Information Technology in Medicine Awards; Environmental Justice Symposium

News and announcements

2019 Information Technology in Medicine Awards

Each year, the MMS Committee on Information Technology extends cash awards to one resident/fellow and one student through a competitive process that starts in the fall. This year’s Resident winner is Michael DiBenedetto for his project, OrthoVision. Dr. DiBenedetto is currently a resident physician in Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The student winner is Hillary Mullan for her project, Using 3D Printing to Supplement Cadaveric Dissection: Design and Manufacturing of a Model of the Female Perineum. Ms. Mullan is currently a 3rd year medical student at the University of Massachusetts.

International Development, Health, and Environmental Justice Symposium

Where do we stand? Where are we heading?

Is global development at odds with environmental justice and health equity? The industries that have historically fueled economic growth have also accelerated climate change and exacerbated issues of global health. How might those interested in both economics and justice reconcile such a tension? 

Northeastern University, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Medical Society and the Boston Network for International Development, will host a free symposium to address these questions. Speakers include:

• Ortal Ullman: Campaign Coordinator, Union of Concerned Scientists
• Dr. Krupa Patel: Steering Committee, Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility
• Dr. Jonathan Slutzman: Advisor, Health Care Without Harm

The event will be held on Thursday, March 7 at Northeastern University from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM.

Livestream available via  https://www.facebook.com/NortheasternAlumni/

The Wired Clinic: Experimental Television and the Media History of Medicine

What can the history of older technologies teach us about the future of digital medicine? 

Please join your peers at the Boston Medical Library (BML) for the 15th Annual J. Worth Estes MD History of Medicine Lecture. This year's guest lecturer is Dr. Jeremy Greene, the Elizabeth Treide and A. McGehee Harvey Chair in the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. The event is free and will be held on March 18 at Harvard Medical School, 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM; register using the button below or contact Tara Pealer at (617) 432-4807 or BostonMedLibr@gmail.com. The BML is the official library of the MMS.

2019 Annual Meeting

Annual meeting website launch and important *NEW* registration information
This year's Annual Meeting is scheduled to take place, May 2-4, 2019 at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center in Boston.

The Annual Meeting website, including online registration, will launch at www.massmed.org/annual2019 on Monday, March 4. We are pleased to be offering a new registration system for the 2019 Annual Meeting. Please view this flyer for important details/changes prior to registering.  

Hotel deadline reminder

The MMS hotel deadline is Friday, March 22, please visit www.massmed.org/am19reservations to make your reservations today.

The upcoming 2019 Annual Meeting is sure to be an exciting event and we hope you can join.

Book signing at Annual Meeting 

David F. Gouveia, M.D., author of " A Local Boy – A Memoir," will be signing copies of his book during the art exhibit at Annual Meeting. The memoir is a series of personal reflections about medicine  in the 1950s and 60s, as well as a story about coming-of-age in small town USA. A portion of all book purchases will be donated to the Alliance Charitable Foundation.

Renew your membership by March 8

Thank you to all our members who have renewed! We are 25,000 strong.

To avoid any lapse in your exclusive member benefits, please renew by March 8.  

Takes less than 4 minutes. Login to your account here. Or call member processing at 800-322-2302 ext. 7495

Save 5% or more for multiyear or group discounts. Learn more.

Connect with colleagues

The Massachusetts Medical Society invites you to join colleagues and friends for an evening of professional networking and cheer at one of our upcoming events! Connect with physicians from across organizations and specialties, catch up with colleagues, make new professional contacts, and meet members of the MMS leadership. Professional networking, complimentary hors d'oeuvres, drinks, and good fun!

• Thursday, March 21, 2019, 6:30–8:30 PM. Samuel's, Springfield, MA
• Thursday, March 28, 2019, 6:30–8:30 PM. The Cove Restaurant, Fall River, MA

RSVP no later than two weeks prior to each event at sfrazier@mms.org or mjussaume@mms.org. Questions — (800) 944-5562.

Educational programs and events

Live CME activities

Managing Workplace Conflict – Improving Leadership and Personal Effectiveness

Thursday, June 6, 2019, 7:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. 
Friday, June 7, 2019, 7:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Featured end-of life online CME courses  

End-of-Life Series (3 Modules) 

End-of-Life Care and Non-Disclosure: Case Study

Starting the Conversation about End-of-Life Care with Patients

Legal Advisory: Who Has Rights in an End-of-Life Care Situation?

