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Department of Family and Preventive Medicine News
2024: Volume 7, issue 9
55 Words from the Chair
As Chair, I’m particularly grateful for you all, your dedication to the missions of research, education, outreach, and service, and your ability to find joy in life. These newsletters highlight our good news and reasons for thanks. Read on for details about our new clinic, an invitation to our department book club, and much more.
Send your good news and photos to leigh.partington@emory.edu with #FPMnewsletter in the subject line.
New Dunwoody Clinic Grand Opening!
The Family Medicine Residency Program has a new home on the third floor of the new Emory Healthcare outpatient and imaging facility. Emory at Dunwoody, located at 2021 Pernoshal Court, houses specialists in primary care, family medicine, orthopaedics, spine, and cardiology.
The 60,000-square-foot, three-story medical office building contains 86 clinical rooms, a large physical therapy suite, a medical laboratory, and X-ray imaging. In an existing building on the same site, patients have easy access to an ambulatory surgery center with three operating rooms and four procedure rooms. The new space will allow for approximately 350,000 patients in the community to be seen per year.
More than 100 people were involved in the design process of the new building, including Emory nurses, physicians, and other frontline staff. Gathering input from those who work directly in the space helped in planning for efficiency and ease of use of the new building.
Below: pictures from the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Below: the new clinic building. Family Medicine is on the 3rd floor.
Don't Miss Opportunities!
Dear DFPM faculty and staff,
Please join us for the inaugural DFPM Book Club to be held on the last Sunday of each quarter at 4 PM. Our first date will be Sunday 11/24 @ 4 PM, hosted by our Chair, Ted Johnson (Address: 232 Inman Ln, NE Atlanta).
Please RSVP by Nov. 18 using this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094BA8A92DA13-52687395-dfpm
Our first book will be: Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875–1928, By David Wallace Adams. This book exposes the reality of the Native American assimilation era at the turn of the 20th century, which is a fitting topic as we head into the Thanksgiving season.
Please email Dr. Kim Thompson to let her know if you would like a purchased copy of the book. If you purchase your own copy, we highly recommend supporting your local independent bookstore. A list of area independent bookstores is available from Leigh Partington or go to https://bookshop.org/.
6th Annual Diabetes Updates & Technology Symposium
Dec. 7, 2024
Saturday, December 7
8 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Emory Conference Center Hotel
Cost: FREE
CME credit: The Emory University School of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 3.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ or 3.75 contact hours by ENPDC upon completion of the activity evaluation and by participating in 90% of the activity time.
- Understanding Hepato-Cardio-Renal-Metabolic (HCRM) diseases
- Diabetes Technology Update & Interpretation
- CGM Workshop
- Type 1 Diabetes Management & CGM
- Implementation and overcoming barriers of CGM in primary care
For Physicians, PAs, NPs, Nurses, Dietitians, Pharmacists, and CDCES.
Transformative Research
Research News
Johnson Lectures in Germany
Dr. Leslie Johnson (pictured above with the group) was invited to give keynote lectures for the German Alliance for Global Health Research (GLOHRA) Academy supported training course entitled “Applied Implementation Science Research in Global Healthcare, Systems, and Policy Settings” hosted at Heidelberg University, Germany in collaboration with BIPS, Bremen from October 7-11.
New Funding for Kaplan
Dr. Roman Palitsky (PI; Psychiatry), Dr. Deanna Kaplan (Co-I; FPM), and Dr. Jessica Maples-Keller (Co-I; Psychiatry) have received $900,000 to support a 3-year study of adverse effects associated with the use of psychedelics. This national study will enable a large-scale validation of their measure of adverse effects initially published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology earlier this year and will employ the Fabla app to collect qualitative longitudinal data about the phenomenology of adverse effects in a sample of 900 people.
