55 Words from the Chair

Ted Johnson, MD, MPH

In July, summer weather reminds us to slow down. Our department wellness expert offers suggestions to make the most of our vacations (take them!). See picture proof that leaving work and taking time away brings us joy. We return to work refreshed and renewed, ready for a new academic year of service, education, and research.

Welcome to the FPM Family!

Above left:: Dr. Julie Degele's twins (Luca and Hannah) arrived Friday, July 29th at 2:12 and 2:18 pm.

Above right: Patricia Woodard's new granddaughter Brooklyn Gissette Christian arrived Wednesday, July 27 at 7:20 am.

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New Staff Members

Emi Grill, MPH is the Senior Program Coordinator for the Emory Farmworker Project and community outreach in the PA Program. She lived in Washington, D. C. for six years for school and work, but she is originally from Atlanta and returned to get her MPH from Rollins. During her time at Rollins, she engaged in community health work with the COVID-19 Outbreak Response Team, helping to schedule events with our community partners

and educate community members about COVID vaccines. The vaccine clinics also provided the opportunity to meet several faculty and students from the PA Program who joined the events as the clinical team providing vaccinations. She is excited to be staying at Emory and joining the team at the PA Program.

Kennedy Baskin is a recent graduate from Emory University where she received a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology with a minor in Film and Media Studies. She has plans to attend medical school in the future with interests in emergency medicine, pediatrics, and oncology. One fun fact about her is that she is a third-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do!

Wellness Corner

Making the Most of Vacation

“Happiness consists of living each day as if it were the first day of your honeymoon and the last day of your vacation.” – Leo Tolstoy

According to the U.S. Travel Association, Americans throw away around 768 million vacation days each year. As summer comes to a close and we share our vacations, we can reflect on how important vacations are for our health and well-being.

How to get the most bang from our vacations:

Incorporate healthy activities into your vacation: Although we love to indulge on our vacations, building in opportunities for healthy behaviors can increase our enjoyment and prolong the benefits. For example, one recent study compared people in 3 groups - those who went on a 10-day vacation (only), those who went on a 10-day meditation retreat, and those who went on a 10-day vacation in which they informally practiced meditation. There were no differences between the groups in terms of fatigue or well-being immediately after the vacation – all 3 groups benefited. However, the differences were clear 10 weeks later: those who went on the meditation retreat and on vacations-with-meditation sustained the increased well-being and reduced fatigue. Those in the vacation-only group did not.
Use it as a chance for connection: It’s no secret that human health and well-being depends on our connection with others. Although Earnest Hemingway told us to “never go on trips with anyone you do not love,” it is clear that vacations – and post-vacation sharing – are a primary way that we connect with family, friends, and even with strangers. In fact, we often underestimate how much joy we will get from connecting with strangers. Lots of research shows that leisure and vacation is important for relationship and family well-being.

Stay tuned for more tips next month!

Making the Most of Vacation, Illustrated

Our faculty and staff work hard and we all deserve quality time with family and friends to recharge. Here are a few ways we enjoyed our summer!

More pictures to come in next month's newsletter so send yours in today if you haven't already!

Below: Jenny Mascaro and her family visiting the Dominican Republic.

Below: Jodie Guest and her daughter riding horses in Arizona.

Below: Ambar Kulshreshtha and his family touring Yellowstone National Park (thankfully they visited just before the flooding).

Below: Miranda Moore and her family celebrating at her daughter's ballet recital

Below: Leigh Partington and her husband tasting wine in an Italian vineyard

Below: Susy Alfonso and her husband posing with new friends during their 7th mission trip to Hogar Immanuel, an orphanage for children with catastrophic brain injury.

Below: Reia Toombs got married in Cancun, Mexico. Congratulations and best wishes, Reia!

Below: Porsha Clayton and her son getting ready to cheer for the Braves!

Below: Tina-Ann Thompson hiking close to home on a beautiful day at Stone Mountain

Below: Leslie Johnson and her family enjoying their Zoo Atlanta membership

Below: Ted Johnson and his wife relaxing on vacation in LA.

Below: Rick Goodman encountering wildlife in the Galapagos Islands

Below: In addition to visiting Machu Picchu and the Galapagos Islands with a University of Michigan alumni group, Rick Goodman and his wife walked the 109-mile Cleveland Way in northern England. Here they are at the end of their trek.

