PHMI Blog - Blog from Partners Harvard Medical International

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In this issue: The Wockhardt Hospital network looks to capitalize on the progress it has made in building a culture of quality, while nursing leaders from the U.S. and Dubai work to institute a professional practice model for the University Hospital in Dubai based on Magnet principles. Elsewhere in the Middle East, Alfaisal University and Lebanese American University prepare to open new medical schools. Also: PHMI’s Bruce Dowton chairs a panel of internationally renowned scientists who are looking at the future of research in Australia, John Helfrick talks about hospital quality improvement and accreditation, and faculty from Harvard Medical School and other institutions converge to discuss what lessons a unique student exchange program can provide for understanding health care systems.

Back in the September/October 2007 issue of PHMI WORLD, we reported that then-Harvard Medical International was advising the Springfield Land Corporation on the development of a new health care and education project in Springfield, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia:

The Springfield Land Corporation (SLC) has tapped HMI to assist with the strategic planning of an integrated health, wellness, and education campus that will be part of a community expansion in the state of Queensland . . .  

. . . HMI’s role thus far has been to facilitate collaboration between the key stakeholders, including not only SLC and provider groups in the health care community, but also the Queensland government and its Department of Health. HMI is also helping SLC explore how education programs will be integrated into the campus. Dowton and other HMI team members have conducted a series of site visits aimed at synthesizing the perspectives of the groups involved and advising SLC on its long-term strategic plan.

Now the Springfield group has unveiled the blueprint for the Springfield Health City, which “will be a revolution in the approach to health care and wellness in Australia, and provide all the necessary services for the rapidly growing population of Greater Springfield and its surrounds,” according to City chairman Professor John Hay. Hay said the plan for the Health City was based on research conducted by HMI, which recommended a Health City concept with a private/public partnership incorporating all forms of health care including primary care, acute care, alternative care, integrated residential including aged care, retirement living and hotels, education, research and E-health, underpinned by a strong focus on training future health workers.”

Complete release from Greater Springfield

The opening date of the new medical school at the Lebanese American University (LAU) is still more than a year away. Yet LAU, now in the second year of its collaboration with Partners Harvard Medical International (PHMI), is already establishing itself in the Lebanese academic medical community. In April, the school gathered leaders from the country’s other medical schools for a lively dialogue on the future of education in the Middle East.

The panel discussion was part of a three-day event that included a workshop for new LAU medical faculty led by Dr. N. Lynn Eckhert, PHMI Director of Academic Programs, PHMI Senior Consultant Dr. Constance Bowe, and Dr. Zeinat Hijazi, Assistant Dean for Medical Education at LAU. A highlight of the workshop was a small-group, problem-based learning exercise conducted with eight pre-medical students at LAU.

The event culminated in a day-long symposium on medical education, featuring a keynote address by Dr. Eckhert and an introduction to the LAU curriculum by Dr. Hijazi. The panel discussion gave voice to the rich diversity of medical education traditions in Lebanon. In addition to Dr. Kamal Badr, the founding Dean of LAU’s medical school, the speakers included representatives from the country’s six other medical schools, including five school deans.

The LAU School of Medicine, which will be based in Beirut and Byblos, will feature an American-style curriculum. Its first class of medical students will commence in September 2009.

Read more and view photos from the event on the LAU website: http://www.lau.edu.lb/news-events/news/medical_workshop/

PHMI needs a Medical Writer to assist with the review and revision of clinical and service line profiles for a tertiary care hospital currently under development. (You might have read about it in PHMI WORLD) The Medical Writer will have good knowledge of hospital operations and general/speciality clinical programs and departments. Contact the PHMI Director of Communications via email at phmi@phmi.partners.org. Please include “Medical Writer” in the subject line of your email.

The Cay Compass  reports that PHMI Director N. Lynn Eckhert recently gave the commencement address at graduation ceremonies for the St. Matthews University School of Medicine in Grand Cayman. This graduating class began their studies just days before Hurricane Ivan hit Grand Cayman in September 2004. The hurricane caused widespread damage in the islands and left much of Grand Cayman unhabitable for several months. St. Matthews medical students wound up taking classes on the school’s campus in Maine campus.

From the article:

Dr. Eckhert reminded the students that being a physician meant that their learning was not over because medical knowledge, technology and procedures were progressing constantly.

“It means that you will still be studying far into the future and as long as you have a career in medicine,” she said.

“Your graduating from medical school is just one more step in your education, for you will need to keep up with the current state of medicine in your area of expertise.”

