In this episode of M.ED: Medical Education for the Practicing Clinician, I had the pleasure to interview Gretchen Case, Ph.D., and Susan Sample, Ph.D., MFA.

Gretchen A. Case is Chief of the Program in Medical Ethics and Humanities, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and the Department of Pediatrics. She received a BA in Speech Communication and History and an MA in Communication Studies from UNC-Chapel Hill and a PhD in Performance Studies from UC, Berkeley. Dr. Case's research and teaching interests are in the medical humanities (aka healthcare humanities): the many ways in which the arts and humanities intersect with the medical arts and sciences. 

Susan J. Sample is an assistant professor in the Division of Medical Ethics and Humanities, Department of Internal Medicine; Writer-in-Residence at the Huntsman Cancer Institute; and associate instructor in the Department of Writing and Rhetoric Studies in the College of Humanities at the University of Utah. She received her BA in philosophy from Whitman College and an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Arizona. She completed her Ph.D. in communication, focusing on rhetoric and medicine, from the U of U. Her research explores the rhetorical ways physicians and patients use narrative when writing about experiences with patients at the end of life. 

In this episode, we discuss the intersection of humanities and medicine. What it means to practice medicine centered around the human condition, questions to ask around our biases, and to experience clinical practice as an opportunity to understand suffering, joy, and grief as much as it is an opportunity to learn about the science of modern medicine. Medical humanities remind practicing clinicians to look and discover their inner artist. 

On our website, you will find links to articles related to the Medical Humanities. As always, free CME credit is available on the website as well. Please enjoy!

You can visit the website at: https://medicine.utah.edu/students/programs/md/curriculum/ruute/preceptor/cme-podcast.php

In this episode of M.ED: Medical Education for the Practicing Clinician, I had the unique opportunity to interview Dr. Andy Pavia.

Dr. Pavia is a nationally known infectious disease expert and professor of pediatric infectious disease at the University of Utah.

He has sat on national advisory committees for the CDC and Infectious Disease Society of America and has testified to Congress on public health threat preparedness.

He has published more than 250 scholarly articles, textbook chapters, reviews, and scientific abstracts. He has known Dr. Fauci for thirty years.

In this episode, we discuss COVID 19 vaccine hesitancy. We also discuss evidence-based ways that clinicians can address vaccine hesitancy that can help increase the number of people that will take the vaccine.

On our website, you will find links to articles related to COVID vaccine hesitancy that can give you a more in-depth look at this issue. As always, free CME credit is available on the website as well. Please enjoy this stimulating and timely conversation with Dr. Pavia.

You can visit the website at: https://medicine.utah.edu/students/programs/md/curriculum/ruute/preceptor/cme-podcast.php

In this episode of M.ED, I had the opportunity to talk to Dr. Terry Box. Dr. Box is an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology at the University of Utah Health. Dr. Box completed his medical degree at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, followed by residency and fellowship at the University of Utah. He is also one of only two hepatologists (liver specialists) who has received his own liver transplant.

He will be speaking to us today about his work with Project ECHO as well as his own experience as a liver transplant recipient.

In 2011, he started Project ECHO at the University of Utah Health. Project ECHO connects community providers with specialists to eliminate barriers to access to specialty care.

Project ECHO addresses these issues by training community providers through HIPPA-compliant, technology-enabled collaborative learning to address specialty care-level health concerns in the primary care setting. Multi-disciplinary specialist teams use videoconferencing technology to conduct weekly or bi-weekly sessions with community providers to discuss specialized health care topics. During these clinics, community providers present patient cases to determine the best treatment options. This case-based learning has shown to improve patient health outcomes and provider confidence in treating both common and complex conditions in their communities.

There is no cost associated with participating, and the only requirements to join an ECHO session are access to a computer or mobile device with connection to the internet. Additionally, there are free Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits available for those who participate.

Please go to https://physicians.utah.edu/echo/ to learn more.

This is the second in our two-part series on a very important and timely topic - provider wellness.  Today we are picking up on the previous conversation that we had with Dr. Locke with Dr. Jake Van Epps, who is a staff psychologist at the University of Utah Health Resiliency Center.

Dr. Van Epps received his bachelor’s degree from Castleton University followed by a master's in education at the Univ of Georgia and his Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the Pennsylvania State University.

We will be discussing the practical and meaningful ways that providers can address and improve their own wellness during the time of COVID and beyond. He will also highlight resources that are available both for faculty and staff at the University of Utah Health as well as for those outside of the University of Utah system that address physician burnout and provider wellness. Don’t forget to log on to our website for more resources and links including those discussed in the podcast episode as well as the link below to get free CME credit for listening. Enjoy!

Additional resources on physician burnout and free AMA CME credit information at

https://medicine.utah.edu/students/programs/md/curriculum/ruute/preceptor/cme-podcast.php

The website for the resiliency center at the University of Utah Health can be found here: https://healthcare.utah.edu/wellness/resiliency-center/, with information available both to employees of the University of Utah, as well as the public.

Today is the first in a two part series on provider wellness.

