55 Words from the Chair

Dr. Natalia Pineda with her daughter Camila after her 2-month well-child visit with Dr. Villalon-Gomez!

News from the Faculty Development Committee

Promotions and Clinical Distinctions!

The Education Issue!

Throughout the year, this newsletter will highlight some of the great work being done in our department. This month's special topic is education. You'll find a particular emphasis on the ways that COVID-19 changed the way we are educating our learners and future plans for excellence in education moving forward, plus a spotlight on the staff who make it all happen!

New Leadership Positions in Education

******

John Chancellor, Emory School of Medicine student in the Class of 2023, was selected to serve as the student voting delegate at the upcoming 2022 American Academy of Family Physicians National Conference. 

Celebrate our Graduates!

SAVE THE DATE:

Family Medicine Residency Graduation:  June 25 at the Grant Loft of Southern Exchange from 5-10 pm.

Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship Graduation: June 22 at 6:30 pm

Preventive Medicine Residency Graduation: June 21 (tentative)

******

******

 Education Opportunities

The Adult Primary Care Clerkship is looking for volunteers to lead small group teaching sessions for 3rd-year medical students on their APC rotation. The students love learning from Family & Preventive Medicine teachers, we provide a teaching guide that makes it easy, and it’s a lot of fun! Email ryan.d.smith@emory.edu if interested.

Presentations

******

The Family Medicine Interest Group hosted a post-match panel on 4/14 where Emory students in the Class of 2022 that matched in Family Medicine shared their experiences with the residency application process with other students interested in Family Medicine. Congratulations on the match and thank you to the excellent panelists: Sarah Cato (AnMed Health; Anderson, SC), Serena Huang (Stamford Hospital-Columbia University; Stamford, CT), and Natalia Kuhn (Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton,  Oceanside, CA).

******

Palliative Medicine faculty Dr. Paul DeSandre and Dr. Ali John Zarrabi presented "Finding Joy in Medicine through Art" for the School of Medicine's Professional Development at Grady lecture series on April 15. If you missed it, you can watch the recording below.

Updates from FPM Education Programs

Family Medicine Residency

Pictured above left: FM Program Coordinator Tammi Teeters-McDade and Administrative Assistant Yan Zhang. Above right: Program Director Dr. Villalon-Gomez and Administrative Assistant Chariss Smith 

Like the other education programs at Emory, the Family Medicine Residency (FMR) weathered huge changes during the pandemic. COVID shut down multiple rotation sites for the FM residents and there was a scramble to offer them a different educational opportunity. Program Director Dr. Jose Villalon-Gomez and APDs Dr. Mirtha Aguilar-Alvarado and Dr. James Jo, along with staff Tammi Teeters-McDade, Yan Zhang, and Chariss Smith worked hard to help with the educational pivot and the change to virtual didactics. The faculty, residents, and clinic staff concentrated on delivering quality care via telehealth. They also converted to virtual interviews for potential residents. Their efforts paid off and the residency program continued to run smoothly. The FMR staff are grateful for their team and for the leadership of Dr. Villalon-Gomez and Ms. Pat Woodard. They are now experts in contingency planning!

Program Director Dr. Villalon-Gomez says that the faculty and staff have mastered the things that worked, such as scheduling remote guest lecturers via Zoom, and the program has phased out the things that didn’t work. He was delighted that the remote recruitment process worked so well.

Looking to the future, Dr. Villalon-Gomez says that while interviews will remain remote for 2022, he is thinking about a hybrid approach after that, so that prospective residents who want to visit in person can do so. Other highlights:

• The Health Services Research Scholar track launched this year and the first scholar, Dr. Nikhila Gandrakota, will begin her work in July. This new track will help with recruitment by offering coaching and experience to residents who are interested in research careers.
• There is a  health behaviorist embedded at the Dunwoody Clinic to provide emotional support and pharmacological care for opioid patients.
• The LaHouse Scholar Program continues to expand under Dr. Mirtha Aguilar-Alvarado’s leadership, recognizing trainees who want to practice in Georgia and building their leadership skills.
• To meet new ACGME recommendations, the ultrasound curriculum will expand to more settings, including emergency, musculoskeletal, outpatient, sports medicine, and women’s health.

Finally, Dr. Villalon-Gomez is looking forward to adjusting the FMR curriculum to prepare for the new vision for Family Medicine training nationwide, as outlined by the Starfield Summit, in which Dr. Villalon-Gomez participated as a member. By 2050, family physician training and practice will be centered around population health, patient panels, and DEI initiatives to train comprehensive physicians who will keep our communities healthy.

