UTMB Announcements for 4/19/2024

The 2024 Wellbeing Survey closes today. Please take a moment to provide your candid answers to this confidential survey. Your responses matter and will help the MyWellbeing department and UTMB Health Leadership create effective initiatives to improve the wellbeing of all employees.

UTMB Employees can access the confidential survey here:

2024 UTMB Health Wellbeing Survey

The Department of Bioethics & Health Humanities 

"Unconference"

April 19, 2024 

HEC 3.222 

09:30 AM-3:30 PM

The Institute for Bioethics & Health Humanities at UTMB is hosting an "unconference" for people in the greater Galveston/Houston area working in fields related to bioethics and health humanities. Rather than a traditional conference with a prest list for speakers, an unconference allows the participants set the agena, maximize networking, and develop collaborations. 

We will have a dedicated poster session where students and trainees can receive feedback on their work. 

Please RSVP to bhh@utmb.edu for the event and include whether you're presenting a poster or not. 

Day 14: What is a switch device?

A switch is a positive technology device that replaces the need to use a keyboard or mouse. A switch can be operated by almost any body part hat is able to produce consistent and voluntary movement and is most often used by individuals with severe physical or cognitive impairment.

Switches come in a variety of shapes and sizes depending on the action used to activate them (sip-puff, pushing, pulling, blinking, squeezing). A switch control will general cycle focus through a virtual keyboard or UI menu, which is then selected by the user by whatever means they can interact with the device.

Explore previous Days of A11y

#100DaysOfA11y

Presents

Ting Wang, PhD

Professor of Medicine

Head, Department of Genetics

Center for Genome Science and Systems Biology

McDonnell Genome Institute

Washington University School of Medicine

"Transposable elements and cancer epigenome evolution”

Thursday, April 25, 2024

4:00 p.m.

Basic Science Auditorium, Rm 2.212

or

Via Zoom:

Meeting ID: 938 5329 0493
Passcode: 756844

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/93853290493?pwd=cUxRaEhNNEdoQk9Bd2RDQVRmUk9JQT09&from=addon

ALL INTERESTED PERSONS WELCOME

Currently seeking healthy men between the ages of 18 and 45 for a research study investigating properties of human mucus secretions. Participants will be asked to provide seminal secretions from home or in a private room.   Participants will be compensated for each sample.

The following policy is available for review and comment:

IHOP - 09.03.34 - Sexual Assault Examination and Collection of Forensic Evidence for the Adult Adolescent or Pediatric Patient

Comments on this policy will be accepted until 5:00 pm on 5/3/24 and may be submitted via email to policies@utmb.edu. Any comments written directly on to the draft policy via the website are unable to be accepted.

Please be informed that there will be a scheduled system update for the Hyland OnBase software on Saturday, April 20, between 9:00 PM and 12:00 AM (2100-2400). During this time, all Emergency Department and Clinic registration documents scanned will be temporarily held. Once the update is successfully completed, the documents will automatically post to Epic.

Should you have any concerns or require assistance during this period, please do not hesitate to contact the ITS Service Desk at 409-772-2500.

To honor the selfless contributions of all UTMB employees to the health and wellbeing of the Galveston Community, the Galveston Symphony Orchestra (GSO) is offering up to 250 complimentary tickets to the next concert (From Warsaw with Love | May 5, 2024 at The Grand 1984 Opera House — Galveston Symphony Orchestra), featuring world-renowned concert pianist, Avery Gagliano, performing Chopin’s Piano Concerto #1 and finishing with the majestic and timeless classic, Beethoven’s 7^th Symphony.  Those who attend will be invited to a post-concert event at Edna’s Room, a reception room just next door to the Opera House.

Vouchers can be obtained by clicking here.  Vouchers must then be presented to the Grand Box Office for distribution of tickets.

Tickets will go fast!

Nominations are being accepted for the 2024 Nicholas and Katherine Leone Award for Administrative Excellence.  This award recognizes managers/supervisors who display the highest degree of professionalism and come with a $7,500 monetary prize - $2,500 for the winning manager/supervisor and $5,000 for the development and training of their department/unit.  The deadline for nominations is April 30, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.  See UTMB Employee Advisory Council website to learn more about the award or to submit a nomination. 

Regardless of your role in healthcare, many of us have been touched by a patient or their families in some way. Sometimes these stories are painful, sometimes frustrating, sometimes joyful, and always unforgettable. What is the patient story that you will never forget? How has this story shaped your role in healthcare?

Join our April 19 panel as we discuss their most unforgettable patients and the impact they had on their careers.

