Massachusetts Medical Schools’ Collaborative

What We Do

 

Article

We are a first-of-its-kind group of medical school faculty, staff and students focused on promoting longitudinal, developmental-based curricula in serious illness communication for all medical students. We began with listening to each member’s perspectives and developed a shared goal for the Collaborative.

Our Origin Story

 

Our Mission

Upon graduation, medical students will have acquired the foundational knowledge, skills and inspiration to engage as residents in goal-oriented conversations with seriously ill patients, with commitment to lifelong learning and deliberate practice.

 

Our Work

The work to date has encompassed four streams. In 2018, we developed five core competencies in serious illness communication for implementation at each medical school in Massachusetts. Then in 2019 and 2020, each school conducted standardized curriculum mapping against the competencies. In 2021, schools hosted focus groups of current medical students to assess their experiences with serious illness communication during their training. Up next, we are using all of this information to develop a shared approach to faculty development. By sharing early lessons on the opportunities, challenges and sustainability of our statewide collective action, we aim to influence tomorrow’s emerging physicians.

 

Members

Our collaborative includes expert faculty in palliative care and geriatrics, administrative leaders, and students from the four medical schools in Massachusetts:

  • Chair: Jennifer Reidy, MD, UMass Chan Medical School
  • Harris Berman, MD, Tufts University School of Medicine (Retired)
  • Kate Brizzi, MD, Harvard Medical School
  • Melissa Chavez, MD, Boston University School of Medicine*
  • Melissa Clark, PhD, UMass Chan Medical School
  • Kayla Daniell, UMass Chan Medical School*
  • Hollis Day, MD, MS, MHPE, Boston University School of Medicine
  • Scott Epstein, MD, Tufts University School of Medicine
  • Melissa Fischer, MD, UMass Chan Medical School
  • Priya Garg, MD, Boston University School of Medicine
  • Matthew Gasteigher, Boston University School of Medicine*
  • Rose Healy, UMass Chan Medical School*
  • Edward Hundert, MD, Harvard Medical School
  • Vicki Jackson, MD, MPH, Harvard Medical School
  • Juliet Jacobsen, MD, Harvard Medical School
  • Carolina Jaramillo, Harvard Medical School*
  • Emma Livne, MD, Tufts University School of Medicine*
  • Suzanne Mitchell, MD, UMass Chan Medical School
  • Sarah Morgan, Boston University School of Medicine*
  • Molly Olmsted, UMass Chan Medical School*
  • Hayden Peirce, UMass Chan Medical School*
  • Julia Ragland, MD, Tufts University School of Medicine
  • Kristen Schaefer, MD, Harvard Medical School
  • Andrea Schwartz, MD, MPH, Harvard Medical School
  • Jocelyn Streid, MD, MPP, Harvard Medical School*
  • Isabella Stumpf, DO, Tufts University School of Medicine
  • James Tulsky, MD, Harvard Medical School
  • Tamara Vesel, MD, Tufts University School of Medicine
  • Emily Vicks, UMass Chan Medical School*
  • Irene Yeh, MD, MHP, Harvard Medical School
  • Megan Young, MD, Boston University School of Medicine
  • April Zehm, MD, Harvard Medical School (now at Medical College of Wisconsin)

*Current or former medical student

 

Publications & Presentations

Reidy, J.A., Clark, M.A., Berman, H.A. et al. Paving the way for universal medical student training in serious illness communication: the Massachusetts Medical Schools’ Collaborative. BMC Med Educ 22, 654 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03702-2

Schwartz AW, Vesel T. A Statewide Collaborative: Preparing Medical Students to Care for Seriously Ill Patients. Presented at: McGill International Palliative Care Congress; October 18-21, 2022; Montreal, Canada.

Olmsted MW, Glover A, Reidy JA, et al. Harnessing student voices for improved training in serious illness communication: Massachusetts Medical Schools’ Collaborative. Poster presented at: McGill International Palliative Care Congress; October 18-21, 2022; Montreal, Canada.

Reidy JA, Chan SH. Paving the Way for University Medical Student Training: the Massachusetts Medical Schools' Collaborative. Presented at: Palliative Medicine and Clinical Ethics Grand Rounds, Maine Medical Center; May 17, 2022; Portland, ME.

Reidy JA, Fischer M, Mitchell S, Schaefer KG, Streid J, Stumpf IN, Zehm A. Improving medical student training in palliative care: a statewide collaborative. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2020;59(2):444.