Spotlight on
Family Medicine Residency Staff:

FPM education programs could not function without the incredible work of program staff. We asked FMR program staff to share their thoughts and hopes for their programs. 

What is the most rewarding part of your job? 

• Chariss Smith: "To see the excitement from the residents when it's getting close to graduation. The graduation ceremony is the highlight for me to see the joy and excitement as we celebrate their hard work."
• Tammi Teeters-McDade: "Knowing that I had a part in the process of training our Family Medicine physicians and are able to offer great physicians to communities around the country."
• Yan Zhang: "The respect from faculty, learners, and staff. And the knowledge that leadership trusts us."

What would you like to see happen for the program in the next five years? 

• Chariss Smith: "Adequate staffing of nurses and MAs along with more clinic rooms and more [working] computers in the clinic with large monitors to make it easier to view patient info." 
• Tammi Teeters-McDade: "For it to continue to grow and keep up with all of the requirements and proposed changes in Family Medicine. For our program to continue to climb to be one of the top 10 rated go-to programs."
• Yan Zhang: "For our program to be in the top 10 in the nation."

******

Hospice & Palliative Medicine Program

Pictured above: HPM Fellowship Program Director Dr. Lynn O'Neill

Emory’s Hospice & Palliative Medicine (HPM) Fellowship continues to be a one-year clinical fellowship that trains 6 adult track fellows and 1 pediatric track fellow each academic year. The leadership team includes Program Director Dr. Lynn O’Neill, APDs Dr. Meredith Maxwell, Dr. Emilee Flynn, Dr. Lawson Marcewicz, and program coordinator, Margo Blake.  

The HPM leadership team, like the other FPM education programs, transitioned their recruitment efforts entirely to the virtual space. Fellows have historically joined the HPM fellowship program from across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and from varied primary specialties including family medicine, internal medicine, emergency medicine, and pediatrics. This year’s class of fellows, hailing from programs as close as Emory and Wellstar and as far as Pittsburgh and Ohio State, are in their final months of fellowship and will celebrate their accomplishments at HPM Fellowship Graduation on June 22, 2022.  The new fellows will join our department on July 1 from Minnesota, New York, Florida, and Puerto Rico, along with 3 fellows continuing their training at Emory from other specialties.

Palliative medicine fellows at Emory receive clinical training at the VA, Grady, EUH, EUHM, CHOA, and Budd Terrace as well as with several of our community hospice partners. With so many fellows across so many sites, the program relies on its strong and deep bench of dynamic faculty to ensure that fellows gain the necessary knowledge and skills in order to be successful palliative care physicians and leaders in the field locally, regionally, and nationally. The Emory HPM fellowship, founded in 2009, has trained over 40 palliative care physicians over the past 12 years, and is looking forward to the next 12 years of teaching and learning with enthusiasm and excitement! 

The palliative care department is also launching an APP fellowship, and the first cohort of 1 fellow will be starting this July, alongside the physician fellows. 

Spotlight on
Hospice & Palliative Care Program Coordinator Margo Blake

It’s a unique fellowship program as the hospice and palliative care teams are sometimes the last ones to provide comfort to loved ones at the end of life.

What is the most challenging part of your job? I work with multiple professionals across Atlanta Metropolitan area hospitals and departments. The most challenging part of my job is “herding the cats” for the day-to-day administrative tasks.  However, I have a good rapport with the faculty and staff that supports getting the projects done.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?  The most rewarding part of my job is the work-life balance, helping others, and collaboration with faculty and staff.   

What would you like to see happen for the program in the next five years?  I envision collaborating with the fellowship leadership, and former and future fellows to create a competitive edge curriculum that no other fellowship program offers other than Emory University Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship program.

******

PA Program 

Dr. Maha Lund, Director of the PA Program, has high praise for the way her program adjusted to COVID. Dr. Lund said, "For many years, Allan Platt, PA-C has shared the mantra of PAs being "flexible and adaptable" with the incoming students. This was the approach the PA program built on during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide continued training for students. This goal had to be balanced with the students, faculty, and staff’s health and safety as a major priority and also constantly adjusted based on changing conditions in the community and guidance from the CDC and university." Dr. Lund had help from APDs Dr. Jodie Guest who became one of the faces of Emory University's COVID response in the community and in virtual webinars and town halls, and Alexander Kendall, MPAS, PA-C.