Transformative Research

Recent and Upcoming Presentations

Dr. Cross on Hospice Admissions, Stigmas, and Structure

Podcast mp3 link: https://media.transistor.fm/a5ec84fa/98c14e32.mp3

Podcast link from the website: https://hospicechaplaincy.transistor.fm/s1/98

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Dr. Guest on Interprofessional Education

Dr. Jodie Guest was the plenary speaker at the Interprofessional Education for Collaborative Practice (IPEC) Interprofessional Leadership Development Program in June.

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Highlighted Opportunities:

Call for Abstracts - DOM Research Day, October 27!

2022 Research Day Call for Abstracts

Deadline: Monday, August 22 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. Late submissions will not be accepted.
The Department of Medicine is now accepting abstracts for the 15th annual Research Day, to be held Thursday, October 27 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Currently, they are planning to hold the event in-person at the Emory Student Center (subject to Emory Pandemic Operating Status). FPM faculty are welcome to submit abstracts. There is a limit of two abstracts per presenting author.

For questions about Research Day, please contact Sarah McClellan.

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Support for Early Career Faculty

HHMI is seeking creative and innovative early career faculty for our new Freeman Hrabowski Scholars Program. We are looking for outstanding basic researchers, including physician-scientists, who have strong potential to become leaders in their fields and to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion through their mentorship and understanding of the experiences of trainees from races and ethnicities underrepresented in US science. Applications are due by September 28, 2022 at 3 pm. More details on eligibility and application are available here.

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CME Opportunities

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Recent Publications

Collaborative department publications

Palliative Medicine faculty Dr. Dio Kavalieratos and Dr. Jane Lowers published. Primary palliative care for heart failure provided within ambulatory cardiology: A randomized pilot trial. Heart Lung. 2022 Jul 18;56:125-132. doi: 10.1016/j.hrtlng.2022.07.002. Online ahead of print.

Faculty publications

Dr. Mo Ali:

Diabetes And The Fragmented State Of US Health Care And Policy. Health Aff (Millwood). 2022 Jul;41(7):939-946. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00299. Epub 2022 Jun 27.

Evaluating Natural Experiments that Impact the Diabetes Epidemic: an Introduction to the NEXT-D3 Network. Curr Diab Rep. 2022 Aug;22(8):393-403. doi: 10.1007/s11892-022-01480-1. Epub 2022 Jul 22.

Longitudinal evidence on treatment discontinuation, adherence, and loss of hypertension control in four middle-income countries. Sci Transl Med. 2022 Jul 6;14(652):eabi9522. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abi9522. Epub 2022 Jul 6. PMID: 35857627

Nutritional Counseling of Stroke Patients by Neurology Residents, a Call to Action. Front Neurol. 2022 Jul 11;13:940931. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.940931. eCollection 2022.

Dr. Leslie Johnson:

Effects of a lifestyle intervention on depression and anxiety among adults at risk for diabetes in India: A secondary analysis of the Kerala Diabetes Prevention Program - PubMed (nih.gov) Preventive Med, 162:107172. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2022.107172.

Dr. Ted Johnson:

Perioperative Mobile Telehealth Program for Post-Prostatectomy Incontinence: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Goode PS, Johnson TM 2nd, Newman DK, Vaughan CP, Echt KV, Markland AD, Kennedy R, Van Arsdalen KN, Rais-Bahrami S, Issa MM, Barnacastle S, Wright KC, McCabe P, Malone MP, Redden DT, Burgio KL. J Urol. 2022 Aug;208(2):379-387. doi: 10.1097/JU.0000000000002697. Epub 2022 Apr 7. PMID: 35389239 Clinical Trial.

Dr. Dio Kavalieratos:

Associations between demographic characteristics and unmet supportive care needs in adults with cystic fibrosis. BMJ Support Palliat Care. 2022 Jul;12(e2):e281-e284. doi: 10.1136/bmjspcare-2019-001819. Epub 2019 Aug 31.

Clinicians' Perceptions of Collaborative Palliative Care Delivery in Chronic Kidney Disease. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2022 Aug;64(2):168-177. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2022.04.167. Epub 2022 Apr 11.

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Being of Service

2021 Clinical Distinctions
for FPM-DOM Faculty Day & Graham

Congratulations to the following FPM faculty who were recognized in the Department of Medicine as part of the School of Medicine's Clinical Distinctions program. Each clinical distinction title recognizes our high-performing, clinically-focused faculty for their dedicated efforts to clinical excellence and patient care.

Below: Senior Physicians - Dr. Kevin Day (Hospital Medicine) and Dr. Antonio Graham (Geriatrics & Gerontology)

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Emory Farmworker Program (EFP) Update:

Summer 2022 By the Numbers

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Dr. Guest strengthens EFP Partnerships

Dr. Jodie Guest met with the Consulate General of Mexico and the ED of the United Farmworker Foundation to continue our partnership to provide the best care for agricultural workers in GA.

