Improving Rates of Vitamin D Supplementation in Somali Immigrant Infants: A Prospective Interventional Pilot Trial.

PURPOSE: Rates of vitamin D deficiency and nutritional rickets have been rising over the past several decades, particularly in high-risk infants. This pilot study assessed the impact of providing free vitamin D supplements, a culturally-appropriate educational brochure, and a brief counseling session about the importance of both vitamin D supplementation and breastfeeding to the parents of Somali infants at routine office visits from newborn through 6 months of age at three Federally Qualified Health Centers in Colorado. We also assessed the impact this intervention had on rates of breastfeeding. METHODS: Twenty-five Somali infants aged 24 weeks or less were identified by searching electronic health records and enrolled into a historic control group. The parents were then surveyed by phone regarding breastfeeding and vitamin D supplementation. Subsequently, 37 families with newborn Somali infants were identified and enrolled into the intervention arm of the trial. RESULTS: The intervention group had a higher rate of vitamin D supplementation compared to the historical control group (67 vs. 48 percent, p=0.011) without significantly impacting breastfeeding rates. CONCLUSION: These results suggest a practical way to increase vitamin D status in this high-risk population. Trial not registered as it was a pilot study, not a phase II to IV prospective clinical trial.

Living, Leading & Medicine: A two-tiered leadership development programme for family medicine residents.

BACKGROUND: There is increasing awareness of the necessity and importance for physician leadership in health care. Despite this, formal leadership training is not widespread in medical education. APPROACH: We describe the structure, curriculum and development of a robust two-tiered leadership development programme within a community-based family medicine residency programme. Living, Leading & Medicine (LLM, tier 1) consists of nine 2.5-h discussion-based training sessions occurring thrice annually. The Advanced Leadership Track (ALT, tier 2) includes mentoring, additional readings, personal evaluations and leadership projects. EVALUATION: We used post-session surveys and exit surveys for LLM and ALT, respectively. We utilised the modified Kirkpatrick framework for programme evaluation to present outcomes from the first 3 years for each tier. Over three quarters (40 out of 53) of residents participated in LLM sessions. The post-session survey response rate for LLM was 95% (124 out of 130 participants). Eighteen out of 33 residents (54.5%) completed the ALT. Of these, 72% (13 of 18) returned exit surveys. Residents found the programme valuable and relevant (Kirkpatrick level 1). Residents demonstrated improvements in leadership knowledge and skills (3.85 v. 3.11, p < 0.0001; Kirkpatrick level 2) compared with an internal, historic control group. We noted changes in resident behaviour and attitudes towards leadership (Kirkpatrick level 3). Finally, the completion of leadership projects demonstrates Kirkpatrick level 4 outcomes. IMPLICATIONS: We have created a longitudinal, two-tiered leadership development programme that has improved the leadership capabilities of our family medicine residents.

Urticaria and edema in a 2-year-old boy.

The absence of blisters, the presence of mild systemic symptoms, and the patient's age guided the diagnosis.

Night transport in Port-au-Prince.

The author leaves a rural clinic in Fort Morgan, CO, to briefly join a medical relief team responding to the Haitian January 2010 earthquake. While transporting an ill newborn, he reflects on similarities between the Haitians' displacement and resulting vulnerability and that of his patients back home. "Jeff! Jeff! Get up!" Elias' headlamp pierces the thin tent and catches me in the eyes, blinding me. "There's a sick baby at the hospital they want to transport…they need someone to go."