The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) is a component of the University of Texas System and is located on beautiful Galveston Island, Texas. The Department of Family Medicine at UTMB was established in 1971. It was the first academic department of Family Medicine in the state of Texas. Since 1998, the Department of Family Medicine has been chaired by Barbara L. Thompson, MD.
The Residency Program was one of the first in the state and has graduated over 250 residents since accepting the first trainees in 1972. The program director is Lisa R. Nash, DO since 2003.
The program is structured as an 8-8-8 program accredited by the ACGME, for a total of 24 residents in training annually. The curriculum includes a diverse blend of campus and community based experiences to meet training requirements and provide a comprehensive view of contemporary Family Medicine.
A Rural Training Track was added to the program in 2000, located in Weimer Texas, a community with a population of 1800. In 2009 the RRC approved an expansion of the RTT curriculum, which will allow residents to spend approximately the first half of their training at the academic medical center in Galveston and the remainder at the RTT site in Weimar.
The UTMB-FMR curriculum also incorporates the “Integrative Medicine in Residency” curriculum. Residents receive over the course of their training an additional 200 hours of instruction in Integrative Medicine. At the completion of training, graduates qualify to sit for the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine exam.
Additionally, the program achieved certification by the American Osteopathic Association in 2007, qualifying all DO residents to sit for the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians exam.
Other notable features of our program:
• Area of Concentration Programs – an elective written program of individual study
• Maximum number of electives (six) allowed by the RRC for FM
• International Health program and strong history of approved electives for residents
• Behavioral Medicine program – recognized as one of the best examples of an integrated, skills-based curriculum in the nation
• Electronic Resident Portfolio – collection point and tracking mechanism for resident progress through training requirements
• Campus-wide integrated EMR (EPIC)
• Resident Research Program – with 18 national conference presentations and/or publications over the past five years
• Fellowship/Advanced Training – 11 graduates over the past five years have gone on to prestigious fellowships and other advanced training opportunities
For more information about our program, visit us here. Meet residents, alumni, faculty, staff and others on our UTMB Family Medicine Residency group on Facebook!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Loan Repayment info
Texas Enacts Loan Repayment Program to Entice Primary Care Physicians to Practice in State's Underserved Areas
Participants Could Pay Off Student Loans Within Four Years
Click here to read the details!
Participants Could Pay Off Student Loans Within Four Years
Click here to read the details!
Monday, October 19, 2009
message from the Chairman of FM
I am pleased to announce that we are beginning our search for a new Director for the UTMB Center for International Health and WHO/PAHO Collaborating Center for Training in International health. Dr. Laura Rudkin will chair the search committee and Drs. Catalina Triana, Clinton White, Rebecca Wong, and Lexi Nolen have agreed to serve as search committee members.
The successful candidate for this position will have an MD or DO degree, will be boarded in a primary care discipline and will be eligible for a Texas medical license. He or she will have experience in global health as well as teaching medical, graduate, nursing , health professions, graduate students and/or residents. Rank and salary are commensurate with experience.
I invite you to nominate candidates for this position by providing their names and contact information to Dr. Rudkin or one of the members of the committee. I appreciate their support and yours as we look forward to identifying highly qualified candidates for this important position.
Barbara L. Thompson, M.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Family Medicine, Campus Route 1123
Primary Care Pavilion, Room 2.208A
Office 409-772-3125
Fax: 409-772-0497
The successful candidate for this position will have an MD or DO degree, will be boarded in a primary care discipline and will be eligible for a Texas medical license. He or she will have experience in global health as well as teaching medical, graduate, nursing , health professions, graduate students and/or residents. Rank and salary are commensurate with experience.
I invite you to nominate candidates for this position by providing their names and contact information to Dr. Rudkin or one of the members of the committee. I appreciate their support and yours as we look forward to identifying highly qualified candidates for this important position.
Barbara L. Thompson, M.D.
Professor and Chair
Department of Family Medicine, Campus Route 1123
Primary Care Pavilion, Room 2.208A
Office 409-772-3125
Fax: 409-772-0497
Friday, October 16, 2009
underserved communities rotation - funding available!