Below: The Consulate General tweeted about the meeting

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Guest providing expertise on Monkeypox while continuing COVID work

Dr. Jodie Guest has been invited to joined Mayor Andre Dickens' Task Force for Monkeypox. As host of Emory's Health Videos, which have mostly centered on COVID-19 for the past two years, Dr. Guest has created a new video "Monekypox: What You Need to Know." Below are helpful infographics on monkeypox.

Dr. Guest has also received foundation funding to support her work providing the COVID-19 vaccine to communities experiencing homelessness.

Educational Investments for our future

Welcome to the new Family Medicine Residents!

Below: Class of 2025 from left to right: Dr. Maria Onatunde, Dr. Tichelle Nyrako, Dr. Anjali Amalean, Dr. Alanna Meadows, Dr. Sophie Lin, Dr. Hanain Fazal, Dr. Luis Roman Sanchez, Dr. Matthew Young, Dr. Carolina Huertas Ayala, Dr. Karla Garcia Ortiz

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New PA Students Arrive on Campus!

The PA Program has started its academic year by welcoming 54 new students (Class of 2024).

Physician Assistant Class of 2024 By the Numbers

# of students 54
Male 15%, Female 85%
Diversity = 24%
Advanced Degree = 1%
Dual Degree MPH-PA = 3
Veterans = 1%
Average age: 25.8 (20 – 41)
GPA
Total 3.73
Science 3.74
Health Care Experience: 4996 hrs (Range 2009 – 15,300 )
Humanitarian vol. 610 hrs (Range 0 – 5.337)
GRE
Verbal 152
Quant 150
Analytical 4.3

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Dr. Smith attends AAFP conference

Dr. Ryan Smith with John Chancellor and Charlie Lane, 2 Emory M4’s applying to Family Medicine residency, out to dinner while at the AAFP National Conference in Kansas City.

News from the DEI Council

Virtual Listening Session: Roe v. Wade

The FPM DEI council will be hosting a listening session to hear your concerns and comments on the recent Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade. Watch your inbox for more details.

Emory Mental Health Resources (scroll down to Quick Links)

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In Case You Missed It:
Inaugural FPM DEI Grand Rounds

The first FPM DEI Grand Rounds was held on Monday, August 1, at 6 pm. Speaker Ildemaro J. González, MBA presented “Disparities in Patients with Limited English Proficiencies.”

In case you missed it, you can watch the recording here.

A few highlights: 21% of the U.S. population does not have high English proficiency. From 2021-2022, 2,200 Emory patients were either LEP (limited English proficiency) or deaf (EUHM, EUH, ESJ, and EJCH). The top 3 languages that were interpreted were Spanish (60%), Vietnamese (7%), and Korean (6.8%). Emory Healthcare conducted approximately 67,000 phone and video interpretation calls and 4,400 in-person interpretations.

The use of professional medical interpreters decreases errors and length of stay and improves patient outcomes. Professional medical interpreters can overcome barriers of language as well as address cultural nuances and gaps in health literacy. Mr. González gave clear examples of how using family members or untrained persons as interpreters can result in misinformation and misunderstanding, sometimes with tragic results.

Further Reading:

“Effects of Limited English Proficiency and Physician Language on Health Care Comprehension”

“Language proficiency and adverse events in US hospitals: a pilot study”

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Combatting Medical Mis/DisInformation

Emory General Internal Medicine faculty Dr. Tracey Henry was recently interviewed on the DEI SHift Podcast. Dr. Henry discusses what constitutes medical misinformation and disinformation, the psychological factors that drive their spread, and ways we can combat them in healthcare and clinical practice. Listen to the podcast here.

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Upcoming Opportunities:

Register for the SOM Update Forum. Open to all faculty, staff, learners and alumni.

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National Hispanic Heritage Month

Emory SOM is seeking self-nominations and/or peer nominations of faculty and staff members who identify with this group and are willing to share their stories. Submit a nomination. Contact somdei@emory.edu with questions.

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SOM DEI Ongoing Programs

Don't miss out on all that's going on. View the DEI Calendar.

News from the Faculty Development Committee

Save The Date: AAMC Mid-Career Women Faculty Leadership Development Seminar

Hyatt Regency Indian Wells, CA Dec 6-9, 2022.
Applications opening early August.

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Kern Fellowship Applications due August 8

More information here

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

Further Reading in DEI

Upcoming Opportunities: