UAFP established a Resident Leadership Award this year to recognize the accomplishments of one of our third-year family medicine residents in Utah. Nominations were sent in by residency faculty, peers, and other residency staff. Those nominated needed to demonstrate promotion of family medicine, leadership skills, and serving as a role model to peers. Additional consideration was given for teaching skills, professionalism, research skills, and community service. The UAFP Member Engagement Committee voted on the final winner and chose Sara Walker, MD. One of her nominations read, “In her role as chief, Dr. Walker is seen as someone who residents can reach out to for calm, caring, and effective support. She has solved problems that we didn’t know existed, for example, creating an Orientation Guide for incoming interns to streamline our orientation process. As a physician, she is warm and caring, well-loved by her patients and her clinical team.”

Congratulations, Dr. Walker, and to all our outstanding nominees!  

The updated recommendations say treatment for TTS that occurs after a patient receives the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccine should be approached differently than the treatment typically administered for blood clots; in particular, heparin should not be administered, and consultation with a hematology specialist is strongly recommended.

Clinicians are encouraged to consult a recent CDC Health Alert Network notification along with guidance from the American Society of Hematology for more information on the diagnosis and treatment of patients suspected to have TTS.

Additional clinical considerations for the use of COVID-19 vaccines are available from the CDC.

Deseret News: Utah hospitals are participating in the National Institutes of Health-sponsored study aimed at finding a much-needed treatment for the “sickest of the sick” COVID-19 patients, an Intermountain Healthcare researcher and critical care physician said Wednesday.

Dr. Samuel Brown said four coronavirus patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, a life-threatening condition that affects the lungs, have been enrolled in the study at the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray and the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City. Read more...

CMS Newsroom: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule (CMS-1752-P) today for inpatient and long-term care hospitals that builds on the Biden Administration’s key priorities to close health care equity gaps and provide greater accessibility to care. Major provisions in the proposed rule would fund medical residency positions in hospitals in rural and underserved communities to address workforce shortages, and require hospitals to report COVID-19 vaccination rates among their workers to contain the spread of the virus. Read more...