"The PA program conducted surveys among students and faculty and staff to collect input on the impact of learning during COVID and suggestions to stay connected while we were not able to meet in person, Dr. Lund continued. "The surveys resulted in the implementation of regular student town hall meetings with the Program Director to foster engagement and communication with our students. Additionally, biweekly Program Updates to inform and engage program faculty and staff became a part of the new normal for the PA program. Our PA faculty and staff have evaluated the program’s sufficiency and efficiency with many great suggestions on how to progress as a program, most of which were quickly implemented.  These changes along with recognizing the need to plan for growth in the future are shaping our program as we move forward into the future of post-COVID education."

When asked about exciting plans on the horizon, Dr. Lund shared that the PA program is "excited about the expansion of one of our clinical rotation sites - the family medicine rotation at the Lake Park Migrant Farmworker Clinic near Valdosta in South Georgia. During the summer farmworker project, PA students provide free healthcare to migrant farmworkers and their families in the Valdosta area. Every day the team sets up an outdoor clinic at a different farm or housing complex. Students were always wondering about follow-up care for the patients after we go back to the classrooms. PA Students can now also participate in the follow up care of this patient population, working with their preceptor Eric Little, PA-C. The Lake Park clinic sees about 2900 patients per year who are mostly Spanish-speaking. Some common diagnoses, such as hypertension and diabetes, are similar to other family medicine clinics but this patient population also suffers from cervical and lower back pain due to repetitive motions during harvesting of fruits and vegetables and upper respiratory complaints due to possible exposure to agricultural chemicals."

Pictured above: AP students with their therapy dog, Harper Lee

Spotlight on the
PA Program Staff:

Dr. Lund shared her appreciation for 3 members of her program staff. 

Khaliala Ward, Senior Business Manager, keeps everything in our program running smoothly. She is responsive and attentive to details. She has such a kind personality and she is highly valued by faculty, staff, and our PA students. Khaliala is always happy to help and if you ask her a question that she doesn't know the answer to, she'll find out. She is truly the glue that holds the PA program together. 

Kaye Johnson-Bull, Associate Director of Admissions, is responsible for processing over 1500 PA program admission applications every year. During COVID, she adapted to flawless virtual student interviews and orientation. Because of her efforts, the PA program recruited a full class despite COVID. Kaye has also supported the Farmworker project for many years and supports the logistics behind the scenes. 

Ursula Robertson, Senior Secretary, is the welcoming face of the PA program - she's the first face people see. She always has a smile (and candy) and makes everyone feel welcome. Everyone knows and appreciates Ursula. She is a big contributor to students’ success with her emails and kind words encouraging them and sending well wishes for exams. Ursula is a hard worker with a can-do attitude. She did a tremendous job reconnecting with alumni for the PA Program’s 50th anniversary last year and this year, she is busy collecting data for many accreditation spreadsheets.

******

Preventive Medicine Residency 

Pictured above: Jeannette Guarner, MD Professor and Vice Chair of Faculty Affairs, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Associate Director, Emory Medical Laboratories, presenting Friday Didactics to the Preventive Medicine residents. Dr. Guarner presented “2001 Bioterrorism Cases” based on her then-position as a pathologist at CDC and her roles in investigating and conducting an autopsy on the initial case-patient in the 2001 anthrax cluster. She then presented “My Store … and Some Advice Along the Away,” which was a tour de force for the residents on professional development drawn from Dr. Guarner’s own life and career pathway.

When COVID hit, the Preventive Medicine faculty and residents shifted to the forefront of the response, including establishing protocols and creating training materials. Thanks to Program Director Dr. Richard Goodman, APDs Dr. Sara Turbow and Dr. Javier Valle (pictured above), and Program Coordinator Mary Davis (spotlighted below), the PM residents had the following educational opportunities:

DeKalb County Board of Health (including Office of Emergency Preparedness): Residents’ multiple activities included:

• Serving as a member of the Emergency Preparedness Incident Command Systems team with participation in intense planning and response meetings 3 times a week.
• Serving as a Co-lead to prepare the first COVID After Action Review which was related to the DeKalb County Board of Health's response to COVID Testing and Vaccine Administration.
• Performing a comprehensive evaluation and assessment of the use of mobile units, including planning the use of units for deployment of COVID-19 vaccine, and providing guidance for future and long-term use of the units for general public health services.
• Developing a presentation to key stakeholders and a report on mobile unit standard operating procedures.
• Interviewing 6 major departments within the Board of Health to compile, assemble, and present large quantities of relevant data – these data provided the Board of Health with essential information in determining best practices, lessons learned, and corrective actions for moving into subsequent phases of the COVID response.
• Co-authoring publication abstract for the DeKalb County Board of Health’s COVID 19 Strike Team.

