Dr. Kimberly Gilbert Chronicles Her Experience in Medical School in New Book Free Press of Jacksonville – Jacksonville Free Press

By Rolling Out Dr. Kimberly Gilbert, a board-certified Atlanta-based physician has penned a new book, So When Do I See the Doctor? The book is about her journey to becoming a physician and the challenges she faced as a result of her race and gender and how she found the strength to complete medical school, residency, and beyond despite hardship.

What inspired you to write So When Do I See the Doctor?

When I started my journey to becoming a physician, there were not any easily accessible stories to read that spoke candidly about the trials that many Black students and doctors, especially Black females, would experience from different perspectives on the road to success. More physicians are starting to tell their stories online, in magazines, and on TV, but I wanted to also give something a little old school in the form of a book. I wanted it to be comprehensive and honest. I also wanted it to be inspirational. The book not only addresses racism and sexism but also intra-racial and intra-cultural issues, and how people in positions of influence can oftentimes encourage or destroy whoever is listening to them.

What is the story behind the title?My first patient in private practice was an older White male. After clearly introducing myself when I entered the patients room wearing my long white coat and name tag, spending over one hour with him listening to his concerns, examining him, reviewing imaging studies with him, and discussing my recommendations, he told me that I had a great plan before asking, So when do I see the doctor?

Name three takeaways for the reader from the book. Despite how society may portray us, Black people are equal and worthy of the same safety, education, respect, and opportunities for success as anyone else. Our ancestors are the reason why we have the opportunities that we have today, and our decisions each day will determine the opportunities of tomorrow for those who follow our paths. No matter what struggles you go through on your journey to success, you can not only persevere but also maintain who you are along the way.

At what point did you know it was time to write this book, was it a deliberate decision or did it evolve?

My husband and friends have been telling me to write a book for years, after hearing my stories as they happened, telling me that very few people outside of medicine think Black female physicians also go through race and gender bias because our accomplishments and career are so prestigious. When the pandemic hit, it exposed so much racial injustice in America, I felt it was the perfect time to bring awareness of its existence in health care.

What is the best piece of writing advice that you received?Be authentic

For more on the original article visit: https://rollingout.com/2020/10/19/dr-kimberly-gilbert-chronicles-her-experience-in-medical-school-in-new-book/

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Dr. Kimberly Gilbert Chronicles Her Experience in Medical School in New Book Free Press of Jacksonville - Jacksonville Free Press

Healer’s art: Integrating the humanities into medical education – Arizona Daily Wildcat

During the last decade, there has been a strong initiative by medical schools around the nation to integrate medical humanities into their curriculum. This movement seeks to train resilient medical students with holistic approaches that will better address the complexities of healing diverse patients.

The University of Arizona College of Medicine Tucson has made its mission to be in the forefront of this movement. At UACOM-T, the Medical Humanities Program provides students with enrichment electives that serve as a journey through medical humanities in order to learn and practice the tools that will aid [students] in becoming more compassionate and empathic physicians.

This academic year the "Healers Art" elective has been a favorite amongst students. The purpose of this course is to allow students to explore areas not fully addressed in the curriculum and feel connected to the real reasons for becoming a physician, said Dr. Patricia Lebensohn, professor of Family and Community Medicine and director of the Healers Art elective.

During each session, students get together to discuss mindfulness, grief, the meaning of service and the awe of medicine. Through these conversations, students share personal stories, beliefs and experiences that have impacted their ongoing journey through the medical profession. These conversations are enhanced by faculty mentors and physicians who contribute their personal experiences and share valuable lessons with students.

I think it is a precious opportunity to have physician mentors who can share their unique life stories inside and outside of medicine, said Hannah Korah, a first-year MD/PhD student. It is truly a humbling experience to see physicians be human beings who are vulnerable and so emotionally strong after everything they have gone through.

As expected, many of these conversations can be difficult. Students often share how emotional experiences such as the passing of a loved one or a personal failure have shaped or continue to shape their lives.

Rosemarie Turk, a second-year medical student at the UA, is grateful to participate in these conversations.

"I was not quite sure what to expect going into the elective. Now that we are half way through, I feel like I have learned that people carry so much with them in their everyday lives and don't always have an outlet to express it," Turk said. "I feel very grateful to gain more perspective through the Healer's Art elective."

Another common topic for students is the physical and mental demands of medical education.

During each session we are able to talk about particularly stressful days in medical school and our mental wellbeing, said Jarrod Rulney, a first-year medical student. It is very comforting to know that we all have a common struggle. Everyone is very supportive and eager to help.

Conversations about mental health have proven especially important. Decades of research has repeatedly shown an increasing rate of burnout, cynicism and anxiety amongst medical students and new practicing physicians.

Healers Art has taken initiative to address the vulnerability of being a medical student and physician, Korah said. The emotional toll of what we are dedicating our lives to is often hidden under shadows of textbooks, lectures, and clinical skills. This course teaches me to embrace the struggle, keeps me grounded, and reminds me that I am not alone on this journey.

By emphasizing the ways medial humanities can improve student wellbeing, UACOM-T hopes to mitigate burnout and mental health concerns early in training. Lebensohn said that she believes that Healers Art will serve as an antidote to the hidden curriculum that over time make students less empathic, more jaded and burned-out.

Around the nation, similar efforts have shown promising results. A recent study by University of Washington School of Medicine suggests that the integration of humanities education into their medical school curriculum has led to an increase in student performance, well-being and empathy.

The Healers Art elective has also served as way for students and faculty to appreciate and share a common passion for the humanities. The intersections between medicine, music and art are frequently explored during each session, adding greater depth to already complex conversations.

Turk explained that cultivating her interest in the humanities will make her a better physician.

The humanities are important in every aspect of life. They are embedded [in] everyone's life because, after all, we live a human experience. With such rich and unique experiences and different ways of processing them, the humanities allow us to better understand our patients and one another," Turk said.

Lebensohn said she shares these sentiments. In her personal life, she reads non-medical fiction, enjoys music and explores cinema. She believes that these interests make her a more complete and compassionate professional.

The humanities are an integral part of my role as a physician and how I connect at a human level with [my] patients. They are an important part of my personal and professional life," Lebensohn added.

Ultimately, renewed interest in medical humanities highlights the need to address curricular gaps that push non-medical courses to the sidelines. Educators around the country recognize that medical students need training beyond the scientific principles of medicine to become competent physicians. Through courses like Healers Art, UACOM-T seeks to close this gap in training.

For students like Rulney, Healers Art brings a refreshing focus to the humanistic foundations of medicine.

Courses like Healers Art remind me why I wanted to pursue medicine in the first place. At its core, this profession is about connecting with people, understanding their human experiences and collaborating with them to improve their quality of life. Healing is incomplete without a humanistic approach," Rulney added.

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Healer's art: Integrating the humanities into medical education - Arizona Daily Wildcat

An Arizona student was arrested after threatening to kill medical school classmates and bomb the campus, authorities say – CNN

The student faces four felony counts of computer tampering by using a computer in a course of conduct that threatened, terrorized or tormented specific individuals, police said.

It's unclear if she has legal representation.

The dean of Midwestern University at Glendale contacted authorities in April and reported that the student had sent a message from their phone threatening to bomb the campus, according to police and a probable cause statement.

When the dean confronted the student, she denied sending the message, the probable cause statement says.

The dean said the student was not doing well in school and was set to take her third medical board test after failing the first two, adding that if she failed the last test, she would be removed from the school, according to the court documents.

Earlier this month, a mass email was sent to about 200 students that named victims the author wanted to kill, according to police and the probable cause statement.

"Several more emails were sent in group messages threatening death and involving the families of the students," police added.

The student was arrested Wednesday after she was linked to the email addresses, social media accounts and electronic devices that were involved in the threatening messages, police said. The FBI is assisting in the investigation.

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An Arizona student was arrested after threatening to kill medical school classmates and bomb the campus, authorities say - CNN

Statement by Dr. Yaron Rado, Chief Radiologist and Chairman of the Board of Doctors Hospital on Cayman Court Judicial Review challenging concessions…

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, April 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Yaron Rado, Chief Radiologist and Chairman of the Board of Doctors Hospital, issued the following statement regarding the three-day judicial review, Grand Court Cases Nos 55 and 150 of 2021 challenging Institutionally registered medical professionals practising in Cayman and the financial concessions awarded to them.

"To set the scene:

Unlike doctors on the Principal List, the Health Practice Regulations don't require institutionally registered doctors to have any postgraduate qualifications or any special training. Institutional List practitioners need only have obtained their qualifications from almost any medical school in the world (vs Principal List providers who must be registered from one of seven countries: Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand, South Africa, United Kingdom, and the United States).

They are also not required to provide proof of specialist qualifications to call themselves a specialist or consultant, let alone a proper residency program (5 years), a fellowship program (an additional two years), and then three years of post-specialisation experience as required for the Principal List.

The only safeguard for patients to date is that institutionally registered doctors must practice at a "designated facility" and that Cabinet is responsible for designating these facilities.

Of course, the problem is that until April 6 2022, the Cabinet did not require facilities to meet any particular criteria before designating them, and Cabinet has no record of why Health City, Total Health, and Aster DM were designated as such. Cabinet has also not produced any criteria for reviewing the designation of facilities. In other words, there has been nothing to stop facilities from employing inexperienced Institutional List doctors with minimal supervision.

Until this court hearing, the concern had repeatedly been expressed by the local medical community that doctors on the institutional list were subject to a far lower level of regulation than doctors on the principal list, with consequent concerns for patient safety. This meant that doctors could be registered to practice here as institutional list practitioners with potentially very limited experience and qualifications.

On day 2 of the JR hearing, however, the Government's QC stated that, on the Governments interpretation of the legislation, all doctors must possess the same or equivalent level of qualification and experience for registration. He stated that this is because Regulation 5 of the Health Practice Regulations is applicable to institutional list doctors as well as principal list doctors. On day 3 of the JR hearing, the Government's QC once more confirmed that this is the correct interpretation of the law, and the interpretation the government applies in regulating the institutional list.

We must await Justice William's judgment to find out whether he will record that this new construction of the health practice law and regulations is correct, and must be applied going forwards, or whether he will instead recommend that the position is clarified by amending the legislation. Either way, the Government's formal position, as articulated in court last week, means that all doctors registered to practice in Cayman must now possess an appropriate, minimum level of qualification and experience. As such, Regulation 5A, and the "second-tier" institutional list (initially introduced by the Health Practice law (2013 revision), will effectively be abolished."

Of these two Grand Court Cases Nos 55 and 150 of 2021 in the Cayman court, this is a huge win for healthcare in Cayman - and for all duly regulated Principal List practitioners after years of dedication and investment into their education in compliance with the Health Practice Act and under the supervision of the Medical and Dental Council (MDC). I want to express my sincere appreciation for our lawyers Sally Bowler, Chris Buttler, and Ben Tonner from McGrath Tonner, who have worked tirelessly on our behalf to help affect these changes.

