UMSOM class of 2015 alum and psychiatrist Dr. Melissa Shepard sits down with Dr. Neda Frayha for some real talk on the mental health challenges facing health care workers in the COVID-19 pandemic, and some concrete, tangible tools to help us get through this period. Spoiler alert: it’s more than yoga. This conversation originally aired on Hippo Education's podcasts.
Resources:
References:
Lai J, Ma S, Wang Y, et al. Factors associated with mental health outcomes among health care workers exposed to coronavirus disease 2019. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(3):e203976. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.3976
Chen QC, Liang M, Li Y, et al. Mental health care for medical staff in China during the COVID-19 outbreak. Lancet Psychiatry 2020; 7(4):E15-16. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30078-X
Garfin DR, Silver RC, Holman EA. The novel coronavirus (COVID-2019) outbreak: Amplification of public health consequences by media exposure. Health Psychology. 2020 May;39(5): 355-357. Advance online publication. doi: https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000875
Rosenberg AR. Cultivating deliberate resilience during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. JAMA Pediatr. Published online April 14, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.1436
Galea S, Merchant RM, Lurie N. The mental health consequences of COVID-19 and physical distancing: the need for prevention and early intervention. JAMA Intern Med. Published online April 10, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.1562
Pfefferbaum B, North CS. Mental Health and the Covid-19 Pandemic. N Engl J Med. Published online April 13, 2020. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp2008017
Times are weird. In the first week of April 2020, Drs. Kimberly Lumpkins and Neda Frayha had a conversation about what is going on in the world, how they're coping, and some healthier approaches moving forward.
These strange, scary days of the covid-19 pandemic are filled with uncertainty. In this special episode, we give space to your worries, answer some questions, and share guidance from experts on topics ranging from curriculum requirements to volunteer opportunities to finding room for hope.
Resources:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html
https://www.massgeneral.org/psychiatry/guide-to-mental-health-resources
https://www.instagram.com/covidup2date/
Our own Infectious Diseases specialist Dr. Devang Patel and our regular host Dr. Neda Frayha discuss the latest, clinician-focused updates on the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. This conversation originally aired on Hippo Education's Primary Care Reviews and Perspectives podcast.
It's that time of year when 4th year students are just waiting for Match Day. In 2018, the residency match didn't go the way that Dr. Vibha Rao had hoped. Here she shares so much warmth, wisdom, and honesty about not matching the first time around, how it felt, what she did, and how she's doing now. (Spoiler alert: she's doing wonderfully and thriving in a residency program she loves.) Her story is about so much more than the match: it's about overcoming obstacles, leaning on support structures, and finding joy in surprising places.
References:
Change to Pass/Fail Score Reporting for Step 1. United States Medical Licensing Examination. https://www.usmle.org/inCus/ (Accessed 15 Feb 2020)
Carmody JB. #USMLEPassFail: A Brave New Day. The Sheriff of Sodium. https://thesheriffofsodium.com. (Accessed 19 Feb 2020)
Carmody JB. Step 1 Mania: The Case for #USMLEPassFail. 28 April 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-V6dOWxNz0&feature=youtu.be (Accessed 19 Feb 2020)
Carmody JB, Rajasekaran SK. More on the Role of Step 1 of USMLE Step 1 in Resident Selection. Acad Med 2019; 94(7):921. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000002744
Carmody JB. On Residency Selection and the Quantitative Fallacy. J Grad Med Educ 2019; 11(4):420-421. doi: 10.4300/JGME-D-19-00453.
Carmody JB, Sarkany D, Heitkamp DE. The USMLE Step 1 Pass/Fail Reporting Proposal: Another View. Acad Radiol 2019; 26(10):1403-1406.
Carmody JB, Rajasekaran SK. On Step 1 Mania, USMLE Score Reporting, and Financial Conflict of Interest at the National Board of Medical Examiners. Acad Med 2019 Dec 17. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000003126. [Epub ahead of print]
We wrap up this mini-series of advice column episodes with Dr. Kimberly Lumpkins by looking ahead - to choosing a career, finding a job, and leading a purpose-driven life.
Happy new year! We kick off 2020 with part 2 of an ongoing series with Dr. Kimberly Lumpkins in which we ask her your advice questions. In this episode, we tackle surviving the preclinical years, what to do if your grades and scores are not where you hoped they might be, and whether or not all specialties are created equal.
You asked for it - and here it is! Part 1 of an ongoing series with Dr. Kimberly Lumpkins in which we ask her your advice questions. In future episodes, we'll tackle why 2nd year can be so hard, what to do if you're not performing well academically, how to navigate toxic cultures, and how to find a job. But first, in today's episode, Dr. Lumpkins answers your relationship questions... what to look for in a partner, how to make relationships work in school and trainings, and whether or not to have kids.
