The Internal Medicine Residency newsletter is posted each week to share important news, announcements and updates about the residency program. Please contact Randy Heffelfinger with corrections, contributions and suggestions.
From the Director
Happy Holidays!
We had a busy week of more recruiting, lots of patient care and reaching some important milestones......I'd be very remiss if I didn't announce the fantastic milestone reached by our program of
100% FLU VACCINATION!!!!!! This is the first time in recorded history that we have achieved this status, and I am very proud that we were able to use a combination of Stead society competition (with a hilarious email chain from the society leaders questioning if
Heather Whitson's were really getting flu shots), email harassment and good commitment to patient safety. Way to go.
During the week, JAR
Zach Healy impressed the applicants with a great presentation of ethylene glycol poisoning, I hear that intern
Carling Ursem rocked DRH morning report with a case of orbital aspergillosis (note to residents - save the transplant ID cases for when I am precepting - :) ), many of you did great Gallops cases (including
Krish Patel and the hot off the presses case of malaria!) and
SARs Dan Fox and Steve Bergin did a fabulous chairs conference of pulmonary tumor microemboli with faculty guest preceptors
Terry Fortin and Stephanie Norfolk.
The week ended with everyone looking great and having a fabulous time at the holiday party! The chiefs and ex- chiefs took us back in time with a Duke Residency rendition of "We Are The World". Thanks
Dr. Klotman for a great party!
Have a wonderful week....
Aimee
What Did I Read This Week (by Saumil Chudgar, MD)
[box]Walkey AJ, O’Donnell MR, Weiner RS. Linezolid vs. glycopeptide antibiotics for the treatment of suspected methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus nosocomial pneumonia.
Chest-2011-Walkey-1148-55.[/box]
Why I read this? During a chalk talk on Bugs and Drugs for some medical students, I discussed using Vanc or Linezolid (but not Dapto!) for MRSA coverage in HAP/HCAP. A student asked me if one is preferred over the other. Aside from not needing ID approval for Vanc, I wanted to see if one was supported by the literature. The 2005 ATS/IDSA guidelines suggested further study is needed. I found this recent
Chest article.
What I found? Eight articles were combined in this meta-analysis for a total of 1,641 patients. Six trials compared linezolid to vancomycin and two compared linezolid to teicoplanin. Primary outcome was clinical success at test-of-cure and was not different between the two drug classes (pooled RR of treatment success for linezolid compared with glycopeptide, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.97-1.11; P = 0.28). Mortality (RR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.69-1.18;
P = 0.47) and adverse events (thrombocytopenia and renal failure) were not different in the two groups.
The authors do give the caveat that their conclusion should not be generalized to community-acquired MRSA or MRSA pneumonia with PVL toxin-producing characteristics as other studies suggest that inhibition of protein synthesis and bacterial toxin production is the presumed mechanism of superiority for linezolid.
What I learned? Linezolid does not appear to be superior to vancomycin for the treatment of nosocomial MRSA pneumonia.
Duke Integrative Medicine Invitation- "The R E F U G E"
Take a few minutes to review the following attachment announcing A Novel Mindfulness-Based Stress Management and Practice Enrichment Service for Duke Physicians. This program is open to all faculty, residents and fellows.
Duke Integrative Medicinewww.dukeintegrativemedicine.org
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From the Chief Residents
Grand Rounds
| Day |
Date |
Speaker |
Division |
Topic |
| Friday |
12/16/11 |
William St. Clair |
Rheumatology |
Immune Tolerance |
Noon Conference
| Day |
Date |
Topic |
Lecturer |
Time |
Vendor |
| Monday |
12/12 |
Medicine Interview Day |
|
12:00 |
Nosh |
| Tuesday |
12/13 |
Med Peds Interview Day |
|
12:00 |
Saladelia |
| Wednesday |
12/14 |
Insomnia |
Obrien/Jensen |
12:00 |
Moe's |
| Thursday |
12/15 |
Clinical Implications MD, PhD |
Geoff Ginsburg |
12:00 |
Chick-fil-A |
| Friday |
12/16 |
Chair's Conference |
Chiefs |
11:00 |
Panera |
Medicine Residents Holiday Annual Fund Drive
This year the residency program set a new record for Thanksgiving donations which essentially doubled last year's total. As a result we were able to provide 30 Kroger food cards to needy patient families at the DOC clinic (thirty turkey dinners with fixings!). We also had sufficient funds to provide over 400 complete Thanksgiving meals at the Durham Rescue Mission's Annual Thanksgiving Community Dinner. On behalf of the residency council, THANK you to all who contributed to this effort!.
