June 3, 2005

What's Happening

CRP seminar
The Clinical Research Program (CRP) will offer "Insight: A Versatile Research Tool" June 8 from noon to 1 pm in the Thier (formerly Wellman) Conference Room. Topics to be covered include what resources currently are available in tracking status and meeting schedules for IRB applications, and what is currently being piloted with a selected group of users to facilitate online IRB submissions. Registration is required by June 6. To register, call the CRP reservation line at (617) 726-1669. Lunch will be served at 11:45 am. This lecture qualifies for 1.2 contact hours for registered nurses.

Senior HealthWISE
MGH Senior HealthWISE will sponsor "Complementary and Alternative Therapies: What's That All About?" June 14, from 11 am to noon in the Walcott Conference Rooms. Debbie Essig, MSW, LICSW, of MGH Social Services and co-director of the MGH Cancer Resource Room, will discuss what complementary and alternative therapies are, why there is so much interest in them and what the trends are for older adults. This seminar is for seniors 60 years and older, and is free of charge. For more information, call (617) 724-6756.

Author to speak about Alzheimer's
The MGH Senior Health Family-Caregiver Support Program will present Joanne Koenig Coste, author of Learning to Speak Alzheimer's: A Groundbreaking Approach June 13, from 5:30 to 7 pm in the Walcott Conference Rooms. Coste will discuss how to create a world where persons with Alzheimer's disease can thrive, have opportunities for success and how their self-esteem can remain intact. Refreshments will be served at 5 pm, and there also will be a book signing. Seating is limited. To register, call (617) 724-7324.

Women's health seminar
The MGH Women's Health Coordinating Council, in conjunction with the Stoeckle Center for Primary Care Innovation, the Blum Patient and Family Learning Center and the Harvard Medical School of Excellence in Women's Health, will sponsor "Taking Care of Ourselves: Finding and Using Reliable Women's Health Information" June 7, from 4 to 6 pm in the East Garden Dining Room. Speakers include Judy Norsigian, co-author of Our Bodies, Ourselves, and Karen Carlson, MD, director of the MGH Women's Health Associates. Seating is limited. To register, call Mary Ellen Heike, RN, at (617) 724-8044 or send e-mail to mheike@partners.org.

Community Benefit anniversary
The MGH Community Benefit Program will celebrate its 10th anniversary June 6, from 1:45 to 3 pm under the Bulfinch tent. Join keynote speaker Sen. Edward Kennedy and celebrate 10 years of partnering to improve community health.

Support Service Employee Grant program
Applications now are being accepted for the MGH Support Service Employee Grant
program. The grant is open to eligible nonexempt employees seeking to improve their skills. For a list of eligible criteria or to download an application, visit http://is.partners.org/hr/New_Web/mgh/mgh_training.htm or contact the Training and Workforce Development Office at (617) 726-2230. The deadline is June 10.

Clinical Research Day poster design class
The MGH Photography Department will offer two poster design classes June 9, from 8 to 9 am in the Thier (formerly Wellman) Conference Room and June 16, from 4 to 5 pm in the Haber Conference Room, for those who have submitted abstracts for Clinical Research Day. The sessions will provide an overview of the poster design process and give researchers an opportunity to have specific questions answered. Handouts with step-by-step instructions and CDs with poster templates will be available. Registration is required. To register, visit http://crnet.mgh.harvard.edu/education/education.asp.

The Photography Department also is offering discounted printing prices as an incentive for early submission. Files received by June 7 will receive a 30 percent discount, by June 14 a 20 percent discount and by June 21 a 10 percent discount. Class attendance is not required to receive this discount. Reference Clinical Research Day when submitting files.

Quality and safety interview project
The MGH is launching a project to explore quality and safety issues from the perspective of MGH employees who also are patients at the hospital. For the next three months an MGH team will conduct confidential interviews with MGH employee- patients to learn more about their patient care experiences. The goal of the interviews is to create a series of case studies that will supplement the hospital's quantitative data about quality and safety issues. All MGH and MGPO employees who are patients at the hospital are invited to participate. For more information, contact Susan Edgman-Levitan at sedgmanlevitan@partners.org or Gregg Meyer, MD, at gmeyer@partners.org.