Transformational Times
Words of Hope, Character & Resilience from our Virtual Community
Friday, September 25, 2020
In this Issue:

Director's Corner
  • Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: RGB and Dad

Perspectives
  • Camille B. Garrison, MD: The Lonely Only: Physician Reflections on Race, Bias, and Residency Program Leadership - Winner of the 2020 MCW President's Prize for Medical Creative Writing
  • ThriveOn, a Community-Centered Collaboration, has Broad-Reaching Focus Areas
  • Jean Mallett, MBA, and MCW M2 medical students Enrique Avila, British Fields, Jamal Jarrett, Adriana Perez, and Morgan Lockhart Virtual Health Science Program Hosts a Week of Health and Science Exploration

Poetry Corner
  • Scott Lamm: The Silent Becoming

Your Turn
  • See how readers answered last week's prompt: What is your favorite thing about fall in Wisconsin?
  • Respond to this week's prompt: How do you unwind after a long week of work and school?

Announcements & Resources
  • Register for the Kern Institute's Upcoming Virtual Events
  • Kern National Network Connections Newsletter - September 2020
Director's Corner
RBG and Dad

by Adina Kalet, MD, MPH

In this Director’s Corner, Adina Kalet tries to reconcile the awesome vulnerability of being a patient, the potential transformative power of our profession, and the lessons learned from the life of an American hero.

This week, the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg has been on my mind and, as I considered what to share in my column, I realized how important she has been to us. I have benefited from, and been moved by, her critical and prophetic message that, “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made.” For women of my generation, this was not the norm and it is still far from a guarantee. Thanks to the work of RBG and a handful of others, some of us now find ourselves “at the table,” making decisions and expanding our spheres of influence as we attempt to make the world a better place. Her work led directly to transformative change. Many of us who would have otherwise been sidelined are now heard in ways that would never have been possible without her.

Ruth Bader Ginsberg was an American hero and transformational leader, par excellence. People on all points of the political spectrum have noted her uncanny ability to listen, her impact on society, her brilliance and courage, her prophetic legal mind, her ability to see things as they should be for all people, and her perseverance. I have medical colleagues who take on the challenges inherent in medicine the same way.

This week, the chance to be heard became personal.
Congratulations to
Camille B. Garrison, MD


2020 Winner of the MCW President’s Prize for Medical Creative Writing
"Did my colleague intend to offend me by his comment? I don’t think so. But that’s how implicit bias works. If we are not in tune with our personal biases and how to stop biased thinking as it occurs, those thoughts will eventually be expressed in the open. …  I have chosen to fully embrace the responsibilities of being the Lonely Only, as the downstream impacts of my efforts can have enormous implications for the care of my patients and the health of my clinic community."


from
“The Lonely Only: Physician Reflections on Race, Bias, and Residency Program Leadership”

by
Camille B. Garrison, MD
Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine.
Dr. Garrison works and teaches in the Columbia-St. Mary’s Family Health Center
ThriveOn, a Community-Centered Collaboration, has Broad-Reaching Focus Areas

The community-centered collaboration led by the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), the Greater Milwaukee Foundation (GMF), and Royal Capital Group has chosen the name of the ThriveOn Collaboration as the organizations continue deep resident and stakeholder engagement together to inform priorities and investments for supporting a thriving King Drive corridor and its connected neighborhoods.

The ThriveOn Collaboration champions a vision for a Milwaukee that is equitable, healthy and thriving for all. Achieving this vision will require durable partnerships with the community, focus on places where investment has been scarce, and supporting people of color, especially African Americans, who are disproportionately affected by health and economic disparities.

The ThriveOn Collaboration is built on the fundamental understanding that where a person lives has a tremendous impact on their health and wellbeing because housing, education, jobs, health resources and social connections are the underpinnings of healthy lives and communities.
Perspective
Virtual Health Science Program Hosts a Week of Health and Science Exploration

by Jean Mallett, MBA, and MCW M2 medical students: Enrique Avila, British Fields, Jamal Jarrett, Adriana Perez, and Morgan Lockhart

The Office of Student Inclusion and Diversity, in collaboration with the Kern Institute, hosted a Virtual Health Science Program July 20 - July 23. Traditional summer programs, including the Diversity Summer Health-related Research Education Program (DSHREP), Apprenticeship in Medicine (AIM) and Research Opportunity for Academic Development in Science (ROADS), were re-imagined in a virtual landscape due to COVID-19 to provide high school and college students with an enriching summer experience.

