Seeing the “Invisible Patient”


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Medical Residency Application to Recognize GHHS Membership The Arnold P. Gold Foundation (APGF) announced at November’s annual meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) that membership in the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) will now be recognized on the application for medical students applying to residency programs. Beginning with the 2016 application cycle, which opens this May, the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) will provide students the opportunity to indicate their membership in GHHS. GHHS was created in 2002 to identify students, residents and faculty who embody the mission of APGF to ensure that compassion, respect and empathy are at the core of all healthcare interactions. Nominated by their peers and then selected by a committee, GHHS members exemplify the qualities of integrity, excellence, compassion and altruism and serve as role models, leaders and advocates. GHHS currently has 122 medical student chapters, 15 resident chapters and more than 21,000 members across the U.S. “The AAMC’s decision to add an indicator on the ERAS application that identifies applicants with recognized humanistic qualities will give residency program directors a more holistic picture of their applicants that goes

Seeing the “Invisible Patient” by Jane Gross

Not once in the years I cared for my mother did any of her physicians ask me how I was doing. When was the last time I saw my own physician? Was I eating properly? Sleeping enough? Depressed? What did I do for fun? Frankly, I didn’t notice their apparent lack of concern, nor had I considered it since — until hearing a recent talk by Dr. Ronald D. Adelman, the co-chief of geriatrics and palliative medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.

Sad to say, physicians often look right past caregivers. Earlier this year, Dr. Adelman published an article in JAMA detailing the problem, along with recommendations for addressing the burdens of this group.

The subject was caregiver burden and how physicians ought to be attending to the “invisible patient,” the one supporting an elderly family member with dementia or a heart condition or diabetes — or all of the above. Given that there are currently 43.5 million people providing this kind of support to adults ages 50 and older, and that without them the long-term care system would collapse, you’d think the proposition that somebody ought to be paying attention to them would be a no-brainer.

Among the risk factors for caregiver burden that should “trigger assessment,” according to Dr. Adelman, are these:

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1. Being a woman. 2. The number of hours of care provided. 3. The complexity of medical tasks, like dealing with wounds, catheter bags and complex medication regimes. 4 Transitions from one kind and location of care to another, like from home to hospital, to rehab, to skilled nursing care or to hospice. continues on page 11

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The Arnold P. Gold Foundation

Recently, Eric Topol, M.D., director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute, set off a small firestorm with the publication of the second volume of his futurist treatise, The Patient Will See You Now. In it, he imagines a streaming, digital future in which the interaction between patient and physician is largely virtual. Critics of impersonal medicine quickly cried foul. But readers of Topol’s first volume will quickly appreciate that he also deeply values personal interaction and the human relationship with patients. This is not a paradox. We can only achieve the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s “Triple Aim”— improved health of the population, increased patient satisfaction, and lower per capita medical costs — by insisting on providing the “Triple C”, Compassionate, Collaborative Care. For the physician to survive, tomorrow’s digital doctor also must be a compassionate expert.

of compassionate, empathetic, and respectful patient-centered care. In 2002, we developed the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) to identify and recognize medical students, residents, and academic and community physicians for modeling the qualities of integrity, excellence, compassion, altruism, respect, and empathy. Nominated by their peers and selected by an administrative committee in a validated process, GHHS members represent a national cadre of role models, leaders, mentors, and advocates. Currently, GHHS has 122 medical student chapters, 15 pilot resident chapters, and more than 21,000 members across the United States. GHHS is truly a force for good. When students are invited to join GHHS, the chapter advisors make clear that the society is much more than an honorific. Members work within individual chapters and collaboratively with other institutions to create programs that will work toward realizing the “Triple Aim” outlined above. For example, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai in New York City developed a program to ask patients three personal questions about their lives. By posting the responses in the patients’ rooms and in their medical records, the healthcare team was able to see and appreciate patients as individual people. Surveys revealed that both patients and healthcare providers expressed wonder and gratitude for the enhanced communication this simple exercise created.

