April 2024

Welcome Jason Mattern as Department Administrator!

Please give a warm welcome to our new Department Administrator - Jason Mattern! Jason officially started on Monday, the 25^th. Prior to joining MCW and Medical College Physicians from Children’s Wisconsin, he served as director of neurosciences service line & ophthalmology. In that role he directed daily and strategic operations of the neurosciences service line and ophthalmology, managed several departments and divisions, including Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and oversaw a large operational budget. Jason previously served in several other roles within the ambulatory space at Children’s Wisconsin including as director, ambulatory services, and ambulatory manager. Jason started his career as a respiratory therapist at Children's Wisconsin in 2007 and still holds his credentials. Prior to joining Children’s Wisconsin, Jason worked in clinical operations roles at other area health systems. Jason lives in Oak Creek with his wife Carol and two daughters Sloan and Sailor. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, attending sports events, live music, and food. He also helps coach his daughter's basketball team, which is a feeder team for Oak Creek. His family spends much of their time together at their daughter's sporting events (gymnastics, softball, and basketball). Jason is originally from Green Bay, WI where much of his family still resides.

Updates in Research

Funding:

Presentations:

The Wearable team had a poster presentation at the American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting in Boston, MA, Feb 15-17, 2024. The poster “Leveraging Wearable Technology to Increase Idle-Time Activity Post Stroke: Characterizing User Experiences” was well attended. The poster received a nomination for the Stroke Special Interest Group ‘Best Poster’ Award! Well done team! 

Shout Outs:

Featured Study of the Month:

The featured study for this month is the Mitsubishi Tanabe study “A prospective multicenter, longitudinal, observational cohort study to assess the measurement properties of clinical outcomes assessments in patients with traumatic low cervical spinal cord injury”. The purpose of this study is to collect longitudinal data to assess the psychometric properties of both patient-reported and physician-reported outcome tools. The hope is that these tools can be used as primary or secondary endpoint measures in future industry trials. Merle Orr is the PI, and Simon Orr and Morgan McIlwee are the lead coordinators on this project. PM&R started enrolling in this project in January 2024 and has enrolled in 4 subjects to date. This is about 5% of the national enrollment for this study. The research team hopes to enroll about 20 more participants in this study over the next several months. Currently this study is recruiting from PM&R inpatient and outpatients, so if you see a patient with spinal cord injury < 2yrs between C4-C8 with AIS Grade A-C, please send them our way! 

PM&R Residency – Excellence in Education

Recruitment
We extend a special thank you to our recruitment committee, Drs. Braza, Goodfriend, Kotsonis, Ball, Sauter, Jones, White, Cheng, Ketchum, Connelly, Shuda, Bobel and VandeWater, who put in a tremendous amount of work from September through January, reviewing applications, and conducting interviews. To all our residents who spent many evenings meeting with applicants during virtual recruitment socials. We appreciate all of you!

Introducing the class of 2028!

Alexandra Frank – University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Benjamin Gastier – The University of Toledo College of Medicine
Austin Gerdes – Medical College of Wisconsin
Allyson Gorman – Medical College of Wisconsin
Joshua Kim – Weill Cornell Medicine
Tyler Petersen – Wayne State University School of Medicine

"I am proud to introduce the MCW PM&R class of 2028!!!! I want to thank everyone for the support throughout the recruitment process.  This truly is a team effort!"

-Karin Goodfriend, MD.

Fellowship Match
We would like to congratulate our PGY4 residents on their Fellowship match!

Eric Bobel, MD – Sports Medicine – University of Texas HSC
Abdihakim Mohamoud, MD – Pain Medicine – Temple University  
Colton Sauter, MD – Spinal Cord Injury Medicine – Medical College of Wisconsin
Trenton VandeWater, MD – Sports Medicine – Geisinger Health System - Pennsylvania

PM&R Philanthropy Case 

Please contact Meg Bilicki, Senior Director of Development  mbilicki@mcw.edu or Dr. Braza dbraza@mcw.edu for more information.

To support Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation click on this link!

Department Mascot's Outfit for the Month of April

For the month of April our department mascot 'Randy the Rhino' shares a photo of himself from last year at a 'planting a tree' event that took place on Earth Day. Earth Day is an annual event on April 22nd to demonstrate support for environmental protection.

The answer to the riddle below will be provided in next month's newsletter. See if you can solve this following riddle:

How do you spell "COW" in thirteen letters?

Answer to last month's riddle: The anwser is "a clock"

Monthly Wellness Feature: Keys to Self Motivation

The start of spring brings an opportunity to take a fresh look at issues and goals you’ve been wrestling with and a chance to tackle them, maybe even trying again if not previously successful. Once you’ve decided on your new habit or goal it’s your job to actually implement the change into your life. While this is the most challenging part of the process, there are some things you can do to help you make it a reality.

Whatever you hope to achieve in life, staying motivated can help you succeed. You are bound to hit bumps in the road, and knowing how to keep pushing forward is vital. How to stay on track?

