Thalamus Grand Rounds
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Thalamus Grand Rounds is a podcast created by and for current and former residents, program coordinators and directors to spotlight and empower GME leaders to innovate the residency and fellowship recruitment processes. You’ll hear insightful discussions about all things GME including virtual interview best practices, managing expectations of applicants and faculty, promoting DEI initiatives and holistic review, data and analytics to drive recruitment and much more.
Available episodes
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Aug 29, 2022
Preventing Burnout: How to Help Program Coordinators Manage and Thrive (Guest: Terri Feist)
In this episode Thalamus CEO Jason Reminick talks with Terri Feist, former Program Coordinator at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and now an Account Manager at Thalamus.
Burnout at the Program Coordinator level is a serious problem and often overlooked. Terri shares the results if a national survey of Program Coordinators. The survey indicated issues around misunderstanding the role, workload and the onboarding of new Program Coordinators.
Jason and Terri discuss way to solve these problems and how to better address burnout across the industry.
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Aug 9, 2022
GME Financing & Physician Workforce Trends ft. Kyle Leggott, MD, Part II
In this episode, Dr. Kyle Leggott and I continue our conversation about the complex issues surrounding GME financing and physician workforce trends. Dr. Leggott is Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado Department of Family Medicine. He is also a Scholar at the Eugene S. Farley, Jr. Health Policy Center.
In Part II, you’ll hear Dr. Leggott’s insights into:
* GME financing from a federal, state and hospital levels.
* Projected increase of GME spending and what it will cover - both directly and indirectly.
* How direct medical costs are calculated and allocated.
* How the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 will help to address the national physician workforce shortage.
* How to ensure that distribution of newly-opened spots matches the needs of the healthcare workforce as well as the needs of medical students.
* How to pair the complexity of the GME system with patient outcomes in a compelling narrative to foster change.
* Some initiatives that are working to fix the GME system.
Dr. Kyle Leggott is a family physician with health politics experience whose expertise includes policy development and translation, the intersection of policy with state-based health care legislation, and innovative approaches to addressing healthcare reform. Within the University of Colorado Department of Family Medicine, where Dr. Leggott completed a health policy and politics fellowship, Dr. Leggott provides in- and outpatient care. A member of the GME Initiative (GMEI) since 2017 and current chair of the GMEI Legislative Committee, Dr. Leggott works on physician workforce and graduate medical education reform. He also serves as a member for the Colorado Academy of Family Physicians (CAFP) and is a physician blogger for AAFP’s Fresh Perspective blog.
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Jul 13, 2022
GME Financing & Physician Workforce Trends ft. Kyle Leggott, MD, Part I
This episode is Part 1 of 2 of a terrific conversation I had with Dr. Kyle Leggott, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, University of Colorado Department of Family Medicine, and Scholar, Eugene S. Farley, Jr. Health Policy Center, about the complex issues surrounding GME financing and the current state of the physician workforce.
In Part I, you’ll hear Dr. Leggott’s insights into:
* The current state of the physician workforce.
* His work with the GME Initiative and legislators in D.C. to find systematic solutions.
* The mismatch between specialties and healthcare needs.
* How the number of GME slots is allocated per region and what this means for ongoing physician workforce distribution.
* Insufficient diversity across all areas of GME and healthcare.How to address gaps in medical knowledge as healthcare evolves.
Kyle Leggott, MD, is a family physician with health policy experience. His expertise includes policy development and translation, the intersection of policy with state-based health care legislation, and innovative approaches to addressing healthcare reform. Dr. Leggott is an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine in the University of Colorado Department of Family Medicine, where he recently completed a fellowship in health policy and politics. Dr. Leggott serves as a Scholar at the Eugene S. Farley, Jr. Health Policy Center, where he seeks progressive and innovative approaches to address health inequities by promoting systems based and policy level interventions. Dr. Leggott has been a member of the GME Initiative (GMEI) since 2017, working on physician workforce and GME reform. He currently chairs the GMEI Legislative Committee. Dr. Leggott also serves as a member for the Colorado Academy of Family Physicians (CAFP) and is a physician blogger for the AAFP’s Fresh Perspective blog. He provides both outpatient and inpatient care and teaches family medicine residents and medical students at the University of Colorado.
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May 16, 2022
Grand Rounds Roundup: New Hobbies
As has become tradition, at the end of each episode of Thalamus Grand Rounds, we ask our guests if they have adopted a new hobby. During recent years as we’ve all been spending more time at home and given how dynamic and diverse the GME community is, it was no surprise that each of our guests described a different activity. In this special episode, you’ll hear what our guests-to-date have been up to during their free time since the start of the pandemic. These GME leaders have unique hobbies ranging from baking French pastry to sewing a gown for a Bridgerton-themed ball!
Hear about hobbies from:
* Carey McDonald, MBA, Residency Program Manager for the East Carolina University Department of OB/GYN
* Timothy Burns, Program Administrator for the University of Vermont Medical Center OB/GYN Residency Program
* Dawn DeSantis, Division Administrator, Graduate Medical Education, Department of Pediatrics at the University of Florida — Jacksonville
* Starla Pathak, Manager of Educational Programs, Department of Orthopedics at Tufts Medical Center in Boston
* Michelle Gonzalez, Graduate Medical Education/Internal Medicine Program Coordinator for the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital
* Lori Rodefeld, Director of Rural GME Development and Support for the Wisconsin Collaborative for Rural GME
* Kimberley Brown, Fellowship Coordinator at the Department of Anesthesia at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston
Listen to hear how GME stakeholders are enriching their lives with physical activities, creative pursuits, and more.
