Transformational Times
Words of Hope, Character & Resilience from our Virtual Community
Friday, October 15, 2021
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Thank you to Associate Editors Scott Lamm and Eileen Peterson for curating and editing this week's issue... |
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In This LGBTQ+ Focused Issue: |
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Guest Director's Corner
Perspective/ Opinion
Transformational Ideas Initiative
Transformational Times Podcast
Poetry Corner
- Connor Pedersen: The Desert
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Your Turn
Announcements & Resources
- Submit a speaker proposal to the Kern Institute Event Advisory Committee
- Submit your ideas for a name for the new School of Medicine curriculum
- Submit authorship questions to KICS
- Kern Institute Collaboration for Scholarship Journal Club
- Kern Grand Rounds: Value-Added Medical Education: Reimagining Learner Roles
- Kern National Network News & Events
- Kern Institute Connection Café: New Curriculum: Hopes & Dreams
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Kern Grand Rounds: 414 LIFE: An Innovative Public Health Approach to Breaking the Cycle of Gun Violence in Milwaukee
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Guest Director's Corner
Meliora: Ever Better! Learning to be an LGBTQ+ Physician
By Scott Lamm, M4
In his guest Director’s Corner Scott Lamm, M4 and the guest editor of this issue of the Transformational Times, celebrates National Coming Out Day by talking about his own journey and hopes for the future of medical education …
I sit quietly, listen, and observe as the physician I am shadowing that day talks with the patient’s mother. While shadowing can be a very passive experience, I try to soak in as much as possible, I want to learn everything I can about the clinical reasoning process. I am intent on noticing how the information the physician obtains from talking with and examining the patient leads to a differential diagnosis, a short list of possible explanations for the patient’s predicament. I am actively coming up with my own ideas so that I can compare my growing medical knowledge with this experienced clinician’s.
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Perspective/Opinion
Sex and Gender in Healthcare: It's Time to Let Go of Binary Essentialism
By Richard E. Greene, MD, MHPE
In this invited essay, Dr. Greene shares his experience about what all healthcare professionals—from learners to faculty—struggle with when incorporating sex, gender, and sexuality into health professional curriculum and caring for the LGBTQIA+ community …
“Boy or girl?!” used to be the first question we asked when someone had a baby. This question has become outdated. We are now being challenged to be more precise with our language in order to ensure the dignity and be inclusive of LGBTQ+ people and ensure that this community receives the best possible health care.
I have spent the past few years working to identify and update the ways in which sex and gender are discussed in the medical school curriculum. In this essay, I will explore the common misconceptions that consistently arise when talking with students and colleagues.
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Perspective/Opinion
Finding the SPECTRUM in a Pandemic
By Sarah M. Russel, MD
Dr. Russel, a resident at the University of North Carolina, writes about how difficult it was to come out, move, and start a residency during the global COVID-19 pandemic, but also describes the supportive LGBTQ+ community she has discovered …
Moving during a pandemic is hard. Moving halfway across the country to start residency while simultaneously coming out during a pandemic, however, felt like climbing an emotional Mount Everest. Coming out is naturally an emotionally intimidating and exhausting process no matter the valence of your coming out experience. While I was extremely fortunate to have supportive friends and family, the physical distance from my support system, along with intern year hours that made staying in touch difficult, made me feel like I was coming out in a vacuum. As someone who interviewed while still in the closet, I had no idea how my program would respond to me coming out, for I did not ask questions during interviews about how they embraced LGBTQ+ residents. When I wanted to explore my new identity, the world was locked inside and crossing our fingers for a vaccine to come along. I needed to find my LGBTQ+ community more than ever, yet COVID restrictions rendered gathering impossible.
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Perspective/Opinion
Providing Mental Health Services for Members of the LGBTQ Community During the COVID-19 Pandemic
By Anne E. B. Lakatos, MSN, ANP, APNP
Members of the LGBTQ community, who already live with anxiety and depression, are facing additional stress and strain from the pandemic. Anne Lakatos, who works in the MCW Inclusion Health Clinic, writes about how the increased risks faced by the LGBTQ community must be recognized and addressed …
The balancing act of taking care of our physical and emotional well-being has been significantly strained during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is particularly true for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) community given historical marginalization and challenges associated to accessing equitable, affirming healthcare.
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Perspective/Opinion
Clinical Care of LGBTQ+ Patients
By Victor Magana, M4
Victor Magana reflects on his experience developing the fourth-year medical student elective, Clinical Care of LGBTQ+ Patients, with Dr. Andrew Petroll...
The LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and more) community is an incredibly diverse and wide-reaching population of people that rallies behind the platforms of inclusivity and love. Freedom to love whomever you want and live your most authentic life without fear of persecution, judgment, or hate. Historically, this same treatment has not been reciprocated towards the community, and that has led to major health disparities and stigmas that further isolated LGBTQ+ people.
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Perspective/Opinion
Importance of LGBTQ+ Equity Work in Healthcare
By Aaric Guerriero
Mr. Guerriro shares how his position at Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin as the Patient Equity and Inclusion Manager supports the LGBTQ+ patient and staff experience and provide inclusive and supportive care…
Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin recognizes the key role that we have to play in decreasing the significant health disparities that face the LGBTQ+ community. These disparities include high rates of tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use and abuse, elevating HIV/STI rates, mental health issues particularly depression and anxiety, as well as growing suicide attempts and completions.
