News

Congratulations to Adin Nelson, MD, MHPE, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, on receiving the Department of Pediatrics 2022 Pilot Award for his study, What Can One Practice Question a Day Do For Pediatrics Residents?

Dr. Nelson’s project is a national prospective study that will examine how answering daily multiple-choice practice questions can improve residents’ learning. There is a growing body of literature on the strategy of studying with review questions - called retrieval practice, but it’s never been tested on a large scale in the real world. Dr. Nelson is partnering with the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Association of Pediatrics Program Directors to study this technique, making it one of the largest prospective studies ever done in medical education.

This article was originally posted on WCM Newsroom.

Following a sweeping effort in 2019 to address clinical care team well-being across Weill Cornell Medicine, physicians note a reduction in stress and feelings of burnout compared to previous surveys, according to a new report from the institution. 

The report, published online Nov. 17 and in the December issue of NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery, suggests that Weill Cornell Medicine’s grassroots approach to improving physician wellness may be used as a model for other institutions grappling with health care provider burnout.

“Coming to work to do your best means you have to be at your best,” said Dr. Klaus Kjaer, chief quality and patient safety officer at Weill Cornell Medicine and the article’s lead author. “You need take care of yourself and your colleagues so that you can take care of your patients. We have realized that there has to be a strategy to create a workplace where our clinical care teams thrive, and we attract the best talent.”

The New York City-based RTW Charitable Foundation approved a grant of $55,000 to NewYork-Presbyterial Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center for a study entitled, “Pediatric mental health emergencies in an early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic: A multicentered study in NYC”. The study is part of a nationwide call for the pediatric medical community to address the ongoing children’s mental health crisis that has been exacerbated by the pandemic.

The study, led by investigators Cori Green, MD, Director of Behavioral Health Education and Integration in Pediatrics and Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Stephen Oh, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Deborah Levine, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine, will examine the pandemic’s impact on children’s mental health in comparison to a one-year period prior to the pandemic, as well as the rising trend in youth presenting with suicidal ideation (SI) and suicide attempt (SA). To do this, the team will use INSIGHT, the largest multicentered clinical data network in the nation, comprised of data from five major medical centers in New York City (NYC).

Congratulations to Katherine A. Hajjar, MD, Vice Chair for Research and Brine Family Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology in the Department of Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine, on being awarded a grant by the United States Department of Defense to develop treatment for proliferative vitreoretinopathy, a potentially blinding disease that occurs in almost one-half of military personnel who sustain a penetrating wound to the eye.

Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) occurs in some patients who have had complicated eye surgeries. When there is a tear in the retina, cells inside the eye, known as RPE cells, that normally remain behind the retina, begin to proliferate, move away from their normal position, and migrate to the inner surface of the retina. Over time, these migratory cells form a scar-like membrane that pulls the remaining retina away from the back of the eye, severely compromising vision. PVR is increasing in frequency among military personnel due to the increasing use of explosive devices in modern combat. Unfortunately, however, there is no treatment for this devastating disease.