Residents,
East TX AHEC has funding for residents (approx 5) to participate in a multi-disciplinary Community Health rotation in certain MUA/HPSA (underserved) communities. The site list is prioritized roughly in the following order: Community Health Centers, FQHCs, Rural Health Clinics and others. The final approved site list is still being determined. As soon as it is available, I will forward it, but you don’t have to wait on the list if you have an idea about a site you think will qualify. Let me know your idea and we’ll find out.
Anyone interested in potentially practicing after graduation in an underserved area is encouraged to apply. This could be urban underserved in addition to rural. Rural Track residents would certainly qualify for the program but this is not limited to RTT residents.
Please email me if you may be interested.
East TX AHEC has funding for residents (approx 5) to participate in a multi-disciplinary Community Health rotation in certain MUA/HPSA (underserved) communities. The site list is prioritized roughly in the following order: Community Health Centers, FQHCs, Rural Health Clinics and others. The final approved site list is still being determined. As soon as it is available, I will forward it, but you don’t have to wait on the list if you have an idea about a site you think will qualify. Let me know your idea and we’ll find out.
Anyone interested in potentially practicing after graduation in an underserved area is encouraged to apply. This could be urban underserved in addition to rural. Rural Track residents would certainly qualify for the program but this is not limited to RTT residents.
Please email me if you may be interested.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Recruiting update
Total Applications = 585
Scheduled to Interview (48)
USMD = 16
DO = 14
IMG = 18
Invited but not yet scheduled: 20
Scheduled to Interview (48)
USMD = 16
DO = 14
IMG = 18
Invited but not yet scheduled: 20
Friday, October 02, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
kudos
Congratulations to Rich Donaldson (R2) for his article "Integrative and Osteopathic Medicine" in the September 2009 edition of the Houston Medical Journal! Good work, Rich!
email from Dr. Epperly, AAFP President
Dear Colleague,
In less than three weeks, I will have the distinct privilege of installing Dr. Lori Heim as the 63rd president of the AAFP. As my time serving you as president winds down, I want to take this opportunity to talk with you one last time about the important efforts your Academy is taking to help ensure reform of our health care system.
What a year of change for our country! What a year for health care reform! I think we can all agree that we need to reform our ailing health care system. What kind of health care reform we want becomes the key question. As we have all witnessed, this debate over needs versus wants has left the arena of thoughtful discussion around policy and has entered the arena of major league "Politics" with a capital "P."
There are several pieces of legislation in play, and these bills are under rapid evolution. Before the August recess, they were literally changing by the hour. We don't have a finished product in either chamber of Congress. That's why we see this evolving process as being a critical time to be "at the table, so we don't end up on the menu." We want to help shape the debates around the critical principles and values that we hold dear as family physicians.
So what principles am I talking about? Where does the AAFP stand on health care reform? It's really quite simple. We believe that the key to designing a new health care system is to reemphasize the centrality of primary care by:
• Ensuring health care coverage for all and aligning financial incentives to support this system;
• Increasing payment for primary care services ;
• Redesigning the manner of primary care delivery modeled on a ‘patient-centered medical home' ; and
• Reinvigorating the primary care workforce
In addressing all of these principles, our approach has been one of "Yes, if." "Yes, we will support certain provisions, if the following principles are present." The health care system we have is unacceptable and not financially sustainable long term. The rapidly growing health insurance premiums and cost sharing measures (like higher co-payments and bigger deductibles) are making more of our patients limit their access to their family doctors. The status quo is not acceptable to us or to our patients.
I want you to know that we will stay at the table and continue to help shape a better health care system for our country. It's the right thing for us to fight for on behalf of our members and our patients. We will not get everything we want and there will undoubtedly be elements of the final reform proposal that we won't like. But I can guarantee the result will be much better for our having been so fiercely involved.
In this vein, your AAFP leaders have been busy recently, talking face-to-face and via conference call with members of the Obama administration and Congress to stress the need to enact health care reform legislation that improves health care quality, enhances patient access and lowers costs via a primary care-based system.
