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.
Well the new year is moving along - the teams are busy and we appreciate your hard work. Lots of people deserving shout outs, including SARs Carly Kelley, Rohit Gupta and Jared Chiarchiaro on fantastic SAR talks, intern Mandar Aras on a great intern report, and Priyesh Patel and Sarah Wingfield for answering the question of the day on my door.
Also thanks to our stead attendings Andy Alspaugh and James Tulsky!
Stead society leader Matt Crowley sent me an email exchange between him, intern Meredith Edwards and SAR Christy Kaiser about research and mentoring opportunities - made my day! Looking forward to reporting more Stead Society news throughout the year.
A few more weeks of recruiting! We can do it! Thanks all for your enthusiasm
In QI news, we were the only gme program to achieve 100% flu vaccine rates. Awesome job keeping our patients safe
Have a great week
Aimee
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From the Director
Well the new year is moving along - the teams are busy and we appreciate your hard work. Lots of people deserving shout outs, including SARs Carly Kelley, Rohit Gupta and Jared Chiarchiaro on fantastic SAR talks, intern Mandar Aras on a great intern report, and Priyesh Patel and Sarah Wingfield for answering the question of the day on my door.
Also thanks to our stead attendings Andy Alspaugh and James Tulsky!
Stead society leader Matt Crowley sent me an email exchange between him, intern Meredith Edwards and SAR Christy Kaiser about research and mentoring opportunities - made my day! Looking forward to reporting more Stead Society news throughout the year.
A few more weeks of recruiting! We can do it! Thanks all for your enthusiasm
In QI news, we were the only gme program to achieve 100% flu vaccine rates. Awesome job keeping our patients safe
Have a great week
Aimee
What Did I Read This Week (by Anne Phelps, MD)
[box]Aberle DR, Adams AM, Berg CD, Black WC, Clapp JD, Fagerstrom RM, et al; National; Lung Screening Trial Research Team. Reduced Lung-Cancer Mortality with Low-Dose Computed Tomographic Screening. N Engl J Med. 2011;365z;395-409.[/box] Mrs. R is a 59 year old female with hypertension, diabetes, COPD and ongoing tobacco use. She has a 40 year pack history of tobacco use. She is worried about her risk of lung cancer. How should we screen her? Low dose lung CT scan? Chest x-ray? The National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) was published in August this year. 53,000 current and former smokers, ages 55-74, were randomized to annual low dose CT scans or chest x-rays for 3 consecutive years. Patients had to have 30 pack years of tobacco use. If they had quit smoking, it had to be within the last 15 years. They were randomly assigned to low-dose CT scan or chest x-rays yearly for 3 years. Then they were followed for an additional 3.5 years. A CT scan was determined positive if there was a nodule over 4 mm on CT scan. During a 6.5 year follow up, there were 247 deaths from lung cancer per 100,000 person-years in the low-dose CT group and 309 deaths per 100,000 person-years in the radiography group, representing a relative reduction in mortality from lung cancer with low-dose CT screening of 20.0% (95% CI, 6.8 to 26.7; P=0.004). The rate of death from any cause was reduced in the low-dose CT group, as compared with the radiography group, by 6.7% (95% CI, 1.2 to 13.6; P=0.02). 95% of positive scans ended up being negative for cancer. Conclusions: Low dose CT scan may be beneficial for screening for lung cancer in high risk populations. Limitations to the study: It was done mainly at tertiary hospital centers. These same results may be difficult to duplicate in the general population. However, Medicare will not cover this procedure for screening.R E F U G E Opportunities
PEARLS OF WISDOM: Before entering a patient's room, pause after knocking on the door, allowing your hand to rest on the door handle. Take one mindful breath. This simple step can help bring your attention and awareness back to the present moment, allowing you to be more fully present with your patients.Duke Integrative Medicine invites you to join us for one of our R E F U G E sessions, designed to help you manage the delicate balance of your academic and hospital demands and to learn skills for "being present" and managing stress that could help you, your patients and your colleagues. We offer instruction in a variety of evidence-based techniques designed to support physician's well-being and stress management.
