Preventive Medicine

Scholarly Activities

The training program includes a number of required and elective scholarly activities that are designed to enhance our trainees’ learning experiences and promote career development.  In addition to required scholarly activities, trainees are encouraged to attend appropriate local, state and regional conferences, academic and clinical presentations at UMass Memorial Medical Center, departmental grand rounds, and departmental research forums in family medicine, behavioral medicine, pediatrics and primary care. Trainees who complete research projects that are appropriate for publication are encouraged to write manuscripts for peer reviewed journals.  

The following scholarly activities are required for all trainees:  

• Participation and presentations in the weekly preventive medicine seminar series 
• Participation in the monthly board review sessions 
• Attendance at the annual Health Policy Forum at the Statehouse in Boston 
• Participation in the monthly Family Medicine Research Forum 
• Attendance at a national or regional meeting each year; trainees are encouraged to submit an abstract or poster
• Completion of a research project and a presentation of the results in the Preventive Medicine Seminar 
• Participation in at least one teaching activity such as: serving as an iInstructor for the Population Health Clerkship, Interstitial Clerkship, or Epidemiology and Biostatistics course for UMass Chan medical students, serving as a teaching assistant for an MPH course, or leading workshops for Family Medicine residents 
• Membership on a committee, task force, or advisory group of the trainee’s choice  

Preventive Medicine Seminar 

The weekly preventive medicine seminar is an integral curricular element in the training program.  Preventive medicine core faculty, with input from trainees, develop a two- year schedule of seminar sessions that cover topics such as community health, public health policy, occupational and environmental health, study design and data management, public health practice, clinical prevention, clinical epidemiology, program management and administration, mental health, outbreak investigation, surveillance systems, injury prevention, quality improvement, etc.  The seminar series also includes leadership workshops, public health field trips, health policy debates, public health media critique exercises and regular review of the monthly CDC MMWR reports. In addition to providing trainees with important didactic and skill-building training, the seminar speakers and facilitators serve as important role models with expertise in diverse areas of public health and preventive medicine. The seminar sessions are interactive and provide robust opportunities for trainees to enhance teaching and communication skills. 

Departmental Research Forum 

The monthly departmental research symposium provides trainees with the opportunity to learn about research from faculty members who are in the process of conducting a variety of studies. During the second year of training, trainees have the opportunity to present their research projects during one of the monthly meetings. They receive valuable feedback regarding study design, analysis plan and study limitations from experienced researchers in the department. 

Required (R) and Optional (O) conferences and activities

Preventive Medicine Residency MPH Project 

Trainees are required to complete a scholarly project during their preventive medicine training. The project fulfills the requirement for the MPH degree and provides trainees with the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they have developed through didactic and practicum experiences in the training program. Although the basic requirements for the research project are the same for each trainee, there is flexibility regarding the content and the scope of the project based on the trainee's background in research, level of research skills, and career interests. Trainees typically consider a number of possible research projects during the first six months of training. Our Department sponsors a monthly research forum where trainees learn about current and proposed research projects; our Institution has a CDC-funded Prevention Research Center with many opportunities for projects, our State Department of Public Health is a consistent source of research projects for our trainees, and our Office of Clinical Programs provides options for health policy research. Clinical rotations also provide opportunities for research projects in quality improvement and health promotion/disease prevention. The Preventive Medicine Residency Research Advisor works closely with individual trainees to assist in the development of projects. The research project, research site, faculty supervisor(s) and resources are finalized by the end of the first year of training. The project is conducted during Year Two of the training program. Careful attention is paid to designing a project that aligns with the career interests and goals of each resident or fellow. The wide variety of research projects is reflected in the list of research projects completed by our trainees over the past several years: 

The wide variety of research projects is reflected in the list of research projects completed by our trainees over the past several years: 

Survey Research 

• Social Media Use and HIV Screening Uptake Among Deaf Adults in the United States: Cross-Sectional Survey Study 
• Pre/post and 8 month evaluation of point of care ultrasound training for family medicine residents in Kenya 
• Factors associated with choice of contraception: a survey of UMass Memorial Hospital patients attending the obstetrics and gynecology clinic 
• Cardiovascular risk factors of Hispanics: a survey of community members of an inner-city housing project 
• Knowledge, attitudes and practices re: booster seat utilization among parents attending the UMass Memorial outpatient pediatric clinic  
• Adolescent Health Survey: development and pilot testing of a survey to assess health risks among youth using an inner-city health center 
• Factors associated with provision of health services for the elderly: a survey of community health centers in collaboration with Massachusetts Department of Public Health 
• Factors associated with utilization of breast and cervical cancer screening programs:  a survey of rural women in the Blackstone Valley area 
• Utilization of preventive services by Southeast Asians:  a telephone survey of Southeast Asian families living in the Boston area 
• Assessment of recall of past exposure to environmental tobacco smoke:  a telephone survey of subjects whose exposure to ETS had been assessed previously 
• Factors associated with the utilization of Norplant: an investigator administered survey of patients in the family planning clinic at UMass Memorial  
• Obesity management survey:  Primary care physicians' attitudes, knowledge and practices regarding screening and counseling for obesity 
• Assessment of physician knowledge and skills for screening for PAD in the primary care setting 

