January 2025

I think that Dr. King describes here the challenge we all face in multiple aspects of our lives – how much do we give to others, when this may come at some cost to ourselves? For example, from a clinical care standpoint, how do we optimize RVUs and payor mix, while still serving our ideals by providing care to those most in need? Like most important questions, there is no easy answer. Perhaps some part of the answer is contained in this line of the speech - “But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.”

I was surprised that the most famous lines of King’s speech were absent from the draft. Being a history nerd I did some reading, and learned that King was trying to fit his speech into a 4-minute time slot. The “I have a dream” segment was improvised on the spot. As Dr. King wrapped up his short prepared remarks, Mahalia Jackson shouted to him from the crowd -  “Tell them about the dream, Martin.” King then departed from his prepared text and launched into the most famous parts of his speech, beginning with “I say to you today, my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.”

The next 10 minutes made history.

As primary care providers, and as academics with interests in health equity and population health, we are well aware of the racial, economic, and other barriers that create poor health and hinder effective healthcare. We are also well aware of the difficulties of meaningful health care reform that would better enable us to address the health inequities that we see.

As we enter the second quarter of the 21st century, let’s work to keep alive the dream of reducing social inequalities in health and providing more equity in access to care. And like Dr. King, “remind America of the fierce urgency of now.”

Brad

The Clay Dunagan, MD, MS, Annual Patient Safety & Quality Symposium is coming soon! The Symposium is jointly provided by Barnes-Jewish Hospital, WashU Medicine and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. This year’s theme is “Unlocking Artificial Intelligence to Improve Patient Care” and will be held on Friday, February 28 from 7 a.m. to 3:20 p.m. at the Eric P. Newman Education Center. If you have any concerns or questions, please contact Kim Crouse at kimberly.crouse@wustl.edu.

(L-R) Drs. Montane and Chahin

Representatives from the Office of Medical Student Education and the Academy of Educators will be presenting at the GMG Clinical Unit Division meeting on Monday, February 2 at 12:15 pm Drs. Montane and Chahin will conduct a hybrid workshop on how to write high-quality narrative assessments (in-person in Barnard 7, on Zoom for those off campus). The Office of Medical Student Education expects any clinician who works with a learner to attend the workshop and will be collecting attendance as well as offering workshops on alternate dates.

The Forum for Women in Medicine will host an upcoming talk and collaboration event that is open for all WashU female clinicians to attend:

If you have any concerns or questions, contact Dr. Namrata Patel (namratapatel@wustl.edu)

McQueen

Amy McQueen, PhD, has been named as the Director of the Master of Science in Clinical Investigation (MSCI) Degree Program.

As MSCI Director, Amy will oversee the largest master's degree program at WashU Medicine. The MSCI student body represents over 15 different departments and 45 divisions within WashU Medicine. The MSCI combines didactic coursework with a substantive research project, weekly seminars, and a formal mentorship program. Amy also currently serves as the Director of Graduate Programs in Applied Health Behavior Research (AHBR). She is also the Co-Director of the Health Communication Research Lab at the Brown School. Congratulations,
Dr. McQueen!

Everhart

Alexander Everhart, PhD will be a co-investigator on an R01 from NIDDK titled, "Insulin Affordability: Unpacking the Impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on Diabetes Outcomes and Equity in Medicare". The project will examine the impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act on older adults with type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes across the United States with respect to out-of-pocket payments for insulin, clinical outcomes associated with optimal treatment of diabetes, and racial and ethical disparities in diabetes care quality and outcomes. Congratulations, Dr. Everhart!

Gage

Brian Gage, MD, MSc is published in the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation for his journal article titled, “An integrated sampling strategy for therapeutic mycophenolic acid monitoring in lung transplant recipients”. The study demonstrates that a limited sampling strategy allows for accurate monitoring of mycophenolic acid (MA) in transplant recipients. Congratulations, Dr. Gage!

Johnston

Kenton Johnston, PhD, MPH is published in The Journal of American Medical Association’s October 2024 issue for his article titled, “Helping Dual-Eligible Individuals Navigate Medicare and Medicaid”. The viewpoint was written in order to outline the complexities and difficulties faced by Americans in navigating Medicare and Medicaid and to recommend a navigating solution to help individuals dully-eligible for both programs to choose insurance coverage that best meets their needs. Congratulations, Dr. Johnston!

Lin

Sunny Lin, PhD, MS is published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society for her article titled, “The extended impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on long-term care residents in Medicare with frailty or dual Medicaid enrollment”. The article looks at how long term care residents were faring in “the new normal” world after the initial COVID-19 related emergency. Studies found that ED visits and hospitalizations are down compared to pre-pandemic levels, while mortality rates are up. These findings potentially suggests that long term care residents are avoiding the ED to possible detrimental effects, and warrants further research. Congratulations, Dr. Lin!

