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Objective: The objective of this study was to compare maternity leave satisfaction between physicians and nonphysicians. Currently, paid maternal leave is not guaranteed in the United States, resulting in palpable dissatisfaction among parents. Previous studies have shown associations between length of paid leave and career satisfaction and maternal happiness. Materials and Methods: A Qualtrics® electronic survey was distributed to female professionals through email and social media from April 2019 to March 2020. Inclusion criterion was ≥1 child by birth or adoption, or active pregnancy. Continuous and categorical data were analyzed using two-sample t-test and chi-square, respectively. Results: Of 808 respondents, 77% were physicians. Mean age at birth/adoption of first child was higher in physicians versus nonphysicians (32.1 years vs. 29.7 years; p < 0.001). Physicians took shorter maternity leave than nonphysicians (10.9 weeks vs. 12.0 weeks, p = 0.017) with half of that time paid by employers (5.4 weeks vs. 5.9 weeks, p = 0.2). Dissatisfaction was high among physicians (85.1%) and nonphysicians (92.4%) that correlates with maternity leave compensation dissatisfaction (49% vs. 71.3%, p < 0.001). Thirty-four percent of physicians versus 41% of nonphysicians stated that their health was negatively impacted by maternity leave length. Physicians and nonphysicians reported similar incidences of depression, and breastfeeding, delivery, and other postpartum complications. When queried, 38.8% of physicians and 57% of nonphysicians said they would desire >16 weeks of paid maternity leave (p < 0.001). Conclusions: In conclusion, dissatisfaction among professional women on maternity leave duration and compensation is high in the United States. Given health implications for both mother and child, this should invite further discussion and changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outcomes: 1. Learn about the Massachusetts Medical Schools' Collaborative's toolbox of educational competencies and curriculum mapping in serious illness communication, with examples on using the tools to improve curricula at each school 2. Generate ideas and strategies for developing educational activities at your own institution that promote learners' acquisition of palliative care skills, regardless of their future discipline All clinicians require a sophisticated set of serious illness communication (SIC) skills to ensure high-quality, humanistic care for patients and families from diverse communities as they face life-changing medical decisions at vulnerable times in their lives. However, most clinicians are not trained in SIC and, as former students, learned these concepts "on the fly" or in electives. The Massachusetts Medical Schools' Collaborative was created to change this paradigm and ensure all students receive foundational SIC training. The collaborative includes faculty, administrators, and students from four schools (Boston University School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Tufts University School of Medicine, and UMass Chan Medical School) and is convened by the Massachusetts Coalition for Serious Illness Care, a group of over 125 member organizations focused on equity in serious illness care. Our collaborative seeks to develop longitudinal, developmentally based curricula in SIC. We first developed and published five educational SIC competencies. We then created a standardized curriculum mapping process to understand existing educational activities across schools and opportunities to fill gaps defined by the competencies. The collaborative also conducted focus groups with 50 fourth-year medical students; among key themes, students viewed SIC as essential, yet described their exposure as based mostly on "luck" if they were included in family meetings or coached on SIC. Armed with the competencies, curricular mapping, and focus group data, leaders at each school are expanding curricula in SIC and palliative care based on local needs and resources. Presenters will use most of the session to share concrete examples of curriculum design and implementation based on the collaborative's toolbox, which will be available for participants to bring to their own institutions. As a field, we can make this critical investment in the next generation of clinicians and create educational best practices to help build more trustworthy, equitable healthcare systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The objective of this study was to gain knowledge and ascertain challenges about periviability counseling among obstetricians to inform curricular development., Methods: Focus groups were utilized. A series of open-ended questions was posed to each group of obstetricians; responses were audio recorded and transcribed. Transcriptions were analyzed by two coders using thematic analysis., Results: Four focus groups were convened. Prominent themes included: (1) Obstetrician knowledge about neonatal outcomes is limited, (2) Periviability counseling is both time intensive and time-challenged, (3) Patient processing of information relies on the content, delivery and patient readiness, and (4) Obstetrician bias is toward advocating for maternal safety, which may run counter to parental instinct to "do everything." The last theme was specifically focused on the role of cesarean delivery., Conclusions: Curricula focused on improving obstetrician periviability counseling should focus on neonatal outcomes, the role of cesarean delivery, and utilization of shared decision-making., (© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.)

Treatment for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) remains insufficient due to clonal heterogeneity and lack of effective clinical therapies. Dysregulation of apoptosis is observed across MDS subtypes regardless of mutations and represents an attractive therapeutic opportunity. Venetoclax (VEN), a selective inhibitor of anti-apoptotic protein B-cell lymphoma- 2 (BCL2), has yielded impressive responses in older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and high risk MDS. BCL2 family anti-apoptotic proteins BCL-XL and induced myeloid cell leukemia 1 (MCL1) are implicated in leukemia survival, and upregulation of MCL1 is seen in VEN-resistant AML and MDS. We determined in vitro sensitivity of MDS patient samples to selective inhibitors of BCL2, BCL-XL and MCL1. While VEN response positively correlated with MDS with excess blasts, all MDS subtypes responded to MCL1 inhibition. Treatment with combined VEN + MCL1 inhibtion was synergistic in all MDS subtypes without significant injury to normal hematopoiesis and reduced MDS engraftment in MISTRG6 mice, supporting the pursuit of clinical trials with combined BCL2 + MCL1 inhibition in MDS.