Unfortunately, all Institutional List physicians with boots on the ground in Cayman are exempted from meeting Principal List standards. Thankfully, the Cayman Islands Medical and Dental Society (CIMDS) has recently launched the "Green Tick" campaign to raise awareness about healthcare providers' two separate registration lists. We invite the people of the Cayman Islands to educate themselves so they can make informed healthcare choices for their families. We also ask our Government to strongly reconsider their position on this matter as each existing Institutional List provider renews their registration (every two years). They should be held to the same medical standards, values, and code of ethics we Principal List providers stand behind for our patients.

At this juncture, only half the battle is won.

The Government has a discretion under the various laws to waive the duties payable by healthcare facilities, indeed by anyone. However, there is currently no transparent, published guideline or criteria assisting those liable to pay these duties to understand when they will or won't be eligible for a waiver or an exemption: meaning that there is currently no transparent benchmark for obtaining a duty waiver or exemption. Health City (both in the east end and at its current and forthcoming Camana Bay facilities) receives huge financial privileges in the form of stamp duty waivers, import duty exemptions and discounts on work permit fees. This is all predicated on a contract that it entered into with the Government in 2010.

By comparison, Doctors Hospital paid CI$ 1.2 million in stamp duty to acquire its current site and has spent more than CI$ 1 million in customs duty alone over the last three years. Yet 12 years later Health City's medical tourism facility, at least as the 2010 contract envisioned it to be, namely, an integrated hospital comprising of a hospital, medical university and an assisted living facility, has not materialized. So why are these concessions continuing to be granted?

Doctors Hospital is concerned about this lack of transparency and the lack of any regulatory framework which ensures fairness. As a result, Doctors Hospitals seeks a declaration that transparent criteria for the granting and refusal of concessions ought to be published for all to see.

Doctors Hospital has the same interest as any other taxpayer in the lawfulness of the Government collecting taxes and believes it is unlawful for the Government to grant waivers to Health City and others on the premise that it is now contractually bound to do so. In particular, when the public is losing out on large sums of money that would be available for public services.

Doctors Hospital's motivation in bringing this judicial review is to, first and foremost, promote and preserve the integrity of healthcare in Cayman and to ensure that the Cayman Islands Government provides a fair and transparent tax system for all.

The ultimate findings from this three-day judicial review will be revealing. I sincerely hope that patient safety and the highest principles of healthcare are fully realised and that we bring an end to a long list of discriminatory concessions that Health City's arrival in the Cayman Islands has brought about."

SOURCE Doctors Hospital

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Statement by Dr. Yaron Rado, Chief Radiologist and Chairman of the Board of Doctors Hospital on Cayman Court Judicial Review challenging concessions...

Everything we know about Dr. Lindley Dodson – KXAN.com

Award-winning pediatric doctor shot and killed Tuesday night

by: Billy Gates

AUSTIN (KXAN) Police identified a doctor who worked at the Childrens Medical Group as the victim in a deadly SWAT standoff Tuesday night in central Austin.

Dr. Lindley Dodson was found dead inside the pediatric office after a SWAT team breached the doors of the building, ending a 6-hour standoff. She was a pediatrician at the office operated by Ascension Seton Dell Childrens Medical Center.

She is survived by her husband, her two daughters and her son.

Dodson, 43, grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and completed her undergraduate degree in chemistry at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, where she graduated magna cum laude, her LinkedIn profile says. She attended medical school at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.

We are shocked at the tragic loss of Lindley, and our hearts go out to Katherine, Paul, Drew, and the entire family, said LSU Interim President Tom Galligan. Words fail us, but we offer our good thoughts, sympathy, and prayers to our friends and colleague.

She completed her residency at Vanderbilt University Childrens Hospital in Nashville, Tenn., and was certified by the American Board of Pediatrics.

She joined Childrens Medical Groups office in 2017, according to its website. Her LinkedIn profile said she was also a partner at CMG.

Before coming to work in Austin, she was a Harvard Medical School instructor and was an urgent care doctor at Childrens Hospital Boston following her residency in Nashville. For 10 years, she worked at Dell Childrens Hospital in Austin and was named the hospitals top pediatric doctor in 2012 and 2017.

She was named a Rising Star by the Texas Super Doctors for three consecutive years, 2017-2019.

Multiple people replied to tweets by KXAN reporter Jody Barr, saying Dodson was their childs doctor or that they knew her personally.

Such a massive and heartbreaking loss for our community, one tweet said.

Another person who tweeted said she cared for his two sons, and the news was an absolute tragedy.

We are absolutely devastated and shaken, they added.

Karen Shafrir Vladeck, an Austin lawyer and friend of Dodson, said she was an absolute shining light, and organized a tribute thread on Twitter for people to share their favorite memories of Dodson.

Our entire community is beyond words gutted by the senseless loss of our wonderful pediatrician and friend, Dr. Lindley Dodson. This thread is dedicated to her life and love of children and I invite anyone who knew her to share a memory here, if that helps you process your grief. pic.twitter.com/JRU8pSIeHA

Dr. Dodson was a light. An absolute shining light. She walked into the exam room with a broad but sympathetic smile on her face every time you were there, she tweeted. She made you feel like your childs illness was the only one that mattered in that moment, even though you knew there was a line of other kids and parents waiting anxiously to see her. She always made you feel important and heard.

Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett said Dodson cared for two of his grandchildren and offered his condolences on Twitter.

Last night, in a horrifying act of gun violence, one of our most skilled, compassionate pediatricians, Dr. Lindley Dodson, was held hostage and murdered at her Central Austin office. She provided care for our youngest 2 grandchildren & so many other children across the community. pic.twitter.com/98BhHyycVw

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Everything we know about Dr. Lindley Dodson - KXAN.com

The Fauci effect: UND medical school sees big increase in applications during pandemic – Grand Forks Herald

There's a significant uptick in applications in the original applications coming to the school, and then the secondary applications that we get for interviews, Jim Porter said.

It's not a phenomenon unique to UND medical schools across the country are seeing an upswing in applications, too. As of December, the number of applications has increased by 18% over 2019, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Whats driving the increase?

It may be the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the example set by health care workers and public health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the nation's leading doctors during the pandemic and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The jump in applications has been dubbed the Fauci effect.

I think the pandemic has pointed out to a lot of very motivated, altruistic young people that they need to take some ownership of what happens in this world, said Dr. Joshua Wynne, dean of UNDs medical school.

One way they can do that is going into a health profession like medicine.

I think that it does speak to the altruism and dedication of young people, as seeing it as a real calling to try to help the world become a better place, and specifically, in this case, help North Dakota become a better place, Wynne said.

The increase in interest in the medical field is "unprecedented," Geoffrey Young, the AAMC's senior director for student affairs and programs, told NPR last month. Young said the only comparison he could make to what is happening now with medical applications would be the dramatic increase in people who entered the military following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Although more people are applying for UNDs medical school, that doesnt necessarily mean the school will increase its class sizes or admit a large number of extra students, Wynne noted.

Our class size is largely fixed, not so much by finances, not so much by dictums or policy, but, quite frankly, by the number of clinical opportunities that medical students in particular have after their initial education, Wynne said.

Medical school is broken into two halves, Wynne explained. The first is based around lectures and in-class learning, the second on clinical practice, where students learn in actual medical facilities.

But North Dakota, due to its smaller population, has a limited number of medical providers to work with, Wynne said. UND students already are working in the four major cities and six major providers in the state, as well as in the rural areas. There isnt a lot of space to put more students.

We have to rely on our clinical partners and their primary mission is patient care," Wynne said. "So they accommodate us, they help us with the educational experience, but there are finite spots available and we obviously dont want to get in the way of patient care. So were limited.

Still, the increase in applications will make for a very competitive class, Porter said.

Wynne noted that 91% of North Dakotans who attend medical school do so at UND.

The increase in applications will mean either more students from North Dakota are getting interested in medicine and/or we're attracting more students out there, he said. The bottom line is, I think it's a testament to the value proposition that the School of Medicine and Health Sciences offers, which is an excellent education at a modest cost.

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The Fauci effect: UND medical school sees big increase in applications during pandemic - Grand Forks Herald

Wayne State University School of Medicine extends outpatient education with Michigan Healthcare Professionals – The South End

The Wayne State University School of Medicine and Michigan Healthcare Professionals have announced an agreement that makes one of southeast Michigans largest multi-specialty medical groups the schools newest affiliate for the training of medical students.

The affiliation, launched Jan. 1, will see WSU medical students train with physicians in the 169 outpatient offices and diagnostic centers of Michigan Healthcare Professionals, which has more than 450 health care providers serving all the hospitals in the tri-county and metropolitan Detroit areas.

Wayne State Universitys 1,200 medical students, the largest class of medical students in Michigan, receive inpatient training in affiliated hospitals in southeast Michigan. Michigan Healthcare Professionals now expands critical training in outpatient settings.

We look to establish a national leadership in medical school-group practice affiliation that sets a new paradigm in health care training in outpatient settings with Michigan Healthcare Professionals, said Mark E. Schweitzer, M.D., dean of the WSU School of Medicine. This will be a national model for health care education. We anticipate that this affiliation will be further developed into a more comprehensive system that encompasses both medical school and residency training opportunities in the future.

It is a privilege to enter into this partnership with Wayne State, said Jeffrey Margolis, M.D., president of Michigan Healthcare Professionals and board member and lead physician of the Oakland Medical Group Oncology Division. Its the highest honor when a medical school recognizes your excellence in clinical care and entrusts you to educate future generations of doctors.

With the future of medicine focused on population health and enhanced wellness-based care models, MHPs network of highly-trained physicians will provide students with advanced training in community outpatient settings, where the majority of patient primary and specialty physician encounters occur. MHP providers are nationally known for several specialties including oncology and radiation therapy.

MHPs guiding philosophy of physicians taking more responsibility for the outcomes of medical care and the overall well-being of patients, patient care protocols guided by well-defined clinical trials, an emphasis on preventive medicine and related wellness programs, and a team concept in which physician care is augmented by ancillary health care workers, aligns with the School of Medicines goal of developing and training a diverse student body through high-quality education, clinical excellence, pioneering research, and investment in the community to prepare physician and biomedical scientific leaders who transform the promise of equal health into a reality for all.

The affiliation broadens the medical student experience beyond inpatient settings and provides students with the opportunity to understand the continuum of care in a patient-centered care model from wellness and prevention through to chronic and acute illness and injury.

About Wayne State UniversityWayne State University is a premier urban research institution offering more than 350 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 27,000 students.

About Michigan Healthcare ProfessionalsMichigan Healthcare Professionals is a physician-led and administered organization. Our mission is to develop improved health care systems that are high quality, efficient, coordinated, appropriate and cost effective.

