Spring 2009

Lead Story

1. 

   Making Connections: The DFM Embraces Social Networking

   Online social networking—using Web sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to connect with friends, family, colleagues, and customers—has reached a critical tipping point, attracting everyone from high school students to grandparents to business CEOs.

Department Announcements

1. 

   DFM Again Ranks in Top Ten for NIH Funding

   The UW Department of Family Medicine (DFM) has again ranked as one of the top ten family medicine departments in the country for National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding.

Education

1. 

   DFM Welcomes David Deci, MD, as Medical Student Education Director

   The Department of Family Medicine (DFM) extends a warm welcome to David Deci, MD, who on March 9th became its new director of the Office of Medical Student Education (OMSE).

2. 

   Family Practice Inquiries Network Offers Publishing Opportunities for Residents

   Department of Family Medicine (DFM) residents statewide have another way to complete their program's scholarly requirement and also make a contribution to their professional field.

Research

1. 

   Getting Engaged at the First Community Health Research Forum

   Community-based researchers and academic leaders came together to share their research interests, surprises, hopes, and inspirations at the first Community Health Research Forum, held March 2 at UW-Stevens Point.

2. 

   Shedding Light on Pancreatitis in Pregnancy

   A recent study by DFM Associate Professor Jennifer Eddy, MD, and Assistant Professor Mark Gideonsen, MD, has provided an up-to-date, comprehensive characterization of pancreatitis in pregnancy, a rare condition that occurs in approximately one in 3,000 pregnancies.

3. 

   Investigating Computer-Based Simulation Training for Prescription Drug Abuse Screening

   A new research project at the Department of Family Medicine (DFM) is investigating whether computer-based simulation training can help primary care clinicians more effectively screen patients for prescription drug abuse.

Patient Care

1. 

   Monona Clinic Pilots No-Wait Patient Rooming

   It's hard to imagine a clinic visit that doesn't include time spent in the waiting room, watching other patients come and go until the nurse calls your name.

   But for patients at UW Health Monona, that experience is becoming a thing of the past.

   That's because family physicians there are adopting a new rooming process in which patients proceed directly to the exam room, bypassing the waiting room altogether.

2. 

   Eau Claire Clinic Wins Greiber Award

   The UW Health Eau Claire Family Medicine Clinic is the 2009 recipient of the Chippewa Valley Association for Career and Technical Education's (CVACTE) C. L. Greiber Award.

3. 

   Managing Pain Together: Verona Clinic's New Opioids Protocol Benefits Clinicians and Patients

   Department of Family Medicine (DFM) physicians and staff at the UW Health Verona Clinic have begun implementing a new protocol for patients who use controlled substances (i.e., opioids) for chronic pain.