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University of Washington School of Medicine
Online News
Vol. 11, No. 6
February 9, 2007
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To view an archived version of Online News on the UW Medicine Web site, visit:
http://www.uwmedicine.org/Global/NewsAndEvents/somnews/index.htm
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This week’s news:
* UW School of Medicine Dean Paul Ramsey's address to the UW Medicine community available online from UWTV
* Family conference system for ICU patients helps improve communication between clinicians and patients' families, according to study in the New England Journal of Medicine
* UW Institute for Surgical and Interventional Simulation to collaborate with other simulation centers in British Columbia and Oregon
* Louis Vontver receives lifetime achievement award from Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics
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DEAN RAMSEY'S ADDRESS TO THE UW MEDICINE COMMUNITY AVAILABLE ONLINE
Paul G. Ramsey, CEO of UW Medicine, executive vice president for medical affairs, and dean of the UW School of Medicine, addressed the community recently on the topic of UW Medicine: 2007 and Beyond. He spoke about the organization's recent achievements, upcoming challenges, and strategic direction.
Streaming video of his address is available online through the UWTV Web site: http://www.uwtv.org/programs/displayevent.aspx?rID=8971
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COMMUNICATION METHOD CAN EASE STRESS OF END-OF-LIFE CARE FOR PATIENTS' FAMILIES
A palliative-care family conference program developed at Harborview Medical Center improves communication between family members and clinicians, and helps reduce some of the symptoms related to the trauma of a loved one's death, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine. The research was conducted at hospitals in France, and involved the family members of 126 critically ill patients in 22 intensive-care units.
The research team in France was studying a palliative care communication method based on earlier research conducted by UW researchers, including J. Randall Curtis, professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at the UW and Harborview. The communication method uses the mnemonic device VALUE: Value what family members say, Acknowledge their emotions, Listen, Understand the patient as a person by asking questions, and Elicit questions from the family members.
Researchers found that the system improved communication between ICU clinicians and family members of a dying patient. In each of the studied situations, physicians called a family conference when the patient was likely to die within a few days. In half of those conferences, the clinicians used standard ICU practices for the conversation. In the other half, they used the VALUE guidelines.
Compared to the standard practice, more family members on average attended the conferences using the new method, and the family spoke for more than twice as long. After the conference, 95 percent of family members exposed to the VALUE method reported that they were able to express their emotions to the clinicians, compared to only 75 percent in the standard conference. The communication guidelines also significantly reduced feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression in the family members up to three months after the death of their family member.
The research was led by Alexandre Lautrette of the Hopitaux de Paris, and was funded in part by the National Institute of Nursing Research, part of the National Institutes of Health. The study was published Feb. 1.
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UW ISIS PROGRAM TO COLLABORATE WITH OTHER CENTERS IN THE NORTHWEST
The UW's Institute for Surgical and Interventional Simulation (ISIS) has signed agreements with two other universities in the Pacific Northwest that may lead to medical simulation technology being better incorporated into medical education in the region.
ISIS has a memorandum of understanding with Oregon Health and Science University's Simulation and Clinical Learning Center, and with the Centre of Excellence for Surgical Education and Innovation at the University of British Columbia. The three centers plan to collaborate on the incorporation of medical simulation into standardized curriculum.
ISIS uses medical simulation technologies to boost the quality of health education and to improve patient safety and clinical outcomes. Last year, the UW center became one of the first groups in the country to become accredited as a Level I Comprehensive Education Institute by the American College of Surgeons.
For more information about ISIS, visit the institute's Web site:
http://depts.washington.edu/isisinfo/
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VONTVER HONORED BY OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY EDUCATION GROUP
Louis Vontver, professor emeritus of obstetrics and gynecology, has received a lifetime achievement award from the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Vontver will receive the Wyeth Career Achievement Award at the CREOG and APGO annual meeting in March. CREOG is the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
The award is the highest honor given by APGO, a national organization that supports student education in obstetrics and gynecology. Vontver was recognized for his dedication to teaching medical students and residents and for his work with APGO.
For more than 20 years, Vontver coordinated obstetrics and gynecology education in the UW WWAMI medical education program. He worked to increase the amount of regional clinical teaching by WWAMI site coordinators, recruit faculty to engage in student education, and create teaching materials and guidelines for clinical faculty. Vontver also helped establish semi-annual faculty development workshops in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; the workshops have become a national model for medical school departments to convey trends in medical education and build a community among geographically disparate faculty members.
Vontver is also a co-founder of the APGO/Solvay Educational Scholars Program, which partners junior faculty in ob/gyn with experienced mentors in the field to learn how to be leaders in education and training in women's health. The junior faculty then return to their home departments and work to improve medical education of students and residents there. Vontver helped establish the program several years ago, and still works as a mentor.
Vontver was a research fellow in endocrinology and infertility from 1964 to 1965, completed his residency training in 1969 and earned a master's degree in education in 1970, all at the UW. He joined the medical faculty in 1969. He may be reached at vontver@u.washington.edu
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Online News is published by Health Sciences/UW Medicine News and Community Relations.
Justin Reedy, editor: 206-685-0382, jreedy@u.washington.edu
Online News is copyright 2007. All rights, including electronic redistribution, are reserved.
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