Enjoy a lunch; connect with your UTMB community, and leave feeling encouraged, enriched, and inspired.  Everyone at UTMB is welcome to join.  Lunch will be provided on a first come, first served basis.  Thanks to the UTMB Institutional Ethics Committee for sponsoring food.

Date: Friday, April 19, 2024

Time:  12 - 1 pm

Location: Jennie Sealy Conference Room, Room 2.506B  

Audience:  Anyone from the UTMB community

Schwartz Rounds are evidence-based, institution-wide Grand Rounds that address the human side of medicine and healthcare service, with the goal of fostering and supporting empathy, collaboration and compassion for self and others.  Everyone who works at UTMB is encouraged to attend these interactive, panel discussions.

IMC Faculty PBL/Small Group Options for Academic Year 2024-2025

The Instruction Management Office (IMO) is now initiating the recruitment of faculty facilitators for small group and Problem-Based Learning (PBL) sessions in the pre-clerkship phase (years 1 and 2) of the four year Integrated Medical Curriculum (IMC)

Online surveys will be available from March 22^nd through April 26^th, for JSSOM faculty to indicate the teaching activities they are interested and available to participate in.  Faculty should NOT contact Course Coordinators directly to express their interest. The URL for sign-up is:

https://www.utmb.edu/meded/facultyPortal.asp

What is PBL?  PBL is the central learning modality for our three foundational science and six organ-based courses.  PBL uses small-group discussions of clinical cases as the stimulus for student directed learning. Each PBL session is composed of one faculty facilitator with 8-11 students. The role of the facilitator is to foster a student-directed learning environment in which students identify and direct their own learning needs, foster the development of problem-solving skills and lifelong learning.  Depending on the course, two-hour PBL sessions will be held 2-3 times a week either 10am-noon or 1-3pm.   If you know you will miss a session, it will be your responsibility to find a faculty substitute. You DO NOT need to be a content expert to facilitate a PBL course – your role is to ensure the process of PBL happens appropriately.   Faculty with a PhD, MD or DO may apply.

What is small group facilitation? Clinical faculty (MD or DO) are invited to facilitate a small group in two clinical courses Doctoring & Clinical Skills (formerly Practice of Medicine 1) and Practice of Medicine 2. In these sessions’ faculty facilitate practice sessions for students with or without standardized patients on physical examination skills, oral presentation, interview skills as well as discuss ethical, professional and scientific issues in healthcare.  The two-hour small group sessions can occur up to 11-12 times in the POMs over the academic year.  If you know you will miss a session, it will be your responsibility to find a faculty substitute. You DO NOT need to be a content expert to facilitate a small group – your role is to ensure the small groups meet the session objectives.  

Compensation: 

Compensation is 0.05 tFTE (or 5% of your salary) inclusive of all PBL. 

Process for signing up

March 22-April 26, 2024                    Initial Recruitment Phase- faculty indicate desired courses/activity (see link below).

April 29, 2024                                       Begin confirmation of all slots.

May 6, 2024                                         All teaching slots for Academic Year 2024-2025 must be confirmed.

DO NOT contact the course coordinator or course director to sign up!  If you cannot facilitate a full group and would like to share a group with another faculty, please indicate your preference for a full or shared slot, and in the notes indicate with whom you would like to share with.Thank you for your commitment to the educational vision of the JSSOM. A list of facilitator duties and responsibilities can be located on the IMO website.   If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Lisa Elferink at laelferi@utmb.edu.

TimeWise offers expert insights on timekeeping and Paid Time Off (PTO), delivering regular updates on diverse topics, beginning with essential guidance on submitting leave requests. 

All employees are expected to submit leave requests in Kronos when taking time off for personal reasons and illness/injury.   

Time off should be scheduled in advance whenever possible, according to UTMB policy. Managers have the authority to approve or not approve requests based on staffing and operational needs.   

To submit a leave request, follow these steps:  

• Log in to Kronos with your UTMB username and password. 
• Click on Request Time Off.  
• Select the Type of leave from the dropdown list.  
• Enter the Start Date, End Date, Pay Code, Start Time, and Daily Amount. 
  Please note: The Daily Amount automatically defaults to 0.25. Be sure to change the amount to accurately reflect the time off needed.  
• Enter a Note as preferred.  
• Click on the Submit button to send the request to your manager.  

For more detailed instructions, please refer to this document.   

Thinking about retiring within six months to a year? The UTMB HR Benefits office is hosting a Teachers Retirement of Texas (TRS) session on Friday, May 3.