Why does storytelling in medicine matter? How can it impact our lives, and the care we provide our patients, for the better? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Emily Silverman, academic hospitalist at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and creator and host of The Nocturnists, to learn more about the role of narrative medicine in our work and well-being. This conversation originally aired on Hippo Education's Primary Care Reviews and Perspectives podcast.
Q: What happens when a few medical students decide not only to nurture their own creativity, but to provide venues for other students to do the same? A: The Creative HeArts team at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. In this episode, medical students Fatima Sallman and Michael Sikorski share the origin story behind this student group and its publications (White Coat Reflections and The Healer's Art), how every voice matters, and why *you* should tap into your inner artist.
Hopefully we all try to do the right thing on a regular basis, but how many of us have blown the whistle on a massive public health crisis? Dr. Neda Frayha got to interview Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the Flint, MI pediatrician who opened the world's eyes to the lead in the water that was poisoning Flint's citizens. They talk about how to become a more effective patient advocate, and how to face situations that feel scary but ultimately benefit our patients. This conversation originally aired on Hippo Education's Primary Care Reviews and Perspectives podcast.
People talk a lot about Step 1. But we don't always talk candidly about what happens when a student gets a disappointing score. In this episode, we do just that. Dr. Katy Eslami shares her USMLE Step 1 story, including the ways she moved past her test score (and the ways she's still working on it), how she talked about her score in residency interviews, and what she'd do differently now if given the chance.
It's that time of year again! Our brand new MS3s are hitting the wards, clinics, and ORs for the first time. What do you need to know as you embark on this major transition? We revisit this honest and deep conversation with two members of the class of 2018, Dr. Ida Ahmadizadeh and Dr. Stefano Muscatelli, as they share words of wisdom, what surprised them the most about their new roles, and how to cope with difficult moments.
We've covered Step 1 and Step 2 Clinical Knowledge; now, it's time for Step 2 CS! What is it? Where can you take it? What are some widespread myths about the exam that need to be debunked? How should you study for it? Our two guests are Ms. Jennifer Llewellyn, Senior Academic Support Coordinator at the UMSOM, and newly minted Dr. Katy Eslami, who is about to start her Pediatrics residency at UMMC. Together they break down everything you need to know about Step 2 CS.
It's that time of year! Our fourth years are about to graduate and move on to their first year of residency. We are revisiting the best parts of two early podcast conversations on the transition to internship: one with Dr. Nubia Seyoum, Emergency Medicine physician at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, and the other with Dr. Barathi Sivasailam, Internal Medicine chief resident at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Both share wisdom about the hard times, the rewarding moments, and what they wish they had known about intern year that nobody had told them.
What does the former CFO of Pixar have to do with physician burnout and the culture of medicine? You're about to find out: our own Dr. Neda Frayha interviews Dr. Todd Cassese and Lawrence Levy, who helped build Pixar into the company it is today. Together they talk about changing professional cultures, the narrative of medicine being out of sync with the reality of medicine, perfectionism, emotional intelligence, and how Eastern philosophy's The Middle Way can apply to all of our lives. This is part 1 of a conversation that originally aired on Hippo Education's Primary Care Reviews and Perspectives podcast.
Life is full of difficult decisions. So is a medical career. From specialty choices to residency program rank lists to job possibilities, the road of hard decisions can feel endless. Dr. Nikki Southall recently made a difficult choice in her career, and she shares her approach to decision-making with us. Let's gather some information, lean on the wisdom of others, and get comfortable with some discomfort.
This was supposed to be a conversation about life as a surgeon, and life as a woman in surgery. And it is. But it is also a brutally honest and often hilarious conversation about how to choose a specialty, identify mentors and sponsors, fail at something every now and then, and prioritize your mental health when the walls are crashing down around you. In this conversation, Dr. Kim Lumpkins shares her path to becoming a pediatric surgeon and urologist, and So. Much. More.
In November 2018, the Baltimore Sun published articles about a sexual harassment lawsuit and broader workplace culture concerns at the UMSOM. In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Nancy Lowitt, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Professional Development and now Director of the Culture Transformation Initiative, to learn what changes are happening at the medical school as a result. How do we transform a workplace culture? What comes next?
Resources:
Happy new year! We kick off 2019 with a conversation about social justice, implicit bias, social determinants of health, and patient advocacy with the course director of our Social Justice elective, Dr. Darlene Robinson, and third year medical student Bre Tracey. We talk about what advocacy means, why it’s so important for us as clinicians, and where to begin if the endeavor feels too overwhelming at first.
Resources:
AAMC Government Affairs and Advocacy
Jama Oncology article by Dr. Darlene Robinson – The Patient I Thought I Knew