UNMC’s 10th Schwartz Center Rounds set for March 19

Past Schwartz Center Rounds The following is a list of past Schwartz Center Rounds at UNMC: “Who decides when to stop treatment?” — Department of Internal Medicine, Feb. 10, 2006 “End of Life Treatment Choices. Do The Change by Advanced Age?” — Department of Family Medicine Ground Rounds, May 10, 2006 “The Difficulty of Maintaining the Big Picture During Times of Crisis: Multiple Congenital Anomalies at Birth.” — Department of Pediatrics, Aug. 29, 2006 “The Impact Refusal of Care Plays in Effectively Treating Those with Severe and Persistent Mental Illness (SPMI).” — Department of Psychiatry, Nov. 8, 2006 “Perinatal HIV Exposure and Opiate Withdrawal in a newborn: The Tangled Webs of Disclosure, Confidentiality, Addiction, Paternity, and Values.” — Neonatology team and consultants, Feb. 6, 2007 “Battling against all odds: Drain on team when needs were great and resources few.” — The Bone Marrow/Stem-Cell Transplant Team, April 18, 2007 “De la cuna hasta la tumba (From the cradle to the grave): Life and Death Lessons Taught by a Child.” — Members of the Pediatric Solid Organ Transplant Team, June 28, 2007 “Caregivers or Cops? The Intended and Unintended Consequences of Drug Testing in Pregnancy.” — Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Aug. 29, 2007 “Is She Good to Go? An Interdisciplinary Challenge in Returning a Nursing Home Resident to the Community.” — Department of Internal Medicine/Geriatrics and Gerontology, Nov. 5, 2007

This month, the Schwartz Center Rounds — which made its debut at UNMC on Feb. 10, 2006 — is celebrating its 10th presentation.

The rounds work to strengthen the patient-caregiver relationship by providing a safe, inter-professional forum where students, staff and caregivers — doctors, nurses, technicians, therapists, clergy, other allied health professionals — can reflect on and discuss emotional and social issues that arise in caring for patients.

“The Schwartz Center Rounds are a safe place to air feelings about the drama of human stories encountered daily, and the challenges in working as teams,” said Ruth Margalit, M.D., assistant professor in UNMC’s College of Public Health who was instrumental in bringing the Schwartz Center Rounds to UNMC. “By connecting with our humanness and vulnerability we can be more humane with our patients, their families and our colleagues, and teach our students to preserve these qualities.”

This month’s Schwartz Center Rounds will take place on Wednesday, March 19, at 11:45 a.m. in the Eppley Science Hall Amphitheater. The Munroe-Meyer Institute will present “Can we provide comprehensive services to our patients — patient/provider perspectives on living with Spina Bifida.” Lunch will be provided for the first 100 participants. CME/CEU credits are provided with the support of UNMC’s Alumni Associations.

Unlike the clinically oriented Morbidity and Mortality conferences, participants in the Schwartz Center Rounds focus on more than the bio-medical facts of a patient case, including their team approach, challenges and decision-making choices.

The Schwartz Center Rounds began at Harvard in 1997 and now include more than 100 institutions nationwide. UNMC was the first Midwest location to hold the rounds and has averaged 100 participants at each of its earlier forums. The rounds are supported by a three-year expandable grant from the Schwartz Center in Boston.

Dr. Margalit credits UNMC’s InterProfessionalism Initiative (IPI) for bringing the Schwartz Center rounds to UNMC. The IPI — composed of approximately 40 faculty, students and employees — works to advance professionalism and interprofessional care by creating opportunities for meaningful relationships and effective communication.