The session will go over how to calculate your eligibility for retiree insurance benefits, the required documentation, and other important action items.

Click on the link below to register for the session. You will receive a confirmation email to save the session to your Outlook calendar.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) Benefits Information Session – 10 to 11 a.m.

https://teams.microsoft.com/registration/bSXve9uFJkWnLTGuolRoUg,rU0VJ0WtVkC8kzUGkt2Nag,86_ZPREItkKGGjKpMOPRbg,XNWF3YY64k2UpgkT8B7QKA,RW9fefqbLEa8kcsO2Xs8mg,GEpxUhaIz0i40Ll6b-2D6A?mode=read&tenantId=7bef256d-85db-4526-a72d-31aea2546852

For questions or more information about the retirement information session, please contact HR Benefits at benefits.services@utmb.edu or (409) 772-2630.

Thinking about retiring within six months to a year? The UTMB HR Benefits office is hosting a Optional Retirement Program (ORP) Benefits Information Session on Friday, May 3.

The session will go over how to calculate your eligibility for retiree insurance benefits, the required documentation, and other important action items.

Click on the link below to register for the session. You will receive a confirmation email to save the session to your Outlook calendar.

Optional Retirement Program (ORP) Benefits Information Session – 2 to 3 p.m.

https://teams.microsoft.com/registration/bSXve9uFJkWnLTGuolRoUg,rU0VJ0WtVkC8kzUGkt2Nag,86_ZPREItkKGGjKpMOPRbg,SpSfDpj2xk626OF_YuK4rA,shUTx1x06k-J1xVUO8sEgg,ah4spL1_PU24p0x5JxJATA?mode=read&tenantId=7bef256d-85db-4526-a72d-31aea2546852

For questions or more information about the retirement information session, please contact HR Benefits at benefits.services@utmb.edu or (409) 772-2630.

Lab week is an annual celebration of medical laboratory professionals and pathologists who play a vital role in health care and patient advocacy! We celebrate Lab Week to honor these hard-working colleagues as a vital part of the hospital community and have some fun while doing it. Medical laboratory professionals play a vital role in healthcare and patient advocacy. Join us in celebrating Lab Week this April, and show support and gratitude for the contributions of your lab team. Remember without the lab, Doctors are only guessing!

UTMB’s Institute for Translational Sciences and the Sealy Center for Environmental Health & Medicine invite you to participate in a conversation on Shattering Stigma: Addiction and Mental Health.   

Location: MOD Coffeehouse, 2126 Post Office Street, Galveston

Date/Time: Wednesday, April 24, 2024;  5:30-6:30PM

This conversation features Kathryn Cunningham, PhD, Director, Center for Addiction Sciences and Therapeutics (CAST), University of Texas Medical Branch; David Houghton. PhD, Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch; Emma Tumilty, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Bioethics and Health Humanities, University of Texas Medical Branch; Kimberly Beatty, LCSW-S, Executive Director, ADA Women’s Recovery Center; and Michael Gienger, Pastor, Galveston Central Church.

Please join us as we explore and discuss the current knowledge and research related to addiction and mental health.        

Please RSVP to Krista Bohn at krbohn@utmb.edu.

Light refreshments will be provided. 

SCI Café is a community dialogue about science, health and possibilities among community members, researchers and scientists. The purpose is to engage and connect community members with science and science with the local community. Topics for SCI Cafés are driven by community learning interests and discovery from UTMB faculty.

The following policy is available for review and comment:

IHOP 09.13.38 - Suicide Risk Screening and Suicide Precautions for Patients

Comments on this policy will be accepted until 5:00 pm on 4/19/24 and may be submitted via email to policies@utmb.edu.  Any comments written directly on to the draft policy via the website are unable to be accepted.

Please note that this is a re-post due to a technical issue, and the initial comment date remains as 4/5/24.  

The following new initial policy is available for review and comment:

IHOP 09.07.04 - Minors in the Workplace

Comments on this policy will be accepted until 5:00 pm on 4/19/24 and may be submitted via email to policies@utmb.edu. Any comments written directly on to the draft policy via the website are unable to be accepted.

Please note that this is a re-post due to a technical issue, and the initial comment date remains as 4/5/24.