Emory Student Health Service:

• Resident provided patient care in the Student Health Services COVID clinic and assisted with a QI project on COVID-19 breakthrough infections.

Pharmacy Clinical Services:

• Resident worked in the ID Clinic on COVID-19 prevention and early treatment for patients with mild to moderate infection, as well as on management of patients with hepatitis C, HIV infection, and latent TB.

Infectious Disease Clinic and Infection Control:

• Resident analyzed the COVID-19 vaccination rates for December 2020–August 2021 among clinic patients with HIV infection compared with the total Atlanta VA population and the state of Georgia.

• Resident presented a poster abstract based on this analysis (“Assessing COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Among People Living with HIV, Atlanta VA Healthcare System”) during the Department of Medicine Research Day in October 2021; the abstract also was submitted and accepted for oral presentation at the American Federation for Medical Research – Southern Regional Meeting in 2022.

Looking to the future, Dr. Goodman is delighted to announce that all three of the new PM residents who join the program in July have been accepted into the School of Medicine’s Health Equity, Advocacy, and Policy (HEAP) Track!  Radhika Agarwal MD, Kunal Doshi MD MPH, and Annie Rouza MD MPH (Candidate) will join the ranks of current / past PM residents selected for the HEAP Track, including Dr. Chioma Erondu, Dr. Ronak Ghiya, and Dr. Siri Chirumamilla.

The overall educational goals of the Preventive Medicine residency program are to ensure that PM Residents: (1) attain the competencies and milestones as specified by ACGME; (2) possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities in PM that can be applied effectively in multiple settings (e.g., government, academia, health care systems, communities) to improve population health; and (3) are prepared for taking the board certification examination in Public Health and General Preventive Medicine as administered by the American Board of Preventive Medicine. 

Spotlight on PM Residency Program Coordinator Mary Davis

Also, resident Dr. Siri Chirumamilla was chosen for the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) PrevMed rotation for Jan-Feb 2023. As a group, they have also published a lot." Mary is also happy that preventive medicine has been added as an elective rotation for  MD students, so that they have early exposure to the opportunities and possibilities provided by a PM residency program .

******

CME Opportunities

5^th Annual Southeast Review and Update on the Medical Care of Older Adults

July 15-17, 2022

Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, GA

Older adults require a different approach to care and skill set for identifying and treating medical issues and geriatric syndromes.  By the year 2030, an estimated I in 5 Americans will be over age 65 years. At the 5^th Annual SE Review and Update on Medical Care of Older Adults, physicians and other primary care providers will have an opportunity to improve and update their knowledge and skills in many critical aspects of the care of older adults. REGISTRATION. ABIM MOC Points - 12.00

• Physician: $425.00
• Allied Healthcare Professional: $325.00
• Residents/Fellows: $100.00

******

Project ECHO CME

Thursday, May 12, 11 am - 12 pm. Personal Protective Equipment & Just-in-Time Training
Expert panelists: Jill Morgan RN, BSN - Emory Healthcare, Critical care; Yvonne Atherly-John, MD, MPH, FAAP - Emory University - Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine; Josia Mamora RN- Emory Healthcare, Serious Communicable Disease; Jessica Tarabay MPH, MHR, CIC - Emory University, Infection Prevention

Thursday, May 26. 11 am - 12 pm. COVID-19 Vaccination: Where Do We Stand? 
Expert panelists: Evan Anderson, MD - Emory University, Department of Pediatrics and Medicine; Andi Shane, MD - Emory University, Division of Infectious Disease, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Division Department of Pediatrics; John Horton, MD - Emory University, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Registration

Wellness Corner

Turning Down Inflammation

We hear a lot about the harmful effects on our health of having high levels of inflammation. For example, systemic inflammation is associated with cardiovascular disease, metabolic diseases (e.g., type 2 diabetes), and depressive symptoms. What are some well-tested ways to turn down our inflammation?

• Nutrition: For example, randomized trials show that increasing consumption of whole grains reduces inflammatory markers. Many (though not all) studies find that the Mediterranean Diet (heavy on the legumes, fruit, vegetables, nuts, and fish, light on the red meat, dairy, and refined sugars) is associated with lower levels of inflammation.
• Social connection: Having broader social networks  – both objective (i.e., the number of connections you have) and subjective (i.e., how you feel about your social network) – can lead to reduced inflammation.
• Exercise: Regular exercise is a great way to turn down the inflammasome, especially low-to-moderate and mixed intensity aerobic varieties

Remember to set up your Emory Sharecare platform to find resources and incentives for inflammation busting!

