Notes from Dean Nosanchuk
Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Einstein continues to effectively deliver an exceptional curriculum to our amazingly professional and resilient Einstein M.D. students. Feedback from the classes has led to ongoing modifications to schedules, exam dates, releases of exam results, and adjustments to course evaluation processes (thank you!). We are closely monitoring daily SARS-CoV-2 data in NYC and the Bronx in particular and will modify curricular activities as needed. For the clerkships and year four clinical rotations, as long as we have effective supervision and a robust supply of PPE, our health systems are eager to have our students continue to contribute to the care of our patients.
Curricular innovation planning continues! Two task forces, that were charged to evaluate strategies to advance changes across the four years of training, delivered their recommendations at the end of November. Administrative assessments to actualize some of these changes are underway. We are expecting to present our findings to our education committees in January/February and then we will charge both individuals and task forces to roll up their sleeves to start the design and implementation phase.
For the first time in decades, we have created a schedule for this year when all four years of Einstein M.D. have off for a winter holiday break! Although we are thrilled with this, we gently remind you to stay safe by following CDC COVID-19 guidelines. If you travel, you must adhere to NY State guidelines for returning from other than contiguous states.
I also want to congratulate and thank our Staff Service Honorees! Our 5 year honorees are Shaquana Sheppard and Iris Villatoro, our 10 year awardee is Martin Penn, 15 year awardees include Dina Astorino and Roxanne Cancro, and our 30 year service honoree is Assistant Dean Nilda Soto.
The office of Medical Education - educating both students and faculty alike.
During the last few months, Marty Penn, Senior Director of Operations for OME, has given presentations on personal finance to medical students as part of the WellMed initiative from the Office of Student Activities and to the Department of Medicine residents at Wakefield Hospital during one of their noon conferences. He explains the importance of credit reports and scores, the need for long-term disability insurance, the differences between term and whole life insurance, and encourages them to begin planning for retirement as soon as they begin earning money. Mr. Penn also offers this an elective to fourth year students called, Financial Literacy for Medical Students. Here he goes into details on personal finance – specifically as it relates to the medical profession, starting with medical school debt and going all the way through to being a solo practitioner.
Ed Center - Lower Level renovations
Collaborating with Einstein Information Technology and Facilities, the Upper and Lower Education Center spaces are nearing completion of a major upgrade in technology and functionality. Lubin has also undergone transformative upgrades. These rooms, once SARS-CoV-2 is conquered, will be extraordinary interactive learning spaces.
The Office of Student Activities under the direction of the Office of Student Affairs at Einstein has created an online shadowing platform to make faculty and shadowing opportunities more accessible. Students can browse and search for partnering physicians by specialty, read about their interest and hobbies, and contact them directly. These physicians have signed up because they want to hear from you! You can view the shadowing page here: https://www.einstein.yu.edu/intranet/students/shadowing-profiles/
Upcoming Student Events:
Diversity @ Einstein
Rhonda Acholonu, Gabriella Azzarone and Amanda Beck had the great opportunity to attend the Harvard Macy Institute (virtually) Oct 18 -23, 2020. We received great feedback from them regarding their experience and below are their thoughts.
Dr. Acholonu: "I had the pleasure and privilege to participate in the phenomenal Harvard Macy course, "A Systems Approach to Assessment in Health Professions Education." Being able to learn from educators from around the world was truly an opportunity that I won't ever forget. Not only did I get advice and expertise on my project but I also created a network of colleagues to whom I have continued to reach out to since the meeting. Finding this network of peers broadens my ability to learn from others as well as share resources within and beyond Einstein. I am so grateful for the opportunity."
Dr. Azzarone: “I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in the Harvard Macy Institute’s course: A Systems Approach to Assessments in Health Professions Education. The community of participants and faculty were inspiring and challenging. I am still digesting the content and processing my new perspective and understanding to what “assessment” can truly mean for educators and learners. I am excited to bring these new insights and tools to my work here at Einstein!”
