Educational Connections Newsletter, November 2020-February 2021
by Lisa Foglia on 2021-03-11T12:55:14-05:00 | 0 Comments
From the Director of Medical Education
We started the year off with several great Grand Rounds, to include a COVID Vaccine 'Mythbusters' Symposium in January featuring several Womack staff providers and a lecture on 'Fertility - You Don't Have to Let It Go', discussion candidates for ovarian cryopreservation, by MAJ Jessica Lentscher. March features our Internal Medicine Residency Program Director, LTC Lindsay Graham, giving a talk titled 'Updates in Chemotherapy'. We are pleased to announce that Grand Rounds is available for 1.0 Category 1 CME credits, as of February. We have several great speakers lined up over the summer. The list of confirmed speakers is at the end of the newsletter. We are so thankful for all our volunteer speakers.
Kudos to the Family Medicine Residency under the leadership of LTC Adrian Bell and OB/Gyn Residency under the leadership of LTC Karen Wilson - both programs were granted 'Continued Accreditation' status by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in early 2021. Womack Army Medical Center, as the Sponsoring Institution, was also granted 'Continued Accreditation' by the ACGME. This is a testament to the dedication of the program directors, teaching faculty and trainees.
Be sure to mark your calendars for the upcoming Womack Research Symposium on March 31st, 2021 from 0900-1500. There will be podium presentations in the Weaver Auditorium, showcasing Womack's scholarly activity. Poster submissions will be displayed on Womack's home page. Our guest speaker is Dr. Jennifer Green, PhD, Director of Cumberland County Public Health. She will be speaking about Healthcare Disparities. To register to attend, click here. Watch for a schedule for the Phoenix Women's Health Conference on 21-22 April. We have several guest speakers including CAPT (Ret). P Everett Magann MD, Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship Director from the University of Arkansa, and Dr. Wanda Nicholson MD, an Ob/Gyn from UNC who currently leads the Diversity/Equity/Inclusion Task Force for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
SRNA Promotion Ceremony
The Student Registered Nurse Anesthetist Promotion Ceremony was held on 11 December 2020 at Womack Army Medical Center.
The following students were promoted to Captain:
CPT Melissa Ouellette
CPT Logan Hirsch
CPT Arik Steinberg
CPT Justin Rajala
CPT James Roesner.
Congratulations to all the promoted students!
Internal Medicine Leading the Way with COVID Research
The Department of Medicine is currently participating in their second COVID-19 treatment clinical trial (ACTT3 now ACTT4). The participants for this clinical trial are as follows:
LTC David Hostler-PI
LTC Jordana Hostler-AI
Pete Mattingly-AI
MAJ Katie Lago-AI
MAJ Evelyn Lomasney-AI
LTC Janell Robertson-AI
The Department of Medicine also has several participants in the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine trial. The participants for this vaccine trial are as follows:
Dr. Bruce McClenathan-PI
LTC David De Blasio-AI
LTC Jake Turnquist-AI
MAJ Evelyn Lomasney-AI
MAJ Katie Lago-AI
Along with these trials, the Department of Medicine is also looking at establishing a protocol to administer REGEN-COV to high risk patients once the Emergency Use Authorization is in place. Their hard work has them leading the RHC-A with the amount of Bamlamivumab provided to keep patients from being admitted to the hospital, an especially important measure due to limited hospital space nationwide.
Accolades
Please congratulate Ms. Martha Maloy for a milestone achievement of 45 years of government service! She currently serves as the Deputy Director for GME Transformation. She has previously served Womack as the Chief, Directorate of Business Operations and served at various times as the Chief of Human Resources and DBO, pinch-hitting when there was active duty underlap. Her tireless dedication to GME Expansion and to Medical Education has benefitted countless students, learners, residents, and faculty members. She also serves as an Arbinger Facilitator and holds the Yellow Belt Lean Six Sigma Certification.
On 17 November 2020, CPT/P Aaron Peterson, Vision Rehabilitation (Brain Injury Rehabilitation) resident earned the coveted Expert Field Medical Badge (EFMB) and also an Army Achievement Medal for obtaining the highest EFMB written test score. LTG R. Scott Dingle, the 45th Surgeon General of the Army, presented CPT Peterson with the badge at Fort Bragg, NC. Of 104 candidates to compete, CPT/P Peterson was 1 of only 34 to earn the badge.
On 29 September 2020, Optometry residents CPT Jenae Stiles and CPT/P Aaron Peterson both lectured in the Armed Forces Optometry Society's (AFOS) continuing education course "AFOS Resident Grand Rounds".
HESD-Hospital Orientation Update
WAMC Hospital Education and Staff Development (HESD) has successfully implemented a new hybrid Hospital Orientation process that includes face-to-face sessions and online training modules in support of High Reliability Organization (HRO) initiatives. Face to Face briefings in the Weaver Auditorium for all staff (AD, GS, Contractors, etc.) will include a Commander's Welcome Brief as well as EO/EEO & SHARP. Staff will then independently complete assigned briefings via the RELIAS Learning Management System (RLMS) training platform in order to attain a completion certificate. This new process reduces Hospital Orientation completion to less than one day, and contributes to decreasing the overall Onboarding timeline. Questions or concerns regarding the new process can be forwarded to the HESD Team at usarmy.bragg.medcom-wamc.mbx.dme-hesd-relias-submissions@mail.mil.
