Weekly Update - October 24, 2011 - Week 18

By rf21@dhe.duke.edu
The Internal Medicine Residency newsletter is posted each week to share important news, announcements and updates about the residency program. Please contact Rhea Fortune with corrections, contributions and suggestions.

From the Director

Hello! Just got home from Dr. Greenfield’s 80th birthday party…most fun for me was seeing the many years of Duke residents enjoying a beautiful day for a reunion, and toasting a true “legend of Duke”.  Our week in the program was busy, with “Disposition-isticians of the Week” SAR Daniel Ong, and Interns Alex Clarke and Bobby Aertker having a record breaking number of patients transitioning to care outside the hospital in a single day, Intern Jeremy Halbe challenging our “House-like” skills in intern report and SAR Jennifer McCarty Gutierrez (with guest appearance by SAR Dan Fox) presenting some phenomenal cases in afternoon report.  SAR David Lofthus was masterful in handling a roomful of former chief residents during Chair’s Conference, even teaching us what it means to pee like a racehorse.  Well done, David!  And also congratulations to our 2010-11 Duke Chief Resident Brian Griffith (hospital medicine) on receiving the Joseph McClellan Scholar Award.  Thanks to our wonderful office staff (Rhea Fortune, Emily Strollo, Lauren Dincher and Laura Kujawski) for setting up the resident research posters and making sure the visiting alumni were well fed at lunch. We are gearing up for what promises to be an AMAZING recruitment season….residents, be sure to join us on Nov 1 at 7 pm at G2B Gastropub for our kickoff celebration.  The first day that we welcome our prospective Duke residents is Friday November 4 – be sure to sign up for the recruitment dinner on Thursday night, and mingle with everyone at noon on Friday! SAR Carly Kelley is gathering pictures for the slideshow, so please send them to her ASAP! Pubmed from the program is faculty member Dan Kaplan for his piece "Distant Wheezes"  in Annals of internal medicine. I’ll miss you guys this week while I am on vacation, but still will check my email to see who can answer the following question(s)…..in what organ are Mahaim and James fibers located, and (bonus)…what do they do?  Hint: someone mentioned in this weekly updates has published the answer to the questions. See you next week! Aimee

WIRTW (Dr. Lynn Bowlby)

[box]Kathryn Towns, M.D., Paul E. Szmitko, M.D., Chris Smith, M.D., Allan S. Detsky, M.D., Ph.D., and Ophyr Mourad, M.D.  Clinical Problem Solving:  It’s not all in your head.  NEJM  2011 365;1329-1334 October 6. 2011. [/box]

I review the NEJM regularly and while I read the standard original articles for medical content, I read other sections with  a different purpose in mind.  Articles that deal with medical knowledge as well as how we think and make clinical decisions are especially appealing to me as a general internist.

Clinical Problem Solving addresses both of these areas, knowledge and decision making.  I liked the case last week—an atypical presentation of a common problem. The trick is NOT to read the diagnosis before you reach the end---so I won’t tell you here what it was—so that you can follow along with the decision making as the case evolves.  As I read in  parallel  with the author I access my own thinking, would I have made the same decisions? Would I have interpreted the symptoms in the same way?

In this case the symptoms led us down one path, yet in hindsight the diagnosis seems more obvious.

Would it have been so obvious at the start of the case with what we knew then?

One of the fundamental principles of medical training, developing a broad differential, and not having premature closure is worthy of reminding ourselves no matter how much experience we have. It's Not All in Your Head

QI Corner

This week is our lecture series on Patient Safety and Quality Improvement.  The lecture will be during noon conference,  Wednesday Oct 26th.  Our featured speaker is Judy Milne, Patient Safety Officer for DUHS discussing the "culture of safety." Don't miss out! Blair Irwin is asking for volunteers to help review abstracts for the Duke Patient Safety and Quality Conference…time commitment is modest and would give you a chance to learn the process of appraising an abstract.  Please email Blair if interested! Thanks to all the residents who have been coming up with quality improvement ideas.   If you have a project idea, talk to Aimee Zaas or Jon Bae. [hr]

From the Chief Residents...

Volunteer Opportunities for Housestaff and Faculty:

The opportunity to continue to serve the homeless of Durham is possible for all internal medicine residents and faculty who wish to volunteer at the Urban Ministries Shelter Clinic (affiliated with Lincoln Medical Clinic) in downtown Durham. Available times are currently on the third Wednesday of the month from 5:30-7:30, when Dr. Greenblatt will serve as preceptor. More dates will also be available in the near future. Residents interested in volunteering, or faculty wishing to precept, should contact Dave Karol or Shereen Katrak for more information.

Halloween Party (from Residency Council)

To all Duke Resident Devils: our Halloween Party is coming up!
Double, double, toil and trouble, your attending hates your one week stubble Fevers burn, and the nurses holler the attending knows you ‘ain’t no scholar Calling all witches, goblins and ghosts The Tavern will be your host… Stop on by for a trick or treat Eyeballs, brains, and interns… always plenty to eat The fun begins at the stroke of nine Wear your costume and be on time!”
(courtesy of  Residency Council Intern Rep Armando Bedoya) [box]Where:  The Tavern (Upper Level), 1900 W. Markham Ave., Durham, 919-286-7665 When:  Sat. Oct. 29, 2011 at 9 P.M. Feel Free To Bring Your Spouses & Significant Other! There will be a Costume Contest held by the Tavern so wear your best costume![/box]

