Fall 2020
FCE Volunteer Family Update Welcome to 2020–2021! The Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine leadership team and faculty would like to thank our returning Family-Centered Experience (FCE) volunteers for their time and participation in last year’s program and welcome our new volunteers joining in the 2020–2021 academic year. Volunteer families who share their healthcare experiences are an important resource for medical students and provide training that cannot be learned in a classroom. We appreciate everyone’s support and look forward to another great year! Over the past several months, we’ve all gone through changes and adjustments as we navigate COVID-19. What’s stayed the same is our commitment to the safety and well-being of our family volunteers and medical students. Geisinger Commonwealth follows protocols set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Pennsylvania Department of Health. Volunteer families will soon receive the names, photos and brief introductions of their assigned medical students. To communicate with family volunteers, medical students will use phone calls, emails and video chats.
The experience of learning through shared stories from caregivers, families and patients is invaluable. Students learn about disease processes through textbooks and lectures, but experiencing how people deal with real-life circumstances in coping with chronic illness changes the way students see patients for a lifetime. Here’s what a few recent student participants had to say:
“ The FCE was an unforgettable experience. With the pace of the curriculum, it’s easy to get caught up in textbooks and diagnoses. The FCE allowed me to engage with people in a way that no didactic learning can teach. It gave me a glimpse into what the daily impacts of health can have on patients and their support system. This experience reminded me that all the knowledge we are learning is ultimately for one goal: to make someone’s life better in any way we can through physician-patient collaboration.” – Connor Barry, medical student
“ The FCE program is a vital component of my medical education here at Geisinger Commonwealth. I have had the great privilege of listening to my family’s story and building a close relationship with them. Through the program, I could appreciate the importance of patient advocacy as well as building trust and compassion in the patient-physician relationship”. – Marzia Choudhury, medical student
“ The FCE provided me the opportunity to get to know families in the community with chronic illnesses as families and not as their illness. This program will forever impact how I practice medicine. I am so grateful to my FCE family for volunteering to participate in this program.” – Rachel Bockol, medical student
FCE Volunteer Family Update | Fall 2020
Meet Carly Ellman, new FCE director Carly Ellman, LCSW, has been named the new director of the FCE program. Ms. Ellman, who also serves as assistant professor of medicine, joined Geisinger Commonwealth in May 2019. Before joining the medical school, she served as assistant professor of social work at Misericordia University and as an adjunct professor at both Tulane University and the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Services. Ms. Ellman earned a Master of Social Work from Fordham University and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Siena College. Currently, she is a PhD candidate in strategic leadership and administrative studies at Marywood University. She and her husband Joe have two daughters, Gianna and Aubrey, and live in Back Mountain. Before Ms. Ellman, Jennifer Joyce, MD, served as FCE director for over 10 years and is a professor at the medical school.
Families educate students Families that volunteer for the FCE program find the experience rewarding. They have a direct influence on educating tomorrow’s doctors by sharing their experiences.
Through the FCE program, medical students learn: • The impact of illness on one’s sense of self, one’s relationship with family and friends, the environment, activities and future goals and aspirations • The influence doctors have on the way patients view themselves and their condition • How beliefs and assumptions of healthcare providers and society affect a person’s medical condition, including gender, age, race/ethnicity, national origin, language spoken, appearance and other social statuses • How patients have received life-changing health news and how it can be delivered in the best possible manner • How to incorporate patients’ previous experiences into a medical practice that can be characterized as family-centered and values dignity, respect, information-sharing, participation and collaboration
Pictured during the 2019 year-end celebration (L to R): Alfred Hamilton, medical student; Shirleen Hanis, FCE family volunteer; Kelsey Matta, medical student
• Respect for the volunteer family’s values and rights to privacy
“ I love the Family-Centered Experience program and working with these bright young students. It makes me feel invested in their future — hopefully what they have learned from my health issues helps them become better doctors.” – Shirleen Hanis, family volunteer
FCE Volunteer Family Update | Fall 2020
Video call tips & suggestions If you’re a volunteer family member who’d like to connect with your assigned medical students through video calls, the students can offer helpful tips to guide you through the process. Once your students establish initial contact, let them know if you would like help. Video calls are optional, not required, so if you prefer phone calls or emails, those are also effective ways to communicate with your students.
Family volunteers needed Geisinger Commonwealth is looking for more families like you who are willing to volunteer and share their story with our students. Do you know a family who would benefit by participating in this experience? Please send their contact information to Sharon Myers at smyers02@som.geisinger.edu or call 570-687-9707 and she will reach out to them.
FCE contacts Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine Family-Centered Experience Medical Sciences Building 525 Pine St. Scranton, PA 18509 570-687-9707 Carly Ellman MSW, LCSW Program Director, Family-Centered Experience Assistant Professor of Medicine 570-955-1338 cellman@som.geisinger.edu Sharon Myers Program Liaison, Family-Centered Experience Medical Education Department 570-687-9707 smyers02@som.geisinger.edu
Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine is committed to non-discrimination in all employment and educational opportunities. 2228-11449-9/20-HDAV/BF