Does caring really matter? Emphatically, yes. In illness, it transforms the unbearable to the hopeful for patients, families, and communities, and improves health outcomes. In a study published in the September 2012 issue of Academic Medicine, researchers found that diabetic patients of physicians with high empathy scores had a significantly lower rate of acute metabolic complications. A study of cancer patients in Patient Education and Counseling published in December 2007 found that physician empathy was associated with lower rates of depression and better quality of life. In a landmark meta-analysis published in PLOS One in April 2014, health outcomes across a broad range of illnesses were better when the patient-clinician relationship was stronger. Caregivers also benefit from the empathy shown by healthcare providers. Studies, including one by Lamothe et al. published in BMC Family Practice in January 2014, reveal that building strong interpersonal relationships with patients and their families enhances resiliency and prevents caregiver burnout, an increasingly common problem in the world today.

GHHS members shared the idea at the society’s National Biennial Conference in Atlanta in October 2014. The response was explosive. More than 80 GHHS chapters implemented the program — now titled “Tell Me More” — as a pilot in February. The hope is that “Tell Me More” will become a widespread tool that will enhance the patient and clinician experience, lower costs through improved communication, and ultimately improve patient outcomes. Our GHHS members remind us that while digital medicine is a useful tool, it cannot replace the vital role human contact plays in caring for patients. In recognition of the need for future generations of doctors to deliver compassionate care, the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS®) recently was modified to include a sortable indicator of GHHS membership status. The updated application will provide residency programs with a searchable, filterable field for this strong honor

The recognition that humanism in medicine requires explicit, repeated emphasis in the curricula from medical school through continuing medical education has been the focus of a collaboration between The Arnold P. Gold Foundation and the AAMC for almost three decades. APGF was created in 1988 to ensure that medical schools, residency training programs, and healthcare settings around the world recognize and emphasize the importance

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Compassionate Collaborative Care Conference Creates New Vision The Arnold P. Gold Foundation and The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare convened the conference “Advancing Compassionate, Patient- and Family-Centered Care through Interprofessional Education for Collaborative Practice” from October 30 to November 1, 2014. The conference was supported with funding from the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation and our academic partner, the University of Chicago’s Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence. The goal of the conference was to identify strategies for healthcare professionals to engage and partner with patients and families to ensure the delivery of compassionate, collaborative care. The conference brought together more than 80 participants representing various fields of medicine, nursing, social work, physical therapy, pharmacy and patient/ family advocacy as well as those involved in policy, healthcare system leadership, education/accreditation and licensure.

“I absolutely didn’t know how to do this dance well, not only with my lead clinician, but with a whole host of healthcare professionals that came into my childrens’ rooms on a regular basis.” — Juliette Schlucter

Conference participants brought to the fore the paramount necessity for patients and families to be seen as integral members of the care team, not just recipients of care. Providers must acknowledge the uniqueness, preferences and values of patients and families and “focus on what matters to the patient as opposed to what is the matter with the patient.”

Juliette Schlucter, director of the Center for Child and Family Experience, Sala Institute for Child and Family-Centered Care at NYU Langone Medical Center, a mother of two young adult children with cystic fibrosis and a passionate patient- and family-centered care leader, noted that healthcare and the relationships among providers, patients and family members is like a tango — a dance whose steps need to be genuine, authentic and based in trust in order to reflect a true relationship based on partnership. The Gold Foundation and Schwartz Center will be developing conference-related products, disseminating a recommendations report and a white paper and exploring opportunities to bring together attendees and other stakeholders to continue the important work of championing compassionate, collaborative care.

Medical Residency Application to Recognize GHHS Membership continued from page 1

beyond grades and examination scores,” said GHHS Director Lynn White, M.D. “This sends a strong message that caring, patient-centered physicians are both desired and needed in medical training programs.”

A survey of 2014 and 2013 GHHS graduates revealed that the majority agreed that being a GHHS member was helpful in securing their residency training position. One GHHS student said, “The final program where I matched was my #1 choice. The PD there was impressed with my GHHS membership and excited about what I would offer the ​program. I think my GHHS membership had a profound impact on my final match.”

There are approximately 9,500 accredited residency programs in the U.S., and nearly all of these programs use ERAS for their selection process. The updated 2016 application gives GHHS members recognition comparable to other medical honor societies such as Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society (AOA), founded in 1902, and Sigma Sigma Phi, the academic honor society for osteopathic medical schools.

Students and faculty members interested in starting a GHHS chapter at their institution can apply through the GHHS website.