Media contacts:

Wayne State University School of Medicine Philip Van Hulle 586-206-8130

Michigan Healthcare Professionals Lynda Glasser 248-851-3300

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Wayne State University School of Medicine extends outpatient education with Michigan Healthcare Professionals - The South End

Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine gets pre-accreditation, announces affiliation partnerships with local hospitals – Daily Herald

The road the inaugural school year at the Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine has been a long one, but the college recently received pre-accreditation, allowing it to begin enrolling students.

Dr. John Dougherty, founding dean and Chief Academic Officer, said a good way of describing the journey to pre-accreditation is a roller coaster ride. Dougherty was first approached by Presidents Richard Nielsen about 3 years ago.

The news from last week was a culmination of a ton of work by a lot of different people but probably the most challenging part of it was making a cohesive group of individuals who would help us be successful, Dougherty said.

With the school beginning to enroll students, there were about 2,000 applications submitted from individuals looking to be a part of the inaugural class. Those 2,000 applicants will be narrowed down to just 90.

The pre-accreditation stage basically means Noorda-COM has the means to begin teaching, along with the necessary elements to educate students looking to become future physicians.

What sets Noorda-COM apart from other medical schools is that osteopathic schools teach students to focus on the patients rather than the diagnosis. Dougherty said this is something that osteopathic medicine was founded on.

This fits into the mold President Nielsen has laid out in his career as well as at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions.

He sought out an Osteopathic medical school because of those core values and the similarity to his personal philosophy and that of osteopathic medicine, Dougherty said. It was a good match for what he was looking to develop and create here, relative to who we are as a profession.

With students being welcomed in for the fall of 2021, Dougherty said the school is looking for individuals who want to be what he calls heroes. It wants students who are humble, empathetic, respectful, open minded and those who understand that it is their calling to be there for the patient.

Along with the search for students to fill the inaugural class, Noorda-COM also announced affiliation partnerships with hospitals around the state of Utah.

Normally, the final 2 years of medical school focus on the clinical aspects of medicine and the day-to-day practices.

Not having a hospital of our own, its very important for us to be able to partner with existing facilities that have wonderful opportunities for our students to rotate in, said Dr. Michael Rhodes, Noorda-COM Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs.

These affiliations include Intermountain Healthcare, Revere Health, Utah Valley Specialty Hospital and more.

Students will have seven different rotations that include a number of different focuses at various hospitals. In the first week of these rotations, students will be on campus, where they will run through simulations prior to work in hospitals.

This allows the students to see a variety of different approaches when it comes to creating healthcare management systems and styles, Rhodes said.

This includes augmented reality, virtual reality and hologram patients in an effort to help the students be more prepared and helpful with the care teams at the hospitals.

These rotations will allow students to receive a diverse training in different focuses within medicine.

That gives a young student the opportunity to see the variety so that they can hone in on what it is they really want to be, what specialty they want to go into and what interest they really have, Rhodes said. By the end of those core rotations, theyll really know and get a good feel for what they want to do for the rest of their career and what they dont.

Another plus to the affiliations is that all of the sites are within 30 minutes of the campus. Dougherty added that in one of his previous jobs at a college, students were spread across 17 different states and left without much support from the medical school.

A close proximity to the school lets students receive help if they need it while being able to accomplish more and travel less.

As for the next step for the school, Dougherty said it will begin to pick the 90 students who will be a part of the inaugural class, which is expected to be a tough task.

Faculty are also working on creating the content for the courses, which includes four to seven minute pre-recorded videos. This curriculum can then be accomplished by the student at their own pace and at whatever time of day is most convenient.

Once these tasks are completed, among others, the school will be ready to welcome in its first students come the fall of 2021.

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Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine gets pre-accreditation, announces affiliation partnerships with local hospitals - Daily Herald

Med students learn how to be advocates for health care in 2021 – American Medical Association

Watch the AMA's daily COVID-19 update, with insights from AMA leaders and experts about the pandemic.

Featured topicand speakers

In todays COVID-19 Update, a special preview of the AMA webinar Your Voice, Your AMA: Health Care Advocacy and the New Administration," airing on Jan. 27 at noon Central for medical students to learn more about advocacy and how they can get involved in 2021.

Register for the webinar.

Learn more at theAMA COVID-19 resource center.

Unger: Hello, this is the American Medical Associations COVID-19 update. Today, we're bringing you a special preview of an AMA webinar airing on January 27th called, Your Voice, Your AMA: Health Care Advocacy and the New Administration and discussing how medical students can get more involved in advocacy in 2021. I'll be the moderator for this upcoming webinar and I'm joined today by the three panelists. Todd Askew, AMA senior vice president of advocacy in Washington, D.C. Reilly Bealer, the AMA's government relations advocacy fellow or GRAF in Washington, D.C., and a rising third year medical student at the Elson Floyd College of Medicine at Washington State University. And Jenny Young, director of membership at the Medical Society of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia. I'm Todd Unger, AMA's chief experience officer in Chicago. The panels have all asked for me to call them by their first names today. Todd, can you start by explaining the goal of the upcoming webinar and why it's so important to hold this event right now?

Askew: Sure. Todd, absolutely. This is a great opportunity and a great time for medical students to become involved in advocacy, that's really who we're targeting here. As a medical student at the beginning of your career, this is a great time to begin to make advocacy part of your practice, part of the way you care for patients throughout your career. Also, obviously right now, we have a lot of people that are very engaged in the political process right now, coming on the heels of the inaugural. We have a new president, we have a new Congress, so people are paying attention. So it's a great time to reach out and encourage medical students and young physicians and everybody really to make advocacy part of their regular practice.

Unger: And there's such a flurry of activity now, going on. Have you ever seen anything like this Todd?

Askew: No, it really is. This is an exciting time to be an advocate. It's an exciting time to be in Washington, but really in this virtual world, it's an exciting time to engage in the process from about anywhere. And we're going to talk in the webinar about how we think the new administration will impact health care policy and kind of what the future of health care policy is going forward.

Unger: Thank you. Reilly, you decided to spend a year as the AMA's GRAF and devote yourself to advocacy full time. Can you tell us where did you get this personal passion for advocacy and why do you believe students should get involved?

Bealer: Definitely, Todd. And for me, advocacy is not a specific definition and I'm sure Todd Askew and Jenny can talk about this more. It's more of a vague concept with many different ways to perceive it, whether that's collaboration, education, reconciliation and activism, advocacy is what you make it. And I want to see all of our students participate in the process because we need their voices. And for me, drivers of advocacy come from your personal values, your views of the world and your personal experiences of yourself and within your community. For me, I experienced housing insecurity at a very young age while dealing with a chronic medical condition.

Bealer: So I understand what it's like to not be able to access health care and as well as dealing with issues that many of the population doesn't have to struggle with. Like transportation, being able to get to an appointment when you're working eight to five in and physician's office is only nine to four. It's important that we advocate for all patients. And I don't see practicing medicine and taking part in advocacy and policy efforts as separate entities. As a physician, we take a role in healing all of the patient, not just their physical symptoms, but their emotional, spiritual, environmental, social issues as well.

Unger: Jenny, you've been working with students for a long time now. Why do you think students should get involved?

Young: Great, thanks, Todd. As you mentioned, I've been with the Medical Society of Virginia for almost nine years, and we have found that the medical students are an incredible advocacy group and kind of force. One of the big reasons is the legislators are making changes to the health care system that are going to affect a medical student much more in their profession than it will say, an almost retired physician. We've also found that, especially on medical education and scope of practice issues, having students just have a basic general conversation with a legislator or their aid about what is residency, what is medical school, what is GME funding it's really important because the normal lay person, or even legislator may not understand the complexities that come along with medical education.

Unger: Jenny has your approach changed due to the pandemic? I mean, how do you advocate in this environment?

Young: Absolutely. So we are actually in Virginia in the midst of our general assembly session, which is 100% virtual, which I'm sure most states in the country are dealing with. So we really have been trying to have the communications with the legislators via Zoom, which is not without its glitches. However, one thing that we also really try to do is partner with our medical student leaders and make sure that they have the opportunity to testify in committee meeting hearings, as well as really talk to the important key legislators that are voting on the specific issues. This year, we're dealing with a lot of scope of practice battles. And one thing this also just highlights is the importance of year-round advocacy.

Young: So one of the great things about partnering with the AMA or partnering with your state medical society is they can help to connect your school chapter with your legislators. So you actually start to build a relationship. So when you do reach out to your legislator during that session, or when you need their help on a boat, they know you are, they know what your school chapter stands for and you're not just a random name or number that comes over their phone or email. They remember that relationship and connection.

Unger: That's probably pretty important right now in this virtual environment. Todd, when you think about advocacy, how has the pandemic environment changed that right now for the AMA?

Askew: Well, I think in terms of the physical act of advocacy, the Congress is, they are meeting, but hearings are mostly virtual. Most access to the Capitol grounds is closed off to non-staff. And so essentially we are all virtual in our advocacy activities. A lot of this has relied on the relationships that were established before the pandemic hit and being able to call on those individuals, those members, those staffers and reach out to them and have that communication without having the other environment where you're tracking somebody down in a hallway or sitting in a hearing room. So having those established relationships, I think, has been a really important component that said, once you do get into this virtual environment and you have them, on your screen sort of, you have them, they're a 100% paying attention to you in that moment.

Askew: And so it can be an effective tool. I don't know if it will last past the pandemic, but I think everybody has worked hard to make it an effective tool. And I think that's met with some success. In terms of the issues that we're lobbying on, obviously an entire new set of public health issues and dealing with the novel coronavirus and the needs of the health care system, in terms of PPE, for example, and the desperate search for PPE early, and even into the day, the advocacy for clear guidance for reliance on science, some things you would think shouldn't have to be said, but they have had to be said. And so it's these many issues related directly to the pandemic that we're all learning, we're all teaching and we're all advocating for them.

Unger: And it's been a particularly, very successful year for AMA's advocacy on behalf of physicians and patients. Reilly, you took on the role of the GRAF in a very strange environment. How has this environment, this pandemic, affected the way that you've approached your role as the GRAF?

Bealer: I work with Todd, but I've never actually met him in person due to the virtual world. It's a definitely new experience for me being all virtual and it has posed the challenges, but it's also been incredibly insightful and provided the opportunity to expand access to our resources and speakers, to students in positions. For example, at our National Advocacy Week in October, we were able to get amazing speakers like FDA commissioner, Stephen Hahn, and the majority Whip representative, Jim Clyburn, speakers, you wouldn't even imagine would be able to attend in person in the non-virtual setting. In addition, being virtual, we can expand access to students across the country. As you know, in D.C., Things are very busy and people may not have the time to meet with students or students may not be able to afford to fly to D.C. To do their advocacy work. So this gives us the ability to expand and offer more opportunities for students. For example, our medical student advocacy conference coming up in March is going to be all virtual and students get the opportunities to speak with their legislators via telehealth session or televisit session.