Developed and facilitated by five amazing M2 students - Enrique Avila, British Fields, Jamal Jarrett, Morgan Lockhart and Adriana Perez - this week-long experience allowed 41 students to thrive as they explored topics such as social determinants of health and health equity, MCAT prep and myths about medical school. 
Poetry is central to the very core of humanity.
It is universal in its accessibility, yet infinitely diverse
in its interpretation.


This week Scott Lamm shares with us a poem he wrote while reflecting on his rotation with Transplant Surgery. Scott is a current MKE-M3 and co-section editor for the TT Poetry Corner. 



The Silent Becoming
by Scott Lamm


A brief moment of silence
I cannot hear,
But I can tell my favorite song is playing
I can tell my family grieves

My heart beats
Perfusing what is left of me
Quickly my body is stripped of vitality
My heart whisks away
My liver, kidneys

I may be gone,
But my spirit lives
I live through my children
I live through your re-beating heart
Your newly perfused liver, kidneys

What was mine is now yours
My heart
My liver, kidneys
Are now your heart
Your liver, kidneys
Take care of me
As I’ll be looking over you


Submit your poems or poems you love for next week’s poetry corner to odavies@mcw.edu and slamm@mcw.edu
"My favorite thing about fall in Wisconsin is going to Apple Holler. The endless rows of apple trees, the pumpkin patch, the corn maze, all fill me with a sense of peace and transition. The bright and busy vibe of summer is replaced with the crisp and calm air of fall. Everything at Apple Holler is related to, well, apples... but it's a great reminder of the season ahead. Everyone is happy in an apple orchard, and nothing compares to the first sip of a fresh cup of warm apple cider." -Anonymous, Staff


"I love living in the Midwest, where seasons change and variety is the spice of life. Fall has always been my favorite season, a time when the heat of the summer gives way to chilly days and nights, when hoodie sweatshirts replace bathing suits, and the smell of apples baking comforts the soul." -Kerrie Quirk, Staff


"Our family tries to go apple picking every year. That means apple pies, apple sauce, apple crisp. I also love looking at bright yellow leaves against the clear blue sky. And the ash trees-I love the way their leaves almost glow." -Kathlyn Fletcher, Faculty


"When the air turns crisp, it brings a promise of new beginnings and fresh starts. As the leaves change, they remind us that we too can change and become something different. I love taking long walks to admire the colorful leaves and hear them crunch under my feet!" -Jacqueline Schaefer, Student





"Hiking at Holy Hill and seeing the beautiful colors on the trees!" -Mathew Letizia, Faculty


Respond to next week's reflection prompt:


How do you unwind after a long week of work or school?
Transformational Ideas Initiative
MCW Education Innovation Celebration!

Please join us in celebrating innovative ideas for the transformation of medical education at MCW!

Learn about the 15 projects being implemented this academic year and how you can join us as we transform medical education here at MCW! Thirteen of our projects focus on URM student inclusion, and 8 projects are student-led this year.

Join us on the journey to transform medical education!
October 14, 2020
Live Virtual Presentation
4:00 - 6:00 pm CT
Kern Connection Cafe Presentation

Student Activism & Advocacy in Action

Advocacy is needed more than ever to address systemic racism, social determinants of health, and the health disparities that vulnerable populations face. Please join us for a panel presentation by MCW students Christian Hernandez, Sherrea Jones, and Jonathan Horng.
October 15, 2020
Live Virtual Presentation
4:00 - 5:00 pm CT
The Kern National Network
Click anywhere on the image for the KNN's September 2020 Newsletter
Our Patients Need Your Blood!
The pandemic has changed so much about our day-to-day lives, but it certainly hasn’t changed the need for life-saving blood products for our seriously ill patients. 

Current supplies are limited, which impacts our patients with cancer, chronic anemia, and solid organ transplants.   

Give the gift of hope. Our patients need you today! 
MCW COVID-19 Resource Center
The Transformational Times publishes weekly, delivering stories of hope, character and resilience to our virtual community.
Not getting our newsletters? Sign-up today!