regents on June 16, 2020.
In the statement, ACP condemns racism against Black and indigenous people in health care, in law enforcement and society. We reaffirm our opposition to all discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation and country of origin. We call for confronting racism in policing and propose policies on training, recruitment, accountability, transparency, force reduction, and de-militarization. We condemn any violence against non-violent protesters. We commit to being an anti-racist organization and action to address racism in health, medicine, medical education and society.
For questions, please contact Laura Baldwin.
Addressing and Supporting Physician Mental Health During Challenging Times Webinar Available
Presented in partnership with the ACP Well-being and Professional Fulfillment Program, this webinar will describe psychological and behavioral responses to crisis events as well as discuss a follow up framework for individual, peer, and organizational interventions that promote healthcare worker well-being and sustainment. Speakers Kerri Palamara, MD, FACP, and Joshua C. Morganstein, MD, will list individual, peer, and team actions that facilitate self-care, connection, and recovery. Participants will learn to identify actions that can help them to be better prepare for future crisis events.
Kerri Palamara, MD, FACP, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and practices as a primary care general internist at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Palamara leads the American College of Physicians “Physician Coach Training Program”, which focuses on training physicians to integrate coaching techniques into their quality improvement and well-being initiatives.
Joshua C. Morganstein, MD, is Associate Professor and Assistant Chair in the Department of Psychiatry and Assistant Director at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS) in the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and a Captain in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service.
The ACP Leadership Academy will present several free member webinars during the summer and fall. We encourage you to participate and to inform your members about these learning opportunities. More information and registration for one or more of these webinars here.
For questions, please contact Susan Koger, Manager, Membership Programs.
Innovations in the Care of Outpatients with COVID-19
Moderated by Heather E. Gantzer, MD, FACP, Chair of ACP's Board of Regents, this webinar explored innovative approaches in care delivery to COVID-19 outpatients, including how to address health disparities and the challenges related to the diverse presentations of the disease.
Kristen Kopski MD, PhD, and Margaret Doose, MD, of HealthPartners Minnesota, reviewed that system's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including a discussion of transitions of care best practices as well as how to develop a better understanding of this patient population. Following, Christopher Kellner, MD, and David Putrino, PhD, of the Mount Sinai Health System, New York, discussed innovations in remote patient monitoring and how to apply these technologies to patients with COVID-19.
ACP continues to develop and frequently update tools and resources to assist ACP members during the COVID-19 pandemic. Visit ACP's COVID-19 Resource Hub for the latest information.
To claim CME credit for this watching recording, please go to: www.acponline.org/leadership-academy-cme.
The American College of Physicians (ACP) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The ACP designates this other activity (blended) for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
The ACP Leadership Academy will present several free member webinars during the summer and fall. We encourage you to participate and to inform your members about these learning opportunities. More information and registration for one or more of these webinars.