Volume 1 – No. 8
September 2005
DFSM E-Newsletter
Department of Family and Social Medicine
Montefiore Medical Center
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
AECOM  1300 Morris Park Ave, Bronx, NY 10461  718-430-2900
MMC  3544 Jerome Ave, Bronx, NY 10467  718-920-4678
We hope that you are enjoying our monthly newsletter. Remember the deadline for submissions is the 20th of
each month! We look forward to hearing from you!
Editors-at-Large:
Mark Polisar, MD
Tami Rivera
Peter Selwyn, MD, MPH
Becky Williams, MD, MHPE
PUBLICATIONS
Anderson, M. "Social Medicine 101" Monthly Review eZine, July 14, 2005,
Available at http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/anderson140705.html
Anderson, M. "What Makes a Drug 'OTC'? The Case of Plan B. Medscape General Medicine 2005; 10(1).
Available at: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/505440
Anderson M, Karasz A. How do Clinicians Manage Vaginal Complaints: An Internet Survey." Medscape General
Medicine, June 21,7(2). 2005.
Available at: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/505432
Fornari A. Developed 12 Case Studies and Instructor Answer Key to accompany text chapters in the Community
Nutrition in Action, 4th edition, M. Boyle and D. Holben eds, 2005.
GRANTS
HRSA Title VII grants awarded to Education Division faculty
We are pleased to announce that the department has recently been awarded three grants from the Health
Resources and Services Administration Bureau of Health Professions (Title VII).
Predoctoral Training in Primary Care, Project Director: Darwin Deen, MD, MS
This grant seeks to create a Generalist Careers Pathway program (GCP) that will consist of:
(1) a voluntary primary care mentoring program, (2) faculty training to support mentoring, (3) delivery of a
primary care curriculum, (4) a longitudinal clinical experience (linking existing 1st and 2nd year primary care
clinical experiences with those in the 3rd or 4th year) for students in the mentoring program, (5) generalist
faculty mentoring students participating in projects, (6) an Interdisciplinary Generalist Grand Rounds series to
foster increased interactions between generalist faculty in different disciplines and improve the status of
generalist disciplines within AECOM, and (7) exposing 2-3 medical students each year to a national or regional
primary care conference who then share their experiences with other students in group sessions. The Pre-doc
grant project is a collaborative project with the departments of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine.
Academic Administrative Units, Family Medicine, Project Director: Janet Townsend, MD
The grant’s primary goal is to promote scholarship, aimed at reducing health disparities, by: 1) developing an
infrastructure to support resident community based research and education projects (Social Medicine Projects)
addressing racial and ethnic health disparities, and 2) developing a structured program to support clinicianeducator faculty in conducting educational scholarship. The grant provides support for a half-time
educator/coordinator, Education Visiting Professorships and some protected time for clinician educators
1
participating in a Disparities Scholars program as well as ongoing support for faculty and staff who support and
mentor resident Social Medicine Projects.
Residency Training in Family Medicine, Project Director: Mary Duggan, MD
The project supports the training of thirty residents in family medicine over three years. The project has two
goals that specifically target smoking cessation and behaviors to improve health outcomes in people with
diabetes. These are to demonstrate competence in: 1) Practice-based Learning and Improvement and Systemsbased Practice to reduce health disparities and 2) Communication and Interpersonal skills particularly in
counseling for behavior change and use of a Motivational Interviewing approach. This grant will allow the
residency to hire an additional half-time behavioral science faculty member to support this program as well as
support current faculty and staff in carrying out these new curricular activities.
These grants were the result of an intensive period of grant writing in late November and early December carried
out by a team of faculty and staff that included Darwin Deen, Mary Duggan, Alice Fornari, Marji Gold, Victoria
Gorski, Eliana Korin, Paul Meissner, Janet Townsend and Mona Weinberger. The grants will bring in more than
$500,000 dollars annually to the DFSM’s education programs. Nicole Lewis, Cathy Scuola, Audrey Stephens, Tami
Rivera, Carol Whittaker lent invaluable support in putting together the grants, as well as the rest of the
administrative staff in both DFSM offices. Arthur Blank, Hal Strelnick and Peter Selwyn provided invaluable
feedback to the grant writers. The grants resulted from a period of discussion of Education Division priorities and
needs that helped to coordinate the objectives of the grants. Congratulations to all who contributed to this
remarkable effort.
Title VII funding has been instrumental over the years in assuring stability of the training programs and in
supporting curricular innovations. Appropriations for Title VII are frequently threatened, and intensive lobbying
efforts by primary care educators and organizations was necessary this year as well to assure that funding was
available for approved grants. We may be calling on you in the future to contact federal representatives to
advocate for continued Title VII funding.