For more information, please visit: http://humanism-in-medicine.org/ghhs

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The Arnold P. Gold Foundation

Partnering to Improve 100 Million Lives The Arnold P. Gold Foundation (APGF) was invited in mid-2014 to join the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) 100 Million Healthier Lives Coalition as a Founding Member. The Coalition is comprised of leaders of health culture in the U.S. and Europe, ranging from patients, health providers, and academics, to business leaders and policymakers. A launch event was held in October where participants accepted the challenge to help 100 million people live healthier lives by 2020 and set out the following strategies to meet that goal: • Create a healthcare system that is good at health and good at care • Build bridges between healthcare, community and public health • Create healthy, thriving communities • Promote peer to peer supports to improve health • Create enabling conditions • Develop new mindsets IHI asked Founding Members to propose an activity that they would engage in as part of the initiative. The APGF presented the Gold Humanism Honor Society’s (GHHS) “Tell Me More” program as our participation commitment, as the program’s focus is on creating better healthcare experiences and outcomes for both patients and healthcare workers by fostering communication between patients, their families, and providers that goes beyond the patients’ diagnoses. We are excited to partake in this historic movement to promote a culture of health and create a healthier world.

2014 GHHS National Biennial Conference A Terrific Success The sixth Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) Biennial Conference took place October 9-11, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia. Medical students, residents, fellows, physicians, colleagues, and experts on patient-centered care came together to

anxious to carry their ideas and thoughts back to my school. I could go on and on about wonderful feelings/thoughts this conference has awakened in me. Thank you to all who make this possible.”

OTHER NEWS learn, collaborate, and share experiences. The conference, titled, “Advancing Humanism in the Age of Technology,” drew the largest audience yet, with over 300 attendees. Highlights of the program included six plenary speakers, 16 interactive workshops, 30 educational posters, 20 Gold Mining Roundtable discussion forums, and a community whiteboard that invited participants to share what humanism meant to them. National speakers included Michael O’Neil, Jr., J.D., M.B.A, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, GetWellNetwork; Christine Montross, M.D., psychiatrist and author; and Ryan McGarry, M.D., Instructor of Emergency Medicine and filmmaker at The Weill Medical College of Cornell University/New York Presbyterian Medical Center. New to the conference was an open microphone session, where students, residents and faculty shared poetry, personal essays, songs, and other artistic expressions of how caring for patients has touched their lives. Feedback from participants at the conference was universally positive. One student shared, “This was without a doubt the most thought-provoking, refreshing, exciting, transformational experience I have had since I began medical school four years ago. The mission of GHHS is so important to me. I have met so many inspirational, well-spoken people and am

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The Arnold P. Gold Foundation, with the support of generous sponsors such as The Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, the American Board of Pediatrics Foundation, and the Association of American Medical Colleges, was able to underwrite students, residents and fellows to attend this formative conference at no charge.

“Tell Me More” Campaign Goes Nationwide For Solidarity Day 2015 The Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) celebrated National Solidarity Day for Compassionate Patient Care on February 13. For the first time, all GHHS chapters nationwide were invited to participate in a unified program entitled, “Tell Me More.” Created by GHHS chapter members at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, the “Tell Me More” program encourages students and healthcare staff to engage patients in conversations to learn about them beyond their diagnoses. Participants asked patients three core questions: “What are your strengths?” “How would your friends describe you?” “What has been most meaningful to you in your life?” Patients and questioners then together crafted three short phrases that were displayed prominently in the patients’ rooms. Phrases included, “Biggest NY Yankee fan in the TriState area” and “Ask me about my six grandchildren.” Everyone who entered the rooms was reminded that patients are, first and foremost, human beings. Patients lit up when asked about their personal lives, and participants were humbled and awed by the depth and resiliency of the patients they interviewed.

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By improving communication through “Tell Me More,” GHHS strives to enhance patient and provider interactions and experiences so that patient health outcomes will ultimately be improved. To learn more about GHHS National Solidarity Day for Compassionate Patient Care and the “Tell Me More” program, please contact Michele Silver at [email protected].

