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Showing posts from June, 2016

Foundations in Educational Excellence

Every July 1st marks the start of a new academic year and across the country new interns, residents and fellows show up with their bright white lab coats eager to start the training.  Such is also the case at MedStar Health, however this year, on-boarding and orientation took on a new format as we further coordinate for system-wide graduate medical education (GME).

'Foundations in Educational Excellence' started with a three-day, off-site orientation for all GME housestaff new to a MedStar hospital.  By bringing everyone together, the GME office, under the leadership of Jamie Padmore and Jen Remington, were able to tailor a superb experience that runs from the basics to embedding quality and safety (HRO = high reliability organization) training.

The first group of over 300 had orientation in the last weeks, while a second and third group will complete their orientation by next week.  By the end, almost 500 housestaff will have had a great experience, had a chance to interact with new colleagues, meet Dr. Evans (the system chief medical officer), and even get a chance to relax one evening at a Nationals game!




First Patent!

Congratulations to Erin Felger on receiving her first patent for a device to aid in educating surgeons on thyroid cancer surgery.  Erin was presented this plaque (which is a replica of her patent) by Dr. Mark Smith, the Chief Innovation Officer and director of MedStar Institute for Innovation (MI2 which runs MedStar Inventor Services).  


We are particularly proud of Erin because this concept and the research needed to develop and test this approach was conceived during her time in MedStar Teaching Scholars (and more information is available on the MedStar website)

 The patent was presented today during the Making Health event at Georgetown sponsored by MI2. MedStar was very well represented.

The event was a blast!  Lots of very cool inventions - my favorite was the 'zone out' device that plays new age sounds and a vibrating chair that totally brings you into a calm place, even with all the activity and energy that was in the room.


Do You Want to Help Make Health?


Are you interesting in developing a solution to a healthcare problem? DO you have a great idea that can help the MedStar Health community on it's path to wellness?

I am pleased to share with you an invitation to  Making Health as part of the White House Week of Making. Co-hosted with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Idea Lab and National Institutes of Health, we are welcoming  clinicians and researchers with an opportunity to interact with health providers, patients, designers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and others who are creating healthcare solutions – and learn about the tools and resources available for making their own solutions.

We are defining “making” as using technology and design tools to create physical objects” (versus software solutions).


The event is being hosted on June 23, from 2:00 – 7:00 pm, at the Georgetown University Leavey Center. Brief informal talks will be scheduled between 2:00 and 5:30 pm, followed by a reception until 7:00 pm.

At the event, there will be hands-on creative exhibitions featuring examples of 3-D printing, home-made training aids, and inventions; information from the FDA; NIH 3-d and tech transfer examples; patent models from the Smithsonian’s innovation exhibit; projects from nurse makers; 1776 startups; and more.


This special event will also provide attendees with an opportunity to share creative ideas with key leaders from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (including the National Institutes of Health and U.S. Food and Drug Administration), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and many more.

To attend, please RSVP to the MedStar Institute for Innovation at: www.maker.medstarhealth.org

Edler Lecture


Most of the time, I post things on this blog about things happening around MedStar but this time, I decided to share my experience last week at the American Society of Echocardiography. This professional society with more than 17,000 members (15-20% international) had their annual meeting last week in Seattle with almost 3000 attendees.

I was honored to give the Edler Lecture during the opening ceremonies. Dr. Inger Edler was the founder of echocardiography approximately 50 years ago. My lecture, "The Future of Echocardiography, Disrupter or Disrupted?" highlighted how far we have come in the last 50 years but also how we are at a vulnerable stage to be disrupted by others or be proactive and create our future through disruptive technologies. It was fun to pull on some of the literature on disruptive innovation, look at the latest and greatest technologies being developed and speculate on how they can be applied to echo.

While I have given many lectures in my life, speaking in front of so many people (many of whom in the audience I have learned from over the years and others who have become close personal friends) was a special joy. If I was able to stimulate just a few to think differently about our field and how they can contribute to its success, then I will consider the lecture a success.


Spring Town Halls

Last week concluded the MHRI spring town halls. After holding three events in different locations throughout MedStar, I can say that our researcher teams and support staff are truly engaged and embedded into the MedStar system.