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Perspective/Opinion
LGBTPM’s Queer Book Club!
By Brian Conway, Bryn Sutherland and S. Wolf Pulsiano
The LGBTQ+ People in Medicine (LGBTPM) will be reading The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai. The first virtual discussion will be on 12/2/2021 ...
The board members of LGBTQ+ People in Medicine (LGBTPM) are thrilled to share our plans for an upcoming Queer Book Club! Together, we will be reading The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai, which weaves an enthralling tale about navigating the HIV/AIDS crisis in Chicago and Milwaukee and reflects on its impacts on the present day. Our central character, Yale Tishman, is simultaneously launching his career in the academic art world while losing friends and loved ones in the early years of the HIV epidemic; while the development of antiretroviral and protease inhibitor medications have drastically improved health outcomes, Makkai’s reflection on life amidst the HIV crisis through the character of Yale serves to honor and remember this generation. We hope that this book club may serve as an opportunity for various individuals in the MCW LGBTQ+ and Ally community to come together and form meaningful connections over this piece of literature.
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Perspective/Opinion
STD Care in the LGBTQ+ Population
By S. Wolf Pulsiano and Brian Conway
STDs disproportionately affect the LGBTQ+ community. See the data here ...
Rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in Wisconsin as well as in the broader U.S. have skyrocketed in recent years. In Milwaukee County alone, rates of syphilis and gonorrhea almost doubled from 2014 to 2019 (ref. chart), and cases of chlamydia rose 32%. Despite continued outreach efforts, the LGBTQ+ community remains disproportionately impacted.
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Transformational Ideas Initiative
Invisible Identities: Educating Healthcare Providers on Hmong LGBTQ+ Experiences
By William Wong, M4
Medical student William Wong writes about "Invisible Identities," and how exploring them is critical in educating medical and pharmacy students about intersectionality...
What are Invisible Identities? They are social identities that may not be apparent by a person’s appearance until they are disclosed. Such examples include veteran status, LGBTQ+ status, Hmong or other southeast Asian ethnic minority, etc. Our project focused specifically on educating medical and pharmacy students about intersectionality and health disparities within the Hmong LGBTQ+ community.
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Transformational Times
Podcast
In this, the inaugural Transformational Times Podcast, Dr. Kalet, the Kern Institute Director and Dr. Richard Greene, whose commentary is featured in this issue, talk about mentoring and other aspects of becoming a medical educator. Listen in as these two educators, who have known each other over many years engage in a “long form” conversation between trusted colleagues. Dr. Greene shares how caring for his, LGBTQ+ community has been a motivating factor in his life and career.
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The Desert
By Connor Pedersen
Connor Pedersen is an M2 from Minnesota with an interest in medical humanities, creative writing, and infectious disease.
The desert is a barren waste sixty minutes outside of San Diego, at the foot of a mountain range called Coyote.
The desert is a promise made by friends, dreamt up during cold winters.
The desert is a tumble of rocks cooked by a blazing sun, a dry wind flavored with salt.
The desert is a memory of volcanic rock and ancient seas.
The desert is the land outside Ocotillo, where cheap houses bake in the heat and sunburnt elders lounge on rusted chairs.
The desert is a bloom of solitude for those with nowhere else to go.
The desert is sand-scarred faces and chapped lips.
The desert is a held breath, waiting to exhale at the kiss of rain.
The desert is an empty space, a void to be crossed and nothing more.
The desert is the shape of absence, enclosed by distance.
The desert is the husk of a dead cactus, where dry thorns pierce the soles of old boots.
The desert is a garden of sharp things; the rocks, the thorns, the sliver of the moon.
The desert is a colorless photograph, bleached by the sun.
The desert is a green honeybee in a red flower.
The desert is the white glare off sand, cutting scars across your eyes.
The desert is glass split a thousand ways.
The desert is a cold, lonely night.
The desert is crackling wood and licking flames and rare meat cooked by unskilled hands.
The desert is suspicious headlights on a dark horizon.
The desert is the irony of watching distant stars but forgetting the world beyond the fire’s light.
The desert is a restless sleep plagued by nightmares.
The desert is that which seeps through the canvas tent, soaking you like tea leaves in water, like bones in broth.
The desert is a distant memory of years past and friends no longer spoken to.
The desert is sharp, clean edges, undulled by time.
The desert is a prism that splits the self.
The desert is a lens where clarity is found.
The desert is the resting place of bonds cut simply, preserved in sunlight and salt.
The desert is
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Pumpkin bars!! It's my mother's recipe that she passed down. One of my greatest memories of her is fall cooking!!
—Debra Nevels, Staff
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Anything made with pumpkin or squash makes me think of Fall!
—Erin Weileder, Staff
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For this week's reflection prompt, please answer the following:
What is one thing that made you smile this week?
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The Kern Institute Event Advisory Committee invites you to
Submit a Speaker Proposal
The Kern Institute is working to transform medical education to better align with the needs of the public on the basis of character, competence, and caring.