I met with Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, and others in August. During this meeting, I told them that the AAFP continues it's commitment to the major principles of health care reform, including providing health care for all and the importance of better payments for family physicians and other primary care physicians. I stressed that adequate payment is key to building a primary care infrastructure in this country and that we must invest in the education and training of the primary care workforce so we have enough family physicians in our country.
In addition to the White House face-to-face meeting, I have participated in several conference calls with the White House, along with representatives of several other physician organizations, including the American College of Physicians, the American Osteopathic Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association. We discussed what we could do collectively to move health care reform along. I am very optimistic and encouraged by the discussions with the White House and with our colleague organizations, and believe we need these exchanges to get good, solid, factual information to our members.
I also have been part of six town halls where I've had a chance to represent the AAFP to both members of Congress and to you. I have seen the fear, heard the concerns, and witnessed much about the character of America. It is important that America is having this dialogue. The AAFP must stay engaged in the health care reform process. Now is not the time to walk away from the table, if anything now is the time for us to be more engaged and to advocate for the way the health care system needs to be reformed.
The AAFP is going to continue to be engaged and advocating every second for the good of health care for this country. I would ask of you to do the following:
• Stay optimistic. Keep focused on changing our health care system for the greater good of our country.
• Use the AAFP's web page and the "Connect for Reform" icon in the upper right hand corner to join and have a front row seat as this debate and process unfolds.
• Download the AAFP-developed one page information sheet for your patients . Please distribute this as you see fit. Included are links to two historically bipartisan fact check sites where you and your patients can learn about which statements about health care reform are true and which are not.
• Please help settle down all the rhetoric, fear, and confusion that exist with your patients, colleagues, and communities.
I would like to just end with this. We have never been closer to meaningful health care reform in the history of our nation than we are right now. I remain optimistic that we will step forward as a nation for the good of health care for all. I wish you all the best as we move forward.
Regards,
Ted Epperly, M.D., FAAFP
President
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Academy of Family Physicians Division of Government Relations
2021 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036
(888) 794-7481 (202) 232-9033
In less than three weeks, I will have the distinct privilege of installing Dr. Lori Heim as the 63rd president of the AAFP. As my time serving you as president winds down, I want to take this opportunity to talk with you one last time about the important efforts your Academy is taking to help ensure reform of our health care system.
What a year of change for our country! What a year for health care reform! I think we can all agree that we need to reform our ailing health care system. What kind of health care reform we want becomes the key question. As we have all witnessed, this debate over needs versus wants has left the arena of thoughtful discussion around policy and has entered the arena of major league "Politics" with a capital "P."
There are several pieces of legislation in play, and these bills are under rapid evolution. Before the August recess, they were literally changing by the hour. We don't have a finished product in either chamber of Congress. That's why we see this evolving process as being a critical time to be "at the table, so we don't end up on the menu." We want to help shape the debates around the critical principles and values that we hold dear as family physicians.
So what principles am I talking about? Where does the AAFP stand on health care reform? It's really quite simple. We believe that the key to designing a new health care system is to reemphasize the centrality of primary care by:
• Ensuring health care coverage for all and aligning financial incentives to support this system;
• Increasing payment for primary care services ;
• Redesigning the manner of primary care delivery modeled on a ‘patient-centered medical home' ; and
• Reinvigorating the primary care workforce
In addressing all of these principles, our approach has been one of "Yes, if." "Yes, we will support certain provisions, if the following principles are present." The health care system we have is unacceptable and not financially sustainable long term. The rapidly growing health insurance premiums and cost sharing measures (like higher co-payments and bigger deductibles) are making more of our patients limit their access to their family doctors. The status quo is not acceptable to us or to our patients.
I want you to know that we will stay at the table and continue to help shape a better health care system for our country. It's the right thing for us to fight for on behalf of our members and our patients. We will not get everything we want and there will undoubtedly be elements of the final reform proposal that we won't like. But I can guarantee the result will be much better for our having been so fiercely involved.
In this vein, your AAFP leaders have been busy recently, talking face-to-face and via conference call with members of the Obama administration and Congress to stress the need to enact health care reform legislation that improves health care quality, enhances patient access and lowers costs via a primary care-based system.
