No. 352,
January 2003
Editor: Gregory Vercellotti,
M.D., verce001@umn.edu
Editorial Assistant: Allison
Campbell, aac@umn.edu
Insider Insights
The
Executive Director of the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education,
David C. Leach, M.D., speaks on "Building and Assessing Physician Competence,"
on Tuesday, January 7, 2003, at 8 a.m., room 3-120 in the Molecular Cellular
Biology building. Dr. Leach's insights will be especially helpful to us as we
prepare for our GME site visit in early 2004.
Driven to Excel
"Performance-Enhancing
Drugs and Sports" is the next topic in the On Doctoring series on science,
medicine, and the social fabric. Former Minnesota Viking Jim Marshall, former
Gophers hockey coach Doug Woog, and Minnesota Twins Director of Baseball
Operations Rob Anthony join Jeff Kahn, director of the University's Center for
Bioethics, Elizabeth Arendt, M.D., orthopaedic surgeon, and Jim Ferstle,
freelance writer with expertise in this area, for a panel discussion. Jon
Hallberg, M.D., Daniel F. Halvorsen II, M.S., Ph.D., and Robert Kempainen,
M.D., also present during the program Jan. 15, 1:30-4:30 p.m. in Moos Tower
2-650.
Permanent Home for Clinical Skills
Lab
An open
house for the new Clinical Skills Laboratory takes place January 17, 10:30
a.m.- noon. The laboratory is located within the Interprofessional Education and
Resource Center (IERC), a state-of-the-art facility housing 18 fully equipped
examination rooms and a trove of video equipment for evaluating student
competence, on the second floor of the Phillips-Wangensteen Building.
Resilience Experts Visit
Stress
management, work/family balance, and physician well-being are the topics when Wayne and Mary
Sotile speak January 31 at Moos 2-650. The Sotiles are pioneers in health
psychology and marriage and family life and authors of "The Medical Marriage"
and "The Resilient Physician." At 12:30 p.m., they address medical
students and their guests (lunch is served before); at 4:30 p.m., they address
residents, fellows, and their guests (refreshments served at 4); and at 7 p.m.,
they address community physicians and faculty (refreshments served at 6:15).
Free event.
Register online at http://cf-pub.ahc.umn.edu/med/adm_EventReg/index.cfm.
Those not
acquainted with the Sotiles' work may be interested in this tip from their Web site (www.sotile.com):
"Moving fast may make us more productive, but it also makes us less sensitive
to others. People are kinder and more generous when they're relaxed and taking
their time. It's tempting to justify impatience by telling ourselves, 'This is
just how I act when I'm in a hurry. The real me, though, is more loving,
and my family knows that.' But the person your family sees every day is the
real you."
Under Advisement
Year Two
students will be asked to select their clinical program advisors the week of
Jan. 20-24. Advisors will help guide students in their selection of a
specialty. Advisors' roles include helping with scheduling, being advocates for
their students, helping students network with other physicians, and, most
importantly, being their students' role models, mentors, and friends.
There
are about 125 advisors; each department has at least one individual who has
agreed to serve as an advisor. Many departments have multiple advisors. All
have been selected by department heads because of their skills and their
willingness to be an advisor.
The
student's advisor must approve the schedule that student submits for Years
Three and Four. If a student does not select an advisor, one will be selected
for him or her.
Editor's Note: Privacy, HIPAA, and
You
Respecting
patient privacy has always been an obligation of health care professionals.
Minnesota state law also requires that privacy be protected. Now, a new federal
law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA),
establishes strict federal privacy standards---and consequences for violations.
This new
set of regulations, many of which begin to be enforced April 14, 2003,
reinforce the responsibility we physicians have as professionals to safeguard
patient confidentiality. The trust and intimacy of the physician-patient
relationship is one of the things that makes our profession so special.
To meet
the federal requirements, privacy coordinators will be named for various
departments and an online HIPAA curriculum is being developed for faculty,
students, and residents. Watch for notices in your e-mail.