Family Health Challenge 2014

The Family Health Challenge is fully underway!  The Healthy Bronx Initiative team held 2 trainings prior to the October 20th kick-off to debut the Family Health Challenge Video Tutorial and new program materials.  The trainings were held on 10/6/14 at Lincoln Hospital and 10/14/14 at Bronx Lebanon.  A total of 41 residents from across NYC hospitals were trained and 39 of those residents signed up at the trainings to teach the weekly health lessons.

 

Week 1-Get to Know Your Community, kicked off on Monday October 20th in the 4th grade classes at PS 83 and during the after-school hours at the Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center both located in the Bronx. During this lesson, children learn about the effects of health messages, specifically advertisements and how ads can influence their decision making.  The following doctors participated in Week 1:

Dr. Ian Justl Ellis, PGY2-EM, St. Luke’s Roosevelt

Dr. Conalu Liwag, PGY2-Peds, St. Barnabas Hospital

Dr. Upma Suneja, PGY1-Peds, Lincoln Hospital

Dr. Fitzgerald Shepherd, PGY1-IM, Harlem Hospital

Dr. George Vermenton, PGY3-Peds, Lincoln Hospital

 

Stay tuned for our weekly updates over the course of the 8-week challenge!

---

PEI is committed to providing resident physicians and faculty with learning opportunities to develop these important systems improvement skills.  PEI also seeks to develop resident physician champions who can share what they have learned with their faculty and resident colleagues – and develop into published QI leaders after completing their training.  

Donor privacy policy

CIR Policy & Education Initiative places the highest priority on protecting the privacy of our donors and holds all information in strict confidence. Donor information is never traded, sold, or rented. If you have questions or concerns, simply contact the CIR Policy & Education initiative office by phone at (212) 356-8100 or email info@cirpei.org.

RFP: QI Clinic for Residents

In 2013, PEI conducted a needs assessment of resident safety and quality training in several New York City teaching hospitals and founded the QI Innovation Institute in 2014 in response to the identified gaps in resident training around quality and safety. One of the Institute’s first projects is to conduct a six-month pilot “Resident QI Clinic” on-site in two New York City teaching hospitals to assess its impact on participating resident physicians and to determine if such a solution can be scaled up to other institutions. PEI is seeking an organization or an individual (physician and/or other healthcare professional) with experience in QI and patient safety to implement the six-month on-site clinics and to be available virtually (via email, telephone, or web conference) for individual follow-up assistance to residents. We intend to evaluate the efficacy of this approach in two hospitals within a six-month time frame and, if successful, expand this model to other hospitals with a need for QI learning and programming. To access the Request for Proposals (RFP) for this project, CLICK HERE. Applications should be no longer than 10 pages and emailed directly to CIR PEI program director Sandy Shea at: sshea@cirpei.org with a cc: to vfernandez@cirseiu.org. The deadline is November 15, 2014 at midnight EST. Should you have questions about the preparation of your RFP, please contact Ms. Shea and Ms Fernandez at the above email addresses.

---

PEI is committed to providing resident physicians and faculty with learning opportunities to develop these important systems improvement skills.  PEI also seeks to develop resident physician champions who can share what they have learned with their faculty and resident colleagues – and develop into published QI leaders after completing their training.  

Donor privacy policy

CIR Policy & Education Initiative places the highest priority on protecting the privacy of our donors and holds all information in strict confidence. Donor information is never traded, sold, or rented. If you have questions or concerns, simply contact the CIR Policy & Education initiative office by phone at (212) 356-8100 or email info@cirpei.org.

New Crop of Medical Residents to Volunteer in Haiti

It’s been four years since the 2010 earthquake devastated Haiti, but there is still a great need for medical care and doctors to deliver that care. Now in its third year, CIR’s Policy and Education Initiative Haiti volunteer program, in collaboration with Project Medishare, will send 20 new CIR members and alumni to work at the Hospital Bernard Mevs in Port-au-Prince.

CIR grantees donate personal vacation time to spend a week in Haiti to work side-by-side with a team of local medical professionals at the trauma center and teaching hospital to treat hundreds of patients at the only critical care and trauma hospital in the country.

