NEWS
FOOD
Candidate Statements East Bay Hike and GPSA Elections will be held Hearty Brunch April 7-15 » PAGE 6
IN THIS ISSUE
News Briefs » PAGE 3 Journal Club » PAGE 5 Puzzles » PAGE 11
Synapse Sampling Ethiopian fare at Alem's Coffee » PAGE 10
The UCSF Student Newspaper
Thursday, April 10, 2014
synapse.ucsf.edu
Volume 58, Number 26
NEWS
NEWS
By Marta Wegorzewska, Florie Charles and Nir Oksenberg Contributing Writers
By Emma Sew Hoy and Nadya Hristeva Contributing Writers
Graduate Students Engage the Public Over Funding Basic Science Research
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ver a pitcher of beer at Terzetto’s one afternoon, a group of us involved in the outreach branch of the Science Policy Group at UCSF brainstormed ways to educate the public about the importance of funding basic science research. The annual Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Stand Up For Science video contest was a great place to start. The goal of the contest was “to increase the awareness of the critical role of federal agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), in funding biomedical and biological research.” Our group, which consisted of graduate students Florie Charles, Sama Ahmed, Nir Oksenberg, Marta Wegorzewska, Argenta Price and postdoc Christin Chong, understand that fundamental knowledge born out of basic science research drives advances in health and technology. However, the public has not always been supportive of funding basic research because they are unaware of its value. As scientists, we rely on public funds and the support of the voting public to do our work. To gain support, we need to engage and educate the public. One sunny day in San Francisco we hit the streets outside AT&T Park and asked passersby this question: The year is 1960 and you had $10 to give to science, would you spend it on a) discovering an affordable treatment for diabetes or b) finding out how bacteria protect themselves? It was not surprising that most people preferred to fund a diabetes treatment. Then using a whiteboard and colorful markers, we set out to educate the public on how the discovery that bacteria can cut DNA actually lead to a treatment for diabetes as well as countless new technologies. In February, FASEB, the policy voice of scientists, announced that our video, “Funding Basic Science to Revolutionize Medicine,” had won the competition, beating out the six other semi-finalists. FASEB invited Marta Wegorzewska to represent our group on Capitol Hill on March 5. She was among nearly 50 scientists who brought the FASEB funding recommendation for the FY 2015 to more than 80 congressional offices. Each scientist shared a story. Marta’s story came from the perspective of a graduate
BASIC SCIENCE » PAGE 9
Patient Safety: How to Reduce Diagnostic Errors
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Photo courtesy of Science Policy Group The graduate students prepare for videotaping their interviews with the public in San Francisco.
MIND&BODY
Let’s Get Physical...Therapy! Sneak in a Workout During Class
By Ilka Felsen Staff Writer
G
ym time is a hot commodity here at UCSF, and often all too scarce. The following are quick, easy exercises that will help you tone up in class, or at least wake you up during class! First, sit up as tall and straight as you can, with your feet flat on the floor. Look straight ahead—conveniently, since the board is also straight ahead—and hold the end position for all of these exercises for five seconds. Repeat each exercise up to five times. Neck retraction Nod, and then push your chin backwards. In this case, you are actually aiming for a double chin. This activates your deep neck flexors, which are over lengthened and weak in most students. Shoulder rolls Roll your shoulders down and back. Pinch your shoulder blades together, and hold. Abdominal crunch Pull your belly button in towards your spine. You’ll know you’re doing this cor-
rectly by placing your thumbs on your hip bones, fingers pointing towards your belly button, and feeling you abs tighten below your fingertips. Gluteal squeeze Basically, squeeze your butt. You should feel even taller—another added bonus for seeing the board! Thigh raises With your knees bent at 90°, lift your thigh off your chair about a hand’s width. For endurance, repeat on the same leg five times before switching to your other leg. Ankle pumps With your knees bent at 90°, and feet flat, lift your toes off the floor. Repeat as many times as you can tolerate on each side. And lastly, when all else fails, stand up and take a rest room break!
Ilka Felsen is a second-year physical therapy student.
ave you ever driven on a familiar route without remembering how exactly you arrived at your destination? We are creatures of habit, and it is not unlikely that physicians may utilize habitual knowledge in making medical diagnoses. Unfortunately, these skill-based activities may sometimes result in patient harm. We are human, and errors will undoubtedly occur— but why? At the last meeting of UCSF’s Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Open School on March 11, Dr. Catherine Lucey, professor and vice dean of education at the UCSF School of Medicine explained how errors that occur in the healthcare setting parallel those of everyday life, and spoke about the common cognitive causes that turn activities into errors. Consider the driving example. The routine steps involved are ingrained in our brains as a pre-packaged set of instructions and actions called a schema, which help us arrive at a given endpoint, in this case, our destination. If one day you are supposed to pick up a gallon of milk on your way home, you are likely to forget because this schema would kick in. Preventing this error, or “slip,” would require more monitoring and reminders to achieve the desired outcome— milk and arriving safely at the correct location. In a similar manner, Dr. Lucey discussed having a “designated skeptic” or “designated curmudgeon” on each medical team who would catch potential cognitive biases that can sway our thinking in one direction or another. The aim is to move the team towards cognitive thinking to aid the decision-making process, thus preventing medical errors. This person could be anyone, and what better person than you—the student? You can reduce medical errors and save lives by constantly questioning everything and applying your developing knowledge base. This discussion was just one example of the interesting topics addressed by IHI Open School at UCSF. This year, the IHI Open School Chapter at UCSF worked hard to build a community of interprofessional students and faculty to discuss patient safety and quality improvement. Every month, we held meetings featuring esteemed guest speakers who shared their
PATIENT SAFETY » PAGE 3