Yes, dear members of the PIT-SIG, it is a good time to be in Palliative Medicine, to be member of the AAHPM, and to be a part of the PIT-SIG.
First, we would like to thank you for your loyalty and for your interest.
Then, introductions:
The Chair: Giovanni is a former Urogynecolgist who fell in love with Hospice and Palliative Medicine, completed a Fellowship at San Diego Hospice in 2007, and stayed there as staff.
The Vice-Chair: Jessie is a third year Internal Medicine resident and soon-to-be Infectious Disease fellow at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Her primary clinical and research interests are in HIV and palliative care.
We had the opportunity to meet many of you at the AAHPM annual assembly and were energized by your enthusiasm and ideas. To continue the momentum established in Tampa we have identified five key areas of interest for the coming year:
1) Participation: We would like to see PIT-SIG representation across committees and task forces of the Academy. The official application deadline was March 1st, but there are still ways to get involved. So, if you are interested, send your CV and your preferences to the Academy any time. If you have suggestions or areas you would like to be involved, let us know. Also, with your help, this blog can be a sounding board for all of us. We encourage comments, case presentations, clinical dilemmas, short essays or articles on pertinent issues. It would also be great if we could have a link to this blog from the AAHPM home site: we’ll see.
2) Education and Mentorship: We are working on a program that will allow medical students to visit centers of excellence in Palliative Medicine across the country. Stay tuned for more details!
3) Networking: The small size and newness of our specialty makes meeting colleagues from institutions outside our own especially important. One suggestion from the PIT-SIG meeting attendees in Tampa was to have a PIT-SIG social event early on during the annual assembly. Also, Giovanni, coming from the West Coast, found it very inconvenient to get up early for the PIT-SIG meeting at 7:30am. So he is launching his personal crusade to have the PIT-SIG meeting scheduled in the afternoon. We are also looking for electronic means, such as this blog, for keeping PIT-SIG members connected throughout the year.
4) Research: Every year, the PIT-SIG leadership selects cases for presentation at the annual assembly case conference. Many of the submissions come from PIT-SIG members. We encourage you to apply for this and other opportunities, such as poster and papers sessions, to present your work.
5) Spreading the word: Of course, we are all committed to teaching other students, residents, fellows, and colleagues what Palliative Medicine is, how much fun we have practicing and studying it, and most importantly, how much our patients benefit from our teamwork. As upcoming leaders in a new and growing field, we have the responsibility of continuing this tradition.
In order to further develop these areas of interest, we need your help. We want the enthusiasm for our specialty that was palpable during the annual assembly to continue throughout the year. If you would like to get involved in the PIT-SIG, please let us know.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Ciao
Giovanni & Jessie
First, we would like to thank you for your loyalty and for your interest.
Then, introductions:
The Chair: Giovanni is a former Urogynecolgist who fell in love with Hospice and Palliative Medicine, completed a Fellowship at San Diego Hospice in 2007, and stayed there as staff.
The Vice-Chair: Jessie is a third year Internal Medicine resident and soon-to-be Infectious Disease fellow at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Her primary clinical and research interests are in HIV and palliative care.
We had the opportunity to meet many of you at the AAHPM annual assembly and were energized by your enthusiasm and ideas. To continue the momentum established in Tampa we have identified five key areas of interest for the coming year:
1) Participation: We would like to see PIT-SIG representation across committees and task forces of the Academy. The official application deadline was March 1st, but there are still ways to get involved. So, if you are interested, send your CV and your preferences to the Academy any time. If you have suggestions or areas you would like to be involved, let us know. Also, with your help, this blog can be a sounding board for all of us. We encourage comments, case presentations, clinical dilemmas, short essays or articles on pertinent issues. It would also be great if we could have a link to this blog from the AAHPM home site: we’ll see.
2) Education and Mentorship: We are working on a program that will allow medical students to visit centers of excellence in Palliative Medicine across the country. Stay tuned for more details!
3) Networking: The small size and newness of our specialty makes meeting colleagues from institutions outside our own especially important. One suggestion from the PIT-SIG meeting attendees in Tampa was to have a PIT-SIG social event early on during the annual assembly. Also, Giovanni, coming from the West Coast, found it very inconvenient to get up early for the PIT-SIG meeting at 7:30am. So he is launching his personal crusade to have the PIT-SIG meeting scheduled in the afternoon. We are also looking for electronic means, such as this blog, for keeping PIT-SIG members connected throughout the year.
4) Research: Every year, the PIT-SIG leadership selects cases for presentation at the annual assembly case conference. Many of the submissions come from PIT-SIG members. We encourage you to apply for this and other opportunities, such as poster and papers sessions, to present your work.
5) Spreading the word: Of course, we are all committed to teaching other students, residents, fellows, and colleagues what Palliative Medicine is, how much fun we have practicing and studying it, and most importantly, how much our patients benefit from our teamwork. As upcoming leaders in a new and growing field, we have the responsibility of continuing this tradition.
In order to further develop these areas of interest, we need your help. We want the enthusiasm for our specialty that was palpable during the annual assembly to continue throughout the year. If you would like to get involved in the PIT-SIG, please let us know.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Ciao
Giovanni & Jessie