I met with Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, and others in August. During this meeting, I told them that the AAFP continues it's commitment to the major principles of health care reform, including providing health care for all and the importance of better payments for family physicians and other primary care physicians. I stressed that adequate payment is key to building a primary care infrastructure in this country and that we must invest in the education and training of the primary care workforce so we have enough family physicians in our country.
In addition to the White House face-to-face meeting, I have participated in several conference calls with the White House, along with representatives of several other physician organizations, including the American College of Physicians, the American Osteopathic Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association. We discussed what we could do collectively to move health care reform along. I am very optimistic and encouraged by the discussions with the White House and with our colleague organizations, and believe we need these exchanges to get good, solid, factual information to our members.
I also have been part of six town halls where I've had a chance to represent the AAFP to both members of Congress and to you. I have seen the fear, heard the concerns, and witnessed much about the character of America. It is important that America is having this dialogue. The AAFP must stay engaged in the health care reform process. Now is not the time to walk away from the table, if anything now is the time for us to be more engaged and to advocate for the way the health care system needs to be reformed.
The AAFP is going to continue to be engaged and advocating every second for the good of health care for this country. I would ask of you to do the following:
• Stay optimistic. Keep focused on changing our health care system for the greater good of our country.
• Use the AAFP's web page and the "Connect for Reform" icon in the upper right hand corner to join and have a front row seat as this debate and process unfolds.
• Download the AAFP-developed one page information sheet for your patients . Please distribute this as you see fit. Included are links to two historically bipartisan fact check sites where you and your patients can learn about which statements about health care reform are true and which are not.
• Please help settle down all the rhetoric, fear, and confusion that exist with your patients, colleagues, and communities.
I would like to just end with this. We have never been closer to meaningful health care reform in the history of our nation than we are right now. I remain optimistic that we will step forward as a nation for the good of health care for all. I wish you all the best as we move forward.
Regards,
Ted Epperly, M.D., FAAFP
President
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Academy of Family Physicians Division of Government Relations
2021 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036
(888) 794-7481 (202) 232-9033
Monday, September 28, 2009
Recruiting Update
Total Applications = 527
Scheduled to Interview (34)
USMD = 13
DO = 9
IMG = 12
Invited but not yet scheduled: 20
October interview dates are FULL, so please contact us ASAP to schedule if you are in the "invited but not yet scheduled" category!
Scheduled to Interview (34)
USMD = 13
DO = 9
IMG = 12
Invited but not yet scheduled: 20
October interview dates are FULL, so please contact us ASAP to schedule if you are in the "invited but not yet scheduled" category!
Monday, September 21, 2009
ACGME site visit
Putting the last touches on our preparations for our ACGME site visit scheduled for Wednesday. Countless hours of hard work have gone into the documents preparation. Thanks to all - staff, faculty, residents and others - who have helped!
Applications for the 2010 Match are being reviewed through ERAS. Although the site visit preparations have taken some of the time I would have otherwise devoted to the Match, we have been able to screen many applications and have begun inviting applicants for interviews. I still have roughly 100 unscreened applications, so be patient! After the site visit this week, we will get caught up. If you have already received an invitation to interview, please contact Louis right away to schedule your preferred date, as the October dates in particular are filling up fast!
Applications for the 2010 Match are being reviewed through ERAS. Although the site visit preparations have taken some of the time I would have otherwise devoted to the Match, we have been able to screen many applications and have begun inviting applicants for interviews. I still have roughly 100 unscreened applications, so be patient! After the site visit this week, we will get caught up. If you have already received an invitation to interview, please contact Louis right away to schedule your preferred date, as the October dates in particular are filling up fast!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
An interesting exercise from Southwest Airlines Spirit Magazine, September edition…
Last week I was at TMA for meetings and heard an interesting discussion about student/resident debt, which was prefaced with something close to the following… “part of the problem with student/resident debt is that medical students want the lifestyle of a resident and residents want the lifestyle of an attending, when what we all need to do is match our lifestyle to our current situation and income!”
As you all may know, an impressive infusion of funds was budgeted for the Physician Education Loan Repayment Fund in the current state budget. Residency graduates considering practice in rural or other underserved areas in Texas should look into this program. Contact the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for more information. You can read the TAFP brief on the program here.