Gold Research Institute Spearheads Thought-Leadership on Humanism This May, more than 60 researchers supported by the Gold Foundation will gather in Chicago for a symposium titled, “Mapping the Landscape; Blazing New Trails.” The participants come from 26 research teams, many of them multiinstitutional, which received grant funding to conduct rigorous reviews of the literature on a variety of topics related to the teaching or practice of humanistic healthcare. Topics include: “The Relationship Between Role Models and Humanism in Medical Education,” “The Changing Role of Physicians in Interdisciplinary Teams,” and “Systematic Review of Interventions to Prevent and Reduce Physician Burnout.” Researchers will submit their manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals. Through the symposium, we aim to energize and educate participants on how to use their research to effect change, as well as plot a research agenda for the future. Participants will present their findings in dynamic five-minute talks and work together to identify what the evidence means for health education, clinical practice, patient-centered care and public policy. They will also learn how to communicate messages to various stakeholder groups using both traditional (e.g., media interviews, letters to the editor) and non-traditional channels (e.g., YouTube videos, social media). The hope is for the group to continue to work together to move the needle on humanism in healthcare.

White Coat Ceremonies for Nurses Across the Country Though White Coat Ceremonies have been an important rite of passage at medical schools for more than 20 years, The Arnold P. Gold Foundation launched a new collaboration with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) in 2014 that marks the first time a coordinated effort has been developed to offer similar events at schools of nursing. In the pilot partnership year, 100 nursing schools in 43 states plus the District of Columbia were provided financial support and guidance to offer a White Coat Ceremony for incoming first-year

students. The ceremonies consist of the recitation of an oath, cloaking of students in a white coat, an address by an eminent role model, and a reception for students and invited guests. Students also receive a specially designed pin that serves as a visual reminder of their oath and commitment to providing high quality care. We are grateful to APGF Trustee Elaine Adler and her husband Mike, co-founders of the Adler Aphasia Center, for honoring the nursing profession by providing leadership support for this groundbreaking APGF — AACN partnership.

Mike and Elaine Adler with Peter P. Mercer, PhD, President, Ramapo College with the Nursing class at Ramapo

APGF’s Nancy Lynn, Dr. Richard Levin, Kathleen Burke, Assistant Dean of Nursing Programs, Ramapo College, Elaine Adler and Mike Adler

George Washington University White Coat Ceremony Fall 2014

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University of San Diego White Coat Ceremony Fall 2014

The Arnold P. Gold Foundation

On November 17, 2014, under the glittering lights of the Waldorf Astoria’s Starlight Roof, The Arnold P. Gold Foundation (APGF) hosted its inaugural New York Golden Thread Gala. Activist, humanitarian, and Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress Judith Light emceed the evening, which was co-chaired by Katja Goldman and Michael Sonnenfeldt, Valerie and John Rowe, and the Tow Foundation. The event was both informative and festive and raised more than $900,000 to support the Foundation’s programs.

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2 1. Emcee Judith Light, President and CEO of APGF Dr. Richard Levin, Honoree director James Keach, Chairman of APGF Board Dr. Jordan Cohen 2. Medical Student Carissa May singing “Amazing Grace” 3. APGF Senior VP Nancy Lynn, APGF Trustee Richard Sheerr, Charles Klatskin, Honoree Kim Campbell 4. Deans of medical schools being inducted into GHHS 5. APGF MPAC member Dr. Ruth Fischbach, APGF Founders Drs. Sandra and Arnold Gold, APGF Trustee Norman Seiden 6. Marilyn Taub, APGF Trustee Mike Rosner, Scott Berrie of The Berrie Foundation (honoree) 7. Shannon and Ashley Campbell singing “Remembering”

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The Golden Thread Gala honored several extraordinary people and organizations dedicated to compassionate care:

Dr. Richard Levin, President and CEO of APGF, also inducted deans of nine medical schools from New York and New Jersey into the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) in recognition of their institutional and personal commitment to the Society’s mission. GHHS member Carissa May followed the induction ceremony by singing a striking rendition of “Amazing Grace” — just as she had sung during her last clinical rounds to a patient who could no longer sing.