Unger: What I think is really neat too, about that Physicians of the Future Summit is about 70% more students can participate in this kind of virtual approach. We had almost 70% more submissions to our research symposium and research challenge. So a lot of opportunity in this virtual world, like you mentioned before, the kind of speakers that you can get and just expanded opportunities. So it's great to see you do that. Well, speaking of our upcoming webinar, we have students giving them an opportunity to submit questions in advance. Reilly, would you say that medical students are largely concerned about the same issues that physicians have or do they have unique concerns?

Bealer: I think students themselves are a very unique population and we don't all necessarily fit in the same box. However, students are considered the conscience of the AMA, at least our section is. And so we are really focused on equity, ensuring that these challenges that are going to face our health care systems for years to come have solutions that don't just benefit one population that help those who've been historically minoritized and marginalized in society, making sure that we can analyze issues from unique perspectives, utilizing our own experiences and problem solving skills to debate and come together on a solution. And I also think that's what makes our organization so great is because we can have perspectives of students, perspectives of physicians, and we'll all work together on these critical, complex multifaceted issues.

Unger: Great. Well, last question. I want to just get your thoughts on the role of associations and state societies in advancing the issues that matter to physicians and students in this particularly unique year. Jenny, why don't you start?

Young: I think the big issue that we're working on in addition to, as I mentioned previously, scope of practice is burnout. And so the Medical Society of Virginia in particular has been working very hard on physician burnout for several years now. We actually were the first state in the nation to pass legal protections for physicians seeking help for their career burnout. And this year, the burnout that we've seen from the medical student perspective is enormous, that added stress and pressure on an already incredibly stressful time has really made us focus on increasing legal protections for medical student burnout in this year's Virginia general assembly session. And it's something that we're very proud of. And so far our bill has passed unanimously. So we look forward to having it go through the continued channels of the Virginia general assembly and be signed by the governor.

Unger: Todd, your thoughts.

Askew: I think it's been interesting so much of the time and advocates spend is trying to get your issue lifted up the agenda, right? And get the attention of those who have the power to advance what you're working on. In this environment, so many of the issues, both equity and COVID are right in the wheelhouse of physicians and within the resource kind of box that the AMA and other state and specialty medical societies fill. So we have a tremendous number of legislators coming to us and regulators coming to us, help me understand this, tell me the experience from the frontline. The government says, "We have plenty of PPE." And we can say, "No, you don't. Here's where the shortage is." The government has said, "Look, telemedicine may not work here." And we can say, "Yes, it can work here. Here are the changes you need to make in order to make it accessible for people."

Askew: And so that expertise I think, has been called upon by government at all levels in this time to help guide the response and the receptivity of policymakers to that messaging has been much more than I think it might have been in more normal times when some of the other more mundane issues perhaps would also be on their mind as well. So it's been a challenge, but it's been an exciting time to be able to play a part, both as professional advocates, but also the physicians and the medical students we represent all play a part in different ways in kind of meeting the moment.

Unger: And one of the key things I've really seen as effective is how the advocacy team at the AMA has created that direct connection between people at the CDC and the FDA to connect directly with a physician audience and kind of tell them the facts and actually answer questions.

Askew: And I would say, it's not just the advocacy team. It's kind of like, who's in membership, we're all in membership. Well, we're all in advocacy too, because the legal team, Todd, the communications team, the MMX team that you had, it's been a real example of the power of organized medicine to make a real difference.

Unger: Yeah, there's really never been a better time for speaking with a unified voice than right now. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming webinar. You can watch that live webinar again, Your Voice, Your AMA: Health Care Advocacy and the New Administration. That event is on January 27th at noon Central time. And if you want to register, go to ama-assn.org/med-student-voices. Or if you can't remember that, click on the link in our YouTube descriptions. Thanks so much Todd, Reilly and Jenny for being here today and sharing your perspectives. We'll be back soon with another COVID update. In the meantime, please take care.

Disclaimer:The viewpoints expressed in this video are those of the participants and/or do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the AMA.

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Med students learn how to be advocates for health care in 2021 - American Medical Association

Experimental Covid antibody treatment that Trump lauded now available in WNY – Buffalo News

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If, for example, I test positive, then any member of my household could be eligible for this treatment provided that they havent begun experiencing symptoms, Sethi said.

Those interested in treatment must be 18 or older, live with someone recently tested positive with the coronavirus and be free of Covid-19 symptoms, said Kelly Green, clinical research coordinator with the Clinical Research Office.

Those who do, can call Green at 888-4764 or email kjk22@buffalo.edu for more information and to see if they meet other eligibility guidelines for treatment.

Regeneron sought 2,000 patients when the study started several weeks ago in the region. There are 700 slots still available and more may be added depending on interest, Green said.

The drugmaker decided to provide treatment because Dr. Michael Cain, Jacobs School dean, was able to provide space in an unused medical school clinic in Amherst where participants could be treated discretely and safely without exposing other health care patients, Sethi said.

Those selected for the study will get a rapid test for Covid-19. They will be able to participate whether they test positive or negative. Those who are symptomatic will not be eligible but could consider participating in treatment trials being conducted at UB for mild to moderate cases of Covid-19.

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Experimental Covid antibody treatment that Trump lauded now available in WNY - Buffalo News

‘People are going to die’: Hospitals in half the states are facing a massive staffing shortage – STAT

Hospitals in at least 25 states are critically short of nurses, doctors, and other staff as coronavirus cases surge across the United States, according to the industrys trade association and a tally conducted by STAT. The situation has gotten so bad that in some places, severely ill patients have been transferred hundreds of miles for an available bed from Texas to Arizona, and from central Missouri to Iowa.

Many of these hospitals spent months building up stockpiles of medical equipment and protective gear in response to Covid-19, but the supplies are of little use without adequate staffing.

Care is about more than a room with a hospital bed. Its about medical professionals taking care of patients, said John Henderson, chief executive of the Texas Organization of Rural & Community Hospitals (TORCH). If you dont have the staff to do that, people are going to die.

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Staffing shortages are a serious concern in multiple regions. Intensive care unit nurses, who typically oversee no more than two patients at a time, are now being pushed to care for six to eight patients to make up for the shortfall in parts of Texas, said Robert Hancock, president of the Texas College of Emergency Physicians. In Ohio, some 20% of the 240 hospitals tied to the Ohio Hospital Association are reporting staffing shortages, according to spokesperson John Palmer.

The American Hospital Associations vice president of quality and patient safety, Nancy Foster, said shes heard from two dozen hospital leaders over the past two weeks, warning her of staffing shortages in states including Texas, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Health care providers in Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Ohio, Missouri, Michigan, and Utah said theyre facing the same problem, as do local reports from New Mexico, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Indiana, Montana, California, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.

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The shortages are primarily caused by overwhelming numbers of patients as coronavirus spreads, combined with decreasing staff levels as nurses and doctors themselves fall sick or have to quarantine after being exposed to infected people. Covid-19 is also prevalent in rural areas that have been struggling with a shortage of health professionals for years; hospitals in more remote regions dont have equipment such as ventilators, and so must transfer severely ill patients to already-overwhelmed urban health care systems. The scale of the problem makes it harder to address: Systems designed to offset shortages by bringing in backup from other areas dont work when so many states are affected simultaneously.

States that sent doctors and nurses to New York at the beginning of the pandemic now have no one to turn to as hospitals across the country experience the same problem. Early on, Texas was sending teams of caregivers to states like New York to help with their surge, said Henderson. You cant do that when 48 states are going through a surge in the wrong direction and they all need help. Where do you pull from?

As the crisis proliferates, several health care systems are struggling to transfer urgent patients to hospitals with adequate support. Hospitals in Lubbock, Texas, had to send severe Covid-19 patients to Arizona, said Henderson. A Missouri patient who urgently needed surgery to remove a mass in his brain was sent to a hospital in Iowa, said Alex Garza, head of the St. Louis regional pandemic task force and community health officer at SSM Health in St. Louis.

The mechanics of how you transport and accelerate care are broken at the moment, said Henderson. Even major cities in Texas, such as Houston, Dallas, and Austin, are facing their own staff limitations, and so many rural hospitals in Texas are forced to try and treat patients that they would typically transfer out.

Covid-19 has so overwhelmed parts of Texas, including El Paso and Lubbock, that hospitals are running short of both beds and staff. I treated a clinical patient in a recliner, because it was the only thing close to a bed we could find, said Hancock, who works at hospitals in Oklahoma, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Amarillo, Texas, but declined to say where the incident happened. We knew the patient was sick and had nowhere to put them. You look at what resources youve got and make it happen.

The lack of staff reflects the dramatic increase in patients. There has been an average of 157,318 new cases per day over the past week, according to the STAT Covid-19 Tracker 74% more than two weeks ago and there simply arent enough ICU nurses, in particular, to meet the need. Hospitals currently have 2,000 ICU nurse jobs open on Trusted Health, a company that connects travel nurses, who hop from job to job around the country, with hospitals.

The situation is exacerbated as staff get sick with coronavirus themselves, or else have to quarantine after exposure. The staffing need is so dire, hospital workers who have tested positive for Covid-19 but are asymptomatic have been told to continue working in North Dakota.

One rural hospital in Texas is struggling with 30% of staff nurses out of commission because of infection with or exposure to Covid-19, said TORCHs Henderson. At one point earlier this month, more than 1,000 staff from the Mayo Clinic were out of work because of Covid-19, said Amy Williams, executive dean of Mayo Clinic Practice.

It could be caring for a family member who has Covid, it could be on quarantine because of being exposed in the community, or it could be because the staff member actually has Covid, Williams said. More than 90% of possible exposures occurred in the community as transmission picked up, she said, not in the hospital.

As health care systems compete for additional staff, salaries skyrocket. ICU nurses are a hot commodity, said Dan Weberg, a former emergency room nurse and head of clinical innovation at Trusted Health, and their fees are currently twice as much as pre-Covid rates, at around $5,000 to $6,000 per week.

This is how PPE was in the beginning of the pandemic. When youre competing with everyone else in town, and state, and the country, that creates a market thats not sustainable, said SSM Healths Garza.

In response to the staffing shortage, several hospitals are postponing elective surgeries as many did in the spring at the start of the pandemic. This decision carries risks: They call them elective but a lot are what Id call urgent cases, said Hancock, the Texas emergency physician. A surgeon recently had to cancel two intestinal surgeries for patients who were struggling to eat, said Kencee Graves, associate chief medical officer at University of Utah Health. Patients waiting for knee surgeries may well struggle to walk.

But there are few alternatives for health care systems. You can always add more beds. Its much more difficult to add more workforce, said Alan Morgan, chief executive of the National Rural Health Association. Some hospitals are turning to local dentists and Red Cross volunteers, and people with basic health experience to help with tasks that require less training, said the American Hospital Associations Foster.

The only other option is to ask existing staff to work more hours. University of Utah Health has been using additional ICU beds for months, which means nurses and providers are working extra shifts. Our numbers keep increasing but they are tired. Our nurses feel like theres no end in sight, said Graves. They get here, work 12 hour shifts in PPE, its just this churn of seeing critically ill patients. And then you go to your community and see peak numbers, and having people continue to go to bars and restaurants.