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Board Certified!
The Class of 2009 is 3 for 3 on passing the Family Medicine boards so far! Big congratulations to Rene, Adriana and Roberto who have already received their results!!
The rest of you, please let me know when you hear your results?!
The rest of you, please let me know when you hear your results?!
Friday, August 21, 2009
UTMB FMR Rural Training Track - better than ever!
Challenge to Society: 177 of 254 (70%) Texas counties are rural.
Rural Training:
Residents will spend their first 20 rotation blocks training with the larger group of FM residents in standard Galveston area rotations.
Rural Training:
Residents will spend their first 20 rotation blocks training with the larger group of FM residents in standard Galveston area rotations.
PGY1 continuity clinic will be held in the Family Medicine Center in the University Hospital Clinics building. During rotation blocks 14 – 20, continuity clinics would be relocated to Weimar, TX in partnership with our local RTT faculty at the Youens-Duchicella Clinic. Rotation activities would continue to be in conjunction with the larger group of campus-based FM residents during this time.
At the completion of rotation block 20, RTT residents would relocate to the RTT site for the remainder of their training. They will maintain connection with the campus-based resident cohort via web-based conferencing of weekly Thursday afternoon didactic activities and periodic returns to campus for in-person participation.
Rural Site:
The RTT site is located 138 miles from Galveston in Weimar, Texas (on I-10 west of Houston) and in the year 2000, the population was 1,981. The local hospital, Colorado-Fayette Medical Center is a 38-bed facility organized as part of a private 501(c)(3) corporation.
The Curriculum:
Rotation blocks 1 - 20: Essential Skills in FM (Orientation), Principles of Family Medicine, FM Hospital Service 1-3, MICU, OB1-2, Emergency Medicine, Pediatric Urgent Care, Newborn Nursery, Community Medicine 1-2, Pedi Inpatient, Behavioral Medicine, Geriatrics, Ambulatory Peds1, Surgical Subspecialties, Neurology and Nephrology.
Rotation blocks 21-39: Surgery 1-2, FM Hospital Service 4-7, Ortho1-2 & Sports Med, Cardiology, Gynecology, FM Outpatient Procedures, Ambulatory FM, Ambulatory Peds 2, Electives 1-6.
What residents say about the RTT Experience:
Residents have reported that their rural training experience gave them the skills and background to be more competitive for rural practice jobs after residency. Generally, all felt comparable to their peers in terms of knowledge-base but that they may have a competitive edge in terms of “hands-on skills” and confidence related to performing procedures.
Residents reported learning a lot about “practice management” and the business of medicine in the rural track. Another benefit most residents cited is the immediacy of consultation/collaboration from specialists and other services. Residents feel that provider-to-provider communication is better in the rural setting (especially when a procedure/hospitalization is needed), as is continuity of care for patients and the ability to preserve the educational continuum when patients require specialty care.
If you are interested in the RTT, be sure to mention this during your interview process.
At the completion of rotation block 20, RTT residents would relocate to the RTT site for the remainder of their training. They will maintain connection with the campus-based resident cohort via web-based conferencing of weekly Thursday afternoon didactic activities and periodic returns to campus for in-person participation.
Rural Site:
The RTT site is located 138 miles from Galveston in Weimar, Texas (on I-10 west of Houston) and in the year 2000, the population was 1,981. The local hospital, Colorado-Fayette Medical Center is a 38-bed facility organized as part of a private 501(c)(3) corporation.
The Curriculum:
Rotation blocks 1 - 20: Essential Skills in FM (Orientation), Principles of Family Medicine, FM Hospital Service 1-3, MICU, OB1-2, Emergency Medicine, Pediatric Urgent Care, Newborn Nursery, Community Medicine 1-2, Pedi Inpatient, Behavioral Medicine, Geriatrics, Ambulatory Peds1, Surgical Subspecialties, Neurology and Nephrology.
Rotation blocks 21-39: Surgery 1-2, FM Hospital Service 4-7, Ortho1-2 & Sports Med, Cardiology, Gynecology, FM Outpatient Procedures, Ambulatory FM, Ambulatory Peds 2, Electives 1-6.