Prusaczyk

Beth Prusaczyk, PhD, MSW is published in the Journal of Applied Gerontology for her article titled, “Barriers to Healthcare and Social Service Utilization Among Rural Older Adults Who Use Drugs”. The article discusses findings that older adults residing in rural areas who use drugs experienced significant barriers to healthcare utilization. Those who had experienced homelessness or were uninsured experienced more barriers than their counterparts and barriers decreased as age increased. Congratulations, Dr. Prusaczyk!

Payne

Philip Payne, PhD, FACMI is published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association for his article titled, “Toward an artificial intelligence code of conduct for health and healthcare: implications for the biomedical informatics community”. The National Academy of Medicine’s Digital Health Action Collaborative is developing an AI Code of Conduct (AICC) to guide the ethical and effective use of AI in health and healthcare. In this perspective, leaders of that effort call on the biomedical informatics community to actively participate in refining and implementing the AICC to address challenges surrounding this rapidly evolving domain of research and practice.

Dr. Payne is also published in PLOS One for his article titled, “Examining heterogeneity in dementia using data-driven unsupervised clustering of cognitive profiles”. In this study, I2DB researchers applied an unsupervised clustering algorithm to cognitive assessment scores from dementia patients, identifying ten distinct subtypes with varying cognitive profiles and progression rates. Notably, this study demonstrated that specific subtypes in the early stages of dementia exhibited more significant heterogeneity, suggesting the potential for more personalized diagnostic and treatment approaches. Congratulations, Dr. Payne!

Schmidt

Hello all,

In April, I'm returning to the Boston Marathon as a part of Team Colin. I met Colin’s mom, Kerri, a general internist at MGH, through Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM). Colin was two when he was tragically killed on his way home from a playground. His family took their heartbreaking tragedy and turned it into hope, creating Colin’s Joy Project to build playgrounds and spaces where families make the kind of memories Colin loved most.

When Kerri asked me to be part of Team Colin, my yes was immediate. The training ahead feels huge, but every mile has a purpose - creating safe spaces where more children can play, laugh, and just be kids.

Training officially kicks off Dec 30-- I’ll be documenting this journey on Instagram (@jmschmidt211)--expect sweaty selfies, occasional complaints about hills, and glimpses of the joy we're creating together.

Learn more about Colin's Joy Project and how to donate to 26.2 miles for Colin's JOY. Any amount makes a difference.

With gratitude,
Jenny

Happy birthday to our GMG faculty and staff who are celebrating in the month of January and February!

Margaret Kruk, MD, MPH, Distinguished Professor of Health Systems & Medicine and Director of QuEST Center
Division of General Medicine & Geriatrics

What do you enjoy most about your role?
Generating research ideas that produce good science AND contribute to better quality health systems; creating new collaborations across borders and disciplines; seeing our work influence thinking and action in vastly different countries; supporting junior colleagues to think big and make their research matter.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Running, baking cakes, design and fashion, growing plants, vintage shopping, eating, traveling with my husband and (big) kids

Favorite movie/TV show/music/book?
Anything by JS Bach, David Evans trio, Nina Simone. I enjoy reading, recent favorites have been George Eliot’s Middlemarch (missed it in high school), Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club, Scandinavian noir, British detective stories. TV just finished Black Doves and The Jackal; and always the Great British Baking Show.

Lauren Baker, PhD, Instructor in Medicine
Division of General Medicine & Geriatrics

What do you enjoy most about your role?
Digging deep into complex ethical and social issues. Working with colleagues I admire on projects that I'm passionate about and believe will make a difference in the lives of patients and families.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Spending time with my spouse, Dan, and our four kids: Gray (17), Hayden (16), Oliver (11) and Violet (9). Our kids are involved in a lot of art related activities (violin, oboe, studio art and theatre), so I spend most of my free time transporting them to and from music lessons and rehearsals. My oldest is graduating high school this year, so I'm trying to spend as much time with her as possible before she heads off to art school in the fall. When the weather is nice, we love to hike. Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is a favorite! And whenever I travel, I always make time to visit the local museums.

Favorite movie/TV show/music/book?
I'm guilty of buying books I know I'll never have time to read! I'm currently reading Pachinko by Min Jin Lee; I'm about halfway through and so far it is excellent. My favorite author is Claire Keegan. Her early short story works are very good, reminiscent of the American Gothic genre, but her best works I believe are Foster and Small Things Like These (the recent film adaptations of both have been very good as well). I've been impressed these past few years with the movie like quality of new TV shows. I just finished Black Doves recently and recommend it to anyone who enjoys spy thrillers. Favorite movies of all time would have to be Sean of the Dead and Stranger than Fiction.