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House staff council supports residents by Cindy Abole Public Relations With a focus on interdisciplinary education and the importance of clinical health teams in medicine and research, collaboration among health care professionals and researchers is critical.   Members of the 2006-07 MUSC House Staff Council include (front row, left to right): Drs. Nate Averill (Family Medicine), Shaun Traub (Orthopaedics), Ed Thompson, (Medicine),  Adrienne Coopey (Child Psychiatry), Dena Armstrong (Psychiatry), Caroline Massey (Pathology), Michael Jacobson (Dermatology), Laurel Bailey (Medicine). Back row: Drs. Mark Auler (Radiology), Eric Wilson (Surgery), Dave Pucci (Pulmonary), Nancy Stout Robinson (Pathology) and John David Williamson (Family Medicine) At the same time, developing physicians in a rich, supportive learning environment is key to successful graduate medical education programs. Providing a voice and recognized representation to communicate concerns about hospital and university-related issues is a priority for physician-residents.   These issues emerged as a collective mission for Adrienne Coopey, D.O., a fifth-year child psychiatry resident, and David Pucci, D.O., third-year internal medicine resident.   Last October, Coopey and Pucci led the formation of a new MUSC House Staff Council, an independent governing group that represents 550 physician residents and fellows.      The council is the culmination of several years of hard work initiated by previous resident physician leaders who were committed to enhancing the residency training experience at MUSC while improving quality patient care. The council fulfills Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) recommendations for accredited programs to support institutional residency/house staff organizations.   “Residents want to have a ‘finger on the pulse’ of activities as it relates to residents,” said Pucci, who is the council's vice president. “The council is focused on building relationships with leaders around the medical center. Everyone is recognizing that the council is an important part of the hospital community and that it contributes to making the medical center a better place.”   The council is composed of a president, vice president, secretary/treasurer and resident representatives from each residency program sponsored by the hospital. Council representatives were elected by their peers and will continue to select their own representatives. The group meets monthly to discuss house staff representation, address problems and relate ideas in more than 10 special interest committees within the hospital.   One of the first actions taken by the group was to evaluate house staff stipends. Pucci, who serves as the council’s vice chair and is chair of the SCMA resident fellows section, researched and compared MUSC house staff pay scales with comparable residency programs at academic medical centers in the southeast and nationally. He shared results with the council, which discussed its findings with members of the house staff council. It then formed a resident committee and submitted a formal proposal to the MUSC Graduate Medical Education committee and hospital administration.   The council reported that residency programs located in the southeast were among the lowest paid nationally.   Regionally, MUSC is the second lowest paid state university program for internal medicine residencies. While resident physicians are ranked among the most cost effective medical providers, the overall standard of living and housing market in Charleston is higher than many regional cities, including Baltimore and Tampa, Fla.   The council's efforts produced a 10-percent salary adjustment for PGY-1 residents, and a 8-percent increase for PGY-2 and others. This adjustment places them in line with other comparable programs in the southeast.   So far, the council’s toughest challenge has been understanding the hospital’s bureaucracy and navigating the course to do the job.   “When residents come to Charleston and MUSC, they want to be able to support themselves, their families and live adequately,” said Coopey, house staff council chair and South Carolina Medical Association (SCMA) governing council trustee. “This result is one example of how advocacy and teamwork can work.” Pedestrian and protocol The council also rallied around other issues that affect residents, including negotiating for a crosswalk by the county parking garage at the corner of Courtenay Drive and Doughty Street. They also collaborated with the medical director’s office regarding recommendations in the paging system protocol.   “This has been an exciting first year for our organization,” said Coopey. “The residents were very supportive on this issue and stayed attuned to the status of this project throughout the course. We had a clear idea of what direction we wanted to go. We just had to find a way to make things happen.”   Formation of the council has led to better communication and representation among residents and residency program activities, the graduate medical education office, and hospital administration. For example, chief residents meet monthly with GME leaders and medical directors to discuss issues and resolve problems relating to house staff.   “For a period of time, I thought residents didn’t care about certain issues until this year,” said Coopey, who was active as a medical student working with the American Medical Student Association, American Osteopathic Association and other leadership organizations. “I’ve heard so many things about residents and what they are passionate about. I also feel the GME office is pleased to get feedback from residents as well. I’m so pleased to see the council has been recognized as an important entity within the hospital.”   In May, Coopey represented the council and presented to MUSC’s board of trustees about  progress with the resident stipend issue and other efforts. She hopes this opens the door to more communication and dialogue with other hospital and patient care committees that will improve patient care experiences.      “These are individuals who go above and beyond the work that’s required,” said Frank Medio, Ph.D., associate dean for graduate medical education and ACGME-designated institutional official. “Most residents are here for specific education and training, which is important. However, there are others who provide that extra level of leadership and service to their fellow residents. Adrienne and David are examples of those who’ve done so this year. They’ve helped organize residents about issues and got more people involved.   “Adrienne, David and other house staff leaders are involved not only for their own personal interests but also to support their fellow residents. They’ve demonstrated fine leadership qualities and organizational skills, and can become effective leaders in organized medicine on the local, state and national levels,” Medio said.   The GME office has supported residents in the workplace and organized medicine. Since 2002, resident have been enrolled as members in SCMA, Southern Medical Association and AMA.       Although progress made by Coopey, Pucci and former resident-advocate Angela Hutcheson, M.D., have garnered success, Medio hopes other residents are as willing to take their progress to the next level and provide the same degree of organizational work, commitment and leadership to resident support.   “We’d like the house staff council to continue to thrive in resident involvement and be a cohesive, independent and recognized voice of the residents,” added Coopey, who is finishing her residency and will work in private practice. “I also hope to see greater acknowledge-ment and recognition among hospital staff including nurses and other clinical professionals. Just keeping up with communication is important for this group.”   Meanwhile, the house staff leadership will not be lack experienced leadership. Pucci will remain at MUSC to complete a three-year pulmonary-critical care fellowship. Eric Wilson, M.D., general surgery, is the incoming house staff council chair. Pucci will serve as member at large for the 2007-08 MUSC House Staff Council and chair-elect of 2007-08 SCMA Governing Council. Resident Committee Representatives MUHA—Medical Executive Committee David Pucci, Medicine; Rick Bonsall, Radiology; Laurel Bailey, Medicine GME—Internal Residency Review Committee Kevin Walker, Anesthesia GME—Graduate Medical Education Committee Adrienne Coopey, Child Psychiatry; Laurel Bailey, Medicine; Deborah DeWaay, Medicine; John Fortney, Radiation Oncology MUHA—Hospital Infection Control Committee Lucas Blanton, Medicine; James Wells, Medicine; Angela Durden, Pathology MUHA—Blood Usage Committee Jason Adams, Med/Psych; James Wells, Medicine; Jamie Carlo-Demovich, Pathology MUHA—Medical Records Committee Betsy Adams, Medicine MUHA—Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee Mary Beth Alvarez, Med/Psych; Jenny Janzen, Pediatrics; Lisa Wilson, OB/GYN MUSC Ethics Committee Laura Hancock, Psychiatry; Jonathan Krass, Radiology; Kim Sudheimer, Pediatrics; Deborah DeWaay, Medicine Charleston County Medical Society Elizabeth Penn, Pediatrics; John Fortney, Radiation Oncology; Aaron Lesher, Surgery Quality Control Phillip Warr, Med/Peds; Daniel Nissman, Radiology; Emily Haly, Medicine     Friday, June 29, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.