message from paul batalden, md

Dear LPMR Alum -
I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of what has been happening in the program this past year. I will try not to bring up EVERYTHING, but I wanted to share some news here.

1. In 2008, 7 of our residents took and passed the PM board exams. So, we extend our congratulations to John Trummel, Julie Sorensen Franklin, Lisa Pastel, Beth Prairie, Sarah Greer, Sally Ward and Auden McClure.
2. In 2008 there were two articles published in the scholarly literature about this program; pdfs of both are attached.
3. We established a small fund in the Hitchcock Foundation which we hope will help make some funds available to for residents taking the board exams. If you are interested in learning more or making a donation, please contact James Heimarck at james.heimarck@hitchcock.org.
4. Colleagues in Jönköping, Sweden are interested in creating a master’s degree educational program and a “residency” experience for physicians and others. We are helping them develop the program.
5. Dr. David Leach, formerly the executive director of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education joined the LPMR National Residency Advisory Committee (RAC) and Dr. Marc Bertrand, who succeeded Dr. Worth Parker as the leader of the GME work at DH, has taken on the leadership of the RAC.
6. Dr. Lisa Pastel started a blog, http://residentsimprovingmedicine.blogspot.com/, which you may be interested in.
7. We inaugurated a series of lectures, “Lessons I learned leading change in health care…and how I learned them.” We’ve had a wonderful reception to them and will be compiling them into a book.
8. Our work with Friday afternoons has progressed. We use the time to do “work rounds”—work on the work of residents, supplemental courses in critical issues in Public Health and in statistical methods, the Writing Collaborative led by QSHC editor, David Stevens, and the leadership seminar led by Paul Batalden. Any of you available and desiring to stay connected to our work are welcome at these or any of our scheduled events. Mariah Capurso at mariah.capurso@hitchcock.org can share the calendar at your request.
9. Dr. Tina Foster is in the pipeline to succeed me as the program director in the first quarter of 2009. I will stay on as her Associate Director.
10. We’re always interested in hearing from you and connecting you to our current residents, so stay in touch.
Best wishes for the New Year!

Sincerely,
Paul Batalden, M.D.