What residents say about the RTT Experience:
Residents have reported that their rural training experience gave them the skills and background to be more competitive for rural practice jobs after residency. Generally, all felt comparable to their peers in terms of knowledge-base but that they may have a competitive edge in terms of “hands-on skills” and confidence related to performing procedures.
Residents reported learning a lot about “practice management” and the business of medicine in the rural track. Another benefit most residents cited is the immediacy of consultation/collaboration from specialists and other services. Residents feel that provider-to-provider communication is better in the rural setting (especially when a procedure/hospitalization is needed), as is continuity of care for patients and the ability to preserve the educational continuum when patients require specialty care.
If you are interested in the RTT, be sure to mention this during your interview process.
Monday, August 03, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
RRC approves 20+19 Rural Training Track Proposal!!!
Everyone,
I am extremely pleased to share the news that the RRC has just notified us of approval of our proposal for the 20+19 model of the Rural Training Track!!!!
The three residents currently enrolled in the Rural Training Track will complete their training under the previous integrated longitudinal model. From this point forward, no new residents will be accepted into that track. Current PGY1 residents and those thereafter considering the Rural Training Track would participate under the new format, outlined below.
Residents enrolled in the Rural Training Track will spend the first 20 rotations blocks in Galveston. Residents will then relocate to Weimar, TX to complete the final 19 rotation blocks of their training. Residents’ PGY1 continuity clinic will occur in Galveston, followed by PGY2 and 3 continuity clinic in Weimar. During blocks 14 – 20, residents would commute to Weimar for continuity clinics while completing rotation assignments in Galveston under much the same format as our current hybrid track (reversed).
For detailed curriculum information, interested residents should contact Dr. Nash. Additional details will be shared with residents and faculty at upcoming meetings.
It is likely that we will match resident applicants to this track for June 2010 start dates, final decision pending further discussion at Leadership and Residency Program Meeting. (Residents matching to the track would relocate to Weimar in approximately January 2012. Current PGY1 residents interested in participating could relocate to Weimar approximately January 2011.)
Many, many thanks to those involved in this project FOR THE PAST TEN YEARS, as we take this long anticipated major step forward!!! To Angela Shepherd, who started the dream and then allowed me to lead it when I came on board, to Dr. Thompson who has been always supportive, to Nita Caskey who has done as much or more footwork, sweat and effort as I have, and to our Weimar docs – Robert Youens, Jorge Duchicela and Olga Duchicela – who have hung in there with us all this time, keeping the faith that eventually if we hung in there long enough, it would happen. Also thanks to the residents who participated in all the early stages and growing pains! There have been so many people involved in this project over the years, I couldn’t possibly name them all.
With much gratitude and excitement,
Lisa R. Nash, DO, FAAFP
Program Director
UTMB Family Medicine Residency
I am extremely pleased to share the news that the RRC has just notified us of approval of our proposal for the 20+19 model of the Rural Training Track!!!!
The three residents currently enrolled in the Rural Training Track will complete their training under the previous integrated longitudinal model. From this point forward, no new residents will be accepted into that track. Current PGY1 residents and those thereafter considering the Rural Training Track would participate under the new format, outlined below.
Residents enrolled in the Rural Training Track will spend the first 20 rotations blocks in Galveston. Residents will then relocate to Weimar, TX to complete the final 19 rotation blocks of their training. Residents’ PGY1 continuity clinic will occur in Galveston, followed by PGY2 and 3 continuity clinic in Weimar. During blocks 14 – 20, residents would commute to Weimar for continuity clinics while completing rotation assignments in Galveston under much the same format as our current hybrid track (reversed).
For detailed curriculum information, interested residents should contact Dr. Nash. Additional details will be shared with residents and faculty at upcoming meetings.
It is likely that we will match resident applicants to this track for June 2010 start dates, final decision pending further discussion at Leadership and Residency Program Meeting. (Residents matching to the track would relocate to Weimar in approximately January 2012. Current PGY1 residents interested in participating could relocate to Weimar approximately January 2011.)
