NEWS

Paul Visintainer, PhD Joins Baystate Medical Center as Academic Affairs' First Director of Epidemiology & Biostatistcs

Will Develop Core Research Resources

Dr. Paul Visintainer will be involved in developing the necessary core research resources for biostatistics and epidemiology to support researchers at Baystate Medical Center. This includes collaborating and supporting researchers including our residency and fellowship programs with developing new projects, research design and methodology, and biostatistical analyses. This is an essential need for strengthening the research effort across Baystate Medical Center and meeting the ACGME requirements of our graduate medical education programs. Dr. Visintainer's office is at 280 Chestnut Street.

Most recently, Dr. Visintainer was Professor of Epidemiology and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the School of Public Health at New York Medical College. Previous to that position he was a research epidemiologist in the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan. Dr. Visintainer has experience with both the medical school and hospital sides of an academic medical center.

Please contact Dr. Visintainer to set a time to meet in your office to collaborate on your research needs. His telephone number is 794-7686, and his email is Paul.Visintainer@bhs.org.

BMC Faculty Selected to Participate in TUSM Compassionate Care Faculty Development Program

Five faculty from BMC have been chosen by TUSM for a Compassionate Care Faculty Development program funded by a grant from the Kenneth B. Schwartz Center. The faculty include: Maura Brennan, MD; Paul Jodka, MD; John O’Reilly, MD; Halina Wiczyk, MD; and Donna Jackson-Kohlin, CNM, MSN. In addition, Ute Schmidt, Manager of BMC Spiritual Services, will participate.

Designed to train a core group of physicians from TUSM's affiliated hospitals to be "master teachers" of compassionate patient care, faculty will have an opportunity to develop, implement, and assess a compassionate care project at their clinical sites and receive feedback from a faculty peer and from the TUSM teaching faculty on how well they incorporate those skills into their teaching. The program will include two workshops at TUSM and a site-based project scheduled over an 18-month period.

Principal Investigators Janet P. Hafler, EdD, Professor of Pediatrics and Dean for Educational Development and Paul Summergrad, MD, Dr. Frances S. Arkin Professor of Psychiatry and Psychiatrist-in-Chief at Tufts Medical Center lead this innovative faculty development research project. Maria A. Blanco, EdD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Curriculum Development and Activities Coordinator of TUSM is a Co-Investigator.

For more information, visit the Kenneth B. Schwartz Center website.