University of Colorado Department of Pediatrics

I hope everyone was able to enjoy the long holiday weekend and find the time to connect with family and friends. As we persist in navigating the turbulent waters of the COVID-19 pandemic, there continues to be much for us to celebrate as a Department. Here are some of the most recent accomplishments and highlights from across the Department of Pediatrics.

Residents Rally for Food Bank of the Rockies

Thanks to the efforts of our pediatric residents, over $20,000 in donations have been made to the Food Bank of the Rockies. Thank you to all of those who have made generous contributions in support of this resident lead initiative. To help participate in this important effort, please consider a donation via the resident Food Bank of the Rockies drive page.

2020 Pediatric Residency Award Winners

As part of the pediatric residency program’s end-of-year ceremony, an impressive slate of faculty, fellows and residents were recognized with 2020 awards.

Carolina Gutierrez, MD was honored with the Jules Amer Continuity Practice Award. This award is given to a graduating resident who has consistently shown a commitment to providing comprehensive, quality primary care to his or her patients during their continuity practice afternoon each week.  It usually goes to the resident who shows the highest level of commitment to his or her patient, providing continuity beyond the call of duty.

Hai Nguyen-Tran, MD was named Outstanding Senior Resident and presented with the Bruce Garber Award. This award is given to the Senior Resident who best displays Dr. Garber’s love of life, medicine, and especially children; who gives an effort to each patient as great as Bruce would have given, without question and without hesitation; who shows an ability to rise above adversity; and who has the attitude and concern, compassion and energy to achieve as Bruce would have aspired.

Emma Nathaniel, MD was selected for the Hospitalist Award in recognizing a graduating resident for excellence in Pediatric Hospital Medicine. Dr. Nathaniel will be joining the Section of Pediatric Hospital Medicine as a new faculty member in July.

Brendan Mulhern, MD was awarded the Denver Health Senior Resident Award for clinical excellence, advocacy for patients, and dedication to the Denver Health mission.

Paul Tran, MD (Fellow, Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition) was selected for the Outstanding Fellow Teaching Award. This award is given to the fellow who demonstrates excellence in teaching of housestaff.

Katherine Lind, MD, Indira Sriram, MD, Tiffany Pointon, MD were recognized for their outstanding contribution to the education of medical students with the Outstanding Medical Student Teaching Award.

Samantha Lee, RN, MS, CPNP-AC (Instructor, Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition) was named Outstanding APP. This award recognizes an Advanced Practice Provider who demonstrates clinical excellence and models collaboration in patient care.

Christian McManus, BSN, RN was selected for the Outstanding Nursing Award in recognition for excellence in teamwork and clinical nursing.

Barry Seltz, MD (Associate Professor, Section of Hospital Medicine) was named the Gary Way Award winner for outstanding faculty teaching. The Gary Way award was established to recognize and honor members of our full-time faculty who give more than they could possibly receive, who teach with honesty and sincerity, and who consistently put the needs of their students and housestaff ahead of their own.

Congratulations to all the award winners and to our graduating class of pediatric residents!

Faculty Affairs Updates

Faculty Forum

June 17, 2020
Noon – 1:00 p.m.
Zoom link to come

Our first Faculty Forum – the redesign of our departmental faculty meeting – was planned before all the challenges and changes arrived. In a strange way, our shift to virtual meetings has forced new connectivity and levels of engagement as we share informational updates, see patients, and integrate new ways to teach and learn. In the spirit of staying future focused and reactivating, we are forging ahead with a virtual Faculty Forum. All faculty are invited.

The new design stems from faculty and leadership feedback and strives to engage and support faculty in meaningful ways including collecting agenda items from faculty via survey distributed in the weeks leading up to the forum. Agenda and Zoom link to follow.

Instructor Faculty Interest Group’s Annual Reception

July 13, 2020
11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Zoom link to come

Instructors and senior instructors are invited to join the IFIG and multiple Colorado legislators for an interactive, virtual discussion about advocacy at the local and state level. Agenda and invitation to follow.

Junior Faculty Interest Group’s COVID-19 Town Hall: Beyond the Updates

On April 23, the JFIG held a virtual town hall where DOP and CHCO leadership addressed COVID-19-related concerns specific to DOP junior faculty not normally covered in weekly updates. Topics focused on the long term, including career stability/security, hospital plans, protecting patients and families, and maintaining research productivity. The event was well attended and received.

Coronavirus Heroes

During this unprecedented time, it is important that we recognize the amazing efforts of so many of our faculty, trainees and staff. As we’ve confronted this pandemic, all of you have made countless acts of volunteerism and sacrifice – THANK YOU. I am proud of the way our Department and our colleagues at Children’s Hospital Colorado and across the Anschutz Medical Campus have rallied to support each other.

Here are the people, as recognized by their peers, who are going above and beyond in their efforts to combat the pandemic and continue to foster our unrivaled culture of collaboration. Here are the “Coronavirus Heroes” from the past two weeks.

Mark A. Brown, MD (Professor, Associate Director, Breathing Institute, Section of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine)

Nominated by Stanley J. Szefler, MD, on behalf of the Breathing Institute

Why Mark?

