From the Director
Happy holidays to all!
Hard to believe we are at the halfway point of the year. Many thanks to everyone for your hard work, your teamwork and the incredible sense of family you bring to the program. In the midst of busy days (and nights), it is sometimes difficult to realize how much you have learned, the difference you have made in others lives or the transformation that happens to each class throughout the year as you grow from newly graduated med students to highly competent interns, from masters of "getting things done" to team leaders, and from team leaders to practically attendings. Take a few minutes and remember how you approached a patient care problem or a new rotation at the beginning of this year....pretty different now, huh?
Enjoy the holiday season with your friends and family....kudos to all.....for those of you working over Christmas, we will have
Christmas Eve dinner (thanks
Dr Klotman!) at 6 pm in the med res library, and celebrate "
Jewish Christmas" with Chinese food on the 25th. For those of you who are away, safe travels and see you all in the New Year.
Best, Aimee
What Did I Read This Week (by , Lynn Bowlby, MD )
[box] Vaccine 30 (2012) 4200-4208 Factors mediating seasonal and influenza A (H1N1) vaccine acceptance among ethnically diverse populations in the urban south. [/box]
Why Did I Read This? This week, as several patients at the DOC refused flu shots, I began thinking more about what else we can do to increase immunization rates. The faculty and residents at DOC all work hard to “convince” patients to take the flu shots—this time of year those not immunized are usually those that are not willing to take the flu shot. When Jon Bae was ambulatory chief several years ago we really ramped up our language to an “opt out” strategy—we told pts they were getting the flu shot and they had to refuse. This did help.
I reached out to Jason Stout, clinical lead for ID, and he , Cameron Wolfe and I had a great email exchange of how to improve this issue. Jason sent me a few articles, this is one. As a general internist, this type of work with colleagues, is the best.
This article was a survey of 500 adults, Sept-Dec 2009, mostly lower income and African American. Patients had a higher acceptance rate of H1N1 than seasonal flu shots, seen at DOC as well. The fear of H1N1 influenced that, although national rates of H1 N1 were about 20%. Our population that refuses flu shots tends to be lower socioeconomic groups, matching national data. Factors that influenced acceptance were a positive attitude about immunization, community perception of H1N1, and having had a flu shot in the past 5 years.
Patients were most likely to be influenced by their physician. Facebook and Twitter were viewed as a positive way to influence immunization. Churches and grocery stores were also seen as great venues for vaccination.
Next year we will capture refusal in Maestro—not straightforward—and use data to help drive process changes to improve this important health issue.
From the Chief Residents
Grand Rounds
No conferences scheduled this week
Noon Conference
No noon conferences scheduled till the start of 2013
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From the Residency Office
Back and Doing Well!! (by Randy Heffelfinger)
As I look back over the past 6 weeks it seems that my list of thank yous is endless (can't believe it has been that long). Where to start? First up - my family and friends, but everyone on this journey has been awesome. The Med Res office staff, the residents and faculty, GME, my cycling buddies, physical therapy, and everyone who took care of me at UNC Hospital for 5 days. I've all ready gained back 1/2 of the weight that I lost - thanks to so many great meals that we received. Thank you all, and although I'm not yet quite back to cycling form, I can't wait to climb back on the bike again.
The picture you se here is of my helmet. Although ventilation is a good thing, this is not the way to get good air flow. The ribs and pelvic fractures were a problem, but without the helmet doing its job there would be a different story. In case you weren't sure that helmets save lives, click on the following link to the the
Candadian Medical Association Journal, Oct 15, 2012, article reporting that head injury is much more likely among non-helmet wearers. How much? Three times greater. So, if you do find a new helmet in your Christmas stocking - use it. Or better yet, give a helmet to the child riding that bike who does not have one.
MKSAP
If you participated in the MKSAP order in August, we have received the 2nd half of the print version. The books are available for pick up in the Med Res office. Please note that they are individually labeled so look for your name. If you chose MKSAP complete or the electronic version, digital orders will be available at the end of January – you will be emailed.
Save the Date - For Those Interested in Teaching,
Please save the date for the upcoming
“Teaching the Outpatient Teachers” workshop sponsored by the Primary Care Leadership Track. This half day workshop will be on Friday January 11, 2013. There will be a morning and afternoon session for this workshop. The morning session will run from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm, and the afternoon session will run from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm.
Topics to be covered include: giving streamlined feedback, using an iPad, staying on time in a busy practice, improve your musculoskeletal exam, and a review of compliance issues.
To enroll in the workshop for either the morning or afternoon session please contact:
Blake Wiggins at
blake.wiggins@duke.edu
The Office of the Primary Care Leadership track
Recruiting Dinners and Tour Guide
If you haven't done so already, PLEASE sign up for a Recruitment Dinner and/or to be a Tour Guide on a Recruitment day! The links to sign up for both are below!
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B084FAEAE2CA13-december
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B084FAEAE2CA13-december1
Note: The MedRes office will be closed (no admin staff on duty) December 24 - January 1, 2013
Contact Information/Opportunities
Useful links