• Drs. Sandra and Arnold Gold, esteemed founders of The Arnold P. Gold Foundation • The Russell Berrie Foundation, longtime champion of compassionate healthcare and valued partner of APGF • The Campbell Family, who recently completed an extraordinary 151- concert “Goodbye Tour” with husband, dad and country music icon, Glen Campbell after he publicly revealed his Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis

At the end of the evening, Dr. Darrell Kirch, President and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), introduced APGF founders, Drs. Sandra and Arnold Gold. The Golds delivered moving remarks about their vision for APGF and shared vignettes from their 25 years of creating a place for humanism in the heart of American medicine. The Golds concluded the night with a heartfelt thanks to their dear friends and colleagues, whose assistance and collaboration have been instrumental in realizing their dream of instilling a culture of respect, dignity and compassion amongst patients and professionals.

• James Keach, filmmaker (Walk the Line), who skillfully directed the award-winning documentary, Glen Campbell… I’ll Be Me, which chronicles Glen Campbell’s heartwarming, bittersweet Goodbye Tour and the Campbell family’s celebration of music and engagement in life in spite of Glen’s illness

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The Arnold P. Gold Foundation

The Gold – Hope Tang, MD

Annual Humanism inMedicineEssay Contest

their essays published in Academic Medicine, the journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Thanks to a generous donation from her husband, James Goodwin, the contest is named in honor of Hope Babette Tang-Goodwin, M.D., a former Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons who combined boundless enthusiasm for her work, intellectual rigor and deep compassion to children and infants with HIV.

The Arnold P. Gold Foundation’s Annual Essay Contest asks medical school students from across the nation to share their thoughts on a theme or quote related to humanism in medicine. In 2014, students were asked to use a real life experience to describe how technology played a role, either negatively or positively, in the delivery of humanistic patient care. The Annual Essay Contest has received more than 3,000 essays since 1999. First, second, and third place essays are chosen by a panel of physicians and accomplished writers. Winners receive a monetary award and have

There’s an App for That The phone rang in one of the ORs. “You need to get me the images as soon as possible,” the neurosurgeon demanded over my attempted objections on the other end of the line before hanging up. Over 9,000 miles away I stared at my phone as the call ended. I quietly rose from my chair and walked into the next room. The films on the light box jumped out at me. The brightness of the whited out area consuming an immense region on the brain MRI screamed at me for attention. This wasn’t a simple request for records that could easily be couriered over to a referring hospital. I knew I could only do the next best thing. I raised my iPhone, tried to hold it as still as possible, and captured digital evidence of the sizeable stroke threatening the life of my 22 year old best friend in the heart of Vietnam. I emailed the photo as an attachment to the neurosurgeon, praying it would be adequate. It had been such a quiet morning. My Vietnamese students were sitting quietly on their benches as I began the day’s lesson. Medical school was on the horizon, as soon as I returned home. For now, I was enjoying immersing myself in a new culture on the other side of the world, volunteering in a summer camp I had helped establish. Then chaos began. My

friend and I had both played D1 college soccer together and were accepted to the same medical school. He was the picture of health. But now he was in the back of the classroom crumpled Kendall Bradley Winner of the on a bench. I grabbed 2014 essay contest my cell phone charger, carried him to the bus, and raced to the nearest hospital, a 90-minute drive on bumpy Vietnamese roads. He looked terrible. At the hospital, between the vomiting and the language barrier, he was given an IV and an abdominal ultrasound, despite complaining of headache and dizziness. I learned first hand how geography and linguistic challenges pose barriers for patients. We were admitted, and his acute symptoms appeared to slowly resolve. I spent a few days abusing the international phone plan set up by my family before I left the States, contacting anyone who might be able to help. But between my friend’s shuffling gait and uneven pupils, I knew something was not right. While we were reassured that he simply had an upset stomach, I did what any future medical student who had spent time shadowing in a neurology clinic would do: I pulled

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out my iPhone and used the “flashlight” on it to check his pupillary light reflex. To my dismay, his pupils were in fact not equal and reactive. The Vietnamese physician insisted he was just fatigued, and discharged him. We rambled back down the beaten roads to our hostel. By the next morning he reported that his head felt like it was in a vice. That was “it” for me. I argued my way for us to go to Ho Chi Minh City, a five-hour trip by car. We arrived at an ex-pat clinic where he quickly deteriorated. We were whisked off to what seemed to be a large garage type complex for his MRI and the films printed off in a weight room. As soon as our doctor put the films up, I was on the phone to my physician mentors back in the states, one of whom just happened to be an outstanding oncologist and the other, an exceptional neurosurgeon. They told me that my friend had only a 30% chance of making it through the night. The 12 hours rushed by as I was given tasks over the phone of the medical management steps which should be taken. I was told to record serial neurological exams and report back. I was on the phone with politician’s aides, (the NGO with which we were working had taken and mislaid our passports), health insurance companies (to arrange

