Governor’s Corner
Matt Hollon, MD MPH FACP
On a recent annual trip to ski the southwest “chutes” on Mount Adams, a friend with a little less mountaineering experience came along. When joined on adventures by those with less experience, I err on the side of not being too pedantic in preparation. I believe there is value in individuals learning from their own experience (other than not forgetting critical items) and as such my plan is generally to keep quiet, unless asked, and then to make sure I have everything I need and then a little more for the team. In my friend’s reflection at the end of an amazing summit and ski day, he shared that next time he would do a couple things differently. I hope as we go forward from this experience of the pandemic and all the challenges it wrought, we all have in mind what we have learned and how to remain prepared for the unexpected and challenging.
From the perspective of the Chapter, we learned a lot this past year about the power of virtual connection. While not ideal for some aspects of fostering collegiality within a membership organization, the ease of access and reach of virtual communication platforms make them important tools going forward. As members you can expect that our Chapter will continue to take advantage of these platforms to provide you with valuable continuing education, advocacy, and other sessions – for example, our Annual Spring Scientific meeting and the second in our recently started series on updates in hospital medicine.
Another part of being prepared is building on what’s worked before – or following the adage to “not throw the baby out with the bathwater”. We do know that while virtual platforms can help us more easily reach members across the state, there is still value in the personal connection of coming together – indeed, this connection is at the heart of the purpose of membership organizations. As such, we are looking forward to our return to an in-person Annual Chapter Meeting this fall in Seattle – for which we will also offer virtual registration. Our nationally respected meeting is the pre-eminent event for our members and this year we are hoping for record attendance! Whether you plan on attending virtually, joining a watch party, or being there in person, we look forward to seeing you at the meeting where we learn about important updates critical to our practices, applaud the scholarly endeavors of our student and resident members, enjoy our colleagues humanistic insights into our work during Story Slams, and celebrate our Chapter’s Awards winners.
Another important lesson that was certainly reinforced this past year is that change is constant. To be prepared for navigating this continuously changing world we need to remain open to new ideas and flexible enough to incorporate those ideas. We also need to be judicious in choosing what we respond to and, perhaps most importantly, prioritize the work ahead. Each year the College undertakes this work of identifying priority themes and this year’s include engaging membership, reinforcing a valued professional identity, innovating and strategically aligning, and doubling down on the commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). At the Chapter level, we have added a DEI Sub-committee to our Membership Committee and that Sub-committee is charged with, among other things, helping both our awards processes and nomination processes prioritize using a DEI lens in their work.
Clearly there are crucial challenges ahead. (I would be remiss in not mentioning the global public health crisis we face in climate change, which we were made palpably aware of in the extreme heat event we all experienced that is reported would not have happened without human-caused global warming – the College continues to be an important advocacy voice in the health arena – ACP Climate Change Toolkit). We will continue to learn from these challenges and, with these lessons in mind, stay prepared to continue to offer all of you the value you seek in your professional organization – advocacy for our patients and the practice of medicine, continuing education, professional support, and collegiality across the state. We thank you for your membership and, as always, please email me if you have comments or suggestions for the Chapter!
Matt Hollon, MD MPH FACP Governor || Washington Chapter – American College of Physicians
mhollonmdfacp@gmail.com
The one-day ascent and ski descent of the southwest “chutes” on Mount Adams on the summer solstice is one of the best ski adventures in the Northwest. Like all mountain adventures it is best to be prepared – on this day plenty of sunscreen! (Mount St. Helens in the background)
Member Spotlight #1: Delaney Goulet, MD FACP
By Phuong Van, MS2, Washington State University
Starting at a young age, Dr. Delaney Goulet was interested in the connection between science and people. As she got involved in sports such as basketball, she saw how closely tied health was to life and movement. Her background led her to initially consider orthopedic and sport medicine, but then realize that she was a “pure nerd” and wanted to deeply understand the pathology of medicine. She made the switch to internal medicine, which has allowed her to explore many areas in the medical field, such as education, research, patient care, and advocacy.