Department of Clinical Investigation
DCI has been actively supporting the Ft. Bragg/WAMC response to the COVID-19 pandemic. DCI is the lead for a 7 county region surrounding Fort Bragg for daily reporting of hospitalizations related to COVID-19. Additionally, DCI leads the daily hospital resource summary that lists the total bed/ICU/ventilator census and capacity on a daily basis for the 11 hospitals located in our 7 county region. DCI support for COVID-19 activities involve 29 real-world efforts including remdesivir-baricitinib, convalescent COVID-19 plasma therapy, bamlanivima, and genomic and serology-based diagnostic testing. We are also supporting Operation Warp Speed as the only DoD site engaged in the Novavax vaccine trial.
DCI and the North Carolina Department of Public Health have agreed to collaborate in the genetic epidemiology of respiratory illnesses within the state's Flu Region 3 which includes Ft. Bragg and the surrounding 11 counties. Briefly, genomic sequence data from respiratory disease pathogens will inform NC DPH and Ft. Bragg leadership on the specific type and strain of pathogen that is present or 'in transit' within this geographic area. DCI continues to lead the OSPREY Team, composed of WAMC health care providers, which informs the senior leadership at Ft. Bragg on the current state of ongoing health care delivery efforts and the upcoming mitigation strategies during the pandemic. Our collective efforts include the Force Health Protection and Surveillance for the XVIII Airborne Corps, the 82nd ABN DIV, and JSOC among others.
DCI in the News: Several articles were run in local media to include the following--Dr. Choi lead a group of community leaders in a COVID prevention project whose mandate was published 1 November 2020 entitled "Leaders: Use 'three W's' to prevent COVID-19." Dr. Berry-Caban's ProHealth study was published 19 January 2021 as part of a collaboration to address sexual assault and high-risk alcohol use on military installations. The Fort Bragg COVID vaccine trial, which is supported by DCI, had an article run on 20 January 2021. Several radio and television releases also occurred for the vaccine trial.
DCI continues to expand the Medical Assessment and Readiness System (MARS). MARS is a massive longitudinal database of US Army active duty. It provides information such as demographic, anthropometric, diagnostic (all ICD-10 codes), radiographic (all free text radiology interpretations for total Army Soldiers' radiology reports done at MTFs), medical profile data, admin data (e.g. weapons qualifications, MOS, unit assignment such as 82nd ABD), and standard testing such as ANAM or GAB. Moreover, DCI is coordinating the access to and use of medical records from the Dept. of Veterans Affairs. DCI submitted a publication entitled "Risk Factors for Musculoskeletal-Related Occupational Disability and Increased Return to Duty Times among U.S. Army Soldiers." Additionally, two more deliverables were prepared for DHA: "Inguinal hernia, surgery and retention among active-duty US Army Soldiers" and "Bunions, surgery and retention among active-duty US Army Soldiers."
For more information about these and other research areas, please contact the DCI at 910-907-6522.
Medical Library
Two new resources have come to the AMEDD Virtual Library: Bates Visual Guide to Examination and 5 Minute Clinical Consult.
Bates Visual Guide to Examination is a database that provides videos on how to conduct head to toe physical assessments as well as videos to help prepare users for the Objective Structured Clinical Examinations. Over eight hours of videos are available and they are organized by type of assessment or clinical encounter.
5 Minute Clinical Consult is a database built to aid healthcare professionals with patient care. From their website: "5MinuteConsult is a fully integrated digital resource to help guide primary care professionals and clinical students in daily decision support, based on the best-selling clinical content in the family medicine market for over 20 years, giving access to the information needed at the point-of-care. It is the fastest resource to obtain the most likely diagnosis, treatment, and management for thousands of diseases."
In addition to the website, a mobile app is available. Both the online database and the mobile app can be used to earn CME/CE credits.
Both of these databases along with all the other AMEDD Virtual Library resources are available to WAMC staff and students. Visit the AMEDD Virtual Library here: AVL Library. To register for a remote access account (used typically if working from home or when not connected to VPN/DHA-networked computers), click here: Open Athens Registration.
Welcome to our New Personnel
Michael Shank: General Surgery Residency Program Administrator
Michael Shank retired from the Army after serving 20 years in the fall of 2009. He served as an NCO, Warrant Officer, and Commissioned Officer. His last assignment was as the Battalion S3 fo the Warrior Transition Battalion here at Fort Bragg. Mike was then hired as a Training Specialist for the WTB/SRU where he served until getting the call to become the General Surgery Residency Program Support Specialist. He has three children: Aaron, Bryan, and Brittany.
Walter Moore: Internal Medicine Residency Program Administrator
A native of Racine, Wisconsin, Walter Moore served over 22 years in the U.S. Army before retiring in 2008. He began his federal service in May 2008, employed at the Warrior Transition Battalion (WTB) for over 12 years serving as a Staff Operations and Training Specialist. In January 2021, Mr. Moore received a tremendous opportunity to serve Womack Army Medical Center DME/GME Department as the Internal Medicine Residency Program Coordinator. Some of Walter's noteworthy achievements are his marriage of 22 years to his wife Kesha, his enduring patience as a father to his 5 children, and his newfound source of energy he attributes to the birth of his granddaughter. Walter received his M.A. Ed. in Professional School Counseling from the University of Pembroke and currently serves as an elementary school counselor in Cumberland County.
Future Grand Rounds Offerings, all are the 1st Wednesday of the month, 1300-1400 in the Weaver Auditorium, unless otherwise specified
March 17th: Dr. Anton Lipov,
May: LTC Matthew Eckert, Trauma Surgery Fellow, UNC - Research in the DoD
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