Trusted Health is trying to set a maximum of 60 hours per week in its nursing contracts. After working more than three 12-hour shifts in a row, error rates go up exponentially, said Weberg.

What most worries hospital officials is that Covid-19 has not yet reached its peak. What Im scared of, leading up to the holidays, is whats going to happen immediately after Thanksgiving, said Hancock. Then everyone gets into a crisis situation and theres nobody who can go help.

Their only hope is for demand to decrease by people reducing Covid-19 transmission through quarantining and wearing masks, they said. Many of us feel powerless because we feel people arent listening when we say dont gather for Thanksgiving or Christmas, said Graves. After months of dealing with the crisis, she worries that some nurses will be so burned out theyll quit, making the staffing shortage even worse.

Both hospitalizations and deaths are lagging indicators, meaning it takes a couple of weeks for newly diagnosed cases to translate into more ICU patients. Were in for a very rough Thanksgiving and Christmas, said Henderson.

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'People are going to die': Hospitals in half the states are facing a massive staffing shortage - STAT

Three Yalies honored for their impact on and beyond Yale with 2020 Yale-Jefferson Awards | Yale Alumni – Yale News

The Yale-Jefferson Awards are presented annually, recognizing sustained public service that is individual, innovative, impactful, and inspiring. The recipients are three Yalies a Yale College student, a graduate or professional school student, and a member of the alumni body all of whom have demonstrated service that draws on the Yale community and benefits the world beyond Yale.

By those and all measures, the 2020 honorees are most deserving. They have made an impact for minorities in STEM, for those in need, and for those with special needs improving the lives of their communities and those within them.

Here are your 2020 Yale-Jefferson Award recipients: Robert Fernandez 20 PhD, Scott Morris 80 MDiv, and Megan Sardis 21.

Yale is honoring Fernandez for his dedication to transforming and building programs to improve the diversity of STEM education at Yale and beyond, helping to shape the minds of future scientists within the university undergraduate and graduate communities. A dedicated mentor, Fernandez serves as a coordinator for Yales Science, Technology, and Research Scholars program (known as STARS II), which is committed to supporting women, minorities, the economically underprivileged, and historically underrepresented students in the sciences, engineering, and math. He also co-founded Cientfico Latino, a STEM organization that works to bolster the pipeline of underrepresented students in higher education in the sciences.

Fernandez is a decorated scientist, having been named a 2014 Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow and as one of the 100 most inspiring Hispanic/Latinx scientists in America by Cell Mentor. He received his PhD from the Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry Department at Yale and is currently a postdoctoral scientist at Columbia University.

When I came to Yale, I didnt know how to navigate undergrad to grad school, and I didnt know how different it was a lot of self-learning and asking questions on topics youre not familiar with. Also, pretty much at the time I was the only Latino on my track and one of three in the entire department, Fernandez said. Through that experience, I learned that grad school isnt something you do by yourself; its something you do as a community. It taught me that sometimes under-represented students are pretty isolated in higher education. So, I wanted to do something to help the community, to work with undergraduates and prepare them for the next step.

Yale is honoring Morris for his dedication and tireless efforts to provide healthcare for those in need. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Church Health in Memphis, Tennessee, which provides quality, affordable healthcare for working, uninsured people and their families. A board-certified family practice physician and an ordained United Methodist minister, Morris has revolutionized healthcare for the working poor in Memphis, recruiting doctors, nurses, dentists, and more to volunteer, all while securing a broad base of financial support from the faith community. Buoyed by those efforts, Church Health has grown to become the largest faith-based, privately funded health center in the nation, serving more than 75,000 patients and handling approximately 44,000 patient visits annually.

For his efforts and great work, Morris has been recognized by a number of major organizations,including the American Medical Association,which awarded him its Excellence in Medicine Award in 2008.

I started Church Health after going to Yale Divinity School and then going to medical school and doing a residency in family medicine, Morris said. I came to Memphis to start the work we did in 1987, so Ive never had a real job. But for 34 years, Church Health has existed in order to provide healthcare under the umbrella of the faith community to the people who work to make our lives comfortable. We take care of those people who wash our dishes, who cut our grass, who take care of our children, who will one day dig our graves. They dont complain, yet when they get sick, their options are very few.

Yale is honoring Sardis for her work providing innovative healthcare solutions for children with disabilities. A believer in the power of community to help vulnerable children reach their full potential, Sardis co-founded the nonprofit organization SNUGS National, which has developed free aquatic clinics for special needs children at eight locations across the U.S. That includes Yales Payne Whitney gymnasium, where the sessions are run by Yale student volunteers. To date, SNUGS National has served more than 150 families and has raised more than $15,000 in donations, and it has cultivated a 13-member board with teams in finance, communications, marketing, and development.

As a student of Global Affairs, Sardis is on pace to graduate in May 2021. She has a specific interest in health initiatives on the African continent and hopes to attend medical school and pursue a career in pediatric global health after her time at Yale.

When I got to Yale, I noticed that there werent any real programs for children with special needs, and no program for swim lessons for children with special needs, Sardis said. So, I talked to the swim coach and we worked together to get this program off the ground. We started off with six Autistic girls who we got connected with through the Yale Child Study Center. And since then its taken off. As of last year, we had 150 kids of all different sorts of intellectual and developmental disabilities come be part of our program. Its been really, really great. Every time I go there, I fall even more in love with it.

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Three Yalies honored for their impact on and beyond Yale with 2020 Yale-Jefferson Awards | Yale Alumni - Yale News

Stanford med student lost two jobs during the coronavirus pandemic. So she picked blueberries to make a living – San Francisco Chronicle

Gianna Nino-Tapias world as a first-year medical student is a chaotic mashup of virtual classes, anatomy labs and late-night, marathon study sessions. But life for the 24-year-old was drastically different just a few months ago.

Weeks after earning a masters degree in epidemiology in June, and two months before starting Stanford Medical School, Nino-Tapias returned home to Washington state to pick blueberries alongside her family after losing two jobs during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

Earning $3.50 for every gallon of blueberries she picked, Nino-Tapias rose at 3 a.m. each day to make the one-hour drive to a farm in Paterson, a town near the Oregon border. She would start picking the days harvest by 5 a.m.

Dressed daily in several layers, long sleeves, a face covering, a baseball cap and tattered sneakers, Nino-Tapias turned to the fields to make a living. Its a place shes known since she was 14.

I still had a lot of bills and things going on so I needed to find a job, she said. It was exciting and also a little disappointing ... but at the end of the day I was thankful that I was able to find a job, especially a job with my family.

Nino-Tapias straddles two worlds. At Stanford, wealth, privilege and education can afford many students endless opportunities. In the fields, farmworkers harvest up to 60 hours per week in unforgiving weather, often skipping bathroom breaks to pick more crops and showing up to work no matter the circumstance, even when theyre feeling ill or experiencing possible symptoms of the coronavirus.

Nino-Tapias story went viral over the summer after she tweeted photos from the fields. In one image, two white buckets brimmed with freshly-picked blueberries her harvest for the day. How much do you pay for your blueberries? she asked her followers.

As a low-income, first-generation Latina the daughter of a Mixtec woman from Oaxaca Nino-Tapias humble beginnings inspired in her a desire to excel in school and serve her community.

But her story also highlights the inequities that farmworkers have faced for decades, particularly as the pandemic rages on. She has seen those inequities play out in her family and in the lives of those that she has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with in the fields.

A lot of the things that I have seen in the fields and the health disparities the joint pain, the back pain and all of the things that you experience in the fields that was all seared into my mind and made me think, I want to serve my community as a medical practitioner, Nino-Tapias said.

When the pandemic hit in March and millions of residents across the Bay Area were ordered to shelter in place as businesses shut down, Nino-Tapias said she lost her job at Lush Cosmetics in the Stanford Mall. Stanford also shut down that month, which meant Nino-Tapias could no longer work at the universitys Native American Cultural Center, where she was a librarian and programming assistant.

She said she applied for several contact tracing positions, identifying people who might have been infected with the coronavirus, but did not hear back. Facing mounting school bills she paid for her masters degree on her own Nino-Tapias went home to work in a place that shaped her identity.

The days felt long, she said. It was hard because we had to start doing preparations for medical school so I was having to do modules and readings. I would have to come home, help my mom get everything ready (for the following day) and then do my work.

On Fridays, Nino-Tapias participated in a health journal club as part of Stanfords Leadership in Health Disparities program, in which incoming med students discussed academic articles about the social determinants of health. At first, Nino-Tapias called in from the fields through Zoom, but that became too hectic.

She stopped working on Fridays in order to focus on the journal club.

Farmworkers experience a multitude of socioeconomic and health disparities that have only worsened in recent months. As a vulnerable population, they are among the essential workers most devastated by the pandemic and account for a significant number of infections in agricultural regions like Sonoma, Monterey and Mendocino counties.

Nearly 168,000 farmworkers across the United States, including more than 12,600 in California, have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to data compiled by Purdue University.

Gabriela Diaz, a Cloverdale resident who works on a farm in Sonoma County, said she felt nervous working while most people sheltered in place.

We were all at work putting ourselves at risk while the rest of the world was home, said Diaz, 34. We were here, afraid of getting infected. We were really scared and nervous. At that point we just put our health in Gods hands and thats it. There was nothing left to do but work.

Several factors put farmworkers at an elevated risk of contracting the virus, including harvesting in close groups making it impossible to maintain a distance from peers living in overcrowded housing and not immediately seeking medical care due to lack of health insurance or fear of deportation, according to community advocates and researchers.

Farmworkers who may experience symptoms of the coronavirus dont always alert their employers because they cannot afford to miss work, they said.

No one is going to say that they are showing signs or symptoms because they need the money and they need to go into work, Nino-Tapias said. If they had anything going on, theyre not going to self-report that.

Nino-Tapias life experiences have defined her path toward medicine. Growing up, she often stepped in as an interpreter for her mother, Susana Tapia, who does not speak English. When her mothers friends had doctors appointments or gave birth to a child, Nino-Tapias mother would often send her to interpret on their behalf.

It was an incredible opportunity and I loved serving my community, she said. In my community, I also saw a lot of doctors who farmworkers could not identify with, so I hope that one day Ill be able to come back and serve my own farmworker community.

Black and Latino health care providers are more likely to have positive and productive interactions with patients who share the same cultural backgrounds, said Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, an epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist at Stanford, and one of Nino-Tapias mentors.

We are really disproportionately underrepresented in the health care workforce and this is true across the country as well, Maldonado said. Somebody like Gianna is a perfect example of an individual who is going to contribute greatly. ... This is what we would like to see happen in all diverse populations.

But as a student who started medical school during a pandemic that has killed more than 228,000 Americans and kept millions of people confined to their homes for months, Nino-Tapias has struggled to adjust to her new normal.

