Solidarity Week a Reminder to Practice Compassionate Care

Members of USA's chapter of the Arnold P. Gold Humanism in Medicine Honor Society present a 'Tell Me More' poster to Jon Mason, a patient at USA Children's & Women's Hospital.  

Last week, members of the University of South Alabama College of Medicine Chapter of the Arnold P. Gold Humanism in Medicine Honor Society (GHHS) participated in Solidarity Week, a national initiative designed to remind students and health care employees of the importance of compassion in medicine.

"These activities allow us to reflect on why we choose to pursue medicine, which is to take care and help others," said Tina Artz, a fourth-year student at the USA College of Medicine and GHHS social coordinator. "Humanistic and compassionate care is what I call 'infectious,' and Solidarity Week gives us the opportunity share these principles central to GHHS with others in the College of Medicine and University Hospital."

For the past four years, the “Tell Me More” program has served as the centerpiece of Solidarity Week. Led by GHHS members, the goal of “Tell Me More” is to engage patients in conversations that focus on what matters most to them rather than why they are in the hospital. After obtaining consent, medical students asked patients to share unique information about themselves, which the students used to craft posters and display above their beds.

"A lot of times we only ask medicine-related questions, and 'Tell Me More' is a way to get to know our patients on a personal level," said Natalie Carlisle, a fourth-year student at the USA College of Medicine and GHHS secretary/treasurer. "We learn about things that are important to them - their families, things they enjoy."

Matthew Robson, a fourth-year student at the USA College of Medicine and GHHS president, said the activities during Solidarity Week serve as a reminder that patients are more than their illnesses. "When you work in a hospital every week, it can be easy to forget how foreign and traumatic being a patient can be, and it is important to remember the bigger picture," he said.

Another staple of Solidarity Week is delivering thank-you letters and baskets - filled with fruit, popcorn and other goodies - to nurses' stations in University Hospital and USA Children's & Women's Hospital.

Artz said her favorite part of the week is seeing the faces of nurses and staff light up when the students present them with the baskets. "We make it like a Mardi Gras parade, handing out beads, stickers, treats and hugs," she said. "It lightens everyone's day, and allows us take the extra time to show them how much we appreciate their hard work and compassionate care."

Robson said he enjoys seeing everyone's reactions when they receive their thank-you letters. "There are a lot of kind, positive people involved in the delivery of high-quality health care, and showing them our appreciation is always a treat," he said. "When months go by and you still see the letters hanging up, you remember how big of an impact gratitude can make."

GHHS members made an encouraging poster for second-year 

medical students.

Carlisle and other GHHS members surprised second-year students with a poster of encouragement, as they prepare to take Step 1 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination. “During Solidarity Week we recognize the health care workers, students and residents who all practice compassionate care at the hospitals and clinics,” Carlisle told the class. “But we also wanted to recognize you all for your hard work. We know this semester, especially, is a really difficult time … so we wanted to give you a little bit of encouragement.”

Humanistic Hearts was a new project incorporated into Solidarity Week this year. GHHS members set up stations outside the cafeterias at the two hospitals and asked medical students and employees how they plan to practice humanistic medicine. Participants wrote their responses on heart-shaped notes and posted them to the poster board.

Also new this year was the Humanistic Bingo Challenge, created by fourth-year student and GHHS member Trevor Stevens. Carlisle said the challenge was designed to improve wellness among medical students. "Some of the challenges included paying a compliment to yourself or someone else, exercising, and focusing on positive aspects of your day," Carlisle explained.

The completed Bingo cards were entered into a raffle for prizes. Fourth-year student Emily Smith and first-year student Lexie Hensley won $25 Amazon gift cards; first-year student Raj Kondapally won a copy of the book “When Breath Becomes Air” by Paul Kalanithi.

“What started out nationally as a one-day event that grew in to one week is the highlight for many of our GHHS members,” said Karen Braswell, supervisor of clinical education at the USA College of Medicine and GHHS chapter advisor. “It is a time to slow down and reflect more on the compassionate care and kindness we should all extend to one another – every day.”

The national Gold Humanism Honor Society office established National Solidarity Day for Compassionate Care in 2011 to highlight the nation-wide movement promoting provider-patient relationships based on caring, personalization and mutual respect. Learn more about GHHS Solidarity Week for Compassionate Patient Care.

View more photos from USA’s Solidarity Week on Flickr. Share your own posts and photos using the hashtag #SolidarityWeek.

Cardiology Grand Rounds to Address "Pregnancy and Heart Disease"

Dr. Marc G. Cribbs, assistant professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, director of the Alabama Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program and director of the Comprehensive Pregnancy & Heart Program at UAB, will present the next cardiology grand rounds.

He will present "Pregnancy and Heart Disease" at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 22, at the University Hospital second-floor conference center.

In his talk he will discuss the cardiovascular changes in pregnancy, pregnancy risk assessment and the means by which risks are managed.

For more information, contact Donna Gregory at (251) 471-7923 or dgregory@health.southalabama.edu.

Med School Café - Expert Advice for the Community

The February Med School Café lecture featured Dr. Allen Perkins, professor and chair of family medicine at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, and Dr. Errol Crook, Professor and Abraham Mitchell Chair of Internal Medicine at the USA College of Medicine and director of the USA Center for Healthy Communities. They presented “Precision Medicine: The Future is Now.”