Coming Soon: FPM Department Awards!

These awards will not replace existing or new division or program level awards but will offer an additional opportunity to recognize faculty and staff excellence across all of the divisions and programs.

More details will be announced at the end of June.

Transformative Research

News

Beginning with a two-day, in-person workshop in the fall, followed by a series of individual and small group coaching/mentoring sessions via videoconference, and culminating with a final two day in-person meeting in the days preceding the AGS Annual Meeting, the Emerging Leaders in Aging program provides leadership training focused on the unique needs of leaders in aging-specific environments. 

******

******

Recent Awards

The primary proposed aim is to evaluate the feasibility and outcomes of the EHKC program delivered in a hybrid format in a patient care setting. If successful, this study would yield a cost-effective method for implementing a lifestyle behavior change program previously shown to improve dietary and culinary habits, as well as participant quality of life to patient populations. Similar to the EHKC on-site program and the EHKC VP, the EHKCom will be a 12-month rigorous clinical trial.

The length and total curriculum hours will stay the same (20 hours over 10 weeks). A cost and clinically effective program delivered in a patient setting will create opportunities for expansion to our health network and community populations. The additional support and resources of Emory University, Emory Healthcare, and academic and corporate partners position Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness well for future expansion of the EHKC program. The proposed project would provide affordable access to socioeconomically and geographically diverse populations, enabling a larger number of people to benefit from the behavioral and quality of life improvements demonstrated in the EHKC.

Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness (ELMW) launched the inaugural Emory Healthy Kitchen Collaborative (EHKC) in 2019 for Emory employees. The one-year clinical trial demonstrated that the program was feasible, acceptable, and effective at improving participants’ health-related knowledge, behavior, and skills. Subsequently, the Emory Healthy Kitchen Collaborative Virtual Program (EHKC VP), also implemented for Emory employees, successfully translated the original program into a fully virtual format.

******

Recent and Upcoming Presentations

******

Highlighted Opportunities:
 

SOM Health Equity Day

Tuesday, May 17, 9 am - 2 pm, via Zoom

Keynote speaker: David R. Williams, PhD, Florence Sprague Norman and Laura Smart Norman Professor of Public Health and chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. An internationally recognized social scientist focused on social influences on health.

More information and registration can be found HERE.

******

Recent Publications

Collaborative department publications
 

Preventive Medicine faculty Dr. Sara Turbow and Family Medicine faculty Dr. Mo Ali published Prevalence of and Mortality Associated with Cross-State Inpatient Care Fragmentation Among Older Adults in a Nationally Representative Dataset. J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Apr 20. doi: 10.1007/s11606-022-07565-7. Online ahead of print.

Preventive Medicine faculty Dr. Sara Turbow and Family Medicine faculty Dr. Mo Ali and Dr. Megha Shah published Trends and Demographic Disparities in Diabetes Hospital Admissions: Analyses of Serial Cross-Sectional National and State Data, 2008-2017. Diabetes Care. 2022 Apr 5:dc211837. doi: 10.2337/dc21-1837. Online ahead of print.

Palliative Medicine faculty Dr. Ali John Zarrabi and Dr. Kim Curseen published A dose-escalation clinical trial of intranasal ketamine for uncontrolled cancer-related pain. Pharmacotherapy. 2022 Apr;42(4):298-310. doi: 10.1002/phar.2669. Epub 2022 Feb 21.

Palliative Medicine faculty Dr. Joanne Kuntz and Dr. Tammie Quest published Mapping the Future for Research in Emergency Medicine Palliative Care: A Research Roadmap. Acad Emerg Med. 2022 Apr 3. doi: 10.1111/acem.14496. Online ahead of print.

Faculty publications

Dr. Mo Ali:

• Achievement of guideline recommended diabetes treatment targets and health habits in people with self-reported diabetes in India (ICMR-INDIAB-13): a national cross-sectional study. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2022 Apr 21:S2213-8587(22)00072-9. doi: 10.1016/S2213-8587(22)00072-9.

Dr. Ted Johnson:

• Perioperative Mobile Telehealth Program for Post-Prostatectomy Incontinence: A Randomized Clinical Trial. J Urol. 2022 Apr 7:101097JU0000000000002697. doi: 10.1097/JU.0000000000002697. Online ahead of print.