For additional online CME activities, visit www.massmed.org/cme

Upcoming lectures and training

March 16: Improving Access to Mental Health Care Services through the Collaborative Care Model and Telemedicine (Yale School of Medicine)

The Collaborative Care Model integrates effective psychiatric care into primary care practices. The training, led by John Kern, MD from the University of Washington’s AIMS Center, will provide participants with the practical skills to work in collaborative care. The course describes the delivery of mental health care in primary care settings with a focus on the evidence-base, guiding principles, and an introduction to implementation strategies.

April 2: The 24th Annual Massachusetts Adult Immunization Conference (Sheraton Framingham)

At the 24th annual MA Adult Immunization conference, over 350 immunization providers will come together for a day-long conference to support statewide efforts to increase adult immunization rates in Massachusetts. Keynote speakers are David Kim, MD, MA; CAPT, US Public Health Service; Deputy Associate Director for Adult Immunization, Center for Disease Control, and Elisa Choi, MD, FACP, Governor of Massachusetts Chapter of the American College of Physicians.

June 6-7: Managing Workplace Conflict: Improving Leadership & Personal Effectiveness (MMS Headquarters)

This program explores complex relationships within the medical work environment. The course provides techniques for addressing and resolving difficult relationships and stressful situations, as well as strengthening relationships with other team members and patients. Read the full program flyer here.

Quote of the week

"Though I will not live to see it, I am convinced the march toward universal, affordable, equitable, quality health care is unstoppable."

—  Rob Restuccia, former executive director of Community Catalyst and founder of Health Care For All.   (Boston Globe)

Tweet of the week

@DrKimSue - Medical Director @harmreduction | primary care trained doctor via @MGHMedicine @HarvardMed | medical anthropologist of prisons and addiction

What’s new in health care

Check out the most clicked-on stories from this week's MMS Media Watch. Sign up for daily Massachusetts media roundups by email. Some publications are fully accessible only to their subscribers.

'We have to think outside the box': Lawmakers consider SIFs (WBZ)

Dr. Alain Chaoui, President of Massachusetts Medical Society says, "The access really is to the patient and giving the patient the opportunity and the facility and the education to move on to the medical assistance treatment." As a first year medical student at Boston University, Nicholas Chiu says he got his first glimpse of the opioid crisis in a section of Mass. Ave infamously known as Methadone Mile. "I would like to focus on the stuff that we can do now which is a long list of pretty significant and successful initiatives," Gov. Baker said. Even if legislators give the thumbs up on a safe injection facility, US Attorney Andrew Lelling may not let it happen. His office declined an interview Wednesday.  

Hospitals spend record $25M to defeat Question 1 (Boston Business Journal)  

Hospitals spent more to defeat last year's ballot question on nurse staffing ratios than has ever been spent on a ballot question in state history, according to data released Monday by the Office of Campaign Finance. The Coalition to Protect Patient Safety, a lobbying group supported almost entirely by hospitals, spent $24,733,966 on the ballot initiative in November against Question 1, which would have put strict caps on the number of patients each nurse could have. The Coalition received 99 percent of its funding from the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association, a lobbying group representing 70 hospitals in the state. 

Mass. health care leaders decry new Title X regulations (MassLive)

The Masssachusetts Medical Society also reacted. "One of the most sacred aspects of the patient-physician relationship is trust. Part of that trust is earned when a physician is able to have open, honest and comprehensive conversations with patients about their health care. The revision of Title X regulations issued today creates a fundamental interference that inhibits a physician's obligation to fully counsel patients," said Dr. Alain A. Chaoui, society president. "Any situation in which a physician is prohibited from delivering all critical health-related information to a patient is unfair and dangerous for all involved. This rule and the pathway it intends to build toward further restricting access to health care services are unconscionable." 

Cooley Dickinson lobbies for expansion of repayment program for docs (MassLive)

Cooley Dickinson Hospital is lobbying for the passage of a bill, sponsored by Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, that would expand the state's loan repayment program for medical providers. The program covers primary care professionals — doctors, nurses, social workers, and others — working in the medical, dental and mental health fields. They receive up to $50,000 to pay off their student loans in exchange for a commitment to work full-time for two years in communities with significant shortages of health care providers and barriers to health care access. Comerford's bill would change the requirement that providers work in these communities to also include medical professionals that serve medically underserved areas — even if the facility is not actually located in one.