UTMB School of Nursing-Research, Innovation, Scientific Excellence (RISE) Center

Spring 2024 Webinar Series

Sustaining extramural health research funding in an uncertain world: Examples of partnerships, persistence ad patience from the US and Mexico

Speaker: Rebecca Lee, PhD, FSBM

Professor, Edson College of Nursing & Health Innovation

Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

Senior Global Futures Scientist, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory

Arizona State University

Monday, April 22nd at 2 pm, CST

Marie Hall, SON/SHP 4th floor AND via ZOOM

https://zoom.us/j/99092290364?pwd=NW1XemJpWW4rRFd3MENCV3hIQlNWQT09

Passcode: 515242

The following policy is available for review and comment:

IHOP 09.02.08 Medical Record Forms Management

Comments on this policy will be accepted until 5:00 pm on 4/26/24 and may be submitted via email to policies@utmb.edu. Any comments written directly on to the draft policy via the website are unable to be accepted.

The following policy is available for review and comment:

IHOP 03.02.11 - Controlled Substance Theft or Significant Loss Reporting

Comments on this policy will be accepted until 5:00 pm on 4/23/24 and may be submitted via email to policies@utmb.edu. Any comments written directly on to the draft policy via the website are unable to be accepted.

Share your care experience and contribute to a brighter future for people with dementia.

Are you caring for your loved one 65 or older with a memory problem or dementia, and have attended at least one Annual Wellness Visit with them?

Or are you a Medicare beneficiary age 65 or older with a memory problem and have received at least one Annual Wellness Visit?

If so, your unique experience could be the key to enhancing wellness services during Annual Wellness Visits for individuals with dementia.

Compassionate caregivers and older adults with memory problems are invited to join this pivotal research study.

By participating in a brief, 30-minute interview—conveniently conducted over the phone or via Zoom—you will play a crucial role in shaping the future of dementia care.

Talk to Mr. Samuel David, our study coordinator, at (409) 772-5514 or via email at savdavid@utmb.edu    Join us in this important journey today.

Discover more about how you can contribute to this vital research by visiting https://utmb.us/a6c. Your participation could light the path to improved care and support for those living with dementia.

Join us this Saturday, April 20 at 2 PM at Moore Memorial Public Library in Texas City for a conversation on Food Safety by a Texas City High School senior! 

Afterwards, share your thoughts freely on Mental Health in Galveston County!

Free food provided - see you there!

HI professionals are highly trained in the latest management technology applications, so they understand the workflow process in healthcare provider organizations—from large hospital systems to private physician offices.

HI professionals work with all healthcare providers and departments, including physicians, nurses, lab, radiology, and pharmacy staff, to help ensure patient information is correct and to promote patient safety through best documentation practices.

The roles of HI professionals include analyzing data to help facilitate decisions and actions; implementing innovative data-driven solutions to help improve patient health; collaborating with other departments in the healthcare system to reduce expenses through strategic data analysis; and designing and implementing tools to measure data, patient care effectiveness, and optimize processes.

Taking Our Best Shot, a UTMB-student and community-led initiative, invites you to join us this Saturday, April 20 at 2 PM at Moore Memorial Public Library in Texas City for a conversation on Food Safety by a Texas City High School senior! 

Afterwards, freely share your thoughts on Mental Health on Galveston County!

Free food provided - see you there!

The Epic Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system will be upgraded on May 5, 2023. During this time, from 10:00am to 12:00pm (1000-1200), the system will be unavailable due to the software install. This upgrade aims to bring the Epic system up to date and includes new features and improvements that will enhance the EMR experience for users.

For more information on the specific changes and enhancements that will be included in the upgrade, please visit the Epic Upgrade webpage.

The Galveston Healing Arts Orchestra, composed of students, faculty, staff, and friends of UTMB, will perform their next concert on Tuesday, April 23rd at 7:00pm. Please join us in Levin Hall (1006 Market St.), doors open at 6:30pm. Light refreshments will be served. 

The Galveston Healing Arts Orchestra is under the direction of Maestro Trond Saeverud, conductor of the Galveston Symphony Orchestra. The concert will feature Beethoven's Egmont Overture and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.5. 

On thursday 4/25/24 7pm-10pm, ITS Voice Services will be performing Avaya maintenance at the following Galveston Campus buildings.

Marvin Graves (4)

Lee Hage Jamail Student Center (14)

Mary Moody Northern Pavilion (19)

Basic Science Building (54)

Levin Hall (55)

Medical Research Building (59)

Services Building (61&62)

Old Children's Center (67)

Alumni Fieldhouse (75)

Facility Building (95) 

Avaya desk phones will be unavailable for approximately 5-8 minutes while maintenance is being performed.  This will not be complete downtime for the entire building as maintenance will be performed by areas.

Please contact the ITS Service Desk at (409) 772-5200 with any questions.

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