Dr. Dio Kavalieratos

• Clinicians' Perceptions of Collaborative Palliative Care Delivery in Chronic Kidney Disease. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2022 Apr 10:S0885-3924(22)00662-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2022.04.167. Online ahead of print.

Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha:

• Alzheimer's Disease Mortality as a Function of Urbanization Level: 1999-2019. J Alzheimers Dis. 2022 Apr 22. doi: 10.3233/JAD-215586. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35466938.

Dr. Jennifer Mascaro:

• Learning Compassion and Meditation: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of the Experience of Novice Meditators.  Front Psychol. 2022 Apr 5;13:805718. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.805718. 

Dr. Miranda Moore:

• Cost Analysis of Developing, Implementing, and Evaluating a Multi-Disciplinary Teaching Kitchen. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2022 Mar-Apr;16(2):180-185. DOI: 10.1177/15598276211062841
• A mixed-methods formative evaluation of a dementia-friendly congregation program for Black churches. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, (2022)19(8). doi:10.3390/ijerph19084498 

Dr. Megha Shah:

• Promises and Pitfalls of Dyads in the National Diabetes Prevention Program: Lifestyle Coach Perspectives.  Am J Health Promot. 2022 Apr 22:8901171221088580. doi: 10.1177/08901171221088580. Online ahead of print.

*****

Being of Service

******

Emory Farmworker Project:
Volunteers Needed!

The Emory Farmworker Project has been providing free health care for more than 25 years to farmworkers and their families in south Georgia who lack access to basic medical care. Unfortunately, COVID-19 impacted our ability to provide this important service to those communities last summer.

We plan to resume our outreach this summer and invite you to participate with us. Bainbridge clinic is scheduled for June 4^th-10th, followed by Valdosta clinic June 11th-17^th.

We need:

• Preceptors (MD, PA, DPT, DMD, NP, PharmD)
• Dental preceptors and volunteers for a dental van which will be set up at both sites
• Spanish and Haitian Creole Interpreters

 
Hotel costs, breakfast, and dinner are covered by the Emory PA program. If you would like to volunteer, please use this registration link.

You can also support the program by donating hats and clothing or sponsoring meals to feed students, preceptors, and volunteers. Contact Khaliala Ward, Sr. Business Manager of the PA Program, at khaliala.ward@emory.edu for further information about donating or volunteering.

News from the DEI Council

Juneteenth becomes official Emory holiday

This new holiday applies to Emory University faculty, staff, and students only. Emory Healthcare employees and health sciences students with clinical and lab requirements should refer to their units for more information.  More information.

SOM Juneteenth Program
June 16 noon-1:30 pm

The School of Medicine's annual Juneteenth Program will feature a panel discussion on the documentary, Power to Heal. The online program will be moderated by Dr. Sheryl Heron and include panelists: Tyrese Hinkins-Jones, Nate Spell, Nanette Wenger, and Yolanda Wimberly. This should be an engaging discussion on the historic struggle to secure equal and adequate access to healthcare for all Americans. Please contact cevan31@emory.edu if you would like your perspective shared during the panelist discussion. Film and registration details TBA.

Details about other Juneteenth events taking place on campus will be announced in the coming weeks.

******

Many Voices Tell our Story: A Celebration of Inclusion and Belonging

Join the SOM Diversity Council May 16-20 in celebrating the broad range of identities and experiences that make up our diverse School of Medicine community.

Diversity Week will be a school-wide celebration of the broad range of identities and experiences that make up our diverse community. Join us for lectures, breakout sessions, poster presentations, and social activities, including a SOM Block Party - details below. Additionally, the week will be an opportunity to showcase the incredible work being done on topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) by our remarkable students, trainees, faculty, and staff. Learn More

Friday, May 20: Noon
Diversity Week Block Party

SOM Affinity Group Social and Food Trucks, including Love at First Bite, Bhojanic, and MokiPops.

Don't miss out on all that's going on. Check the SOM DEI page to see frequent updates.

******

Don't Miss Opportunities

Save the Date: DOM Research Day

15th annual Research Day
Thursday, October 27 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Emory Student Center

This year's event will include both oral and poster presentations, as well as a keynote address from E. Dale Abel, MD, PhD, William S. Adams Distinguished Professor of Medicine, and chair and executive medical director of the Department of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine and UCLA Health.

Abstract submission and event registration will open shortly. For questions about Research Day, please contact Sarah McClellan.

Got news? Please send your announcements and photos to leigh.partington@emory.edu.
The DFPM newsletter is published monthly.