Start Your Engines!

In U.S. academic medicine, July is a vital time of transition, marked by caution and excitement, according to Monica Lypson, SGIM President. She reminds us that the so-called July Effect does not lead to poorer patient outcomes or errors. In fact, it is a time of renewal, restarting a cycle notable for learning, activation, and empowerment for individuals and academic medical centers engaged in training new physicians and developing established faculty physicians.

With the summer transition in mind, SGIM Forum warmly welcomes two inaugural associate member Associate Editors! Dr. Shivani Jani is a Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Fellow at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, Florida. In this issue, Jani writes about Reflejos, an arts and humanities online publication, for which she served as editor. Dr. Eric Kutner is a third-year Internal Medicine-Primary Care resident at NYU Langone Health. He previously wrote for SGIM Forum in February 2021 about the importance of COVID-19 test counselors.¹ As Jani and Kutscher join the team, SGIM Forum reinforces its commitment to represent and amplify the diverse voices of Society membership, especially those of our trainees.

This mid-summer issue of SGIM Forum offers an educational potpourri. Eric Bass, SGIM CEO, and Rita Lee, chair of the 2021 Annual Meeting Program Committee, reflect on a successful virtual annual meeting. Mulligan, et al, summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of block grants, discussed at a LEAHP scholars journal club. Schmidt, et al, offer documentation tips to meet both patient needs and new CMS documentation requirements. Buell, et al, explains assessment of residents’ interest in performing procedures and implications for educational curricular planning. Le, et al, share high-yield insights on POCUS usage in evaluating patients with COVID-19. Finally, Levine recommends Closing the Gender Pay Gap in Medicine, a timely book that features contributions from members of the SGIM Women and Medicine Commission. Maybe the July Effect is just us revving our (learning) engines!