Dr. Goulet is currently a hospitalist and involved in team leadership with The Everett Clinic, serving Providence Regional Medical Center — Everett. She is conducting research on COVID-19 and serves an associate program director for the WSU Internal Medicine residency program. In this role she has helped design the program, hire mission directed staff, train future physicians to care for underserved populations, and empower residents to use their voice for advocacy. During medical school, she fell in love with teaching and found that strong mentorship can give mentees inspiration, support, and guidance. Her goal is to develop a program that trains physicians to be competent, respect balance, and maintain boundaries in their lives. She hopes to inspire physicians to participate in the things they love and learn the skills to balance their personal and professional lives so they can develop a fulfilling and rewarding career. Acknowledging her privilege growing up with financial support from sports and emotional support from family, Dr. Goulet also wants to help those who did not grow up in a supportive environment by creating a holistic residency program, increasing diversity of the medical field to serve diverse populations. Outside of her residency program, she hopes to affect change by making the medical field more transparent and easier to navigate, increasing access to care.
When she is not working, she loves spending time with her husband and three-year-old. They love spending time outdoors and their favorite activity is taking out the family boat to crab or fish. She still plays basketball for fun and hopes to create a resident basketball team once COVID-19 is over.
Member Spotlight #1: Cathrine Wheeler, MD FACP
By Ashley Edwards, MS2, Washington State University
Dr. Cathrine Wheeler is a general internist with Swedish Ballard Primary Care and recent recipient of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Clinical Scholars Fellowship. She leads an impressive career serving her community- one which is strengthened by her experiences leading up to it. As a child, Dr. Wheeler, found a passion for healing and helping. She imagined for herself, a career in veterinary medicine. She pursued this passion as an undergraduate student, realizing as she gained experience in both the veterinary and medical settings, that she felt pulled to pursue her passion for healing, helping, and health in the medical field. After completing medical school, she went on to complete her residency in internal medicine at the University of Washington. When asked why she chose internal medicine and primary care specifically, she stated that she loves the depth of the field and appreciates the privilege she has as a physician to hear her patients’ unique stories. However, this job is not without challenges. Dr. Wheeler states that one of the hardest parts of medicine is learning how to live within spaces of uncertainty and helping patients and their families navigate that uncertainty as well.
Another important role Dr. Wheeler has is with her RWJF fellowship project. In this role, she works with a multidisciplinary team, including a veterinarian, a vet tech, and a nurse, to deliver care to people and their animals who do not have housing in the Seattle area. When asked how the pandemic has affected this project, Dr. Wheeler shared that these services are more necessary now than ever before due to diminished access to communal resources such as restrooms and water within the community, as well as fear of communal housing. Dr. Wheeler explained that her multidisciplinary team has found a key ally in their work by partnering with community members of the public who organized on social media to support their neighbors living homeless.
Dr. Wheeler certainly fulfills many important roles, not least of which are wife, mother, and most recently, paddle board coach to her new puppy. All in all, she sets an excellent example for any future internist to look up to.
Spring Scientific Abstract Winners Wrap Up
By Ananth Shenoy, MD FACP
On Friday May 21st we held our Annual Spring Scientific Day. This yearly event is designed for our medical students and residents and focuses on projects and careers in medical scholarship and education. Our format, for the second consecutive year, was virtual using a Zoom platform and included presentations by our associate members on selected research projects as part of our abstract competition and a career mentorship panel moderated by our Planning Committee leader Sandra Demars. We again had a record number of abstracts submitted, with 38 this year! Nine submissions, from both medical students and residents, were selected to give oral presentations at Spring Scientific Day and 17 submissions were presented as posters. We had 90 registered attendees for the conference who watched these superb talks and viewed the poster presentations. For this year’s Spring Scientific, we awarded prizes for the top poster and for the top place medical student and resident oral presentations.
We would like to congratulate Kavya Magham, from the University of Washington School of Medicine, who won our poster competition and give an Honorable Mention to Abharika Sapru, from the Elson S Floyd College of Medicine, as our runner up for the poster competition.