Dr. Beck: "Even in a virtual setting, the collaborative and dynamic environment of the Macy Course really gave me a boost of renewed energy and enthusiasm for medical education! This course opened my eyes to the concept of “systems thinking,” a method of describing how an institution organizes itself and addresses critical issues and challenges. I really appreciated the chance to brainstorm in a “think tank” atmosphere with not only my colleagues from Einstein, but also those from a variety of professional background, institutions, and countries. Their unique perspectives on issues facing medical educators, particularly in this uncertain time of the pandemic, gave me new insight and practical solutions to combat these common challenges."
Congratulations to Dr. Blanco! She was appointed Co-Chair for the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force for the American College of Rheumatology. She was also promoted to Professor of Medicine (Division of Rheumatology).
Congratulations to Dr. Patrick Herron who was appointed as the new Chair of the Ethics and Humanities Educators in the Health Professions and Residency Training Affinity Group for the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH).
Congratulations to Dr. Oladimeji (Ladi) Oki, course director for Health Systems Science and Health Equity for being accepted to the AMA Health Systems Science Scholars Program. Read about the 2020-2021 scholars (PDF; you can find Dr. Oki on page 29) .
Einstein has 5 standing medical education committees that meet monthly. The Committees are: The Medical Executive Committee, Clinical Directors Subcommittee, Course Directors Subcommittee, the Program Evaluation and Curriculum Improvement Subcommittee, and the Competency Based Medical Education Subcommittee. In each Bulletin, we’ll feature some information and updates from each of the committees.
Featuring: Course Directors Committee
Last bulletin described the Executive Committee, which is charged with overseeing the development, implementation and review of the curriculum as well as ensuring that the curriculum is responsive to the medical education mission at Einstein.
The Course Directors Subcommittee reports to the Executive Committee and consists of all course directors in the first two years, the chair of the clinical directors subcommittee, and student-elected representatives. The deans of education and student affairs serve ex-officio on this committee. Sherry Downie, Ph.D. is the chair of the Committee. Current student members from the Class of 2023 are Nicholas Forelli and Daniel Haung. Two students from the Class of 2024 will be added to the Committee after elections for the Class are completed. The students are voting members of the Committee.
The function of this subcommittee is to make recommendations to the Executive Committee and to implement Executive Committee decisions regarding: All aspects of course content in the preclerkship phase, teaching methodologies; evaluation and assessment strategies; scheduling and policies; and Faculty development.
Meetings over the last two months have included: A presentation from medical education innovation grant recipients using virtual reality technology to improve understanding of complex congenital heart disease, discussion of the current process and forms students use to evaluate courses, an update on the new roles and individuals who will serve as Einstein’s inaugural block directors, and a description of the process to be used to implement the new curriculum over the next several academic years.
Recent Publications by Medical Education Faculty
EDUCATION PUBLICATIONS
Shereen N. Mahmood & Irene Blanco. Nature Reviews Rheumatology: "The road to equity for women in academic rheumatology". September 28, 2020. Nat Rev Rheumatol PMCID: PMC7521191 PMID: 32989312 doi: 10.1038/s41584-020-00517-7
Muller D, Parkas V, Amiel J, Anand S, Cassese T, Cunningham T, Kang Y, Nosanchuk J, Soriano R, Zbar L, Karani R. Guiding principles for undergraduate medical education in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Med Teach. 2020 Nov 3:1-5. doi: 10.1080/0142159X.2020.1841892. PMID: 33142072
Cristina M. Gonzalez, MD, MEd, Sydney A. Walker, Natalia Rodriguez, Elisa Karp, MD, and Paul R. Marantz, MD, MPH. It Can Be Done! A Skills-Based Elective in Implicit Bias Recognition and Management for Preclinical Medical Students. December 2020. PMID: 32889927 PMCID: PMC7686093 DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000003697
Jain, P. N., Eagle, S., Schechter, M., Rhim, H. J. H., & Acholonu, R. (2020). Applying High-Value Care Principles in a Pediatric Case: A Workshop for Health Professions Students. MedEdPORTAL, 16, 11030. https://www.mededportal.org/doi/full/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.11030