•    Define your goals. Be sure that your goals are clearly defined and realistic. Have a limited number of goals so you don’t spread yourself too thin.
•    Develop a plan. Break down big, long-term goals into smaller, more manageable tasks that you can check off along the way.
•    Have realistic deadlines. Give yourself appropriate deadlines for each checkpoint. Include smaller attainable tasks that will seem less like insurmountable mountains and more like a series of rolling, yet challenging hills.
•    Put it in writing. Write down your plan and share it with others. Use notes to remind yourself – on your fridge, phone reminder, or wherever you look regularly to reinforce the change you want to make.
•    Recognize wins. Celebrate and reward yourself as you reach your short-term milestones, no matter how small.
•    Allow yourself to make mistakes. Know that your journey will be challenging sometimes. If you have setbacks, ask yourself: What did I learn? How can I do better next time?
•    Seek help. Ask others for suggestions or seek professional advice if you get stuck. Enlist the help of someone you know has been or is successful in the goal you’re trying to achieve.
•    Rest and reset. Take breaks as needed to recharge. If you experience a misstep, accept it, and get back to implementing your goal.
•    Engage supporters. Surround yourself with cheerleaders who encourage you and believe you can succeed.

Remember that new habits, goals, and resolutions don’t have to be health-related, so find what matters to you to help you live a better life in 2024.

and resources click here.

Healthy Recipie of the Month - Thai Red Curry Noodle Soup

INGREDIENTS:

Meat

• 1 1/2 lbs Chicken breast, boneless skinless (or Shrimp)

Produce

•  1/4 cup Basil, fresh leaves

•  1/2 cup Cilantro, fresh leaves

•  3 Garlic cloves

•  1 tbsp Ginger

•  3 Green onions

•  1 Onion

• 1 Red bell pepper

Canned Goods

•  6 cups Chicken broth, low sodium

•  1 (13.5-ounce) can Coconut milk

•  3 tbsp red curry paste

Condiments

•  1 tbsp Fish sauce

•  2 tbsp Lime juice, freshly squeezed

Pasta & Grains

•  1/2 (8-ounce) package Rice noodles

Baking & Spices

•  2 tsp Brown sugar

•  1 Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Oils & Vinegars

• 1 tbsp Olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

• Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Add chicken to the stockpot and cook until golden, about 2-3 minutes; set aside.

• Add garlic, bell pepper and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.

• Stir in red curry paste and ginger until fragrant, about 1 minute.

• Stir in chicken broth and coconut milk, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.

• Stir in chicken. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced, about 10 minutes.

• Stir in rice noodles, fish sauce and brown sugar until noodles are tender, about 5 minutes.

• Remove from heat; stir in green onions, cilantro, basil and lime juice; season with salt and pepper, to taste.

• Serve immediately.

Recipe submitted by department Administration Assistant Sr. Rhiannon Shewczyk 

*If you would like to share a favorite healthy recipe in next month's newsletter please email Rhiannon Shewczyk at Rshewczyk@mcw.edu

April is Autism Awareness Month

April is Autism Awareness Month. The recognition raises awareness about autism acceptance and promotes inclusion and connectedness for people with autism. Social and community support can help people with autism achieve optimal health and reach their full potential. CDC promotes early identification and provides essential data on autism to inform programs and policies that support children with autism and their families. CDC activities include surveillance and monitoring, educational materials and resources, and sharing best practices with state, territorial, and national partners.

Month-long Observations:

• Arab-American Heritage Month
• Celebrate Diversity Month
• Earth Month
• National Child Abuse Prevention Month
• National Volunteer Month

Important April DE&I calendar dates:

• April 2 – World Autism Awareness Day
• April 5 – Laylat al-Qadr (Muslim)
• April 7 – World Health Day
• April 9 – Eid-al-Fitr/End of Ramadan (Muslim)
• April 12 – National Day of Silence (LGBTQ+)
• April 21 – Start of Ridvan (Baha’i)
• April 22 – Passover begins (Jewish)
• April 22 – Earth Day
• April 24 – Administrative Professionals Day
• April 28 –World Day for Safety and Health at Work
• April 30 – Passover ends

COVID-19 Guidelines 

Both Froedtert and MCW employees with an approved COVID-19 vaccination exemption are no longer required to wear masks at Froedtert & MCW facilities except when and where masks are required for all. To remain consistent within all adult clinical spaces, MCW clinics will follow this same guidance. Masks have not been required for unvaccinated individuals in MCW non-clinical spaces since October 2022.

The COVID-19 vaccine requirement was discontinued for employees effective on June 13, due to recent guidance from the CDC and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters will continue to be strongly recommended, but not required as a condition of employment with MCW.  Vaccination will continue to be required for students and learners who participate in clinical care due to many healthcare partners who have not yet lifted their COVID-19 vaccine requirement. This requirement is being actively re-evaluated as a high priority, and we will provide follow-up information as soon as feasible. Individuals who work in partner healthcare facilities that require vaccination must also continue to follow the guidance and requirements of those facilities. 

For additional information visit the COVID-19 page on infoscope. 

Medical College of Wisconsin |  8701 Watertown Plank Road  |  Milwaukee, WI 53226
You are receiving this email because you are subscribed to PM&R emails.
 © 2022 Medical College of Wisconsin. All rights reserved.

MCW.EDU     |     INFOSCOPE     |     CONTACT US

Connect to MCW on Social