Inside the Regional Infectious Containment Unit

What it was like on the front lines at Michigan Medicine

In this episode of UMich Med Mosaic, host Mackenzie Kay sits down with medical students Jill Maudlin, Sarah Renberg and Bella Johnson to discuss their experiences as disabled and neurodivergent trainees at the University of Michigan Medical School. They reflect on the personal journeys that led them to medicine, the challenges and strengths that accompany living with disabilities and chronic health conditions and the importance of representation within the medical profession. The conversation explores how disability shapes their approaches to patient care, advocacy and teamwork, as well as the role of the Medical Students for Disability Health Advocacy (MSDHA) organization in creating community and advancing accessibility initiatives. They also discuss Michigan’s accommodations in medical education, efforts to improve disability-related curriculum content and the importance of building a culture where disabled and neurodivergent students can thrive.

In this episode, Lauren Gerlach and Matt Davis speak with Theresa Shireman, PhD, Director of the Center for Gerontology and Healthcare Research and a Professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice and Epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health. Dr. Shireman’s research focuses on pharmaceutical policy, pharmacoepidemiology, health services research, and medication use among vulnerable populations. Dr. Shireman discusses her recent study, "Impact of Federal Antipsychotic Use Policy in Nursing Homes on New Diagnoses for Approved Indications in Dementia Residents," published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The study examines whether federal policies designed to reduce antipsychotic use in nursing homes were associated with increases in new diagnoses of conditions, such as schizophrenia, that exclude residents from publicly report antipsychotic quality measures. Using an interrupted time-series design, the researchers examined changes following the 2012 National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care and the 2015 addition of antipsychotic use to the Nursing home Five-Star Quality Rating System. They found that neither policy was associated with an increase in new exclusionary diagnossees, challenging concerns that nursing homes were increasingly assigning these diagnoses to circumvent restrictions on antipsychotic use. The conversation also explores the benefits and risks of antipsychotic medications for people living with dementia, including the potential for serious adverse effects such as sedation, falls, stroke, and increased mortality. Dr. Shireman discusses how public reporting and financial incentives can influence prescribing practices,the limitations of using a single quality measure to evaluate nursing home care, and the importance of balancing medication safety and residents’ individual needs. The discussion highlights the need for shared decision-making among clinicians, nursing home staff, residents, and families, as well as greater investment in staffing, resources, and nonpharmacological approaches to improve quality of life for people living with dementia. The transcript for this episode can be found here.

The Coulson family is honoring Barbara Coulson's memory by recognizing exceptional dialysis nurses and investing in professional development that will strengthen patient care.

In this episode, Lauren & Matt speak with Neguine Rezaii, MD, an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and a Board-Certified Neuropsychiatrist at Mass General Hospital. Dr. Rezaii’s research focuses on using natural language processing and artificial intelligence to improve the detection and classification of neurodegenerative disorders. Dr. Rezaii talks about her recent study, “Voiceprints of Cognitive Impairment: Analyzing Digital Voice for Early Detection of Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias,” which explores how artificial intelligence can analyze short speech samples to identify subtle signs of cognitive impairment. The study used speech recordings from 120 individuals and found that features such as pauses, word choice and the specificity of language can help distinguish cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. The conversation also explores how a simple 30-second speech test could potentially be used in clinical settings to support earlier detection and monitoring of cognitive impairment, as well as the challenges and ethical considerations that come with using AI to analyze something as personal as a person’s voice.

Urinary catheters used by hospitals can lead to UTIs, bladder infections and bloodstream infections, yet hospital infection prevention efforts lag even after 20 years of effort.