Grand Rounds

Dr. Scott Joy, Primary Care Genomics;  2002 Conference Room, Oct 28th 8:00 AM

Noon Conference

Duke North Conf Room 2002, 12:00 p.m.
Day Date Topic Presenter Vendor
Monday 10/24 Beyond Critical Appraisal: Tips for Real World Application of Study Results Dr. Daniella Zipkin Saladelia
Tuesday 10/25 Autopsy Conference Dr. Murat Arcasoy Domino's Sandwiches
Wednesday 10/26 QI/Patient Safety Conference Judy Miline Souper Salad
Thursday 10/27 Continuity Clinics Town-Hall Drs. Bowlby, Rosenthal, and Phelps Papa John's
Friday 10/28 Research Conference  Drs. John Chute and   Benny Chen Bullocks BBQ

Turkey Bowl Practice

Sundays at 3:30pm - Forest Hills Park       [hr]

From the Residency Office

We heard you...(from Rhea)

Thanks to feedback  we have received from your residency council,  the pre-clinic conference details have been removed from your MedHub calendars.  This will help to make your daily calendar less cluttered.  We've also conquered the mystery of the 'gobbily-goo" lunch pages.  Thanks to Lauren for getting the word out every day... We've heard the groans concerning ambulatory evals...Changes are coming to the way we collect evaluations on your ambulatory experiences.  Beginning with the current block, you will only receive ambulatory evaluation requests three times per year.  This will help us to collect more relevant and helpful information both about you and about the clinic experiences.  More information will be communicated to you via email as necessary. Feedback - we like it!  Keep it coming. Medhub is getting ready to release the 9.0 enhancements.  You may notice a change in the looks of your homepage over the next 7-10 days.  Watch for information about the new features in upcoming Weekly Updates.  

Recruitment

Dinner Signups for November are up  in the med res office.  Stop by to sign up! Restaurant List:
604 West Morgan Piazza Italia Six Plates
G2B Parizade Tobacco Road
Revolution Piedmont Pop's
The first day of Recruitment is Friday, November 4 Please contact Carly Kelley with photos for the slideshow.  Laura Caputo will be pairing Residents with Applicants (based on Med School, Undergrad) for “Recruitment Buddies!”  Look for her emails! Email Emily Strollo if you can give tours Fridays at 10:00, 1:00 or 2:00 and Mondays 10:00, 11:00 or 2:00, or if you are able to “host” the slideshow Mondays and Fridays from 3-345 Recruitment Days are:
  • November: Fri 11/4,  Mon 11/7,  Fri11/11,  Mon 11/14,  Fri 11/18,  Mon 11/21
  • December: Fri 12/2, Mon 12/5, Fri 12/9, Mon 12/12, Fri 12/16, Mon 12/19
  • January: Fri 1/6, Mon 1/9, Fri 1/13, Fri 1/20, Mon 1/23, Fri 1/27

Open Enrollment 

Open enrollment will take place from October 24 to November 5, 2011. Packets were mailed to your home and should have been received over the weekend.  If you have questions about open enrollment, please contact Jill Watkins (GME Payroll and Benefits specialist)  at 684-2897.

Congratulations and Best Wishes

Congratulations to  Dr. Charles Withers & Family;  Layla Josephine Withers was born on Friday, 10/7/11 at 11:58 pm, weighing in at 5 lbs 12 oz and measuring 18.5   inches.  Charles's lovely wife, Crystal, and baby are both happy and healthy.  Please share with them in this joyous event!     Best Wishes and congratulations to Brett Goodwin, who married his beautiful Fiancée , Liz Hardin (now Liz Goodwin) on October 15th in New Orleans.  

Free Help with your Educational Loans:

One-on-One Consultations on Your Student Loans  /  Workshop on Repayment Strategies Sponsored by: Duke University School of Medicine / Duke University Hospital Provided by Paul S. Garrard, Founder and President, PGPresents, LLC Mr. Garrard, a nationally known expert in educational debt management for medical students and medical residents, will be on campus providing both  private, in-person consultations (where you can discuss the particulars of your student loan portfolio), but will also provide a workshop on managing your student loans in residency and beyond.  You will not want to miss this unique opportunity to get objective and timely information on everything from consolidation to Income Based Repayment to Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
  • One-on-One Consultations on your Student Loans
    • Monday, October 31, 1:00p until 5:00p, (30 minute segments), and
    • Tuesday, November 1, 8:30a until noon
    • Location 0210 – Duke South Financial Aid Office
    • To make an appointment:  contact Paul Garrard directly paul@PGPresents.com or 877.201.6162  (first come first serve basis)
  • Workshop– “The Reckoning: What to do when your student loans come due”
    • Monday, October 31, 5:30 – 7:00pm
    • Medical School Amphitheater (across from Duke South Food Court)
    • Food will be served – please register by sending an email to dukegme@mc.duke.edu by noon on Friday October 28th
Should you have any questions, please contact the Duke University School of Medicine Office of Financial Aid at 919.684.6649 or financial_aid@mc.duke.edu. Mr. Garrard is an independent student loan consultant with more than 30 years of experience in student financial aid and higher education.   He is nationally recognized as one of the leading educational debt management experts for medical students and medical residents. He is currently under contract with the   Duke University School of Medicine to provide educational debt management help for students and residents at the Duke University School of Med.  

Dates to Add to Your Calendars

  • Oct 26 - Duke Internal Medicine Book club, 6:30 pm, Med Res Library
  • Oct 28 - Medicine Research Conference, 12 noon in DN2002
  • Oct 29- Resident Halloween Party
  • Nov 1 - Recruitment Kickoff, G2B Gastropub 7-9
  • Nov 14-17 - BLS Blitz
  • Dec 10 – DOM Holiday Party
  • Dec 15 - Duke Patient Safety and Quality Conference
  • Mar 9 – Charity Auction (Contact Tian or Ann Marie to participate) Note: change of date
  • June 13 –Resident Research Event, 5-7pm

Employment Opportunities

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