Announcements
Hello Well-being Champions!
It has been another extremely busy month here at ACP HQ preparing for the new Champion cohort, other IM 2019 well-being activities, and your brand new Champion Tracker. We are so happy to announce that this new tracker is now officially launched! Accessible through either your Champion resource page or through MyACP, this tool will allow you to log ALL your Champion-related activities and even to claim CME/MOC for those deemed CME-eligible. To date, tracker activities under ACP Virtual Training Webinar and Self-study are CME/MOC eligible.
The new tool is very user-friendly and self-explanatory. That said, feel free to click on the help file in your activities tracker's dashboard to access both written user instructions and videos to help you along your journey. We cannot stress enough how important it is to use this tool to record all your Champion work. As ACP considers the cost/benefit of this initiative going forward, the data you enter will be integral to any decision. Please do not hesitate to contact Crissy Walter cwalter@acponline.org with any questions about using the Tracker.
We also have several fun opportunities for you to volunteer a small amount of your time at IM 2019 as speakers, teachers or guides. Please see the Upcoming Events section below for more details and to sign up! These are great ways to make the ACP Well-being Champions more visible to the ACP membership, and to give you a little more experience in your role.
Finally, while we are still working on the April 9-10 agenda for new Champion training, it looks like we will be inviting current Champions to join the new group on Wednesday, April 10, likely between 1:30pm - 2pm for the rest of the afternoon. There will also be a reception for all Champions at 4:00 pm. Both events are optional, but we hope to see you. Details to follow in March.
To review prior newsletters, visit the newsletter section of your Champion's page
Thank you for all that you are doing to make our community of well-being stronger.
With gratitude,
The ACP Well-being Team
- Crissy Walter – Program Administrator and your main contact for all things Champion (cwalter@acponline.org)
- Clare Sipler – Administrative Support (csipler@acponline.org)
- Cheryl Rusten – Manager, Grants and Programs (crusten@acponline.org)
- Daisy Smith, MD – Vice President, Clinical Programs (dsmith@acponline.org)
Upcoming Events
WEBINAR: Mini but Mighty: Skills for Well-being
February 27, 2:30 pm ET
Increase your well-being toolkit by learning four ten-minute skills for well-being. You can use these yourself and/or teach them to others. Charlene Dewey, MD, MACP, will teach:
- Mindfulness based stress reduction (relaxation and self-regulation)
- Self-care to increase endorphins
- Gratitude (PERMA wheel, 3 good things)
- Well-being elevator speech
Champions that complete this webinar (live or recorded) will have an opportunity to teach them at Internal Medicine 2019 in Philadelphia! Some additional prep will be provided.
Internal Medicine Meeting 2019: Volunteer Opportunities and an Invitation
Champions attending IM 2019 in Philadelphia will have 3 opportunities to volunteer. Sign-up information with dedicated times for each volunteer opportunity is now available here.
1. Present a 10 minute Briefing (slides done for you)
- An update on the Well-being and Professional Satisfaction program will be presented each day of IM (Th-F-Sat).
2. Teach one or more of the Mini but Mighty skills referenced above
- The sessions will be held during the 45 minute and 1 hour 30 minute breaks at the Clinical Skills location at Internal Medicine Meeting 2019. 2 faculty slots are available for each session. Additional prep will be provided.
3. Serve as a Clinical Skills Workflow Innovation Journey Guide/Facilitator for the ACP Workflow Interactive Exhibit (Ideas to Improve Internal Medicine Workflow and Well-Being)
- Exhibit Background: The Innovation Workflow Exhibit at IM19's Clinical Skills Center is a 20’x 8’ two-sided panel featuring workflow innovations for hospital medicine on one side and ambulatory on the other. There are tools and resources associated with each innovation; these will be accessible through the IM19 meeting app as well as acponline.
- The Journey Guides/Facilitators are volunteers willing to engage with exhibit-goers to get their thoughts and additional ideas. This information will supplement information obtained via whiteboard and #acpworkflow.
- All the information gathered will be used as prompts and references for the MIT Hacking Medicine Event on Saturday morning at Internal Medicine 2019 as well as to improve the exhibit for future use.
4. INVITATION: Attend 2019 Champion Training and a reception the afternoon of Wed. April 10
- Current Champions are invited to join the new group on Wednesday, April 10, likely between 1:30pm -2pm for the rest of the afternoon. There will also be a reception for all Champions at 4:00 pm. Details to follow in March.
Mastering the Mini Z (Claim CME/MOC through your Tracker)
January 15 - 2:00 pm ET
For those that attended the webinar live, you can claim your CME/MOC through the Well-being Champions Activities Tracker starting today. For those that missed the webinar, the recording is now available on your Champions page. You may claim your CME/MOC starting on the day you finished watching the video.
- Attended Live? Claim your CME/MOC
- Missed the webinar? Watch the recording
From the Trenches
A big thank-you to Florida Chapter Wellbeing Champion Dr. Tulisa LaRocca, MD, FACP, of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine/JFK Medical Center, who submitted the following “From the Trenches” story.
Proactive Burnout Prevention: Start a Wellness Discussion Group
My colleagues and I started a small group (currently of 3), to meet monthly and discuss a topic of well-being. The small group consists of myself, my colleague Heather Wayland, and Father Gabriel, our hospital's spiritual and palliative care specialist. We meet monthly to have an informal discussion on physician wellness and burnout prevention, or as Father Gabriel refers to it “you are the reason for my lack of burnout…but burning of joy.”
We discuss the meaning of life, as he is trained in Logotherapy. We have in depth discussions of the seven attitudes of mindfulness as written by Dr. Kabat-Zinn, we discuss being GRATEFUL for our current situation we currently find ourselves in, and enjoy the present. We discuss techniques to develop resilience in our practice, through creating meaning in our everyday lives. We develop this using creativity: sharing our stories and our ideas with each other; through experiences with our patients and listening to their stories; and through awareness of our attitudes-that WE choose how we approach our lives, and are in control of our limiting scripts—and the ability to drop them!
We utilize the G.L.A.D. method at the end of our workday; we take 2 minutes after completing patient care and think (silently) about one thing we are Grateful for today, one new thing we learned today, one Accomplishment for the day, and one thing that brought us Delight. We engage in this practice daily at the end of our workday.
To comment on Dr. LaRoca's story or to share your own burnout prevention strategy, visit your private forum.
Send your success stories and that of inspirational colleagues (both ACP champions and partners) by emailing your story to Crissy Walter at acpwellbeing@acponline.org.
Noteworthy Resources
Free 15-Minute VIA Strengths Survey
You can use this free positive psychology tool either for your personal development or for your coaching activities. This survey focuses on identifying an individual's top strengths, which can be leveraged to boost one's well-being. There is an opportunity to purchase an in-depth report for a fee.
The survey link is also available for your reference through the Serve your Chapter section (under working with individuals in your chapter) of your Champions page.
In the News
Leading health care organizations declare physician burnout as ‘public health crisis by News Office, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Excerpt: “The paper includes directives aimed toward curbing the prevalence of burnout among physicians and other care providers, including the appointment of an executive-level chief wellness officer at every major health care organization, proactive mental health treatment and support for caregivers experiencing burnout, and improvements to the efficiency of electronic health records.”
Forum
Discuss the news topics above and share advice and ideas with other well-being champions in your private forum.
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