We focused part of this season’s town hall on the IT downtime. While it was a trying time for all, I was pleased to hear YOUR feedback on what positive things happened during that time. For each of the town halls, we created a word cloud of your feedback. Much of the feedback centered on the communication and teamwork that we embraced during that time, which I was pleased to hear.

I also presented an update on the Pulse Survey that was launched in March. In between the associate surveys that are completed bi-annually throughout the MedStar system, we have a short survey that we run to get a “pulse” on the state of our associate engagement. You, the associates, have been letting us know that while you feel engaged (with 79% positive scores), there are a few zones that merit some attention and gives us a path to focus on for the future. We are continuing the work we began last year on the career ladder and methods of professional development, which is still an area that we can improve on. I let people know that in the coming academic year, MHRI budgeted substantially more funds to further support professional development activities for all associates.



I closed the presentation with my thoughts on an Academic Health System, how MedStar is beginning to move towards that and how we, as researchers, are part of the equation. The goals of MedStar 2020 are supported by the work of MHRI and our entire research community.
Since I forgot to share the answers to the raffle question at MWHC, they are below. Congratulations to our winners! First place, Surafel Zenebe; second place, Biruk Teklehaymanot; and third place, Max Kollmer!

I will be looking at your feedback on how MHRI can improve over the next year. If you have any additional questions or feedback, please contact me or use the 2-Way Communication feature on StarPort. Thank you to everyone who attended the town halls and for those who joined me in presenting!

From Notes from Neil:  Recently, Dr. Weissman posted about a new mobile health offering for associates. What was it? d. MedStar eVisit 


From FOCUS Newsletter:  In the May issue, we recapped the 2016 MedStar Health Research Symposium. Which partner company was the keynote speaker from? b. CVS Health 


From Important Things to Know: For all associates, which of the following must be completed by June 30? Technically, d. Both B & C, but we also accepted b. SiTEL Mandatory Trainings and c. Research Compliance Training

MedStar Mobile Simulation Lab Makes a Stop at MHRI!

It’s not every day that the MHRI finance department performs laparoscopic surgery!


On Monday, MHRI associates at University Town Center were visited by the MedStar Mobile Simulation Lab! The mobile simulation lab is a 40 foot truck that brings the same experiential learning offered in the MedStar simulation centers to the front doors of any MedStar Health entity.

The incredibly dynamic mobile unit includes two enclosed training bays, a full lecture/debrief space and two control rooms. The informative and engaging MedStar simulation instructors were on hand to provide live demos of the equipment to associates.  

Many thanks to the Simulation Training and Education Lab (SiTEL) for coming out to visit MHRI. To schedule the mobile lab visit: http://sitel.org/clinical-simulation-services/

CTMS On-Target

While I haven't written recently about it, we are moving forward with our joint Georgetown Unversity & MHRI CTMS (Clinical Trial Management System) program. We have been making great progress on the implementation of the CTMS. 

With 4 working groups meeting every other week, we are making significant strides towards rolling out the pilot. We have seen considerable leadership, initiative, teaming and collaboration from those that have been directly involved. Thank you to those who are continuing to commit their time to this endeavour.

A recent advisory council meeting had us presenting the latest update from the 4 work groups, which constitute 75+ members! Members include CRCs, hospital/professional billing, clinical research administrative support, etc. from both MedStar and GUMC. Below is an example of the great work that has been completed so far.


We are continuing to make great strides in progress and I am looking forward to the successful launch of the program later this year!

Experiencing MedStar Union Memorial Hospitals’ Authors’ Day

Guest Blogger: Katie Carlin, Director, Research Development, Planning and Communications

Last week, I had the privilege of attending MedStar Union Memorial Hospitals’ Authors’ Day! Authors’ Day is sponsored by Union’s Medical Library and celebrates the medical/nursing articles, posters, books, chapters and presentations that were published or presented in 2015 and submitted to the library. What I didn’t know, and was amazed to discover, is that Authors’ Day began at Union 22 years ago!


This year the event was held in partnership with MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital and included a poster display, lunch and live streaming of presenters.

Operating in a system as large as MedStar, it’s always wonderful to see these pockets of pride and excellence. Congratulations to the Union Medical Library staff for hosting a great event and to all of the Union and Good Sam authors, researchers and educations for their talent and hard work each and every day to improve patient care and themselves!