THIS IS A FREE PROGRAM, OPEN TO ALL DUKE PHYSICIANS (INCLUDING RESIDENTS & FELLOWS)
Sessions are designed in a "drop-in" format, and you are welcome to attend ANY OR ALL.
Please review for the following attachment for more information: REFUGE SESSIONS
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From the Chief Residents
Grand Rounds
MLK Guest Speaker: Dr. John M. Carethers, M.D., John G. Searle, Professor and Chair Department of Internal Medicine, University of MichiganNoon Conference
| Day | Date | Topic | Lecturer | Time | Vendor |
| Monday | 1/16 | MLK DAY | NA | ||
| Tuesday | 1/17 | Board Review | ACR | 12:00 | Domino's |
| Wednesday | 1/18 | Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis | Dr. Bedlack | 12:00 | Moe's |
| Thursday | 1/19 | Clinical Implications, MD, PhD | Gerry Blobe | 12:00 | Papa John's |
| Friday | 1/20 | Chair's Conference | Chiefs/Katrak | 11:00 | Saladelia |
DOC January Newsletter
The January newsletter for the Duke Outpatient Clinic is attached. Thanks to all who are contributed to this issue. DOC Jan 2012.newsletter[1] [divider]From the Residency Office
Faculty Resident Research Grants - 2012-2013
Applications are being accepted for 2012-2013 research grants. Please review the following attachments for details.
Application deadline is March 2, 2012
biosketch FORMS_2012 Faculty Resident Research Grant Instructions 2012-2013
Faculty Resident Research Grant Application Forms 2012-2013
VA Citrix Access Gateway
Last week we received notification that the old Duke citrix will be discontinued effective January 31, 2012. Anyone who wants to continue to access the VA Medical Record from home/Duke will need to transition over to the VA Citrix Access Gateway (VA CAG). There are two things that I need you to do to accomplish this. Attached are two documents. The first are the instructions for logging onto the VA portal and requesting VPN. This must be done on a VA computer and takes < 5 minutes to do. It is pretty straight forward but MAKE SURE to list RITA DENNY as your supervisor so that the document will come to her for approval. The second is the “Authorization to transport and utilize VA sensitive/non-sensitive information outside protected environments” memo. Complete the address information as required, sign on the second page and send back to me once you have completed the online VPN request. You can scan and email it to karen.higgins2@va.gov, fax to 286-6873 or drop off by the Medical Service office (Room C8017). If you fax, please send me an email to confirm receipt. CAG Authorization to Take VA Sensitive Information Outside a Protected Environment ISO Procedure #29C Electronic RESCUE Account Request Instructions Notes:- January 31 is not a drop-dead date to request CAG. CAG can be requested at anytime so if you’re not going to need it for 6 months, you can request it in 6 months.
- CAG is PC and MAC compatible.
- In most cases, requests can be processed same day if received by 2:00. However, I ask that you please allow 24 hours in case there is a problem.
Ambulatory Evaluations
Reminder: All residents will be receiving quarterly Ambulatory evaluations. These are NOT duplicate evaluations as each evaluation represents a 3 month block of time. Please complete them within the same time lines established for each rotation. Thank you – Lauren DincherFellowship Programs
Opportunities to explore your interests in applying for fellowships: The Residency Council is hosting a general informational session on Tuesday, Jan 17th from 5:30-6:30pm in the Med Res Library. Subspecialty specific advice sessions will be announced in the near future. If you would like to learn more about the fellowship programs that are available in the Department of Medicine, please complete the following survey by January 22, 2012. The information will be shared confidentially with Program Directors (example - Endocrinology will only know which residents have expressed an interest in their program). For programs where there is sufficient interest we will facillitate group meetings with Directors and other program representatives. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Fellowship_Program_Interest_GroupsDates to Add to Your Calendars
March 23 - Charity Auction - UPDATED (previously posted as March 9) June 2 - Annual SAR Dinner June 13 –Resident Research Event, 5-7pmOpportunities
Useful links
- Main Internal Medicine Residency website
- Main Curriculum website
- Ambulatory curriculum wiki
- Confidential Comment Line Note: ALL submissions are strictly confidential unless you chose to complete the optional section requesting a response.
- Department of Medicine