We would also like to congratulate our oral presentation competition winners: for the medical student competition, Joanna Lio, from the University of Washington School of Medicine and for the resident competition, Dr Linda Liu, from the University of Washington Internal Medicine Residency.
Thank you to all our attendees, staff, and judges, and special thanks to our students and residents and to their mentors for all their hard work. We look forward to seeing everyone at the Fall Meeting.
Council of Hospitalists Upcoming Webinar:
By Deepthi Mani, MD FACP
The WA ACP Hospitalist Council invites you to an interactive online conference entitled “Goals of Care Discussions for the Hospitalist” on Thursday, Sept 9th, 2021 from 4 pm – 5 pm. Speakers are Dr Susan Merel and Dr Katy Hicks from the University of Washington and the Cambia Palliative Care Center of Excellence. The session will include tips on when and why to discuss goals of care and frameworks for brief go
2021 Resident Career Forum in Hybrid Format!
Please join us for our 3rd Annual Resident Career Forum! The evening will be focused on revealing the inner workings of the recruitment process and the interview trail from finding open positions to the process of signing a contract! Recruiters from some of our local institutions will offer their insights into the process along with a panel of early career hospitalists and primary care physicians from a variety of Washington hospitals and clinics who will share their experiences and advice from their job searches. Finally, a contract lawyer will review key tips in reviewing a contract. This is an excellent opportunity for internal medicine residents (and anyone else who would like to learn more) to gain a better sense of how to navigate their own first steps into their post-residency careers. The Resident Career Forum will take place at Volney Auditorium (Level 1 Lindeman Pavilion, Virginia Mason Medical Center Downtown Seattle) or virtually via Zoom, on Tuesday, September 14th from 6PM – 8:30PM. Please RSVP HERE for this event.
2021 Annual Chapter Meeting Registration is Open!
Pallavi Arora and Mary Ramsbottom, Co-Chairs, WA-ACP 2021 Annual Meeting
The WA ACP 2021 Annual Chapter Meeting will be November 5th and 6th at the Bell Harbor Convention Center in Seattle. This year, we are planning for a hybrid meeting, with live presentations and in-person networking in Seattle, and the ability to watch via simulcast in Spokane, WA or virtually from the comfort of your home or office. The main meeting includes 12 plenaries and your choice of 3 of 15 workshops on an array of topics designed to address common internal medicine issues in the ambulatory and inpatient arenas. Prior to the meeting, there are in-person opportunities for POCUS training, ABIM preparation and half-day precourses on Thursday, Nov. 4th. We are pleased to continue our collaboration with the WA chapter of the Society of Hospital Medicine as a co-sponsor for the Inpatient Precourse and awards for associates abstracts. We look forward to seeing you in person in November.
Registration is NOW OPEN!
Webcast Watch Parties
This year in addition to offering the opportunity for individual virtual attendance at the Annual Chapter Meeting, we hope to support internists across the state who would like to gather together in their respective communities. We will offer an additional $100 off the cost of virtual registration if you would like to organize a “watch party” with a minimum of 5 attendees. To organize a watch party in your community you need to:
- identify a location that would allow you to live stream (computer, computer connection, and large monitor/projector) and would accommodate as many attendees as you might expect – consider partnering with a sponsoring organization in your community
- let us know that you plan on holding a watch party in your community (contact our Executive Director, Liz Truong at liz@aminc.org)
- decide if you want to collect any extra money to cover the cost of providing food (lunch and snacks on the meeting days) for attendees in your community – we will bundle that charge with the registration fee, collect that for you, then reimburse you or your sponsoring organization the amount collected
- spread the word (and we will also advertise for you to membership)!
If you have any questions about holding a watch party, please reach out to Liz Truong!
Story Slam Submissions Open!
Student/Resident Abstract Submissions Open!