About five weeks into the semester, she drove back to Washington to be with family and continue her virtual classes from home.

My mental health was not doing well, Nino-Tapias said. It was very isolating and I didnt have a roommate at that point. I think a lot of the struggles for our class was that we were in our rooms all the time all the libraries are closed, everything is closed and so it became like us being in our rooms 24 hours a day. The smoke from the wildfires at one point became unbearable and so we couldnt even be outside.

Nino-Tapias has since returned to Stanford. While most of her classes are virtual, she attends a weekly anatomy lab on campus. The university also opened some classrooms so that students can take Zoom courses together at a distance, she said. And she recently got a therapy dog, Roxy, who gets long walks between classes.

On the day she took to Twitter over the summer, Nino-Tapias said she simply wanted to share a slice of her life on what was a particularly difficult day. She was struggling to fill enough buckets to make minimum wage.

She credits her mother for instilling her pride in being a farmworker.

She was the one who was willing to take me to the field when I was 14 and helped me not see it in a negative way, but rather a way to learn about hard work and inspire me to really want me to get an education so that one day I wouldnt have to go back.

Tatiana Sanchez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tatiana.sanchez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TatianaYSanchez

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Stanford med student lost two jobs during the coronavirus pandemic. So she picked blueberries to make a living - San Francisco Chronicle

First-of-Its-Kind Med School Makes History – Medscape

Ashton Glover Gatewood, 31, a member of the Choctaw Nation and descendent of both the Chickasaw and Cherokee Nations, has long lamented the glaring lack of Native American physicians. So she decided to become one.

Gatewood is a student in the inaugural class of the first tribally affiliated medical school in the United States, the Oklahoma State University (OSU) College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation. The school opened this fall on Cherokee land in Tahlequah, the capital of the Cherokee Nation's 14-county reservation in the rolling hills of rural Oklahoma, about an hour east of Tulsa.

First-year medical student Ashton Glover Gatewood, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation, receives her white coat from Natasha Bray, DO, associate dean of academic affairs at the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation.

"When I first read in the paper that OSU and the Cherokee Nation were starting this school, I knew I had to be a part of it," said Gatewood, an RN with an MPH degree who had been working as a public health nurse at the Oklahoma City Indian Clinic. "I want to help the Native community and know, as a physician, I'll have a larger platform and voice."

Tribal communities have long lacked resources and medical care. They face crushingly high rates of poverty, substance abuse, and suicide, as well as well as an increased incidence of chronic health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. The coronavirus pandemic has further highlighted the healthcare disparities that affect these medically underserved people.

Medical educators have struggled for decades with little success to boost the number of Native American physicians and to train physicians to staff clinics for chronically underserved rural populations such as the Cherokee Nation. Nationwide, fewer than half of 1% of US physicians are Native American. In the first class at the new school, 22% identify as such.

"After we were removed from tribal lands and there were no teachers, we invested our treasury into teachers," said Bill John Baker, former principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. "This is a natural progression. Just as our ancestors grew their own teachers 150 years ago, we want to grow our own doctors."

Many credit the creation of the school to Baker's vision. During his tenure as principal chief from 20112019, Baker made healthcare a priority for a population struggling with high death rates from cardiovascular disease and lung cancer. Baker sold off the nation's private jet to help pay for healthcare services and allocated $300 million to refurbish rural clinics and create and equip a new state-of-the-art outpatient facility. The Cherokee Nation now operates the largest tribally operated healthcare system in the United States; 27% of its working physicians are tribally affiliated, according to a tribal spokesperson.

The investment in healthcare caught the attention of OSU leaders, who approached the chief with the prospect of opening a medical school on tribal lands. "It was a match made in heaven," Baker said. "We've been investing in our young people for quite some time, sending them to medical school at Harvard and Stanford and all over the country, but when we saw an opportunity to have a medical school right here and not have to ship our kids off, that made perfect sense."

Cherokee leaders feel lucky to have the campus on their land. "The symbol of having a medical school in our capital is just so powerful," said current Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr, who has helped oversee a continuing outflow of healthcare spending.

Hoskin says these moves came in response to years of governmental neglect. "We're not waiting for the federal government to meet its healthcare obligations to American Indian people and their sovereign governments," he said.

Students and medical school leaders say they are thoroughly impressed with how the Cherokee Nation is now handling healthcare in general, as well as COVID-19. Before the pandemic, the tribe built new clinics with high-grade ventilation and enough space to easily segregate infectious patients. The tribe also has its own COVID-19 dashboard. In addition to widely disseminating flu shots, it implemented a mask mandate early on. The state of Oklahoma still doesn't have one.

Many students are drawn to the school because of its location. "When they announced this partnership with the Cherokee Nation, I had five different family members send it to me," said Connor West, 24. "I think it was meant to be." Although he is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, West said he has never lived on tribal lands. He's thrilled to see signs around town written in both English and Cherokee, to see so many cars with Cherokee Nation license plates, and to be able to meet tribal leaders. "It's like being in Washington, DC, and meeting the president," he said.

The Cherokee Nation paid to construct the $40 million, 84,000 square foot building that will house the new medical school starting in January. Construction was delayed because of the pandemic. When finished, the halls will be filled with artworks by Cherokee artisans. The grounds will be landscaped with plants used by Cherokee medicine men and women, plants such as coneflower, yarrow, rattlesnake master, blue indigo, and elderberry.

An architectural rendering of OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation.

Construction is almost complete on the 84,000 state-of-the-art facility, which will be ready for use in the spring semester of 2021.

The hope is that the physical building and its surroundings will reflect its ties to the community. The medical school sits on Cherokee land, but the agreement to form the school was signed by an additional four area tribal nations: the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole. All five tribes are providing funds for scholarships and clinical rotation sites within their tribal clinic systems.

Although the pandemic has put many of the school's plans on hold, courses will involve students interacting with and learning from Native elders and healers who are scheduled to be guest lecturers and will share wisdom with the new students. "We're hoping an unwritten curriculum will emerge from the healing practices of the Cherokee people," said Natasha Bray, DO, the school's associate dean for academic affairs and accreditation.

Decolonizing the medical school curriculum sits well with many Native American physicians. Areas of consideration include how to work with cadavers, something that can be traumatizing for more traditional tribal students, who often seek purifying ceremonies from healers after completing required dissections. "This is so exciting the Cherokee Nation is taking this on," said Gayle Din Chacon, MD, who served as surgeon general for the Navajo Nation and founded the Center for Native American Health at the University of New Mexico. "I think this will be a model for other tribes."

Opening during the pandemic has been challenging, especially because a major draw of the school is its focus on community. As is the case on other medical school campuses, students at the new school haven't been able to study together or hold parties after tests. When a number of students gathered on Zoom to be interviewed for this article, they commented that they had never before seen each other without masks on. "It's been so hard. They can't do all the bonding things young people would normally do," said Bray.

Students are being patient but are eager to proceed with the unique opportunities the school has offered, including spending time with Cherokee healers and volunteering in the community. Some had hoped to donate their time at nursing homes and other medical facilities. For now, their learning is a blend of remote lectures and in-person osteopathic and physical diagnostic labs, with reduced class sizes and social distancing.

Some students view lectures and study at home. Others, like Gatewood, who has a young child, come to campus and wear masks. The school is using empty Cherokee Nation medical office space while students await their January move-in date. Families were barred from attending the students' white coat ceremony on July 31. So far, there have been no cases of on-campus transmission of COVID-19, Bray said.

As chaotic as it has been, the students say they are very proud to be part of a historic class. "Once we move in, it will kick in that, 'I'm the first one to sit in this chair,' " said Caitlin Cosby, 21, a member of the Choctaw tribe. She was inspired to enter medicine after seeing treatment given to her sister, who was born without eardrums. "Being an inaugural class, we're all leaders."

Pandemic-related lessons in adaptability may prove valuable to those headed to work in the Indian Health Service, where physician postings are considered "unusually difficult" because of isolation and chronic understaffing, according to a 2018 U.S. Government Accountability Office report. "The fortitude and grit we're developing this year are really going to serve us well," Gatewood said.

The tribal partnership is considered a win-win for the Cherokee Nation and the surrounding community because it creates a pipeline to train Native physicians as well as help ease physician shortages in rural parts of Oklahoma. Oklahoma ranks among states with the fewest physicians per capita and the lowest life expectancy. Forty percent of the students in the inaugural class come from rural areas. When it comes to the school's mission, "it's a shared vision," said Dean William J. Pettit, DO. "The tribal leaders want to keep their population healthy, and we want to train rural physicians."

Although relationships between the Cherokee Nation and the federal government have at times been fraught, Chief Hoskin says his nation's partnership with the state university is a strong one. "When we find friends and neighbors with whom we can build coalitions," he said, "we prosper, and they prosper."

The school also hopes to create new residency programs at area tribal health networks in an effort to keep the students they train practicing in nearby rural and tribal areas. New physicians tend to set up practices near where they completed residency, Pettit said, so setting up rural and tribal residency options is key to increasing the state's rural physician workforce.

Although the medical school is a promising start, those working to increase the ranks of tribal physicians say the pipeline should start much earlier. "We have to get down to the middle school and high school level and mentor these kids. Sometimes they just have to hear, 'Yes, you can do this. Yes, you can take that next step,' " said Tim Ridgway, MD, dean and vice president for health affairs at South Dakota's Sanford School of Medicine, which has also been grappling with ways to increase enrollment of Native American medical students.

OSU has been doing precisely that kind of work. In a program called "Operation Orange," medical school faculty and students go into rural areas hoping to inspire students by letting them experience a day in the life of a medical student. "We let them hold a brain, hold lungs, put on splints and do intubations, things that will excite a younger person," Pettit said.

Din Chacon agrees that mentoring and better tribal education systems are critical. Currently, the system may not adequately prepare young students for the academic rigor and ability to ace standardized tests that they need to succeed in college and beyond. "It's not just 'open a medical school and they will come,' " said Din Chacon, who grew up in the center of the Navajo Nation in Chinle, Arizona. "We need to plant the seeds and prepare the field so we have enough good, healthy, competitive applicants to enter medical school."

Even as they look toward ways to improve the future, leaders of the Cherokee Nation are celebrating the potent symbolism of having a medical school rise on their land, the powerful coalition they are building with OSU, and the home-grown physicians they expect to see graduating for years to come.

Usha Lee McFarling is an American science reporter who has written for the Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, STAT News, and the Knight Ridder Washington Bureau. In 2007, she won a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting. Follow her on Twitter: @ushamcfarling.

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Librarians deliver crucial aid to campus, frontline workers during pandemic – UB Now: News and views for UB faculty and staff – University at Buffalo…

Campus News

UB librarians have repeatedly answered the call to rapidly and accurately inform the public, both on campus and on the frontlines.

By MARCENE ROBINSON

Published November 20, 2020

In times of crisis, information is a vital and sometimes lifesaving resource. And librarians who are often the guides and curators of educational materials are crucial to rapidly and accurately informing the public and key decision-makers.

