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Picture of a person holding a white board with the text "Hello My Pronouns are ___" written in rainbow color letters.

March 31st is the Transgender Day of Visibility. Here at GW we are proud to support our transgender community, and wanted to share the message that we are here for you. Today is not just about encouraging awareness of the transgender community, but it serves as a call to action for members of the medical community to foster a healthcare system that values and respects everyone’s gender identity. 

If you are new to the GW community and are looking for some resources, look no further than our very own Multicultural Student Services Center. They offer not only programming and ways to get involved, but also access to health and wellness resources. As aspiring professionals, or current practitioners within the medical community, it is important to appreciate the difference between gender identity and sexual identity in order to provide appropriate care for transgender patients. 

Visibility matters in Healthcare. Transgender patients face unique challenges and barriers, including limited access to gender-affirming care. It is important to know that visibility plays an impactful role in addressing those changes, visibility helps to break down stereotypes and misconceptions about transgender people, which may lead to more empathetic and affirming care. If your practice has transgender-specific treatments or quality of care, be sure to publicize them.

When transgender individuals see themselves represented in healthcare settings, they are more likely to seek out and engage with healthcare services. Remember to acknowledge your patients. Visibility goes a long way toward eliminating stereotypes and misconceptions about transgendered individuals. Doing so can lead to more empathetic and affirming care. 

As future healthcare providers, medical students have a unique opportunity to champion transgender visibility and inclusivity. If you are not sure where to begin, a good place to start is to educate yourself: seek out opportunities to learn about transgender health during your medical studies. Attend workshops and lectures, or join student-led initiatives focused on LGBTQ+ health.

 Advocate for inclusive policies and practices such as those described by GW’s LGBTQIA+ Community Support, a resource for all members of the GW community. 

As always, offer support to those in need. Continued allyship with your transgender peers and patients will foster understanding and a more connected patient community. Listen to their experience, validate their identities, and advocate for their needs within healthcare settings in your school, including the introduction of gender-neutral facilities, the use of inclusive language on patient forms, and training on transgender health for faculty and staff. 

Let us commit to creating a healthcare environment where transgender individuals feel seen, heard, and valued. By promoting visibility, fostering inclusivity, and advocating for gender-affirming care, medical students, staff, and faculty can make a meaningful difference in the lives of our transgender patients and contribute to a more diverse and inclusive healthcare system for all. 

Infographic with picture of fruits, vegetables and scrambled eggs. In the center it read March is National Nutrition Month. On the right it read Beyond the Table 2024 National Nutrition Month A campaign by the academy of nutrition and dietetics.

National Nutrition Month, an annual event that takes place in March, is a time for people to learn more about nutrition, the role nutrition plays in health and how to meet their personal nutrition needs. The 2024 National Nutrition Month’s theme is “Beyond the Table” which looks at the role of food production and distribution, as well as the ways in which nutritional meals may be enjoyed outside of a traditional dining setting. Below are some ways in which you can speak with your patients about the importance of nutrition. 

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is a valuable resource to share with patients interested in making changes to their current diet or those interested in receiving help from a registered nutritionist. The Academy’s website features information about food groups, food safety, fitness tips and recipes. The Find a Nutrition Expert database contains contact information for credentialed nutrition and dietetics providers and includes in-person or telehealth providers. Last, 50 Ideas to Get Involved in National Nutrition Month will encourage your patients to think about nutrition in new ways, educate their local community and test weekly meals and food groups that they may be unfamiliar with. 

Himmelfarb Library’s catalog has a wide range of educational materials related to nutrition and public health. The Nutrition Research Guide is a great resource for library books, journals and other professional information such as data and statistics. Library research guides are useful for quick reference or for locating a resource based on a specific subject. Our guides change over time as library staff locate new and relevant information, so be sure to check the guide’s homepage often for updated information. 