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“prior authorization”), parents, and administrators as I scrambled to get us medically evacuated out of Vietnam. It seemed as though the only time I was not on my phone, was when I was using it to perform and record his neurological exam, searching for any changes that could predict further trouble. Call it luck, or an act of God, or hard work by a lot of people I barely knew, (I later counted over 60) we were air-evacuated to Bangkok the following day. The flight was risky, and I was given his power of attorney “in case”. Staying was not an option, as Vietnam lacked appropriate resources. Fortunately in Bangkok, under the care of a physician trained by my US mentors, my friend stabilized. After relearning how to walk, he walked his mother down the aisle a month later at his sister’s wedding. Technology can often drive a wedge in the patient-doctor relationship as we rely on it to triage and treat patients without truly seeing or listening to them. I have learned over the past three years of medical school how much listening, and the art of the patient-physician interaction is essential to patient care. Putting our hands on patients is invaluable to diagnosing and treating disease. Technology can interfere with our caring for patients but it is an absolutely invaluable tool that must be married with the more traditional tools of the physical exam and the physician him or herself. Seizing the opportunity to improve care through access to information and mobile apps is medicine’s future. Technology, in the form of an iPhone allowed me to examine “my patient” and communicate with collaborating physicians, sharing information half a world away. There’s not an app for empathy, compassion, critical thinking or the art of medicine. But technology ultimately was the tool that enabled his team to bring him home to his family. It saved a life that might otherwise have been lost. I admit that I will be forever grateful, that there was “an app for that”.

Notable Publications by APGF Thought Leaders

The Arnold P. Gold Foundation is proud to support researchers in the creation of new knowledge in the realm of humanism. In the past few months, APGF-supported researchers have published several new studies. APGF Professor Jennifer Kesselheim, M.D., had her article “Humanism and professionalism education for pediatric hematology-oncology fellows: A model for pediatric subspecialty training” published in Pediatric Blood & Cancer. After surveying a national sample of pediatric hematology-oncology fellows about their educational needs in humanism and professionalism, Kesselheim and her colleagues developed four case-based faculty-facilitated modules which were delivered in 10 fellowship programs. 90% of responding fellows and faculty reported the sessions touched on issues important for training, stimulated reflective communication, and were valuable.

Silverman, M.D., Chair-elect of the GHHS Advisory Council, authored “A novel approach to supporting relationship-centered care through electronic health record ergonomic training in preclerkship medical education” in Academic Medicine. Silverman and his colleagues gave basic EHR training to three groups of 40 second-year medical students. Two groups were told to use the EHR during their standardized patient encounters. One group received additional training on the “relationship ergonomics” of the EHR. Researchers found a significant positive effect of this training on students’ relationshipcentered EHR use. Trained students reported that they were able to use the EHR to engage with patients more effectively, better articulate the benefits of using the EHR, better address patient concerns, more appropriately position the EHR device, and more effectively integrate the EHR into patient encounters.

Supported by an APGF grant, William T. Branch Jr., M.D., had his findings published in a paper titled “Faculty development to enhance humanistic teaching and role modeling: A collaborative study at eight institutions” in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Branch and his colleagues implemented an 18-month faculty development program at eight academic medical centers. The program combined experiential learning of teaching skills with critical reflection. Results showed that this intervention likely enhances humanistic teaching and role modeling.

Richard Frankel, PhD, a member of the Strategic Planning Task Force for APGF’s Research Institute, wrote a paper titled “How to integrate the electronic health record and patientcentered communication into the medical visit: A skills-based approach in Teaching and Learning in Medicine”. Frankel and his team developed a model of teaching electronic health record use that integrates patientcentered interview skills and aims to empower physicians to remain patientcentered while effectively using EHRs. This model may serve as a template for future educational and practice interventions.

Two interesting papers on electronic health records were also published by Gold-affiliated researchers. Howard

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