St. Matthew’s Dean of Clinical Sciences Dr. John Randall said he was proud of the graduating class, many members of which had to go to study in Maine after Hurricane Ivan, until repairs to the dormitories and campus here could be made.

“You probably could be called Ivanites,” he said.

Partners Harvard Medical International has an open position for a Web and Communications Manager who will play a lead role in maintaining PHMI’s online tools, including HMI WORLD, PHMI’s main website, and this blog. The position is posted on the Partners HealthCare website and can be searched for in the job database with job code 2176181.

The PHMI Web and Communications Manager will perform high-level project management, communications, administrative, and technical functions as part of the PHMI Communications & Marketing Group. Responsibilities include overall technical maintenance of the PHMI main website and PHMI’s online news publication HMI WORLD; participating in strategy development for PHMI’s online initiatives; playing a lead role in the identification and implementation of tools and technologies to help drive internal business processes; participate in other activities in the Communications & Marketing domain, such as the PHMI Annual Report and the development of marketing communications collateral; and generally serve as the team’s technical expert and technical liaison with other groups within the organization.

This position requires demonstrated experience with Web technologies – skill with Dreamweaver is a must. The ability to experiment with and evaluate new technologies and tools and help is required. The ideal candidate has strong written and verbal communications skills, ability to work independently and as a team member, and ability to work under deadline pressure and juggle multiple tasks.

UPDATE: PHMI has other open positions. Check out the Careers page of our website.

Did you read the Forum article in the September-October 2007 issue? The article, entitled “How Doctors Talk: Improving Physician-Patient Communication,” was written by longtime PHMI freelance writer Natalie Engler. It’s a great piece about an important issue in health care practice and education.

We thought Natalie did a great job, and the New England Chapter of the American Medical Writers Association agrees. Natalie was recently announced as the winner of a Will Solimene Award, given by the Association for excellence in medical, biomedical, and health communication.

Congratulations to Natalie — time to update your CV! To read more of her excellent work, check out her most recent Forum article on integrative medicine.

A quick mention on Paul Levy’s blog led me to the BIDMC-TV section of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center website. Here you can find short videos on various health care topics organized in “channels.”  On the Breathing Easier Channel, for example, you can see Dr. Armin Ernst discuss chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. On the Cardiovascular Channel you can view a video about a minimally invasive procedure used to treat a stroke victim. The Women’s Health and Childbirth Channel has a good video featuring tips that can help new mothers learn how to handle their babies without hurting their backs. Other channels focus on fitness, cancer, men’s health, quality improvement, and much more.

For more, visit the BIDMC-TV website .

Last week, Harvard University and Partners HealthCare formally executed an agreement that brings about the transition of HMI to Partners Harvard Medical International (PHMI). The full story, including perspectives from PHMI executives Andrew Jeon and Bruce Dowton, as well as Partners VP Jay Pieper, is in the new issue of HMI WORLD. Here Drs. Jeon and Dowton provide the key takeaways:

“HMI’s work since its inception has been possible in large part due to the unwavering support from the leadership of Harvard Medical School, as well as the tremendous intellectual resources of its faculty,” said Andrew A. Jeon, MD, MBA, Acting President and Chief Executive Officer. “We anticipate that in our new affiliation with Partners, we will be able to expand our mission to increase access to quality health care in countries across the world, while maintaining a vital academic partnership with the Medical School and its affiliated institutions.”

This transition comes as the result of discussions between Partners and Harvard about the best positioning of HMI for the future. Over the course of HMI’s 14-year history, its HMI portfolio has expanded beyond the organization’s original charter to extend the Medical School’s tradition of academic excellence to include a wide array of service capabilities.

“Today, in addition to working with clients to develop greenfield schools to train health care professionals, and helping existing academic institutions to innovate and improve, we are also deeply committed to pursuing collaborations focused on building sustainable models for clinical and operational excellence and designing strategies for workforce development in the health care settings,” said S. Bruce Dowton, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Dowton added that going forward, PHMI would be able to provide to clients a more comprehensive range of academic and clinical services, including facilities management, consulting services, and training of allied health care professionals.

But the transition that makes us part of the Partners family isn’t the only recent big move. We’ve also moved our Boston headquarters — a wholly separate development that happened to coincide with the move to Partners. Our new address is 131 Dartmouth Street in Boston’s Back Bay District. The PHMI Boston team is settling in and looking forward to welcoming colleagues and clients to the wonderful new office.

Now online. Go read about our transition to Partners Harvard Medical International, the new simulation center planned at HMSDC, and upcoming programs and events. Also: PHMI director Betsy Brown sits down for “Five Questions.”