Many, many thanks to those involved in this project FOR THE PAST TEN YEARS, as we take this long anticipated major step forward!!! To Angela Shepherd, who started the dream and then allowed me to lead it when I came on board, to Dr. Thompson who has been always supportive, to Nita Caskey who has done as much or more footwork, sweat and effort as I have, and to our Weimar docs – Robert Youens, Jorge Duchicela and Olga Duchicela – who have hung in there with us all this time, keeping the faith that eventually if we hung in there long enough, it would happen. Also thanks to the residents who participated in all the early stages and growing pains! There have been so many people involved in this project over the years, I couldn’t possibly name them all.
With much gratitude and excitement,
Lisa R. Nash, DO, FAAFP
Program Director
UTMB Family Medicine Residency
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
2009 Program Directors' Workshop
Ron, Dr. Triana and I enjoyed a great PDW the last few days. We'll be coming home with some new ideas, some renewed and some new connections with our colleagues across the country and with renewed energy.
I especially enjoyed the opening plenary by our STFM president, Terry Steyer. It included a quote from President Obama that went in part like this... "we are the change we seek." That charge came through in many of the sessions I attended and particularly resonated with me because of our ongoing recovery efforts post hurricane Ike. If we don't take advantage of the opportunity within this challenge, we will have done ourselves and our program a great disservice.
This is an exciting time for Family Medicine nationally and that topic was central to the conference this year. It has been a long time since I've seen such energy and enthusiasm about the future of Family Medicine. The upcoming years are really going to be exciting times to be part of the Family Medicine family.
Other highlights from the conference for me...
A couple of great sessions on Leadership and a poster that inspired some thoughts the Residency leadership team will be discussing and implementing in the coming weeks and months. I'm also thinking about developing a FM Leadership/Advocacy elective to offer for our residents. That could also easily be an Area of Concentration, but I'll start with the elective as a good first step! Email me if that interests you.
PGY1 --> PGY2 promotion - saw a great example of some evaluation tools and a formal specifically targeted process for assessing readiness to promote. We will be doing something with a version of this modified for our program as well.
Electives: we need an elective database that includes info on electives that our residents have done. No need to completely re-invent the wheel every time and we could simplify the "who to contact to begin the process" part with a database. Also, Dr. Triana and I attended a curriculum session that included as one part an innovation that has a lot of potential for our program, so be looking forward to upcoming discussions about this. The innovation was moving all six electives to the second half of PGY3. I can think of many potential advantages and a few challenges we would have to work through to make it work. But there are enough advantages that we're at least going to seriously consider it. (Except for our DO residents, because the AOA requires one elective in PGY1, so the DO PGY3 residents would have a 5 block stretch of electives.)
Another curriculum innovation by this program is to structure the second month of emergency medicine longitudinally in PGY2 and PGY3, requiring 6 shifts in each year, done on Friday nights on rotations where the duty hours will allow. This frees up a whole additional rotation block for some other content.
From the ABFM... the ITE will be offered as a computer based exam ONLY by 2013.
From the RRC... a major revision of the program requirements is about to commence. This is especially exciting because required rotations will be critically evaluated and I believe the opportunity for restructuring our required experiences is truly coming. Dr. Ed Bope suggested his version during his plenary... there were a total of SIX program requirements (!!! for reference, I think the current program requirements are about 35 - 45 pages!) and I'll look up his slides to post these later!
One plenary session was devoted to the Patient Centered Medical Home. I learned that "cycle time" (when the patient walks in the door to when the patient walks out the door) is good proxy for practice organization and should be <60 href="http://www.aafp.org">AAFP just posted a PCMH checklist. I plan to use this checklist as a survey for our residents and faculty and use it as information and evidence for obtaining the resources we need in our clinic. Go ahead and print it off, fill it out and drop by my office if you'd like. Please put your name on it, only so I can keep track of who has done it and who hasn't. You won't hurt my feelings with your answers!
I attended a great session on the PD-Program Coordinator team and relationship. I think Linda and I are generally doing pretty well with this, but I will review the content with her and check my own perceptions to be sure she feels the same way. There are a few things from that session that we can work on too.
