Perspectives
A Word From the President
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Improving the Transition to Residency
By Darrell G. Kirch, MD, AAMC President and CEO
I, like so many physicians, vividly remember my first day as a resident. Once again this year, on July 1, first-year medical residents across the country will report to their residency programs to begin the next phase of their careers. While still learners, these residents are graduating to a level of increased responsibility and independence. While still learners, these residents are graduating to a level of increased responsibility and independence. They are transitioning from performing clinical rotations under the watchful eye of a mentor to seeing patients independently, entering and discussing orders and prescriptions, and working as part of an interprofessional team. The first day of residency is the culmination of a transition from student to resident that starts early in a medical student’s journey.
Viewpoints
Friday, June 23, 2017
Effective Advocacy: Applying What I Learned on the Hill
by Karen Fisher, JD, AAMC Chief Public Policy Officer
Successful advocacy depends on continuous engagement and ongoing relationships, AAMC Chief Public Policy Officer Karen Fisher, JD, writes in a Viewpoint.
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
Free Movement of People and Ideas Contributes to the Progress of American Medicine
by Edward C. Halperin, MD, MA, chancellor and CEO of New York Medical College/Touro College and University System
Immigrants have been vital in the fight against disease. And immigrant physicians today continue to contribute to medical advances, Edward Halperin, MD, MA, writes in a Viewpoint.
In March, two internal medicine residents from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) died in an avalanche while hiking in Canada. The sad news hit Emmett Kistler, MD, a fellow internal medicine resident, harder than he expected.
Kistler turned to Kerri Palamara, MD, who founded and developed the MGH Internal Medicine Professional Development Coaching Program. The program, which was rolled out in 2012, is designed to provide emotional and professional support to residents. The program has grown from an initial 26 coaches—all volunteer faculty members—to more than 100 coaches, who are trained to help residents identify the personal strengths that will help them accomplish their goals.
“We’re a very large residency program, and it started to feel like we just didn’t have a good sense of how people were doing,” said Palamara, also director of the MGH primary care residency program. “We knew people were struggling, but we often found out too late. We were losing the ability to know how residents were doing with their personal, professional, and emotional development.”
Academic Medicine in the News
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
WVU School of Medicine Names First Patient Care Music Therapist
Amy Rodgers Smith, MMT, assistant professor in the West Virginia University (WVU) School of Medicine’s Department of Physical Therapy, was recently named the university’s first health care-focused music therapist. She will implement music therapy services at J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital and at WVU Medicine Children’s and provide clinical supervision to students in the WVU Music Therapy program.
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Med Students Pedaling for Public Health, Coast to Coast
Two students from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine will continue the summertime cross-country bicycle tour that is now a 12-year school tradition. Sonali Rodrigues and Brett Lehner make up the 2017 Coast to Coast for a Cause team. This year’s cause is “An Apple a Day.” The money they raise will pay for planting fruit trees high school campuses and other public places to provide access to healthy food and health education.
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Clinic for Farmworkers Wins National Award For Interprofessional Education
Since the summer of 2016, students and faculty from University of Central Florida’s medical, nursing, physical therapy, and social work schools have worked with the University of Florida College of Pharmacy to provide free care to farmworkers and their families. At each of the four clinics held so far, the team has treated between 40 and 80 patients ranging in age from 2 months to older than 70. The collaboration recently received an inaugural national award from the U.S. Public Health Service and Interprofessional Education Collaborative.