“I am originally from Haiti, and my life dream is to eventually be able to give back to this beautiful country that needs our help,” said Beatrice Kenol, MD, one of the chosen residents from the 2014 cohort. “The opportunity to make a difference in a patients’ life, while testing my clinical skills in a resource-poor environment, will hopefully strengthen my acumen, but more importantly, my desire to continue making time to serve others.”

The 2014 cohort includes CIR members and alumni from hospital systems across the country. Grantees deploy now through fall 2014. These inspiring individuals include:

• Liliya Abrukin, Bellevue Hospital Center (New York)
• Tokundo Akande, Bronx-Lebanon (New York)
• Anel Alexis, The Brooklyn Hospital Center (New York)
• Brandon Allport , Jackson Health System (Florida)
• Marvinia Charles, Rutgers-NJMS (New Jersey)
• Erica Crew, Kings County Medical Center (New York)
• Lindsay Gaddis, St. Barnabas Hospital (New York)
• Vibha Gupta, Bellevue Hospital Center (New York)
• Beatrice Kenol, LAC+USC (California)
• Joan Medina, Rutgers-NJMS (New Jersey)
• Ezekiel Melquist, Kings County Medical Center (New York)
• Brian Mikolasko,Wyckoff Heights Medical Center (New York)
• Andrew Oh, Bellevue Hospital Center (New York)
• Deliana Peykova, Lincoln Medical Center (New York)
• Joseph Point du Jour, Jacobi Medical Center (New York)
• Frank Quintero, St. Barnabas Hospital (New York)
• Ambreen Rahman, Rowan/SOM (New Jersey)
• Francoise Raiola, Harbor-UCLA (California)
• Mona Rezapour, LAC+USC (California)
• Richard Salway, LAC+USC (California)

Visit www.cirseiu.org/haiti for updates on Project Medishare and resident experiences in Haiti.

---

PEI is committed to providing resident physicians and faculty with learning opportunities to develop these important systems improvement skills.  PEI also seeks to develop resident physician champions who can share what they have learned with their faculty and resident colleagues – and develop into published QI leaders after completing their training.  

Donor privacy policy

CIR Policy & Education Initiative places the highest priority on protecting the privacy of our donors and holds all information in strict confidence. Donor information is never traded, sold, or rented. If you have questions or concerns, simply contact the CIR Policy & Education initiative office by phone at (212) 356-8100 or email info@cirpei.org.

What's Your QI IQ?

Why Focus on QI Training for Resident Physicians?

As frontline care givers, resident physicians are in a unique position to identify – and correct – unsafe and inefficient practices that lead to less than optimal care, drive up health care costs and, in some cases, result in tragic and preventable medical errors.

April 13: What's Your QI IQ?

The CIR Policy and Education Initiative (PEI) partnered with the Healthcare Transformation Project of Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations to sponsor a one day conference for residents and medical students on the topic of resident physician leadership in quality improvement and patient safety. 

The conference, entitled “What’s your QI IQ?” featured interactive didactic sessions led by Dr. James Pelegano, Program Director for the Jefferson School of Population Health’s Master’s Program for Healthcare Quality and Safety; small-group breakout sessions that allowed participants to practice and refine methods; a panel discussion with residents on current QI projects in their hospitals; and a hands-on workshop on the formulation and writing of QI/Patient Safety project funding proposals. Click here to download materials.

November 23, 2013: How to Be Scholarly in Quality Improvement

Sponsored by Albert Einstein College of Medicine and PEI Sponsored the all-day conference was held at the New York Academy of Medicine in New York City on November 23, 2013 and features two nationally-known leaders in the field of quality improvement:

• Dr. Greg Ogrinc, Director of the Office of Research and Innovation in Medical Education and an Assistant Professor of Community and Family Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School. Dr. Ogrinc is widely recognized as the lead author of the SQUIRE (Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence) guidelines.
• Karyn Baum, MD, MSEd, is Professor of Medicine and Associate Chair for Clinical Improvement at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Baum has published and presented on quality, safety and value-based medicine throughout the world and reviews manuscripts for several quality and GME journals. Click here to view video & download materials.