UB librarians have repeatedly answered this call, ensuring crucial resources reach people in need.

In the aftermath of the horrific explosion in Beirut in August that generated seismic waves the equivalent of a 3.3 magnitude earthquake, the University Libraries were the only library available to quickly provide an engineering professor at the American University of Beirut with a copy of a field manual for evaluating building safety after earthquakes.

When UB transitioned to remote learning at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, UB librarians rushed to help faculty shift classes online and provide researchers across the globe with critical data.

After assessing the situation caused by the pandemic, our staff searched for creative solutions ensuring that individuals, whether on campus or across the globe, could have timely access to our collections and expertise, says Evviva Weinraub Lajoie, vice provost for university libraries.

Supporting the frontlines

Pamela Rose, a web services and library promotion coordinator in the Health Sciences Library, has volunteered since the start of the pandemic to help the World Health Organization (WHO) index more than a thousand scientific reports on COVID-19.

Through the Librarian Reserve Corps, a group of health science librarians who respond to information needs in public health emergencies, Rose reviewed and organized research publications for the WHOs Global Outreach Alert and Response Network, ensuring the data was rapidly available and easily accessible for frontline public health workers in need of the latest medical research and protocols.

Rose joined the Librarian Reserve Corps in March, and was among the first volunteers. The effort, which was created by Tulane University librarian Elaine Hicks, recruited more than 100 librarians around the world. The team indexed up to 1,200 research articles each day. Rose worked through lunch hours and during evenings, and to date has indexed more than 1,000 articles.

The nature of COVID was unknown. The health community has never seen this number of publications in such a short time, says Rose. I have always been interested in international health initiatives. When Elaine posted the message that she needed help, I was on board immediately.

The Librarian Reserve Corps was recently donated a software program that reviews and organizes the bulk of research articles. The volunteers now manually sort less than 200 articles each day.

Prepared for the digital future

UB librarians worked diligently to help the university transition to remote learning.

Anticipating that many students would need to learn online this semester, the Law Library subscribed to the LexisNexis Digital Library, providing law students with free digital access to textbooks, study aids and legal materials that would otherwise only be available by visiting the library in person.

This service has saved our students time and money and the risk of further exposure during what has been a very difficult and uncertain year. It also helps us reduce population density in OBrian Hall as we continue our efforts as a campus community to mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19, says Elizabeth Adelman, director of the Law Library and vice dean for legal information services in the School of Law.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, UB librarians Erin Rowley and Robin Sullivan developed a workshop on preparing for remote instruction for the UB Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program. Realizing the topic is more critical than ever for the campus community, the librarians repeated the workshop throughout the year for UB schools and programs.

Rowley, head of science and engineering library services, and Sullivan, teaching and learning strategist for the Educational Services Team, also included the Alternative Access to Articles Guide in the workshop. The guide informs faculty and students of how to access research articles when off campus.

Service above and beyond

Several UB librarians gathered data on the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences class that was pressed into service during the 1918 flu pandemic.

Among them was Rose, who combed through yearbooks for hours to track down and record the names of each member of the class, along with their graduation dates and hospital appointments. While researching the class online, Rose discovered that one of the students, Carl S. Benson, recorded an oral history where he detailed receiving a position as a doctor at the Erie County Penitentiary after just three weeks of medical school.

I find almost anything I research to be a fascinating topic, so I really dove into it, Rose says. Service is a big thing with me and has been all my career. I was happy to help, given the limitations we were in.

Nell Aronoff, a librarian and liaison to the Jacobs School, also helped faculty gather vast amounts of information on the 1918 flu pandemic.

I want to recognize Nell for her expertise as a librarian extraordinaire, says Howard Faden, professor of pediatrics in the Jacobs School. As a professor for 44 years, I have always had need of the library and the help of librarians. Her response goes well over and above what you might expect of your typical librarian; however, it represents what Nell does on a daily basis.

A trusted resource

Each year, social sciences librarian Carolyn Klotzbach-Russell serves as a resource for students in School of Management clinical assistant professor Dorothy Siaw-Asamoahs global perspectives program. The course typically allows students to travel around the world to perform case studies that help companies solve real issues; however, the pandemic forced the program to adopt a virtual setting.

Given the new restraints, Klotzbach-Russell took on a larger role, helping Siaw-Asamoah design new case studies on crisis management. The pair worked with Chicago-based School of Management alumni in the health care and airline industries to develop the cases, and Klotzbach-Russell also used her marketing background to serve as a judge during student presentations.

The program experienced an increase in students, says Klotzbach-Russell, noting that the virtual component may remain after the pandemic.

It was incredibly important that our team provide students with an experiential component to their virtual trips, says Klotzbach-Russell. Without these case studies, you lose experiences that make the global perspectives program so valuable.

Klotzbach-Russell and Rowley also serve as a resource to Blackstone LaunchPad, guiding students on how to perform market research for their companies and for pitch competitions. Because many students are learning remotely, they regularly engage with students in the program through digital technologies, including on the messaging platform Slack.

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Brooklyn Park EMS Training Center Renamed After ‘Father of Emergency Medicine in MN’ – ccxmedia.org

3:04 PM | Monday, October 26, 2020

Dr. Patrick Lilja is a giant in paramedic and EMT circles. According to North Memorial Health, Lilja is known as the father of emergency medicine in Minnesota. He helped shape training methods for the states first responders.

To honor him, the Brooklyn Park EMS training facility on Edinbrook Parkway has been renamed after Dr. Lilja. The building will be known as the North Memorial Health G. Patrick Lilja Training Center.

I got into this actually almost 50 years ago. Actually, when I finished medical school I did a residency at Hennepin County Medical Center and I was one of the first two residents in their emergency medicine program, said Dr. Patrick Lilja, director of North Memorial Health Ambulance Services.

Lilja has worked for North Memorial Health for 40 years. In his role, he has seen over half a century of innovation and progress in emergency medicine.

When I started we did not have CT scanners. I think of anything CT scanners really changed a lot of what weve done. Obviously, weve developed in other ways. When I started we did not have paramedics. So I was involved in the early training and development of the paramedic program, said Dr. Lilja.

The longtime doctor is not stepping down in his position. He still enjoys teaching and has delivered talks at a number of national and local medical and EMS conferences. He has helped train thousands of first responders, EMTs, paramedics, and nurses.

Its an honor to have this named after me particularly because its education, said Dr. Lilja. And Ive always felt that education is key to what Ive done over the years and key to training people for the future in terms of providing good health care for our citizens of Minnesota and for our country,

Brooklyn Park

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Brooklyn Park EMS Training Center Renamed After 'Father of Emergency Medicine in MN' - ccxmedia.org

UTRGV to offer 10th school of podiatric medicine in entire nation – KGBT-TV

EDINBURG, Texas (KVEO) UTRGVSSchool of Medicineis growing againbyaddingapodiatry program the only one inTexas.

Historically, anyone inTexaswho wanted to be a podiatrist had to leave the state to get a degree to come back,Dr. Lawrence Harkless,UTRGV School of Podiatry interim dean said.

Dr.Harkless came out of retirementto serve as the new schools deanand prepare the academic plan.

We will be taking the classes the medical school takes in the first two years,and then we will start teaching more podiatry-specific courses earlier,he said.

Dr. Harkless previously helped establish aCollege ofPodiatricMedicine inPomona,California, and saysstudent mentorship will be at the forefront of this new program.

The foundation for that would be learn, serve, lead,he said.

According to theAmericanDiabetesAssociation, theRGV has a diabetes rate three times higher than the national average, whichDr.Harkless says makes the area an ideal spot fortheschool.

(People) Can really stay inthecommunity where they grewup andserve,he said.

The inaugural class will be welcomed in the fall of 2022,andUTRGVisalready looking to hire 20 faculty with a passion for both teaching as well as research.

Tohaveexcellence in a student, every faculty member has to be excellentbecause they have to be able to teach thatwhetherin basic science, two years theory andfactorwhetherin clinical years, he said.

Along with theSouthTexasDiabetes andObesityInstitute ofBrownsville,Dr.Harkless says theRGV could become medical leaders over genetics and genomics of the feet.

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UTRGV to offer 10th school of podiatric medicine in entire nation - KGBT-TV

Gerson to continue as interim CWRU medicine school dean for another year – Cleveland Jewish News

Stan Gerson will serve as interim dean of Case Western Reserve Universitys School of Medicine for an additional year. His term will end June 30, 2022.

We knew Stans deep familiarity with the medical school and its hospital partners would give him distinct advantages as he started in this role, Interim President Scott Cowen said in an Oct. 20 media release. But his ability to apply them in such an engaging and inclusive way has far exceeded even our heightened expectations. We are delighted he will helm the school throughout the 2021-2022 academic year.

Gerson accepted the interim role after President Emerita Barbara R. Snyder stepped down Oct. 1.Snyder and Provost Ben Vinson III wanted the universitys next president to select its next permanent dean.

Once we decided to appoint an interim dean, Stan quickly emerged as a top choice, Vinson said in the news release. Not only is he a renowned researcher in his own right, but he also has helped elevate our cancer center to distinguished prominence, making it among the nations most highly regarded programs.

Gerson is leading the cancer center while serving as interim dean with assistance from the centers leadership team. In the release, Gerson said he is honored by the extension and looks forward to continuing to work with our faculty, staff, students and hospital partners to advance education, research and our communitys well-being during the next 20 months.

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Gerson to continue as interim CWRU medicine school dean for another year - Cleveland Jewish News

Applications to medical school are at an all-time high. What does this mean for applicants and schools? – AAMC

At Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, applications for admission to the class of 2025 are up more than 35% compared to the same time last year. At Boston University School of Medicine, theyve risen by 26%. And at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, admissions officers have seen applications increase by 27%.

In fact, nearly two dozen medical schools have seen applications jump by at least 25% this year, according to AAMC data.

Final tallies wont arrive for another month or so all schools application windows must close first but early numbers are striking. So far, there are more than 7,500 additional applicants nationwide, according to data from the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS), which processes submissions for most U.S. medical schools. Thats an increase of nearly 17%.

Consider some edifying context: In the past decade, the year-over-year increase has averaged less than 3%.

Weve been experiencing a leveling off in recent years, so the large increase was quite surprising, says AAMC Chief Services Officer Gabrielle Campbell. Its also inspiring.

Experts don't know exactly what's behind the increase, but they point to several likely factors. Some are rather mundane, including students having more time to focus on applications as college classes moved online. But at least some of this year's applicants are driven by COVID-19 patients terrible suffering and front-line providers extraordinary heroism.

I make an analogy to the time after 9/11, when we saw an increase in those motivated to serve this country militarily, says Geoffrey Young, PhD, AAMC senior director for student affairs and programs. This certainly seems like a significant factor this year.