The abstract portal is open for our 2021 Annual Chapter Meeting Resident & Medical Student Abstract Competition! We encourage all abstracts relevant to the field of Internal Medicine, however please note that the majority of abstracts at our fall meeting are “Clinical Vignettes”. While we also accept abstracts in other categories including clinical research, quality improvement, high value care, and medical education scholarship please be aware that our “Spring Scientific” session in May each year continues to grow and is the preferred venue for those categories of work.
The nine top-rated resident/fellow “Clinical Vingette” abstracts will be invited to present a seven-minute oral presentation on November 5th and 6th during the annual meeting’s plenary sessions. Those who accept an invitation to submit poster entries are asked to be present with their posters from 4:00 – 6:30 pm on Friday, November 5th.
Submit your abstract now through August 31st, 2021 HERE.
Nominations for Chapter Awards OPEN!
We have so many amazing Chapter members – the nominations for Chapter awards is now open so please nominate a colleague for one of our awards:
- Alvin J. Thompson Internist of the Year
- Washington ACP Community Service Award
- Washington ACP Full-time Faculty Clinician-Educator
- Washington ACP Golden Apple Award
- Kemi Nakabayashi Washington ACP Chapter Volunteer Award
- Washington ACP Hospitalist of the Year
- Doug Paauw Outstanding Student in Internal Medicine
- Washington ACP Laureate Award
Health & Public Policy Committee Updates
By Co-Chairs Carrie Horwitch, MD FACP & Genevieve Pagalilauan, MD FACP
The HPPC committee met recently to discuss possible resolutions to submit to the WSMA house of delegates this fall. Topics of discussion included forming a stronger pathway for leadership development for medical students and residents via WSMA, issues of Telehealth coverage across state lines, allowing PAs to supervise health sciences students when they work in scope for volunteer service events, and the use of nicotine vaping products and marijuana products by people under the age of 21. We will be working together over the could of weeks to refine our possible resolutions and encourage WA ACP members interested in health policy to join us at our next meeting 8/12 7-8 PM. Contact Liz Truong to be added to the HPPC.
Virtual Leadership Day in Review
Leadership Day is the College’s annual two-day advocacy event that enables our members from across the country to bring our issues of concern to U.S. lawmakers. This is a great opportunity for the College and our members to bring our policy priorities to Congress and try to influence the legislative process on behalf of internal medicine.
While our Washington State delegation would usually travel to Washington DC, this year’s advocacy program was held virtually. Our delegation had meetings on May 26th with our ten Congressional Representatives (or their staff) as well as staff from both Senator Murray’s and Senator Cantwell’s offices to advance ACP’s priority issues.
Please join me in thanking the members of this year’s delegation who all took two days off from the busy schedules to join me in this crucial effort:
- Chris Knight, Governor-elect Washington Chapter ACP, Seattle
- Douglas Hayes, Resident at Skagit Regional Health, Bellingham
- Sarah Heiner, Port Townsend
- Rachel Reeg, Wenatchee
- Gary Forbes, Port Townsend
- Stephanie Fosback, Pullman
- Pranav Mellacheruvu, ESFCOM – WSU medical student, Issaquah
- Carissa Burke, Resident at Trios Health, Kennewick
- Jhoanna Santos, Mount Vernon
- Elizabeth Westling, Resident at University of Washington, Seattle
- Tara Kerr, Resident at Virginia Mason, Bellevue
Our advocacy efforts focused on the College’s legislative priorities for the upcoming year including:
- Expand Health Coverage and Affordability
- Train and Support Frontline Physicians during and after COVID-19
- Support the Value of Primary and Comprehensive Care
- Improve Access to Prescription Drugs and Reduce Costs
- Support Essential Public Health and Research Initiatives
- Promote Health Equity, Social Justice, and Eliminate Disparities
- Expand Access to Telehealth Services and Promote Patient Safety/Privacy
Details of these police priority issues can be found here: https://www.acpservices.org/leadership-day/policy-priority-issues
Membership and Diversity
Gary Forbes & Mary Anderson, Co-Chairs
The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion subcommittee is partnering with the California chapter to produce workshops for all members through the summer and fall- stay tuned for invitations to these events in the near future.
