Latest updates on ACP's priorities, initiatives
ACP Spotlight offers readers a look at ACP's current top priorities and initiatives, as well as highlights from our e-newsletter, ACP Internist Weekly.
Internists decry reports of harassment of public health officials
ACP is concerned by reports that public health officials and experts across the country are being harassed due to their recommendations on combating the COVID-19 pandemic. ACP strongly opposes harassment, discrimination, and retaliation of any form against physicians, other medical professionals, scientists, and scientific institutions.
The College is especially dismayed by stories of disproportionate targeting and particularly violent threats against women physicians and experts. ACP also strongly opposes prejudice, discrimination, or harassment based on characteristics of personal identity, including gender. Health officials should not be subject to threats for merely doing their jobs, and no one should ever be subject to threats based on their personal characteristics or identity.
ACP has called for decisions about fighting COVID-19 to be made using scientific expertise, based on the best available evidence, and continues to stand united with the health care community and its experts.
ACP Task Force issues recommendations on ‘Restoring the Story’
An article published by Annals of Internal Medicine on July 14, “Restoring the Story and Creating a Valuable Clinical Note,” made recommendations about how clinicians can reclaim the clinical note by turning medical information into a thoughtful assessment and care plan that captures patients' stories and maintains the important link between humanism and medicine. To join the conversation, follow #ReclaimClinicalNotes on social media and tag @ACPIMPhysicians.
ACP Board Prep Curriculum offers remote lectures for residency program directors
ACP Board Prep Curriculum provides meticulously prepared premium content to update residents' internal medicine knowledge and prepare them for the ABIM Certification Examination.
This collection includes 98 one-hour interactive lectures covering topics included in the ABIM certification blueprint, more than 3,300 slides, and “anywhere, any time” learning that reduces the need for travel to offsite conferences. To learn more about content and pricing, go online.
ACP well-being, professional fulfillment activities eligible for CME credit
Activities approved for CME include short 10-minute Mini but Mighty Skills for Well-being recordings as well as COVID-19 physician resources and well-being management webinars. The activities are free to access on ACP's Physician Well-being and Professional Fulfillment website. CME credit for these activities is free for ACP members. Nonmembers who wish to submit for CME may do so for a nominal fee. For questions about the well-being CME activities, email acpwellbeing@acponline.org.
Print edition of Annals of Internal Medicine to be published monthly
Beginning in January 2021, the print edition of Annals of Internal Medicine will be published 12 times per year, monthly rather than twice monthly. The amount, type, and quality of the print content are not changing, and readers will still have access to the most up-to-date information published at least weekly online.
Feedback from readers showed they use both the print and online editions, with a preference for a monthly print issue. Annals' newly redesigned website, on the platform of its new hosting vendor, Atypon, has a refreshed look and clean, modern design, offering improved readability and easier navigation. Visit Annals.org to see more.
ICYMI: Highlights from ACP Internist Weekly
- ACP position paper explores ethical guidance for electronic patient-physician communication. The paper was developed by the ACP Ethics, Professionalism and Human Rights Committee and offers recommendations for navigating e-communication, privacy and confidentiality, and practice considerations to try to align patient and physician expectations. The paper was published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine on June 22 and summarized in the July 7 ACP Internist Weekly.
- ATS guideline strongly recommends varenicline for smoking cessation. Clinicians should be prepared to counsel patients about the relative safety and efficacy of varenicline treatment compared with a nicotine patch, said the guideline from the American Thoracic Society (ATS), which made five strong recommendations and two conditional recommendations regarding medications to treat adults with tobacco dependence. The guideline was published July 15 by the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and summarized in the July 21 ACP Internist Weekly.