Emory PA student presents poster at DOM
Kyra Grey, PA-S3 Physician Assistant student and dual degree MPH student was selected to present her poster, Cerebral Conundrum: Nocardia-induced Vasogenic Edema in an Immunocompetent Patient, at both the Emory Division of Medicine 2024 Clinical Vignetter Competition in September, and the Department of Medicine Research Day this November. This submission was part of a competitive Academic Medicine elective for clinical year PA students interested in education, leadership, and research. Her final class project will be a formal lecture to didactic year students about AMS workup in the ED. The course is directed by Taylor Hayes, MMSC, MPH, PA-C, ATC. Congratulations!
(pictured below - from left to right: Taylor Hayes, MPH, PA-C, Kyra Gray, PA-S3, and Veketa Smith, MPH, PA-C)
Kulshreshtha lectures at Carter Center
Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha gave a lecture at the Carter Center on October 20 as part of the 27th Annual Brain Health Forum.
Halloween Fun with the Palliative Research Team!
Collaborative Publications
Dr. Sarah Cross and Dr. Dio Kavalieratos published Location of Pediatric Deaths in the US
Dr. Leslie Johnson and Dr. Mo Ali published Integrating hypertension detection and management in HIV care in South Africa: protocol for a stepped-wedged cluster randomized effectiveness-implementation hybrid trial.
Dr. Tammie Quest and Dr. Dio Kavalieratos published Investigating Data Diversity and Model Robustness of AI Applications in Palliative Care and Hospice: Protocol for Scoping Review.
Dr. Sara Turbow and Dr. Mo Ali published Fragmented Readmissions From a Nursing Facility in Medicare Beneficiaries.
Individual Faculty, Staff, and Learner Publications
Dr. Mo Ali
Depression Diagnosis, Treatment, and Remission Among Adults in India.
Dr. Kim Curseen
Dr. Jodie Guest
Dr. Leslie Johnson
Dr. Ted Johnson
Dr. Dio Kavalieratos
Cavitary lung lesions and quality of life after TB.
Racism in Pediatric Serious Illness and Palliative Care: A Scoping Review of Qualitative Research.
Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha
Prevalence of Unrecognized Cognitive Impairment in Federally Qualified Health Centers.
Dr. Miranda Moore
Dr. Sathish Thirunavukkarasu
Media and Public Appearances
Dr. Jodie Guest
Dr. Jane Lowers
Dr. Ali John Zarrabi
"Invisible" migrant farmworkers cope with hurricane's aftermath: Hurricne Helene devastated Georgia's agriculture industry, destroying homes and livelihoods - Dr. Jodie Guest quoted
Millions of Aging Americans Are Facing Dementia by Themselves - KFF Health News - Dr. Jane Lowers quoted
Women are more likely to live alone with dementia, cognitive issues - The Washington Post - Dr. Jane Lowers quoted
Making New Friends Is Tough. ‘The Golden Bachelorette’ Understands Why. - The Atlantic - Dr. Jane Lowers quoted
Dr. Ali John Zarrabi was interviewed for Moving Medicine, a podcast by the American Medical Association, on Cannabis and Pain Management.
Dr Ali John Zarrabi was a featured speaker at Emory Explores DC: Exploring the Frontiers of Psychedelic Medicine hosted by the Emory DC Network. The conversation delved into the emerging role of psychedelics in addressing some of the most challenging conditions in healthcare, from end-of-life care and chronic pain management to mental health issues like PTSD and Treatment-Resistant Depression.
Dr. Ambar Kulshreshtha is the lead author of a recently published JAMA Network Open study that looked at undiagnosed cognitive impairment at federally qualified health centers. The study found that 75% of participants had undiagnosed cognitive issues: 62% had mild cognitive impairment and 12.3% had dementia. Only 25% had no evidence of cognitive decline. The high rate of undiagnosed cognitive decline is particularly important because it underscores the need for early cognitive and dementia screening in vulnerable communities.
Dr. Kulshreshtha worked with Jacob Gnieski and the Emory Media Relations team to share this publication widely. Here are the first of the media mentions.
- Emory News Center – Unseen dementia: Study finds high rates of undiagnosed cognitive decline in vulnerable communities
- EurekAlert! – Unseen dementia: Study finds high rates of undiagnosed cognitive decline in vulnerable communities
Below, find out more about working with Emory Media Relations.