Our guest for this episode of M.ED is Dr. Amy Locke. Dr. Locke is Chief Wellness Officer for University of Utah Health and a family physician. She is also the Executive Director of the University of Utah Health  Resiliency Center, which is designed to foster wellness and resilience for all employees. She completed her medical degree and residency training at the University of Michigan medical school and then joined the University of Utah in 2015.

In this episode, Dr. Locke discusses provider burnout, both in general and during the COVID pandemic. We also discuss how this is a unique time in medicine to reimagine the future of how we think about the health of populations and the wellbeing of people who work in healthcare.

On March 30th we will be publishing the second episode on provider wellness, a conversation with Dr. Jake Van Epps, a psychologist at the University of Utah Health Resiliency Center. He will give us many practical tips to address provider wellness.

You can find additional resources on physician burnout and free AMA CME credit information at

https://medicine.utah.edu/students/programs/md/curriculum/ruute/preceptor/cme-podcast.php

The website for the resiliency center at the University of Utah Health can be found here: https://healthcare.utah.edu/wellness/resiliency-center/, with information available both to employees of the University of Utah, as well as the public.

 Enjoy!

Today on Med I’m excited to introduce you to our guest,  Garrett Christensen. Garrett is a 4th-year medical student at the University of Utah School of Medicine. He completed his undergraduate training at the University of Utah with a degree in biology and is interviewing for orthopedic surgery residency programs.

Garrett is going to talk to us about his experiences in the clinical years of his medical training, specifically the 3rd and 4th year. He’ll discuss receiving and giving feedback from clinical preceptors and the importance of communicating a clear set of expectations from preceptors to medical students.  He will also give us some pointers on how to be a better physician educator. Enjoy!

You can find additional Clinical Education resources and AMA Credit information by visiting: https://medicine.utah.edu/students/programs/md/curriculum/ruute/preceptor/cme-podcast.php

Dr. José Rodríguez joins us for the second interview of this Diversity & Inclusion two-part series. In today's podcast, Dr. Rodríguez will discuss his role as Associate Vice President for Health Equity, Diversion, and Inclusion, as well as critical shifts in medicine taking place including recruiting for diversity and practicing a holistic review process. Enjoy!

You can find additional Diversity & Inclusion resources and AMA Credit information by visiting: https://medicine.utah.edu/students/programs/md/curriculum/ruute/preceptor/cme-podcast.php

Our guest for this two-part series is Dr. José Rodríguez. Dr. Rodríguez is a practicing family medicine physician and the Associate Vice President (AVP) for Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (HEDI) at the University of Utah Health.

He is a national leader in the field of diversity in medicine and has a long academic career studying the topic of underrepresented minorities in medicine.

Dr. Rodríguez is someone who identifies as a Latino and person of color in medicine and in this episode, he will share with us his personal story of how he got into medicine and how he became a leader and accomplished academic in the field of diversity in medicine.

Because Dr. Rodríguez has such a depth and breadth of knowledge and experience in this field, this episode will be in 2 parts. Part 2 will be published in two weeks, on February 16th. Enjoy! 

For more information on Diversity & Inclusion including scholarly articles and how to get gree CME credit, visit RUUTE's website at the following  link: https://medicine.utah.edu/students/programs/md/curriculum/ruute/podcast.php 

Our guest for this episode of M.ED is Dr. Kathleen Timme. Dr. Timme is a Pediatric Endocrinologist at the University of Utah and Primary Children's Hospital as well as the Director of Educational Development for the Graduate Medical Education and the Associate Program Director for Fellow Education and the Pediatric Education Enterprise at the University of Utah.

Dr. Timme's clinical interests include type 1 diabetes and general endocrinology including disorders of growth, puberty, and the thyroid. Her research experience is in medical education, developing programs to help physicians become better educators. She is pursuing a Master of Education degree through the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

Dr. Timme also has her own podcast titled Teaching in Medicine that can be found here: https://anchor.fm/teachinginmedicine

You can find additional resources on adult learning theory and free AMA CME credit: information at https://medicine.utah.edu/students/programs/md/curriculum/ruute/preceptor/cme-podcast.php

Enjoy!

Our guest for this episode of M.ED is Dr. Michelle Vo.

Dr. Vo is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and is the Senior Director of Student Wellness at the University of Utah School of Medicine. A native of Pennsylvania, Dr. Vo completed her undergraduate and medical school training at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. She completed her residency training at the University of Utah in Pediatrics, General Psychiatry, and Adolescent and Child Psychiatry (Triple Board program), where she also was the Chief Resident.

Dr. Vo is going to delve into medical student wellness and specifically the mental health challenges that many students face while in medical school. We will discuss programs that she has developed at the University of Utah School of Medicine to help support the wellbeing of the medical students as well as ways that medical providers and others that take part in medical education can help support students and their families. Enjoy.

You can find additional resources on medical student wellness and free AMA CME credit information at https://medicine.utah.edu/students/programs/md/curriculum/ruute/preceptor/cme-podcast.php