January 18, 2014: How to Provide Cost Conscious Care 

Another one-day conference held at the New York Academy of Medicine in New York City the conference program featured the Teaching Value Project, an initiative of Costs of Care funded by the ABIM Foundation, which brought together a multidisciplinary group of medical educators and health economists to teach care providers how to practice high value, cost conscious medicine. Click here to view presentations and download materials. Click here to view video & download materials.

---

PEI is committed to providing resident physicians and faculty with learning opportunities to develop these important systems improvement skills.  PEI also seeks to develop resident physician champions who can share what they have learned with their faculty and resident colleagues – and develop into published QI leaders after completing their training.  

Donor privacy policy

CIR Policy & Education Initiative places the highest priority on protecting the privacy of our donors and holds all information in strict confidence. Donor information is never traded, sold, or rented. If you have questions or concerns, simply contact the CIR Policy & Education initiative office by phone at (212) 356-8100 or email info@cirpei.org.

Training in the Community

The Family Health Challenge --

Creating Opportunities for Residents to Serve and Learn Outside the Hospital

The Bronx is facing an obesity crisis and its children are one of its most powerful solutions. According to the New York City Department of Health, while the rate of overweight and obese New Yorkers is 58 percent, in the Bronx, 70 percent of adults are overweight or obese. Additionally, studies show children who are obese are more likely to be obese as adults.

With these daunting statistics in mind, the CIR Healthy Bronx Initiative (HBI) collaborated with the Mary Mitchell Center (MMC) and Dr. Elizabeth Walker of the Prevention and Control Core of the Einstein Diabetes Research Center to launch the Family Health Challenge. The Challenge aims to educate Bronx children about nutrition, physical activity and environmental factors that influence their decisions regarding health. Their teachers are physicians in training from inner city safety-net hospitals. These doctors want to move beyond the hospital walls and the treatment of disease to engage the communities they serve in a discussion of preventative health.

The CIR Policy and Education Initiative, with funding from the Patient Care Trust Fund,  is sponsoring the Challenge as it completes is 2013 pilot phase of creating and implementing a nutrition curriculum aimed at children aged 7 to 11. The study goal is to determine if that education can influence behavior to favor healthier food choices when available. As the Principal Investigator of the project, Dr. Walker has been involved in the development and evaluation of the Challenge and will publish the results.

The eight-week curriculum is taught by resident physicians volunteering at two Bronx sites – PS 20 and MARC Academy. The goals are:

1. To increase knowledge about the benefits of eating vegetables and fruits, the difference between serving size vs. portion size, the adequate amount of exercise, the reality of eating fast foods, the benefits of eating whole-grain foods and the environmental factors that contribute to health decisions;
2. To improve attitudes regarding physical activity and the healthy food options they can make for themselves and/or with the help of their parents andguardians;
3. To change behavior regarding choices of food and beverage and exercise;
4. To educate children regarding the negative consequences of obesity on their health.

The program also encourages the participants to impart these messages outside of the school setting. Each week the students are reminded to talk about the challenges at home with their parents, siblings, and/or extended family. With this reach, the Challenge hopes to impact a greater number of people. 

During the spring of 2013, 11 residents from 8 hospitals volunteered to help Dr. Walker to develop and critique the curriculum materials and to teach in the 8 week program. For the current fall 2013 program, there are 20 residents from CIR's Bronx chapters participaing.

Once the pilot is complete and the curriculum finalized, the Family Health Challenge can be replicated in other schools and after-school programs across the city. In the spring of 2013, Dr. Elena Ivanina, a resident at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, traveled to the Bronx to participate in the Challenge. She was so impressed that in the fall of 2013, as a fellow at the New York City Department of Health, Dr. Ivanina is introducing a Family Health Challenge program in Brooklyn.

“I have learned so much about my patients’ everyday lives, which helps me understand my patients better and allows me to provide care in a more holistic, bio-psychosocial way. This opens your eyes to the realities and hardships of your patients.” 

Donor privacy policy

CIR Policy & Education Initiative places the highest priority on protecting the privacy of our donors and holds all information in strict confidence. Donor information is never traded, sold, or rented. If you have questions or concerns, simply contact the CIR Policy & Education initiative office by phone at (212) 356-8100 or email info@cirpei.org.