The Hispanic Center for Excellence, Project Director: Hal Strelnick, MD
The Hispanic Center of Excellence was renewed for 3 years, beginning August 1, 2005, and will be integrated
with the AECOM Office of Education (OOE), directed by Associate Dean Al Kuperman. Dr. Strelnick will be
director and Elizabeth Lee-Rey, MD, and Maria Marzan, MPH, will be Co-Directors. Other DFSM faculty who are
supported by the HCOE include Alice Fornari, EdD; Rose Guilbe, MD; Eliana Korin, Dipl. Psic.; and Gladys
Valdivieso. OOE faculty supported by the grant include Asst. Deans Penny Grossman and Nilda Soto and Mildred
Witt, PhD. It will expand support services for AECOM students, renew the HCOE faculty development fellowship,
develop a resource center at the AECOM library, expand Medical Spanish courses & resources at AECOM, support
the ECHO clinic, and provide student scholarship to attend professional conferences and present their research.
South Bronx environmental Justice Partnership, Project Director: Hal Strelnick, MD
The South Bronx Environmental Justice Partnership (SBEJP) will be renewed for 4 years. The Partnership has
been expanded to include the community-based organization, For a Better Bronx (FABB), and Lehman College.
The grant will support new research using Geographic Information Services (GIS) to study the distribution of
heart disease hospitalizations and air pollution in the Bronx, diabetes and parks, and parks and poverty. SBEJP
will also be establishing model demonstrations addressing the built environment and health in the South Bronx.
WELCOMES & FAREWELLS
As the academic year begins again we see many comings and goings of our colleagues. Please welcome the
newcomers and send well wishes to those who are departing.
Farewell to Margaret Coughlan
Personal message from Dr. Coughlan: “I'm finding it difficult to say goodbye to all of the friends I have made
over the past three years here at Montefiore. I've been very impressed with each and every one of you and all of
your very unique qualities/personalities. Thank you all for your support over the past few months as we make
this transition in our lives. Special thanks to the Williamsbridge staff, the Family Medicine Faculty and Residents,
and the wonderful support staff at the program. I will cherish your gifts and kind words. Some say it is difficult
to keep in touch. I hope that won't be the case. Please call, write, or stop by.”
2
Contact information:
37 Forest Meadow Drive, Salt Point, NY 12578, 845-266-8139, cell: 914-907-6206, work: 845-483-5700 (after
9/12/05)
Farewell to Fred Lambert
After seven years at Montefiore, Fred is leaving but won’t be far away.
Personal message from Dr. Lambert: “I want to thank all of you for working with me and serving as my
colleagues for the last 7 years. I have truly enjoyed my time here at Montefiore, I have learned a lot, and I will
miss all of you terribly.”
Contact information:
Work: John S. Hong Family Practice Center, 114-49 Sutphin Blvd, Jamaica NY 11436, Phone: 718-558-7160
Home: 2 Lily Lane, Levittown, NY 11756, Phone: 516-644-5347. Please use my home email:
drfred1@optonline.net
SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS
Saundra D. Shepherd Memorial Lecture
Wednesday September 7, 2005
8:30 am at Cherkasky Auditorium.
This year's guest speakers are Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, and Dr. Joshua David Sparrow. The Title of the
presentation is: "Touchpoints...Putting the Fun Back into Pediatric Medicine."
Dr. Brazelton graduated in 1943 from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He completed his
medical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. He trained in Child Psychiatry at Massachusetts General
Hospital and James Jackson Putnam Children’s Center. He subsequently served as a Fellow at the Center for
Cognitive Studies at Harvard University. In 1972, Dr. Brazelton established the Child Development Institute, a
pediatric training and research center at Children’s Hospital in Boston. In 1993, he founded the Brazelton
Touchpoints Center, which trains professionals nationwide to better serve families of infants and children. One of
Dr. Brazelton’s greatest achievements in pediatrics is his Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale, first published in
1973. Known as the “Brazelton,” this evaluation tool is used worldwide clinically and in research to assess
newborns’ physical, neurological responses as well as emotional well-being.
Dr. Joshua David Sparrow is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School, supervisor for
outpatient psychiatry services at Children’s Hospital Boston, and Director of Special Initiatives at the Brazelton
Touchpoints Center. Dr. Sparrow’s work has included consultation on child development and parenting to the
Harlem Children’s Zone, and to American Indian Early Head Start Programs. Dr. Sparrow obtained his medical
degree from Yale University. He completed a Psychiatry residency at Cambridge Hospital, and then a fellowship in
Child Psychiatry at McLean Hospital. He has received numerous awards for his work at the Touchpoints Center,
and has been the Keynote Speaker at presentations around the world.
PASSINGS
Dr. Luz Towns-Miranda would like to express her deep appreciation for the understanding, support and kindness
she received after her father’s passing. The flowers were beautiful and soothing. My dad had always recalled as
a child, helping his mother in her beautiful flower garden and had a special regard for their beauty and effect. It
is at times like these that the emotional richness of this department is so evident!