Local, in-person “salons” will provide an opportunity for conversation, fellowship and food this summer and fall- the first event takes place in Port Townsend on August 29- if you are local or plan on being in town do email Gary at gforbes@jeffersonhealthcare.org. Additional events in Seattle and Spokane are planned.
At our most recent committee meeting, we explored the development of mentorships between members of disparate background, e.g. early and late career, urban and rural, and encourage members interested in this concept to get in touch. As always, the committee continues to explore ways to engage members in activities throughout the state and welcomes your suggestions!
Joey Parker’s Teaching Corner
Feedback. The sheer mention of this word can bring up bad memories for anyone, yet it’s an essential, and often under taught aspect of being a physician educator. While this topic has been studied for decades, it’s often one we struggle with for various reasons. Here are 4 tips to get the most out of feedback sessions: 1. Feedback is a two-way street. As the attending, take it upon yourself to share what you’re working on. For example, I may share I’m working on letting our intern present the entire HPI prior to asking questions. 2. Unless necessary for safety, feedback should generally occur after 2-3 days. Anything longer and bad habits develop, and anything fewer is not enough time to see consistency. 3. Ensure the resident knows feedback is happening! Numerous studies have shown a discrepancy with how much feedback attending physicians think is happening and what residents perceive is happening. 4. Praise the effort as much as the result. It’s okay to not know everything. What’s not okay is to not put the time in to look up the next diagnostic test or treatment, or to not form a differential based on the patient’s presentation. Use these tips next time you’re working with residents, and I think you’ll be met with good results.
Updates From National:
Call for Spring 2022 Board of Governors Resolutions
Are you concerned about a practice or clinical issue or have an idea you’d like to suggest? If so, you might consider submitting a resolution to your Governor or chapter council.
Initiating a resolution provides ACP members an opportunity to focus attention at the ACP national level on a particular issue or topic that concerns them. Participating in the Board of Governors resolutions process provides the ACP grassroots member a voice and allows you to shape College policy that impacts the practice of internal medicine. When drafting a resolution, don’t forget to consider how well it fits within ACP’s Mission and Goals. In addition, be sure to use the College’s Priority Themes to guide you when proposing a resolution topic.
Not sure how to begin drafting a resolution? Researching the College’s position on an issue can give you a start. Visit the ACP Online homepage and click the “Advocacy” link in the right-hand, top margin to access ACP policy positions, read about recent ACP advocacy activities, or search ACP’s library of policies and recommendations. Visit your chapter website, too, and click the link under “Advocacy” to access Electronic Resolutions System (ERS) where you can search past or proposed resolutions. A copy of the resolutions process is available on the ERS, which furnishes more details on formatting resolutions, as well the process for submission, review, and approval.
Members must submit resolutions to their Governor and/or chapter council. A resolution becomes a resolution of the chapter once the chapter council approves it. If effecting change interests you, the deadline for submitting new resolutions to be heard at the Spring 2022 Board of Governors Meeting is October 4, 2021.
Share your good idea with us. Draft a resolution.
ACP’s Patient and Interprofessional Partnership Initiative Offers New Toolkits
ACP’s Patient and Interprofessional Partnership Initiative works to promote high-quality education that incorporates interprofessional, interdisciplinary, and patient perspectives and promotes partnership with all members of the health care team. This initiative has recently developed patient-centered, interprofessional education resources for internists, their patients, and their clinical teams in the form of two new educational toolkits:
- Team-Based Care Toolkit: This toolkit was developed collaboratively to share best practices and examples of successful team-based clinical care models that include internal medicine physicians working with nurse practitioners, physician associates (assistants), and other members of the health care team.
- Toolkit for Physicians and Caregivers on Informal Caregiving: This toolkit offers training and resources to help clinicians better partner with caregivers to improve health outcomes for both patients and their caregivers.
More information on the initiative and available resources can be found on ACPs Patient and Interprofessional Education page.
Annual Commercial Supporters 2021 – 2022