Get Your Research in the Headlines
Emory’s Media Relations team can help amplify your research and innovation in the news.
Why engage with the media?
- Gain recognition as a leading voice in your field and establish yourself as an expert.
- Showcase Emory’s reputation as a leading R1 institution.
- Media coverage of your research can result in higher Altmetric scores, which can lead to increased interest in a topic, increased citations, and stronger funding applications.
When to contact Emory Media relations
- If a reporter or news outlet reaches out to you.
- As soon as your research has been accepted for publication. Early engagement increases the chances of successful coverage. Emory Media Relations prioritizes high-impact medical journals or research with high consumer impact.
- If you have any questions or need advice about engaging with the media.
FPM Emory media contact:
Jacob Gnieski
Associate Director, Media Relations and Health Sciences Communications
jacob.gnieski@emory.edu
Educational Investments for our future
Johnson teaches in Ethiopia
In her role as an Associate Program Director for the D43 Training on ImplemenTAtioN and team Science for NCD Control (TITANS) program, Dr. Leslie Johnson directed and co-taught the first TITANS Implementation and Team Science Short Course in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from October 21-24. This intensive course connects researchers with frontline workers and health leaders in Ethiopia to accelerate the translation of evidence into policy and practice while building implementation research capacity.
Emory PA graduates practice In
every specialty, everywhere
A recent analysis of Emory PA Program graduates from 2020-2022 revealed the 5 most popular specialties amongst Emory PA graduates are subspecialty surgery (15%), critical care (14%), emergency medicine (13%), primary care (13%) and orthopedics (11%). This mirrors state and national trends in employment. Approximately 20 other medical subspecialties were represented in the data set, ranging from cardiology to dermatology to neurology. Roughly 50% of Emory graduates stay within Georgia to practice, the majority of these working in Atlanta-based hospitals, including Emory, Grady, the VA, and CHOA. We are proud of the breadth and depth of their practice and will continue to follow trends in graduate employment, and enhance opportunities to strengthen the pipeline into Emory Healthcare.
Fall Fun for Family Medicine Residents
Pictured below: Faculty liaison for the Family Medicine Residency PGY1 class, Dr. Oguchi Nwosu, took the PGY1 residents to Topgolf on October 18th with his family.
Pictured below: Pumpkin Patch outing
FMIG Celebrates Primary Care Week
The Family Medicine Interest Group recently held a blood draw event as part of National Primary Care Week. We had 25 students in the simulation lab at the School of Medicine learning how to draw blood from simulated arms. Dr. Neena Ghose (pictured above right) led the opening discussion and she, along with residents Dr. Shiori Ucheya and Dr. Shelby Rozanski, moved around the room assisting students with the skills necessary to draw blood successfully. The educational event was well received by the students!
Service for our future
Recommended Reading from Vice Chair
for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion,
Dr. Kim Curseen
Farmworker Fall
The Emory Farmworker Project returned to South Georgia in late October for their fall clinics to provide free healthcare for 215 migrant and seasonal farmworkers. Program Coordinator Emi Grill provided this summary of the weekend: "We are so grateful to have many returning students and faculty from the PA Program and DFPM, as well as our partners from Emory St. Joe's leadership, Emory Healthcare interpreters, and the Emory Distance Accelerated BSN Program. We also welcomed two new partners this fall - the Winship Hematology/Oncology APP Fellowship and Medical Spanish students and faculty from Oxford College. The PA Class of 2024 has been one of the most engaged classes having served Fall 2023, Summer 2024, and Fall 2024. Their passion for this service-learning project and these patients will be missed, but many of them are already making plans to return as preceptors in the future!
PA Program PRIDE
Amber Davis PA-C and Dr. Bosco Lorio volunteered at the Emory Booth at Pride on Oct 12. They both work at GIM at Emory Midtown and Ms. Davis is an assistant professor in the PA Program.