Please complete the form below if you have a speaker you would like to propose.
The Event Advisory Committee will review all proposals based on the following criteria:
- The speaker's qualifications
- Timeliness of the topic
- Relevance to the mission
If chosen, a committee member will extend the invitation to the speaker and open the line of communication.
*Please Note: While we greatly appreciate your enthusiasm, please do not initiate correspondence with the speaker directly. This will ensure that expectations are clear and confusion or misunderstandings are averted.
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Share Your Thoughts
Naming Contest for the new MCW School of Medicine curriculum
The Curriculum Innovation Team invites you to submit your vote for the official naming of the new MCW School of Medicine curriculum.
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Need advice about authorship? Tactics for a tricky situation? Opinions on ordering? Write to the KICS Team and see your question answered in an upcoming issue of the Transformational Times!
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2021 Professionalism Week
Kern Institute Grand Rounds
Value-Added Medical Education: Reimagining Learner Roles
While traditional clinical teaching activities such as taking a history, performing a physical exam, writing notes, and giving oral case presentations are clearly effective educational tools, they often lead to inefficiency and duplication of work. Meanwhile, gaps persist between current state and optimal state for patient care and learning outcomes.
This session will include a panel discussion of opportunities to creatively reimagine student roles on patient care teams and participant reflection on how key concepts might be implemented in their sphere of influence.
Panelists include:
Marty Muntz, MD (Lead)
Erica Chou, MD
Christopher Davis, MD
Catherine Ferguson, MD
John Hayes, DO
Lana Minshew, PhD
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October 20, 2021
Live Virtual Panel Presentation
12:00 - 1:00 pm CT
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KNN Discussion Series
Civic Responsibility: Healthcare and Democracy
Although it is clear factors outside practice walls significantly affect health outcomes, it is less straightforward for healthcare learners and professionals to know what role, if any, to play in civic life and policy issues. To what extent should those in healthcare get involved—and how can they balance personal, professional and organizational values when they do?
In this discussion—moderated by Gregg Margolis, PhD, of the National Academy of Medicine—Drs. Abdul El-Sayed and Jasmine Zapata will share experiences, reflections and their responses to audience questions on navigating civic responsibility.
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October 26, 2021
Live Virtual Event
4:00 - 5:00 pm CT
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This series is presented by the Kern National Network for Caring & Character in Medicine through an investment from
the Kern Family Trust and Kern Family Foundation.
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Kern Institute Collaboration for Scholarship Journal Club
The KICS Journal Club for Medical Education meets monthly on the second Wednesday of the month via Zoom, 12:15–1:00 PM Central. The next meeting will feature Lyn Van Swol, PhD, discussing teaching communication skills.
Interested individuals can join the meeting via Zoom using the link below, or email Michael Braun to be added to the meeting invite.
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Meeting ID: 921 1154 0031
Passcode: KICSJoClub
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November 10, 2021
Zoom Presentation
12:15 - 1:00 pm CT
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Please Join Us
Kern Institute Connection Café:
New Curriculum: Hopes and Dreams
Curriculum redesign is hard work. Many faculty, staff, and students have contributed to this process, which is summarized here. A curriculum, however, is more than just the sum of its parts. For the efforts of so many to be worthwhile, a new curriculum should have a positive impact on students, faculty, staff, patients, and our community. The presenters will share their vision of the potential for key elements of the curriculum design plan to transform medical education for its stakeholders, followed by an opportunity for further discussion.
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November 11, 2021
Live via Zoom
4:00 - 5:00 pm CT
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Please Join Us
Kern Institute Grand Rounds
414 LIFE: An Innovative Public Health Approach to Breaking the Cycle of Gun Violence in Milwaukee
Gun violence is a significant public health crisis in our country. The physical, psychological, and financial impact of violence on individuals, families, and communities is profound. It is a pervasive issue that has only gotten worse since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Milwaukee experienced a historic level of gun violence in 2020 and is on pace to surpass that record this year.
414 LIFE is a public health intervention to prevent and interrupt the transmission of gun violence in Milwaukee. We invite you to join us for an engaging discussion about the progress made and challenges faced by the program, and how the entire MCW community can elevate its voice and engagement in promoting violence prevention efforts on campus and throughout the region. During this session participants will learn:
- The importance of taking a public health approach to violence prevention.
- The journey of implementing a community-healthcare partnership to address gun violence.
- Progress of the program and challenges involved with this approach.
- The importance of delivering healthcare services with compassion to the patients and their families.
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November 18, 2021
Live via Zoom
2:00 - 3:00 pm CT
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The Transformational Times publishes weekly, delivering stories of hope, character and resilience to our virtual community. |
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Editorial Board: Kathlyn Fletcher, MD, Adina Kalet, MD, Wendy Peltier, MD, Erin Weileder, Nabil Attlassy, Julia Bosco, Ana Istrate, Scott Lamm, Sophia Neman, Wolf Pulsiano, Eileen Peterson, Neehal Sukla, Sarah Torres, Anna Visser, James Wu, Serena Zacharias & Emelyn Zaworski
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