One session I attended was about Leadership and Life Balance. The speaker (Lee Lipsenthal) is really great and gave us a CD that I believe contains one of his talks. Residents can look forward to hearing this at an upcoming didactic session.
Overall, this year's PDW was very beneficial and we'll be bringing home some exciting ideas!
I especially enjoyed the opening plenary by our STFM president, Terry Steyer. It included a quote from President Obama that went in part like this... "we are the change we seek." That charge came through in many of the sessions I attended and particularly resonated with me because of our ongoing recovery efforts post hurricane Ike. If we don't take advantage of the opportunity within this challenge, we will have done ourselves and our program a great disservice.
This is an exciting time for Family Medicine nationally and that topic was central to the conference this year. It has been a long time since I've seen such energy and enthusiasm about the future of Family Medicine. The upcoming years are really going to be exciting times to be part of the Family Medicine family.
Other highlights from the conference for me...
A couple of great sessions on Leadership and a poster that inspired some thoughts the Residency leadership team will be discussing and implementing in the coming weeks and months. I'm also thinking about developing a FM Leadership/Advocacy elective to offer for our residents. That could also easily be an Area of Concentration, but I'll start with the elective as a good first step! Email me if that interests you.
PGY1 --> PGY2 promotion - saw a great example of some evaluation tools and a formal specifically targeted process for assessing readiness to promote. We will be doing something with a version of this modified for our program as well.
Electives: we need an elective database that includes info on electives that our residents have done. No need to completely re-invent the wheel every time and we could simplify the "who to contact to begin the process" part with a database. Also, Dr. Triana and I attended a curriculum session that included as one part an innovation that has a lot of potential for our program, so be looking forward to upcoming discussions about this. The innovation was moving all six electives to the second half of PGY3. I can think of many potential advantages and a few challenges we would have to work through to make it work. But there are enough advantages that we're at least going to seriously consider it. (Except for our DO residents, because the AOA requires one elective in PGY1, so the DO PGY3 residents would have a 5 block stretch of electives.)
Another curriculum innovation by this program is to structure the second month of emergency medicine longitudinally in PGY2 and PGY3, requiring 6 shifts in each year, done on Friday nights on rotations where the duty hours will allow. This frees up a whole additional rotation block for some other content.
From the ABFM... the ITE will be offered as a computer based exam ONLY by 2013.
From the RRC... a major revision of the program requirements is about to commence. This is especially exciting because required rotations will be critically evaluated and I believe the opportunity for restructuring our required experiences is truly coming. Dr. Ed Bope suggested his version during his plenary... there were a total of SIX program requirements (!!! for reference, I think the current program requirements are about 35 - 45 pages!) and I'll look up his slides to post these later!
One plenary session was devoted to the Patient Centered Medical Home. I learned that "cycle time" (when the patient walks in the door to when the patient walks out the door) is good proxy for practice organization and should be <60 href="http://www.aafp.org">AAFP just posted a PCMH checklist. I plan to use this checklist as a survey for our residents and faculty and use it as information and evidence for obtaining the resources we need in our clinic. Go ahead and print it off, fill it out and drop by my office if you'd like. Please put your name on it, only so I can keep track of who has done it and who hasn't. You won't hurt my feelings with your answers!
I attended a great session on the PD-Program Coordinator team and relationship. I think Linda and I are generally doing pretty well with this, but I will review the content with her and check my own perceptions to be sure she feels the same way. There are a few things from that session that we can work on too.
One session I attended was about Leadership and Life Balance. The speaker (Lee Lipsenthal) is really great and gave us a CD that I believe contains one of his talks. Residents can look forward to hearing this at an upcoming didactic session.
Overall, this year's PDW was very beneficial and we'll be bringing home some exciting ideas!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Thanks, Dr. Triana!
...for a great party honoring the graduates of 2009.
Check our FaceBook page for photos!
Check our FaceBook page for photos!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
STFM 09 - Denver
Who recognizes this UTMB FMRP alum? See comments for the answer!
And congratulations to Dr. Rene Melendez and his faculty mentor Dr. Burch for their successful poster presentation. A great deal of interest was shown in their project. Excellent work, Rene!
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