PERSONAL HAPPENINGS
People in the News.....
Congratulations! To Dr. Charles Schwartz who became board-certified in Psychosomatic Medicine in June.
Psychosomatic Medicine is a new subspecialty that was approved by the American Board of Psychiatry and
Neurology and the American Board of Medical Specialties in 2004. The specialty was previously known as
3
Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry. This is the first year that the boards were given; Dr. Schwartz is in the first
group to be certified.
Congratulations! To Dr. Chinazo Cunningham who has been awarded the Harold Amos Medical Faculty
Development Award of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, formerly known as the Minority Medical Faculty
Development Program. The purpose of this award and program is to increase the number of faculty from
historically disadvantaged backgrounds who can achieve senior rank in academic medicine and who will
encourage and foster the development of succeeding classes of such physicians. The 4-year research awards are
offered to historically disadvantaged physicians who are committed to developing careers in academic medicine
and to serving as role models for students and faculty of similar background. Dr. Cunningham’s project will focus
on barriers to hepatitis C evaluation and treatment in substance users.
Congratulations! To Dr. Alice Fornari who was appointed to the American Dietetic Association Ethics Committee
of the Board of Directors and House of Delegates from 2005-08.
From September 7-9, 2005, Dr. Hal Strelnick will be a Visiting Professor at the Department of Family Medicine
and Community Health at the University of Minnesota, presenting the work of the Institute for Community &
Collaborative Health, SBEJP, Bronx CREED, and the Bronx Science Education Partnership.
OPPORTUNITIES
Grant Writing Training
November 14-18, 2005, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM, St. John’s University-Manhattan Campus, Manhattan, New York
The Grant Institute is offering a Certificate in Professional Program Development and Grant Communication.
Interested development professionals, researchers, faculty, and graduate students should register as soon as
possible, as demand means that seats will fill up quickly. All participants will receive certification in professional
grant writing from the Institute, as well as 3.5 CEU units. For more information call (888) 824 - 4424 or visit The
Grant Institute website at http://www.thegrantinstitute.com.
Patient care for former adolescents
Sara Buchdahl Levine, MD, MPH, Post-Doctoral Fellow, in Pediatrics is assembling a list of physicians interested in
seeing patients who “age out” of the adolescent clinic at age 21. Please contact sarlevin@montefiore.org if you
would like to be listed.
Education & Training Updates
Montefiore has several ongoing leadership training programs. Meetings that Work, the Shackleton Series:
Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga, Managing Multiple Projects Objectives and Deadlines, and many
others. Contact Michele Adams, Training Manager, Division of Education & Organizational Development,
Montefiore Medical Center, (718) 920-2974 office, e-mail: MAdams@Montefiore.org
MISCELLANEOUS
A JACHO moment:
The following abbreviations are unacceptable: U, IU, Q.D., QD, qd, Q.O.D., QOD, qod, x.0 (trailing zero), MS,
MSO4, MgSO4. Refer to the Montefiore policy on unacceptable abbreviations for more details.
Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Mentoring Program
The Department was host for the fourth summer to a wonderful group of 12 high school and college students
interested in health careers who participated in the HRSA/AHEC sponsored Maternal and Child Health Summer
Mentoring Program. Janet Townsend, Paul Meissner and Carol Whittaker form a team that planned and
administered the program with the able assistance of current and past student coordinators. This year, Kara
Dempsey, Fordham 2005 and a DFSM research assistant, and Lourdes Ventura, Hunter College 2005, served as
the day-to-day supervisors and contributed many creative ideas and activities to the program, as well as expert
help to the students on their projects. Jon Paul Sanchez, AECOM 2006, made a return appearance, leading the
efforts to help students plan and carry out their projects. Adamma Mba-Jones, AECOM 2006, and Wendy Daley,
AECOM 2007, former student coordinators helped with interviewing and project development, respectively. Of the
7 college students and 5 high school seniors who participated this year, 7-8 plan on careers in medicine, 2-3 in
4
nursing, 1 in midwifery and 1 in child psychology. The students participated in a variety of shadowing
experiences in family medicine, pediatrics, ob-gyn and emergency medicine as well as field visits to the NYC and
Bronx DOHMH, the March of Dimes, the Children’s Defense Fund, Hunter Schools of Public Health and Nursing.
Faculty, fellows, and residents from RPSM and OB-GYN and Women’s Health gave seminars on various maternal
and child health topics, COPC, health disparities and health activism, academic/professional skills and health
careers. Nursing colleagues and Montefiore associates from Human Resources also assisted in presentations for
the students. AECOM medical students assisted with editing of the students’ papers.