SCIENCE PUBLICATIONS
Neida K Mita-Mendoza, Ariel Magallon-Tejada, Priyanka Parmar, Raquel Furtado, Margaret Aldrich, Alex Saidi, Terrie Taylor, Joe Smith, Karl Seydel, Johanna P Daily. National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information: "Dimethyl fumarate reduces TNF and Plasmodium falciparum induced brain endothelium activation in vitro". October 21, 2020 PMID: 33087130 PMCID: PMC7579885 DOI: 10.1186/s12936-020-03447-7
Marina CL, Bürgel PH, Agostinho DP, Zamith-Miranda D, Las-Casas LO, Tavares AH, Nosanchuk JD, Bocca AL. Nutritional Conditions Modulate C. neoformans Extracellular Vesicles' Capacity to Elicit Host Immune Response. Microorganisms. 2020 Nov 18;8(11):1815. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms8111815. PMID: 33217920
C P Emidio E, E Urán J M, B R Silva L, S Dias L, Doprado M, Nosanchuk JD, Taborda CP. Melanin as a Virulence Factor in Different Species of Genus Paracoccidioides. J Fungi (Basel). 2020 Nov 17;6(4):E291. doi: 10.3390/jof6040291. PMID: 33213028
Papp C, Bohner F, Kocsis K, Varga M, Szekeres A, Bodai L, Willis JR, Gabaldón T, Tóth R, Nosanchuk JD, Vágvölgyi C, Gácser A. Triazole Evolution of Candida parapsilosis Results in Cross-Resistance to Other Antifungal Drugs, Influences Stress Responses, and Alters Virulence in an Antifungal Drug-Dependent Manner. mSphere. 2020 Oct 28;5(5):e00821-20. doi: 10.1128/mSphere.00821-20. PMID: 33115837
New Research Grants
Utility of Centrally Acting ACE Inhibitors to Slow the Progression of Dementia (K23)
Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) are widely used for a number of conditions beyond hypertension. They are centrally or peripherally acting based upon their ability to cross the blood brain barrier. Data suggest that centrally acting ACEI decrease the rate of cognitive and functional decline among those with Alzheimer’s Disease and related disorders. The National Institute on Aging has awarded Dr. George a five-year grant to explore the effects of ACEI subtypes on motoric, cognitive, neurodegenerative, and vascular outcomes among participants in two nationally available cohorts. It will be the first to examine these outcomes in older adults on ACEI without dementia. Using the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study database, Dr. George and her team will quantify gait velocity with ACEI subtype use in older adults and determine cognitive consequences and examine the relation of ACEI subtypes to neurodegenerative and vascular pathologies linked to dementia using the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database. Early identification of older adults at risk of cognitive impairment and decline in physical performance, coupled with a better understanding of how ACEI subtypes affect cortical regions associated with dementia, is of paramount importance in identifying targeted therapies to slow the progression of cognitive impairment in aging and Alzheimer’s Disease and related disorders. This proposal will produce clinically relevant data that will form the basis of an R01 designed to extend this line of research into additional cohorts and allow for more detailed investigations. Dr. George is an associate professor of medicine (geriatrics). 1K23AG062807-01A1
Dr. George also serves as our inaugural transition to clerkship co- course director with Dr. Sandra Oza, in addition to serving as a standing member of our clinical directors subcommittee.
Check out what our faculty are doing at Einstein
A plug in for a student Podcast
Ashley Castillo, a first-year medical student and a team member of Bronx One Policy. Bronx One Policy (BOP) is a student-led group aimed at advancing policy efforts that impact healthcare delivery in the Bronx. They meet with community organizations and policymakers each week, and learn about the work they are doing around a diverse range of issues, including education, transit, food security, community organizing, and housing.
- Where to listen: Spotify | iTunes | Google Podcasts
- Social Media: Instagram | Twitter
- Website: Bronx One Policy - https://www.bronxpolicy.org/
Meet our wonderful education staff!
As member of Educational Support Services under the Office of Medical Education, Ms. Roxanne Cancro is the Educational Facilities Manager. She is located outside of the upper level of the Education Center in the Forchheimer Building and works closely with Martin Penn, Senior Director of Operations. Ms. Cancro manages 25Live, the electronic reservation system and oversees our education spaces - upper/lower level of the Ed Center and the classrooms.
Belfer Bulletin curated by Ana Velez in the Office of Medical Education. To submit information for consideration for future MD education bulletins, email ana.velez@einsteinmed.org.