Mark has been a Breathing Institute clinical leader during the COVID-19 pandemic, dealing with clinician scheduling and providing a source of communication through his daily Breathing Institute COVID-19 Reports. These summaries are the “go-to” sources of information since each one provides clinical information, research updates, resiliency tips, information on recent publications, and COVID-19 morbidity and mortality data. We all appreciate the time and effort Mark takes in putting this information together. He always leads the update with an inspirational quote of the day, including these gems:

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” – Confucius

“A nurse will always give us hope; an angel with a stethoscope.” – Carrie Latet

“Though this be madness, yet there is method in it.” – Hamlet, William Shakespeare

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill

“Motivation comes from working on things we care about. It also comes from working with people we care about.” – Sheryl Sandberg

Colin Fisher, MD (Instructor, Section of Hospital Medicine)

Nominated by Jenny Reese, MD

Why Colin?

Colin organized an incredibly generous gift from the Section of Pediatric Hospital Medicine to the environmental services staff at the University Hospital. There were 210 gift envelopes delivered, each containing a gift card to either Target, Walmart, Dazbog, or Tattered Cover Bookstore (a combination of most-useful and local businesses). Donations were collected from members of Hospital Medicine. This is a gesture of generosity and kindness led by Colin and contributed to by members of the section to those heroes on the frontlines who are rarely recognized.

Jenny Soep, MD (Associate Professor, Clinic Medical Director,Section of Rheumatology)

Nominated by Rob Fuhlbrigge, MD, PhD

Why Jenny?

Jenny defines leadership by her actions and is the glue that holds Rheumatology together. She has guided our team step-by-step through these past few months with skill, compassion, and humor. She is on every call, informs us of every change, and answers all of our questions. She does this effortlessly, all while maintaining her own telehealth schedule and attending to her multiple roles in the DOP and SOM – and still remembers everybody's birthday. She does not act alone, but we could not do it without her. The amount of work Jenny performs indicates there are at least two of her, but I have never seen them together so I cannot confirm. Thank you, Jenny, for everything you do; you are a true Coronavirus Hero!

Jessica Cataldi, MD, MSCS (Assistant Professor, Section of Infectious Diseases)

Nominated by Betsy McFarland, MD

Why Jessica?

Dr. Cataldi has stepped up to join the hospital Epi team, making critical contributions to new and frequently updated hospital policies, presenting weekly at the CHCO COVID-19 Community Provider Town Hall, becoming an expert on the vast range of clinical manifestations of the novel virus, and serving as a resource for the section and the DOP. She sounded the alarm about dramatically low rates of routine childhood vaccinations and the potential serious consequences. She created systems to improve immunization practices even amid a pandemic.

Kelly Wilt, MD (Fellow); Christy Smith-Anderson, MD (Assistant Professor); Lisa Abuogi, MD, MS (Associate Professor),Section of Infectious Diseases

Nominated by Betsy McFarland, MD

Why Kelly, Christy, and Lisa?

Dr. Wilt, Dr. Smith-Anderson, and Dr. Abuogi have spearheaded the Children and COVID-19 in Colorado (CCC) study, which is now a valuable data source for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, CHCO, and other groups on campus through collection of data on children (both inpatient and outpatient) who test positive for COVID-19. These three jumped right in and got the work structured, received IRB approval, and rapidly organized chart reviews. The data summaries will inform clinicians throughout the state.   

Suzanne Paul, FNP-C (Senior Instructor, Lifestyle Medicine Program Coordinator,Section of Nutrition)

Nominated by Jaime Moore, MD

Why Suzanne?

Suzanne has been an incredibly steady, competent, and optimistic force for our Lifestyle Medicine Weight Management Program through the myriad COVID-related transitions over the last two-plus months. Her expertise with EPIC and telehealth helped facilitate our transition from a nearly entirely in-person practice to 100 percent capacity for delivery via telehealth within one month. Because of these efforts, we were asked to share our telehealth experience on a national platform among other pediatric weight management centers. Suzanne is the first to celebrate other team members’ achievements, which has kept morale high. It is past due to nominate her for this recognition. Thank you, Suzanne!

Congratulations to all these individuals for their outstanding contributions. Thanks as well to the nominators for sharing these stories and for your important role in helping recognize and support this work.

Please continue to share your recommendations for the next “Coronavirus Heroes” by submitting a web-based nomination form. (Note: Nominations are processed at 8 a.m. on Fridays, so submissions sent in after that time will be in the next newsletter.)

Anxiety, Burnout and Well-Being

As we continue to navigate the various challenges of the pandemic and find our way toward our “new normal,” it is important to refer to the numerous publications reminding us of the risk this pandemic poses to health care providers. We know that staying connected, even virtually, is an antidote to the suffering we are facing. Remember that we as health care providers are not always good at recognizing distress in ourselves, nor asking for help. Now is a time to be extra vigilant in looking for signs of mental or emotional distress in each other, reaching out to provide support and/or notifying a leader if you are concerned about yourself or a colleague. We are here for each other!

Three topical JAMA and NEJM articles are below:

• Understanding and Addressing Sources of Anxiety Among Health Care Professionals During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Physician Burnout, Interrupted

• Preventing a Parallel Pandemic — A National Strategy to Protect Clinicians’ Well-Being

In addition, several excellent resources are available on the following websites:

Department of Psychiatry:

https://medschool.cuanschutz.edu/psychiatry/covid-19-support/resources-for-cu-anschutz

National Academy of Medicine:

https://nam.edu/initiatives/clinician-resilience-and-well-being/clinician-well-being-resources-during-covid-19/