Duke University Hospital is consistently rated as one of the best hospitals in the United States and is known around the world for its outstanding care and groundbreaking research. The Division of Family Medicine is dedicated to offering comprehensive healthcare at every stage of life, from prenatal to senior care. The OMI was thrilled to host the Salzburg Duke University Seminar in Family Medicine from February 5-11, 2023, including 33 fellows from 20 countries at Schloss Arenberg.
The course was led by Dr. John W. Ragsdale III, Division Chief of the Department of Community and Family Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. The course was co-led by Dr. Kathryn Hoffmann, Head of the Department of Primary Care Medicine of the Center for Public Health at the Medical University of Vienna. The excellent faculty members included Dr. William Bynum, Dr. Cerrone A. Cohen, Dr. Maria de la Cruz Gomez Pellin, Dr. Kenneth Herring, and Dr. Anthony J. Viera.
Throughout the week, 20 didactic lectures were presented by the faculty, including the topics of Acute Headache, Fibromyalgia, Depression, Long- and Post-Covid Basics, Lean Management, Time Management, and more! On Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday afternoons, Dr. Cohen, Dr. Bynum, Dr. Herring, and Dr. Viera led workshops that dealt with shame engagement and motivational interviewing. Through reflective activities, discussions, and role plays, fellows became familiar with the topics and will now be able to implement them in their daily practice. Motivational interviewing is a directive, patient-centered counseling style for eliciting behavior change by helping patients explore and resolve ambivalence. The shame engagement workshop focused on the meaning of shame, how it occurs in clinical practices, and how culture impacts the way shame is experienced or seen. Such workshops are usually much appreciated and very useful for the fellows!
Fellows also had the opportunity to present case presentations, in which they could share their personal work experience and receive feedback from the faculty. Five cases were chosen for the OMI online case library. On Wednesday afternoon, fellows and faculty had the afternoon to themselves, a perfect time to explore Salzburg and surrounding areas, or simply sit back in an Austrian café and relax with a traditional cake and coffee. Faculty members chose to take an excursion to Hallstatt, a lovely lakeside village not far from Salzburg. Thursday evening offered a special experience, a chamber music concert that was held exclusively for the OMI, right here in Schloss Arenberg. After an intense and memorable week together, the fellows had one last evening to celebrate together during the graduation dinner and ceremony on Friday.
