Does teaching Optimism lower Burnout in residency training- a pilot study.

Background: Residents frequently experience burnout. Multiple interventions to decrease the risk of burnout have had inconsistent results. In non-medical settings, improving optimism promotes a positive outlook and enhances well-being. Thus, psychological interventions that improve optimism could have potential to decrease the risk for burnout. Objective: Using Lazarus' Ways of Coping as an organizational framework, this intervention sought to evaluate the impact of an optimism curriculum on residents' burnout. Methods: Thirty-six Internal Medicine residents participated in an optimism improvement program from November 2019 to April 2020. We determined pre- and post-curriculum measures of optimism, happiness, and burnout with validated surveys. The Optimism Curriculum was comprised of three one-hour long sessions, which included lectures, group and self-reflective exercises. A post - curriculum evaluation rating the effectiveness of the program was administered separately. Results: Thirty-four out of thirty-six residents completed the post curricular surveys. Individuals with low optimism scores had a higher score for burnout compared to those with higher optimism scores. The post-intervention survey showed numerical improvement in optimism, happiness and burnout, although these changes were not statistically significant. The post-intervention survey showed a decrease in the measure of burnout; however, this was not significant (p = 0.24) with an effect size of 0.34 (Cohen's d). Conclusions: Teaching optimism to residents with the objective of decreasing the risk of burnout is feasible and easily integrated into residency education sessions. The encouraging results of this pilot study lay the foundation for additional studies and suggest a practical role for implementing optimism curricula in residency training programs.

Code S: Redesigning Hospital-Wide Peer Review Processes to Identify System Errors.

Hospital medical errors that result in patient harm and death are largely identified as system failures. Most hospitals lack the tools to effectively identify most system errors. Traditional methods used in many hospitals, such as incident reporting (IR), departmental morbidity and mortality conferences, and root cause analysis committees, are often flawed by under reporting. We introduced the Code S designation into our hospital's ongoing physician peer review process as an additional and innovative way to identify system errors that contributed to adverse clinical outcomes. The authors conducted a retrospective review of all peer review cases from January 2008 to December 2011 and determined the quantity and type of system errors that occurred. System errors were categorized based on a modified 5M model which was adapted to reflect system errors encountered in healthcare. The Code S designation discovered 204 system errors that otherwise may not have previously been identified. The addition of the Code S designation to the peer review process can be readily adopted by other healthcare organizations as another tool to help identify, quantify and categorize system errors, and promote hospital-wide process improvements to decrease errors and improve patient safety.

A Case of Miller Fisher Syndrome, Thromboembolic Disease, and Angioedema: Association or Coincidence?

BACKGROUND Miller Fisher Syndrome is characterized by the clinical triad of ophthalmoplegia, ataxia, and areflexia, and is considered to be a variant of Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Miller Fisher Syndrome is observed in approximately 1-5% of all Guillain-Barre cases in Western countries. Patients with Miller Fisher Syndrome usually have good recovery without residual deficits. Venous thromboembolism is a common complication of Guillain-Barre Syndrome and has also been reported in Miller Fisher Syndrome, but it has generally been reported in the presence of at least one prothrombotic risk factor such as immobility. A direct correlation between venous thromboembolism and Miller Fisher Syndrome or Guillain-Barre Syndrome has not been previously described. CASE REPORT We report the case of a 32-year-old Hispanic male who presented with acute, severe thromboembolic disease and concurrently demonstrated characteristic clinical features of Miller Fisher Syndrome including ophthalmoplegia, ataxia, and areflexia. Past medical and family history were negative for thromboembolic disease, and subsequent hypercoagulability workup was unremarkable. During the course of hospitalization, the patient also developed angioedema. CONCLUSIONS We describe a possible association between Miller Fisher Syndrome, thromboembolic disease, and angioedema.

Code R: Redesigning Hospital-wide Peer Review for Academic Hospitals.

In most health care institutions, physician peer review is the primary method for maintaining and measuring physician competency and quality of care issues. However, many teaching hospitals do not have a method of tracking resident trainees' involvement in adverse cases. At the study institution, Code R was introduced as a measure to capture resident trainee involvement in the hospital-wide peer review process. The authors conducted a retrospective review of all peer review cases from January 2008 to December 2011 in an academic medical center and determined the quantity and type of resident errors that occurred compared to attending faculty. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's core competencies served as a framework to categorize quality of care errors. The addition of Code R to the peer review process can be readily adopted by other institutions to help improve resident education, facilitate faculty supervision, and potentially improve patient safety.

Leclercia adecarboxylata Bacteremia in a Patient with Ulcerative Colitis.

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are a high risk population for bacteremia. Derangement in the mucosal architecture of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and frequent endoscopic interventions in immunocompromised individuals are considered primary causes. Isolation of opportunistic microorganisms from the bloodstream of IBD patients has been increasingly reported in recent years. Leclercia adecarboxylata is a ubiquitous, aerobic, motile, gram-negative bacillus. The human GI tract is known to harbor this rarely pathogenic microorganism. There are only a few case reports of bacteremia with this microorganism; the majority are either polymicrobial or associated with immunocompromised patients. We describe a case of monomicrobial L. adecarboxylata bacteremia in a 43-year-old female who presented with bloody diarrhea. Colonoscopy revealed diffuse colonic mucosal inflammation with numerous ulcers, and histopathology revealed crypt abscesses. Following an episode of rectal bleeding, two sets of blood cultures grew L. adecarboxylata, which was treated with intravenous ceftriaxone. After a complicated hospital course, she was eventually diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and enteropathic arthritis, treated with intravenous methylprednisolone, mesalamine, and infliximab which resulted in resolution of her symptoms. In our previously immunocompetent patient, derangement of the gut mucosal barrier was the likely cause of bacteremia, yet performing endoscopic intervention may have contributed to bacterial translocation.

A near fatal case of pathological skin picking.

PATIENT: Female, 51 FINAL DIAGNOSIS: Patological skin picking Symptoms: Aphasia • headache • hemiparesis • incontinence MEDICATION: - Clinical Procedure: - Specialty: Dermatology. OBJECTIVE: Challenging differential diagnosis. BACKGROUND: Pathological skin picking (PSP) disorder is characterized by repetitive and compulsive picking of the skin resulting in tissue damage. PSP has been shown to affect 5.4% of a community sample, 4% of college students, and 2% of patients seen in a dermatology clinic. It can be associated with significant disfigurement. The diagnosis requires obtaining a careful history and high clinical suspicion. CASE REPORT: We report a previously healthy 51-year-old Caucasian female with a history of "acne" who presented with new onset right-sided hemiparesis, mild aphasia and an episode of incontinence. She had memory loss of the prior few days. She also complained of a four-day history of intense headaches and dizziness. CT and MRI of the head showed encephalomalacia involving the left frontal and parietal lobes. Further history from the patient revealed that the patient had been picking at her forehead with a sewing needle and later with a long knitting needle. CONCLUSIONS: PSP is a prevalent disorder, which can have potentially serious health consequences. Besides potential disfigurement and scarring, PSP can have significant morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment by clinicians are essential to prevent potentially fatal consequences.