Each student researched a community health project, wrote a 10-page paper, prepared and presented a
PowerPoint presentation as the culmination of their six-week experience on August 11th. The presentations were
attended by several generations of family members as well as RPSM faculty and residents and reflected a great
deal of work and thoughtful analysis of health problems important to the Bronx and similar communities. The
MCH program participated in an evening workshop for parents and a picnic at Dr. Nellie Correa’s house with the
Hispanic Center of Excellence Mentoring Program for college students interested in medicine. Students reported
feeling welcomed and encouraged by all, including patients whom they met, and felt that their skills and
knowledge related to pursuing their dreams of a career in health had increased a great deal. The students
received certificates of completion at a ceremony in Cherkasky Auditorium on August 12. Mariange Tardieu, MD,
AECOM 1985, gave a keynote address on the History of Medicine. On September 1, Bronx 12 taped and aired an
interview with several of this summer’s participants, several parents and Janet Townsend. A MCH Alumni Council
formed after completion of this year’s program plans to increase networking and referral services for graduates
and other students interested in health careers and will seek funding for more year round activities as well as
assist with a survey of the 54 graduates to assess the impact of the program.
The following students participated and presented in the program this year. Congratulations to them for their
remarkable work and energy, and heartfelt thanks to the dozens of Montefiore staff that assisted with the
program.
Erica Acosta, Health Opportunities High School
Presented on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
Donovan Brown, Jr., Bronx Leadership Academy
Presented on Diabetes Mellitus Type 2
Jahaira Capellan, SUNY Binghamton
Presented on Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS)
Jorge Chan, SUNY Stony Brook
Presented on Infectious Mononucleosis
Charles Chukweumeka, Lehman College
Presented on Prevalence of Asthma in the Urban Community
Jade Gardner, SUNY Binghamton
Presented on The HIV Epidemiology of the Black Woman and the Impact of the “DL” Phenomena
Chavone Lake, Christopher Columbus High School
Presented on Smoking as a Risk Factor for Pre-Term Labor & Infant Mortality
Jael Kemp, Bronx Leadership Academy
Presented on Munchausen Syndrone by Proxy (MSBP)
Marie-France Likanje, SUNY Stony Brook
Presented on Myth and Miseducation: the Social Background of Rape as cure for HIV/AIDS in South Africa.
Nadilynn Melendez, Manhattanville College
Presented on Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS)
Michelle Reyes, Fordham College
5
Presented on Spina Bifida
Raquel Richardson, Delhi College
Presented on Introduction to Stillbirth
MONTHLY SCHEDULE REMINDERS
All Faculty Administrative meetings for 2005
1:30 to 3:00 p.m., 3544 Jerome Ave, 3rd Floor Conference Room:
September 6
Presenter: Jonathan Swartz, MD
Topic: Clinical
Jack Wolf, Chief Information Officer at Montefiore, and Dorrie Napoleone, who runs the Clinical Information
system (CIS), are coming to talk with us re information technology at Montefiore and how current systems and
Monte's strategic plan relate to our needs as clinicians and teachers at our practice sites. Please come prepared
with your thoughts and questions.
November 1
Presenter: Jonathan Swartz, MD
Topic: Education
December 6
Presenter: Peter Selwyn, MD
Topic: Departmental Review and Strategic Planning
Social Medicine Rounds
Convener: Matt Anderson, MD
4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., Binswanger Auditorium located in the Moses Hospital [enter 210th street entrance, ask
security, and follow the arrows] Lite refreshments will be served.
September 6
Presenter: Olveen Carrasquillo, Assistant Professor of Medicine Health Policy & Management, Columbia University
Topic: Healthcare Access for Latino Patients
September 20
Presenter: John Wargo, MD, Professor of Environmental Risk Analysis, Yale University
Topic: Environmental Toxins and Their Impact on Health
DFSM Grand Rounds
8:00 - 9:15 a.m., Moses II Conference Room:
September 23
Presenter: Jon Swartz, MD
Topic: Clinical Services Update
Palliative Care Grand Rounds:
This event is open to the public.
8:00 - 9:00 a.m., Tishman A Conference Room, North 2 MMC
**No PCare Grand Rounds this month**
Educational Scholarship Group, September 13
This event is open to all faculty.
5:30pm - 7pm, 3544 Jerome Ave, 3rd Floor Conference Room
Light dinner will be provided.
6
To see a complete list of MonteTalk E-Bulletins click here: http://intranet/newsevents/montetalk
***********************************************************************************
If you wish to receive a copy of a previously released electronic newsletter, please contact Tami
Rivera at (718) 920-8434 or at the e-mail listed below.
Please send email submissions for upcoming newsletters, by the 20th of each month, to:
Becky Williams
Mark Polisar
Tami Rivera
Peter Selwyn
rewillia@montefiore.org
mpolisar@montefiore.org
tariver@montefiore.org
pselwyn@montefiore.org
7