Even in a usual cycle, applying to medical school is no simple matter. Candidates spend many months preparing for the MCAT exam, writing essays, and collecting recommendations. Applying for entry in 2021 meant completing the AMCAS application in the spring or summer of 2020, followed by individual schools required secondary applications. Once applications are completed, applicants anxiously await interview invitations, which could extend into the spring of 2021.

I make an analogy to the time after 9/11, when we saw an increase in those motivated to serve this country militarily. This certainly seems like a significant factor this year.

Geoffrey Young, PhDAAMC senior director for student affairs and programs

Now, many candidates wonder if increased competition will make landing a seat tougher than ever. For their part, schools say theyre determined to review all candidates fairly, especially given the upheaval many applicants faced during COVID-19. That means admissions teams are working longer hours, extending timelines, adding interview slots, and offering some sage advice to worried candidates.

Schools want to make sure that when they accept someone, its a good fit for both the school and the applicant, Campbell says. They also want to be sensitive to the many applicants who have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. Thats a lot of work, but theyre highly committed to it.

The larger application numbers to date likely stem from several factors, among them that some applicants are seeking a reliable profession in uncertain times. Some aspects of the application process also got easier as medical schools extended deadlines. And of course, theres the motivation to help patients and communities in a time of crisis.

During COVID-19, my hunger to help continues to grow, says Alan Mauricio De Leon of Houston, who teaches at a majority Hispanic charter school impacted by the pandemic. One student, he recalls, slept in his familys car to avoid infecting them. I want to be a change agent to bring equitable, effective care to my community, he says.

Creson Lee is among the applicants motivated at least in part by the dedication of front-line providers. Lee, 24, was deeply impressed by hospital staff when her research job took her to a Penn Medicine COVID-19 testing site to enroll study participants this summer.

Testers would be out there all day under the sun wearing full gear, drenched in sweat, recalls Lee. Theyd always try to keep positive, sometimes putting on a silly PPE fashion show in the driveway. Lee, who already knew she wanted to be a doctor, fleetingly considered waiting for a more typical year to apply. Ultimately, though, it was important to me to run with this inspiration to pursue medicine right now, she says.

During COVID-19, my hunger to help continues to grow. I want to be a change agent to bring equitable, effective care to my community.

Alan Mauricio De Leon Medical school applicant

Some candidates likely were influenced by more practical considerations.

For some people, the job market looked too uncertain, and a lot more people might not have taken a gap year because there were fewer opportunities, says Valerie Parkas, MD, senior associate dean of admissions for the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. And then there were helpful changes to the application process. For example, most schools decided early on to move this years interviews online. Its a lot easier and less expensive to put on a nice shirt and log into Zoom than to travel across the country, she says.

For her part, Joanna Wasvary appreciated the extended application deadlines. That, plus my classes going online, means I can give my applications a lot more attention, says the University of Michigan senior. Wasvary therefore decided to forgo her planned gap year and potential work as a medical scribe. Itll be great to be a doctor one year earlier, she adds.

At Boston University, admissions officers have received more than 11,000 applications for 125 spots. Still, Associate Dean of Admissions Kristen Goodell, MD, doesnt think shell need to enlist additional reviewers. One reason is a protocol released last year that guides reviewers to keep certain criteria in mind. The process was designed for fairness, to reduce unconscious bias, says Goodell. But it turns out that knowing what to focus on also helps move through applications faster.

Other schools are building in more time to process applications. Tulane University, which has 16,000 applicants vying for 190 seats, is taking longer to extend interview invites. It just made sense to ensure that were reviewing the majority of applications before we give away all our interview spots, Woodson explains.

Kristen Goodell, MDAssociate deanof admissions at Boston University School of Medicine

One step medical schools dont plan on taking, though, is greatly increasing class sizes. Thats because substantial expansion requires approval from the medical school accrediting body, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education no simple matter. Plus, there's the issue of resources.

Schools usually decide their class size well in advance because they want to be spot-on in matching spaces with resources like clinical training sites, says Young. They dont want to find that they cant adequately train any additional students.

As aspiring doctors face more intense competition this year, admissions officers also offer their advice on some of candidates key concerns:

The increased numbers really shouldnt impact someones decision to apply. If they feel ready, they should apply. If they think their application needs bolstering, theres always next year, says Parkas. Careers are marathons.

Like many other admissions directors, Ivy Nip Asano, MD, director of admissions at the University of Hawaii at Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine, reminds applicants that she is sensitive to extenuating circumstances this year. We understand that we need to take into consideration the effects of the pandemic on students ability to secure opportunities and experiences, she says.

At Boston University, Goodell emphasizes that she is seeking the same traits and abilities shes always sought and never uses some rigid checklist.

Weve already embraced admissions based on competencies. That means applicants dont need specific courses in a certain area, for example. They just need to demonstrate their abilities in that area, she says. This approach offers flexibility, which comes in really handy at a time like this. In addition, Goodell notes that Boston University uses holistic review, which considers an applicants full range of attributes and experiences.

For his part, Tulane Universitys Woodson advises applicants to make clear why they selected his school. Of course, we want people who will be a good fit for us, but with so many applicants, we also want to focus on those who will actually come here if accepted, he says.

Asano sums up her advice simply: I hope that applicants will share their authentic selves.

If you are a super-strong candidate, youre always going to get interview invitations. If youre a bit weak, no matter what the year, you wont get many. Then there is the group in the middle. For them, applying to more schools might increase the chances of an interview invite, Goodell says. A prehealth advisor can help you figure out which group youre in.

Could all the setbacks this year mean that fewer applicants from underrepresented backgrounds wind up in medical school?

We were concerned that all the disruptions could discourage people from racial and ethnic minority groups or lower socioeconomic backgrounds from taking the MCAT, says Cynthia Searcy, PhD, AAMC senior director of MCAT research and development. But the percent of those examinees actually mirrored those from 2019.

So far, application numbers also look encouraging.

To date, racial and ethnic minorities are applying to medical school in higher numbers compared to the same time last year," says the AAMCs Campbell. "For example, weve seen double-digit increases in the number of Black and Latino applicants.

This could still change, but given the stresses of the pandemic and social unrest that weve seen across the country, this is a positive early sign," she adds.

Once those applications land, holistic review should help ensure that schools consider the full picture of a candidates attributes and experiences, Young notes. He encourages admissions teams to use the AAMCs equity-related resources, including a recent webinar on how to prevent implicit bias in virtual interviews.

Other steps have helped support lower-income applicants. This year, the AAMC dramatically broadened its Fee Assistance Program, which provided $9.1 million worth of support last year. Qualifying applicants can receive a waiver for all AMCAS fees for one application submission with up to 20 medical school designations as well as MCAT benefits.

This year we raised the poverty level cut-off [so more potential candidates could benefit from the program], says Campbell. So far, weve had a 54% increase in [Fee Assistance Program] applications and a 76% increase in approvals.

Meanwhile, Goodell sees a quest for racial and social justice as helping to spur some of the rising application numbers.

So many people have seen that different groups in our country are facing such different effects from COVID-19 based on their ZIP code or their race, she says. This year, applicants are motivated to get out there and fix societal problems. Theyre saying, I need to do something to make this country more equitable, and I think the best way for me to do that is through medicine.

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Applications to medical school are at an all-time high. What does this mean for applicants and schools? - AAMC

OPINION: Making sure language doesnt get in the way of health care – Atlanta Journal Constitution

If you have to wonder why this is important, you havent been paying attention.

According to the 2018 census, a record 67.3 million U.S. residents spoke a language other than English at home, more than doubling since 1990. Georgia was among the dozen or so states with the largest percentage increase from 1980 to 2018 up a whopping 952%.

The biggest problem resulting from inadequate medical interpreting, perhaps, is that it discourages people with limited or no English many of whom are poor and at greater risk for diseases from seeking care.

Garcia has seen this with his own eyes.

After fleeing his native Colombia and being separated from his family, he told me he sought political asylum in the United States.

It was 2005. Garcia was just 15 years old.

A family that owned a nursing home allowed me to stay there, he said.

Like Garcia, who was in Florida at this point, many of the patients were Spanish speakers. They became quick friends and it didnt take long for him to realize they were suffering and dying because they were unable to communicate with health care personnel.

It was painful to see my friends and primary support suffer over this language barrier while not being able to do anything about it, he said.

Garcia would soon leave the home and reunite with his mother, but he never forgot his friends.

I wanted to come back and help these people who helped me, he said.

By the time his father arrived in 2009, Garcia had learned to speak English and graduated from Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs, just outside of Orlando.

It was a good thing. His father, Sigifredo Garcia, had kidney stones and needed surgery.

He didnt speak English and his doctor didnt speak Spanish. Luckily, Jeisson Garcia could translate.

Again I saw the disconnect between patient and health care provider, he said.

In 2009, Garcia was granted political asylum. In 2014, he became a U.S. citizen.

Dr. Ingrid Pinzon is an assistant professor of hospital medicine at Emory University School of Medicine. (Courtesy of Emory University School of Medicine)

Credit: Courtesy Emory University School of Medicine

Credit: Courtesy Emory University School of Medicine

After becoming an EMT and earning an associate degree, Garcia graduated in 2018 with a degree in health science from the University of Central Florida before enrolling at PCOM to pursue a masters degree in biomedical science.

Not unlike other medical schools, Garcia said he noticed Spanish was not part of PCOMs curriculum. He began tutoring students, teaching them medical Spanish during his lunch hour.

That wasnt good enough. Garcia wanted something more structured and permanent. He shared his idea with one of his professors. He then sought the help of fellow student Danielle Myara, who with him formed the 18-member Medical Spanish Committee.

Early this month, they announced the planned launch of the series of virtual classes. Two days later, the 70 slots had been filled and they had a waiting list.

It just really shows the need, Garcia said.

Dr. Ingrid Pinzon agrees.

She is an assistant professor of hospital medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and a hospitalist at Emory Saint Josephs Hospital.

She also shares Garcias concern for Spanish-speaking patients.

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Studies, Pinzon said, show that poor communication leads to worse quality of care, and a language barrier is one manifestation of this.

Patients who have a harder time understanding their care providers have a harder time adhering to their medication instructions and following the instructions of the health provider, she said. In some situations, patients who have limited English skills may act as if they understand ... even if they dont, and they are often afraid to communicate how frustrated they feel. Its often through these longer interactions with patients that it becomes apparent that important messages or instructions werent getting through.

Emory health care providers, she said, have access to interpreters who are educated in medical terminology 24/7.

Still Pinzon, who like Garcia immigrated from Colombia, said patients feel better when the communication is coming from the health provider in Spanish.

Anything that we can do in this country to help facilitate better communication between health care providers and Spanish-speaking patients will improve care, whether thats through language education for medical providers or simply trying to increase the number of providers who are bilingual, she said.

For Garcia, the answer is simple. Integrate Spanish into medical school curriculums. The number of Spanish speakers in this country demands it.

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OPINION: Making sure language doesnt get in the way of health care - Atlanta Journal Constitution