Community Outreach
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Geneia Joy of Medicine Challenge Live Pitch-Off at MATTER
On June 8th 2015, we held the Geneia Joy of Medicine Challenge Live Pitch-Off at MATTER, Chicago’s newly launched healthcare technology incubator. The room was filled with physicians and healthcare stakeholders, including Dr. Lyle Berkowitz, Associate Chief Medical Officer of Innovation at Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, Dr. Christine A. Sinsky, Vice President of Professional Satisfaction at the American Medical Association, and Dr. Neelum Aggarwal, Chief Diversity Officer at the American Medical Women’s Association – and excitement and optimism that was palpable in and outside of the event. The #JoyofMedicine hashtag trended on Twitter that night and the next day with more than 500 tweets.
The three finalists presented their ideas for restoring the Joy of Medicine, and one – Hashim Zaidi, a newly minted MD who came up with his idea to embed advance directives on drivers’ licenses on a beach in Thailand – was named the Grand Prize Winner by our panel of physician judges. The pitch-off was the culmination of our online challenge to solicit ideas from physicians and medical students to reverse widespread dissatisfaction with the practice of medicine. The alarming findings in our national survey of physicians – dubbed the Physician Misery Index – inspired us to create the challenge as well as to continue this much-needed and long-overdue conversation about putting physicians at the forefront of creating the changes that will impact them. Stay tuned for updates about how Dr. Zaidi uses the $5,000 in consulting resources he received as Grand Prize Winner to further develop his idea. We also will be measuring and working to improve physician satisfaction at the hospitals, physician practices, and health networks we serve. I hope you’ll join us. |
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#Joyof Medicine 
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Eating out is always a treat, but not when you struggle to find a menu item that fits your healthy lifestyle. With recent pushes for better access to healthy food, calorie counts are now listed alongside menu items at large chain restaurants, and fast food outlets offer salads alongside their fries. However, the latest analysis of the salt, fat and calorie counts on menu items reveal they aren’t much healthier now than they were years ago.
JAMA Internal Medicine published a study in which researchers looked at the nutritional content of breakfast, lunch and dinner offerings from 19 sit-down resturants. They discovered that the amount of calories, fat, saturated fat, and sodium levels are alarmingly high in restaurant meals. The breakdown of the nutrients was most concerning: the meals contained, on average, 151% of the sodium content an adult should consume in a day, 89% of the daily amount of fat, 83% of the daily amount of saturated and trans fats and 60% of the suggested daily cholesterol intake. These researchers concluded that the nutritional quality of restaurant menu options must be a public health priority. The F.I.T. City Chicago initiative was specifically developed to address these issues. Launched in 2012, F.I.T. City recognizes that the choices we make are shaped by the choices we have. In our society, we are bombarded with unhealthy choices. In efforts to combat this issue, the F.I.T. City Initiative seeks to support food service establishments as local community cornerstones in food, nutrition, and health. The Initiative is a collaborative effort that partners with restaurants, chefs, culinary schools, health advocates, and community groups to recognize and promote F.I.T. (Fresh, Innovative, Tasty) menu options that will increase the number of highly nutritious choices offered to Chicago diners, serving as a critical component of a healthy living model. Criteria for joining the F.I.T. City Initiative includes menu items with fresh, non-deep fried fruits and vegetables, no menu items with artificial trans fat, menu items whose grain component contains whole grains as the fist ingredient, among other criteria. Over 65 establishments in Chicago have already joined together in this new initiative as it makes good business sense – and helps the health of our community. As more restaurants are getting involved, The F.I.T. City @ Midway airport has been a tremendous success for not only passengers traveling through seeking food alternatives that are support their efforts to lead healthy lives, but also for the vendors and their serving staff - who are excited to talk about the initiative with their patrons. To learn more about the F.I.T.City Initiative and its partner activities , be sure to check out https://www.facebook.com/FITCityChicago . Want to learn more about the F.I.T. City Initiative, contact us at fitcityroundtable@gmail.com |
Community Programs
The Chicago AMWA Consortium ( CAC) is involved in and partners with a variety of programs throughout the Chicagoland area, that enrich the community and in turn enrich the lives of our medical students, residents and physicians. Our programs inform, engage, and enrich communities, providing rewarding and defining experiences for our medical students, residents and physicians. Our goal is to help students from diverse backgrounds succeed academically and prepare them for continued success in the future. Many of our members have actively served on the Boards of these organizations or have participated in educational programming in partnership with these Chicagoland community programs/organizations and initiatives as noted below. 
A Safe Haven is a 501(c)3 not for profit, social enterprise that helps people aspire, transform and sustain their lives as they transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency with pride and purpose. A Safe Haven provides the tools for each individual to overcome the root causes of homelessness through a holistic, scalable mode. A Safe Haven’s visible social and economic impact unites families, stabilizes neighborhoods, and creates vibrant, viable communities.
Lincoln Park Village is a grass-roots, non-profit, volunteer-first, community-based organization. Its mission is to enhance the quality of life and the well-being of individuals as they live longer, so that they remain integral, vibrant and contributing members of their communities.
This inaugural event sponsored by A Safe Haven Foundation was a day focused on helping homeless veterans and to serve as a fundraiser to help ease some of the burdens of homelessness. Read the write up by Vanessa al Rashida, MD
Division of Community Health (DCH):
Making Healthy Living Easier Want to learn more about how to effectively work with your community? The CAC recommends that you review the resources from the Division of Community Health (DCH) and Community Health Online Resource Center (CHORC) The CHORC is a searchable database that houses over 400 resources to help communities implement changes to prevent chronic disease and promote healthy living. The available resources include webinars, policy briefs, guides, toolkits, and other practical materials which are organized by content areas. You can access the CHORC by clicking the following link: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dch/online-resource/index.htm |