Our next project is to spread the message of our
Annual Christmas Drive. We are hoping to serve the local community again this month as we collect Christmas gifts for families at the DOC and our CLC residents at the VA.
How to Donate:
We have established a “
Residency Council Paypal Account”. All funds will be applied towards these families.
The residents will do the shopping, which we know is the fun part, but we need your support.
Thank you,
The Residency Council
Intern / JAR Preferences - 2013 Academic Year
Interns and JAR's - Please take note that you will be receiving an email from our residency office this week announcing the opportunity and format to submit schedule preferences for the next academic year. This is the first step in collecting the information that the Chiefs will use to develop the block schedule for FY 12/13.
From the Residency Office
Crime on Campus
A brief reminder that the holiday season is also a time when we need to be vigilant to protect ourselves and our belongings. The following link includes a number of important reminders. Please take just a few minutes to "check it out", and have a happy and safe holiday.
http://today.duke.edu/2011/12/holidaypropertysafety
ACP Meeting Poster Session - Registration Deadline December 15, 2011(by Murat Arcasoy, MD)
The annual ACP meeting will be held in February, 2012, in Greensboro, NC, which will offer residents the opportunity to present scholarly achievements during the poster session, including
research, clinical cases, and quality improvement projects. Previously presented work is also welcome at this meeting.
The deadline is soon,
December 15 but it is easy to submit. Please check out the following link and let us know if we can help you.
Please use the following link for abstract submission:
http://www.acponline.org/about_acp/chapters/nc/abstract_12.htm
Also, please use the following link to indicate to us that your will be participating: h
ttps://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ACP_Poster_Abstract_2012
Request for Applications- Resident Research Grants
The annual Faculty Resident Research Grant applications are due on March 2, 2012. Please see attached the Request for Applications, instructions, a sample NIH style biosketch, and application forms. Please do not exceed the 3 page limit for the Research Plan, and please note that you do not need preliminary data to apply.
Our "Resident Research" website will be launched in the coming weeks. These forms will also be posted on the website along with a list of previously funded projects and sample grant applications.
To discuss any issues regarding your research interests, for guidance to identify a research project and mentor, for questions related to the application process or once you decide to submit an application, please e-mail me at
arcas001@mc.duke.edu.
Please email me as well to
declare your intention to apply, your research mentor's name, the title of your Grant Application or any questions.
Faculty Resident Research Grant Instructions 2011-2012
Faculty Resident Research Grant Application Forms 2011-2012
Biosketchsample_2011
Respect of Patient and Employee Privacy (By Colleen Shannon, DUHS Chief Compliance Officer)
Have you ever . . . .
- Looked at your spouse’s medical record without a written authorization?
- Reviewed a friend’s record without obtaining written authorization when you are not the treating clinician because s/he would like your courtesy advice?
- Looked up a colleague’s home address in any IT system for social events?
- Wanted to know the status of your co-worker’s hospitalization and read the record?
On the surface, all of these appear as trying to be helpful, but, in fact, they violate the right to privacy of patients, including employees.
In order to better safeguard the privacy of our patients and employees, effective December 12, 2011, Duke Medicine is implementing a new privacy tool that will enable us to electronically monitor the numerous IT systems that contain this personal health information. This software, called
Fair Warning permits the Duke University Health System (DUHS) Compliance Office to conduct audits of staff’s access to DUHS clinical and billing systems. These reports permit the Compliance Office to initiate audits that include your access to patients’ records in which you do not appear to have a business need to access. Such reviews would include access to VIP, family member, neighbor and co-worker records.
Each member of the Duke Medicine workforce is held responsible for complying with privacy policies and procedures to ensure patients are afforded privacy. Behaviors such as snooping and/or inappropriate access of medical or billing records are explicitly prohibited. FairWarning will help identify these occurrences of privacy violations.
If there are any questions, please contact the DUHS Compliance Office at 668-2573.
Dates to Add to Your Calendars
March 9 - Charity Auction
June 13 –Resident Research Event, 5-7pm
Useful links