Epidemiological Studies  

• Quantifying the changing needs for information at the local level during the COVID- 19 pandemic 
• Exploring the depression care cascade: missed opportunities in pediatric disease management 
• Food Insecurity among Rhode Island adults:  analysis of BRFSS data 
• Substantial Increase in Compliance with Saturated Faty Acid Intake Recommendations after One Year Following the American Heart Association Diet 
• Closing the loop in child TB contact management: completion of TB preventive therapy outcomes in western Kenya. 
• Child contact management in high tuberculosis burden countries: A mixed-methods systematic review. 
• Readmission rates after hospitalization for mental illness:  the association with 7 and 30 days post-hospitalization follow-up 
• Health profile of Rhode Island healthcare workers. 
• Fit and Fab: outcomes of a community-based fitness intervention for overweight women 
• The relationship of worksite eating patterns and body mass index in a hospital work setting 
• Local public health emergency preparedness:  A Massachusetts Department of Public Health needs re-assessment of a stratified random sample of its 351 cities and towns 
• MADPH Surveillance of tick borne illness: the reported incidence of tick borne illness and co-infections in Massachusetts 
• Factors associated with delayed immunization: a medical chart-based retrospective cohort study of predictors of delayed primary vaccination 
• Passive smoke exposure during pregnancy: measurement of carcinogen-hemoglobin adducts in newborns of non-smokers exposed to ETS 
• Ultraviolet light exposure of children: quantitative measurements of UV exposure in children during various outdoor activities 
• Baseline Weight vs. Ideal Weight:  an analysis of the proportion of “weight to lose” in a cohort of post-partum women 
• Development of a Markov Model to assess the effectiveness of rabies vaccination of the raccoon population on Cape Cod 
• The affect of diet and stress reduction on the rate of increase in prostate specific antigen after biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer 
• Adjustment evaluation of the Framingham Heart Study Prediction Score (FHSPS) in a healthy elderly population:  comparison with risk models using C-reactive Protein (CRP) 
• Increasing number of cases of quinolone resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae (QRNG) in Massachusetts:  surveillance and policy implications 
• Chlamydia prevalence in men presenting to the Massachusetts General Hospital genital infectious disease clinic 
• Use of preventive care services among female cancer survivors:  patterns, trends, and predictors 
• Prevalence and indicators of Chlamydia trachomatis among men entering correctional facilities in Massachusetts: policy implications 
• Predictive value of clinical diagnostic codes for the CDC case definition of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID): implications for surveillance 
• STD partner services PrEP care cascade outcomes among Massachusetts HIV-negative primary and secondary syphilis cases 2017-2018 
• Prevalence and predictors of chlamydial infections among men who have sex with men (MSM) presenting Massachusetts Gener
• al Hospital STD Clinic 

Quality improvement  

• Comparison of electronic records and charts regarding a diagnosis of STDs in an HMO setting Verification of methadone dosing in a timely manner to improve hospital care of patients with substance use disorder 
• Exploring the depression care cascade: missed opportunities in pediatric disease management 
• Improving patient flow in an orthopedic ambulatory care clinic 
• Improving adherence to medication contracts for patients on chronic opioids in family medicine residency clinics.  
•  Screening for Osteoporosis to Prevent Fractures. 
• Screening for Peripheral Artery Disease and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Assessment with the Ankle-Brachial Index. 
• Smoking status as a vital sign: a pilot study at Fallon Clinic 
• Dietary control of diabetes using a PDA-assisted glycemic index score 

 Program evaluation 

• An Assessment of International Family Medicine Faculty Development Priorities: Perspectives from the American Academy of Family Physicians Global Health Workshop. 
• Evaluation of the WIC-affiliated “Healthy Beginnings” pre-natal environmental health program:  a survey of, and focus groups with,  program participants 
• Evaluation of a literacy screening program in the State of Maine:  "Raising Readers:  Encouraging Early Literacy" 
• Development, implementation and evaluation of a physician-based intervention to lower dietary fat 
• Implementation and evaluation of podiatry screening in an elderly housing project 
• Evaluation of the MADPH influenza surveillance system  
• Improving patient flow in an ambulatory care orthopedic clinic 
• Assessment of the implementation of a new public health requirement in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: mandatory mental health screening for refugees and immigrants 
• MADPH Infertility Prevention Project: Chlamydia re-screening among MADPH Family Planning Clinics