Watch Med School Café: Precision Medicine on YouTube or below.

 

USA Office of CME Receives Interprofessional Continuing Education Joint Accreditation

The University of South Alabama Office of Continuing Medical Education (OCME) recently received four-year accreditation as a provider of Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE).

As a jointly accredited provider, USA OCME can now offer education and continuing education credits to physicians, nurses and pharmacists, together or separately, through the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, the American Nurses Credentialing Center, and the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education. Other disciplines have been added including American Psychology Association and the Association of Social Work Boards.

Joint Accreditation offers organizations the opportunity to be simultaneously accredited to provide medicine, pharmacy, and nursing continuing education activities through a single, unified set of accreditation standards. Joint Accreditation promotes IPCE activities specifically designed to improve interprofessional collaborative practice in health care delivery to achieve a common goal of improving patient care.

"Joint Accreditation signifies to clinicians and to the public that continuing health care education activities provided by the USA Office of Continuing Medical Education meet the high standards for commercial support of Joint Accreditation," said Sharrie Cranford, director of continuing medical education at USA. "USA OCME’s educational programming ultimately serves all disciplines that may have an impact on patient outcomes."

The Joint Accreditation process rigorously evaluates the overall continuing health care education programs of institutions according to standards adopted by all three sponsoring organizations. USA OCME continuing education program is now part of a group of elite organizations in the United States - including major medical schools, national medical associations, hospitals and other medical education organizations - that have been awarded this accreditation status.

USA OCME also provides continuing education credits to psychologists, social workers and other professions for their educational activities at their annual meeting and in other live and enduring programs and materials throughout the year.

Learn more at www.jointaccreditation.org.

The Doctor Is In (the Art Studio)

The art of Dr. Thomas C. Myers, a rheumatologist with USA Physicians Group, is on display at the University of South Alabama department of art and art history gallery through March 15. 

Dr. Thomas C. Myers remembers clearly how his wife’s attraction to an antique Russian bed featured in a magazine was the catalyst for his art career 13 years ago.

“I looked at the picture of that bed, and I told her I could make it,” he recalled. “I built it within a few months, and she was happy. At the same time, I also found a passion and a love for working with wood.”

Feb. 11-March 15, the art gallery in the University of South Alabama’s department of art and art history will present a variety of Myers’ work in the show, “Felled Flesh: The Practice of Turning Wood.” He will discuss his artistic journey during an artist talk at 3 p.m. on March 7. A reception will follow from 4-6 p.m.

It is the latest art show for the modest and self-taught wood turner, who said he often sees the wood as flesh while he works. His creations have been displayed at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans and the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi, among others.

“When I was growing up, if my dad wanted something, he would build it. He always had books about art in our house. I grew up watching him work and learning from him,” said Myers, a rheumatologist with USA Physicians Group who practices at the USA Mobile Diagnostic Center. 

As an undergraduate, Myers took an art appreciation class, but afterward he focused on his medical studies. After he built the Russian reproduction bed for his wife, he began experimenting with various types of wood and buying a variety of new tools, including a lathe for woodturning. It was then that he found his own expression of art.

The Myers home is filled with examples of his work, both small and large in a variety of shapes and forms. Some resemble baskets, bowls and vases, while others are pure abstracts. Some are painted to bring out what Myers envisioned in the wood as he turned it. Each one’s surface is as smooth as glass, its sheen lustrous.

“It took me about 10 years to find out what I was doing. I didn’t look at anyone else’s art or wood turnings for the first eight years. Then, I bought a book by an English wood turner, and I really began to learn some things,” he said.

His favorite wood is maple, which is flesh-colored, and he likes pieces with unusual markings caused by growth patterns or even damage to the tree at some point during its life. He orders most of his wood on the internet, buying from around the world.

When he isn’t seeing patients, he is often working in an immaculate studio behind the couple’s Spring Hill home. In the artfully landscaped garden outside is a life-sized sculpture in bronze of a woman, the last piece of artwork done by his father before he died, and a reminder of both the skill and creativity that Myers shared with him.

Myers said most of his ideas “usually come to me in the middle of the night,” then the actual work takes roughly 40 hours per piece.

“My enjoyment of and passion for my work originates in that pre-intellectual realm where sight, touch, smell and sound guide the interaction of artist, tool and medium as a work emerges. After that my work becomes increasingly conceptual as I view the work, decide on texture, additional media and finish,” Myers said.

Susan Fitzsimmons, chair of the department art and art history, said that Myers’ work demonstrates that “talent is a word that is often misused, as if there is some alchemy or grace that exists in some, but not others.”

She added: “Art, particularly the art of Tom Myers, who as a child observed his father's work as a sculptor, learned early on that art comes from a passion to make, to understand the self, discipline, and hard work. Dr. Myers has spent many years perfecting his work, combining the precision of his science background with the demands of this difficult craft. His vocation as a doctor and artist are mutually reinforcing and rewarding. Sometimes, I am sure, that his struggle to find form in the wood and model it to perfection, reflect the struggle with diagnosing illness, which also requires careful observation and learning from the source in order to bring forth the cure. The benefit of art is that it captures the struggle in fixed time and form, an object with a permanence that defies us all in real life."

Additional information about Myers and photos of his art can be seen at www.tommyersart.com.