By this point in the pandemic, regional and national conferences have managed to find the creative solutions necessary to still host their annual meetings. Trainees in Internal Medicine have been no less creative in their adaptations and certainly no less successful in their abstract submissions and presentation competitions. There have been more winners and accepted abstracts than the following but here is just a sampling from the last couple months.

Iowa Chapter of the Society of Hospitalist Medicine Abstract Session

First Place – Paul Mester, MD (second-year resident)
“Bladder Varices in a Patient with History of Cirrhosis”  

Runner up – Adeyinka Taiwo, MD (recent endocrinology fellowship graduate, now associate); Michael Heffernan; Amal Shibli, MD; Brian T. O’Neill MD, PhD
“Hypoglycemia in Hospitalized Patients on Tube Feeds and Insulin – A Mismatch Issue?”  

Runner up – Elizabeth Wendl, MD (Chief Resident, UnityPoint Health); Nasser Kahn, MD
“Sinus of Valsalva Aneurysm Rupture: A Common Presentation of an Uncommon Problem”

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54th Annual Internal Medicine Research Day

Best Abstract by a Resident or Fellow

First Place – Nanmeng Yu, MD, PhD (fellow, hematology/oncology)
“Understanding the role of soluble immune checkpoints in anti-tumor immunity”

Second Place – Jeff Zavala, MD, (third-year resident)
“Real-World Analysis of Time to Resolution of Milk Allergy Utilizing Baked-Milk Diet”

Best Clinical Research Abstract

First Place – Emmanuel Akintoyie, MBBS, (fellow, cardiovascular disease)
“Prognostic Utility of Risk Enhancers and CAC Score Recommended in the 2018 AHA/ACC Multisociety Cholesterol Treatment Guidelines Over the Pooled Cohort Equation: Insights From 3 Large Prospective Cohorts”

See the full list of winners.

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American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition (upcoming)

ASH Abstract Achievement Award – Jon Day, PharmD, MD, (first-year resident)
“Risk Factors and Cardiovascular Disease-Related Outcomes in Hospitalized Patients with Hemophilia, 10-Year Follow-up”

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Midwest Society of General Internal Medicine Annual Meeting

This event typically features strong representation from our residents and fellows each year, and this year was no exception. In one afternoon, at the “Innovations” section, 5 of the 8 presentations were all from Iowa residents.

These projects all came about as a result of our residency program’s emphasis on quality improvement projects. Each year, our Chief Resident for Quality & Safety (Matthew Soltys, MD, this year), and Krista Johnson, MD, MME, guide all our residents through this process, organizing Y-week meetings, helping them maintain focus to produce publishable results.

On the day of the presentations, Johnson took advantage of the virtual nature of this year’s event and invited residents and the Education Leadership team to join her in the Bean Conference Room where the sessions would be streaming. A few stopped by to cheer their colleagues on.

Congratulations to all these residents on their invitations and appearance on the regional stage:

• Matthew Soltys, MD – “No Man/Woman Left Behind – Preventing Loss to Follow Up at a VA Medical Center Resident Clinic”
• Hildur Jonsdottir, MD (third-year resident) – “Chronic Low Back Pain – A Project to Increase Provide Knowledge and Comfort with Management at a VA Medical Center”
• Jayanshu Jain, MD (third-year resident) – “Deprescribing Aspirin in an Internal Medicine Resident Continuity of Care Clinic”
• Derek Hupp, MD, (third-year resident) – “Improving Diabetic Foot Exams in A VA Primary Care Clinic”
• Sydney Bowmaster, MD, (third-year resident) – “Increasing SGLT2 Inhibitor Prescribing at local VA: A Resident-Led Quality Improvement Project”
• Chermaine Hung, MD, & Ashwin Subramani, MD (second-year residents) – “Improving Advance Care Planning Documentation in an Internal Medicine Resident VA Primary Care Clinic”

Click here to view the presentation videos.

In addition to an invitation to present her poster, before the meeting Jonsdottir was awarded the Midwest Young Scholars in GIM Scholarship.