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Mar 28, 2022
The Integral Role of Rural Residency Programs ft. Lori Rodefeld
In episode 6, I enjoyed speaking with Lori Rodefeld, Director of Rural GME Development and Support for the Wisconsin Collaborative for Rural GME (WCRGME), about the importance of rural residency and fellowship training programs. Lori dove into misconceptions about rural programs, why applicants should seriously consider them, how hospitals can establish rural training programs, the role of rural programs in mitigating the impending physician shortage, and much more.
Lori Rodefeld is the Director of Rural GME Development for a statewide collaborative in Wisconsin (WCRGME). She provides Wisconsin rural hospitals with technical assistance in development of GME and supports urban programs interested in development of rural training or pathways. In addition to her work at WCRGME, she has 10 years of experience in medical education leadership which includes serving as the Manager of Medical Education at the Monroe Clinic where she developed a rural family medicine residency, emergency medicine fellowship, hospitalist fellowship, and medical student program.
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Mar 7, 2022
Tips and Tricks for Managing Multiple Programs ft. Kimberley Brown
In this episode, I spoke with Kimberley Brown, fellowship coordinator at the Department of Anesthesia at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, about what it’s like to manage multiple fellowship programs.
Running a graduate medical education program takes time, effort, patience and support. Managing multiple programs requires a special management style and varying approaches to working with ever-expanding permutations of program leadership, faculty, trainees and other stakeholders.
In this episode, you’ll find out how Kimberley:
* Coordinated the timing and needs of multiple program recruitment/educational cycles.
* Worked with various program directors across subspecialties.
* Ensured that many groups of applicants could seamlessly apply across programs.
* Kept the myriad recruitment processes organized alongside her other responsibilities.
* Adapted multiple program management to the COVID-19 pandemic.
* Managed applicant and faculty communication in addition to her own schedule.
Kimberley Brown, who has been at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for 25 years, started out as a Medical Assistant who stumbled in the world of Academic Medicine by working in UME clerkships and sub-internships. After returning to patient care, she spent 10 years doing training and project support in revenue cycle operations. Kimberley has been working in the Department of Anesthesiology as the Fellowship Coordinator for the last three years.
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Jan 31, 2022
What it's like to be a founding coordinator at a new residency program ft. Michelle Gonzalez
In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Michelle Gonzalez, Graduate Medical Education/Internal Medicine Program Coordinator for the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital (MLKCH), about what it’s like to build a residency program from the ground up. She discussed how the program was formed and how she collaborated with her Program Director Binay Eapen, program faculty, residency leadership and hospital leaders including Chief Medical Officer John Fisher to ensure that their program would truly benefit the surrounding community in Los Angeles. Michelle detailed how she and her team determined what facets to include or avoid in the development of their program, all in service of providing residents with an enriching, equitable, and effective training experience.
Michelle Gonzalez is the Graduate Medical Education/Internal Medicine Program Coordinator for the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital (MLKCH), where she started in May, 2021 as part of the founding team. Prior to MLKCH, she worked at Eisenhower Health (Medical Center) where she was the Internal Medicine Residency Coordinator, and before that was the Clerkship Coordinator, working closely with medical students and visiting residents.
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Dec 14, 2021
Managing Expectations of Your Team, Residency Staff, and Applicants ft. Starla Pathak
In episode three, we spoke with Starla Pathak, Manager of Educational Programs, Department of Orthopedics, Tufts Medical Center, about the importance of properly preparing your recruitment team for interview season, and doing your best to help applicants accurately anticipate what the interview process will be like.
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Nov 4, 2021
Holistic Review of GME Applications ft. Dawn DeSantis
In episode two, we spoke with with Dawn DeSantis, Division Administrator, Graduate Medical Education, Department of Pediatrics at the University of Florida — Jacksonville. Listen for an insightful and productive conversation about big picture qualities to look for in candidates, the importance of personal statements, how programs can implement holistic review practices, and more.
Dawn DeSantis is an expert in GME recruitment and administration with over two decades of experience. She is TAGME certified, holds a Masters in Instructional Systems, is a co-lead for the Associate of Pediatric Program Directors' (APPD) Mentor Group, Southeast region, and was instrumental in creating a virtual recruitment toolkit for program coordinators last year as part of the APPD Recruitment Research Group.
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Aug 24, 2021
Virtual Interview Best Practices ft. Carey McDonald & Timothy Burns
In our inaugural episode, we sat down with Carey McDonald, MBA, Residency Program Manager for the East Carolina University Department of OB/GYN, and Tim Burns, Program Administrator for the University of Vermont Medical Center OB/GYN Residency Program. We had a robust and frank discussion about creating an excellent virtual interview process, and navigating the challenges and benefits of a fully virtual interview season.
We also discussed things that program coordinators should always keep in mind, such as finding candidates that are the perfect fit for your program holistically, rather than focusing on their scores alone.
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