The GW Culinary Medicine Program offers an elective for 3rd and 4th year medical students as well as free courses (both virtual and in-person) for the general public. During the classes “participants will learn to cook healthy, delicious recipes and learn basic nutrition concepts such as building a healthy meal, eating on a budget, meal planning, and how to use leftovers.” (MD Culinary Medicine Program, n.d.) The program’s Culinary Medicine elective is offered during fall and spring semesters to third and fourth year medical students. The purpose of the elective is to provide “students the skills to teach patients how to incorporate healthy eating for the prevention and treatment of diseases by altering their diets, meal preparation and food choices.” (MD Culinary Medicine Program, n.d.) If you are interested in a hands-on approach to learning about nutrition, visit the Culinary Medicine Program’s website. 

National Nutrition Month is a great time to discuss nutrition in an inclusive and gentle way. For many people, nutrition is a difficult topic because of preconceived notions about healthy food, costs associated with a “healthy” lifestyle or anxiety surrounding food and food rules. By approaching these conversations with empathy and active listening, you can work alongside your patients to break down food stigma and slowly introduce healthy eating habits to meet nutritional needs.

Close of picture of a purple flower.
“Summer Beauty” by Dana Bolsteins (2022 Art Show submission, photography)

Calling all artists! Do you have a painting, print, or photograph that you'd like to share? How about some needlework, pottery, or hand-made jewelry?  

Himmelfarb Library is excited to announce its 2024 Annual Art Show, which will run from  Monday, April 15th through Friday, May 10th. This event, now in its 36th year, is open to all students, faculty, and staff of the SMHS, GWSPH, and GW Nursing. Join us for an opening reception in the library on Monday, April 15th, from 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm.

Key Dates:

  • Submission Deadline: April 11, 2024 (Thursday)
  • Opening Reception: April 15, 2024 (Monday), 4:00pm - 5:30pm
  • Art Show Dates: April 15, 2024 (Monday) - May 10, 2024 (Friday)

We are accepting submissions through Thursday, April 11th. Please drop off your artwork at the first floor Circulation Desk. Digital copies of your work can be included in our Virtual Art Show, by sending the file(s) to himmelfarb@gwu.edu. You can submit exclusively to the Virtual Art Show if you prefer.

If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact us by email at himmelfarb@gwu.edu or by phone at (202) 994-2850.

If you need some inspiration, enjoy these submissions from previous years. Check out more prior submissions in the Himmelfarb Library Annual Art Show collections in the Health Sciences Research Commons! 

Painting of a Faerie Queen with two women playing woodwind instruments looking at her.
“The Faerie Queen of New Prague” by Basil Considine (2023 submission)

The image features a group of people sitting at a table using laptops.

Do you have questions about how to determine if a journal is a predatory publisher? Would you like a short tutorial on importing your citations into RefWorks? Do you need help understanding copyright laws and how these laws apply to you as a researcher in the scholarly publishing landscape? The Scholarly Communications Committee’s recent tutorials address these topics and more. To learn more about scholarly publishing and communications, watch one of the videos listed below or visit the full video tutorial library

In this video, librarian Ruth Bueter shows how Cabells Predatory Reports can be used to evaluate publishing options. The tutorial describes characteristics of predatory journals, explains what Cabells Predatory Reports are, limitations to the reports and ends with a demonstration of how to access and use the reports. This tutorial is useful for researchers who want to avoid publishing in a predatory journal or those who are interested in learning more about a resource that can help evaluate journals.

During this tutorial, Metadata Specialist Brittany Smith goes into detail about copyright in the United States, including rights automatically granted to authors of a work and how publishing agreements may impact authors’ rights. Additionally, the tutorial provides resources that can assist authors in understanding their rights and feeling confident when negotiating their agreements with publishers.

RefWorks is a citation manager that assists with tracking citations and building a bibliography to properly attribute works referenced in research. Senior Circulation Assistant Randy Plym demonstrates how to access RefWorks from Himmelfarb Library’s homepage and walks you through the process of importing citations from databases such as Pubmed or CINAHL. 

Many of the tutorials are five minutes or less and new videos are routinely added to the collection. Topics range from the research life cycle to understanding what editors look for in a manuscript to setting up a Google Scholar or ORCiD profile. If you would like to watch one of these tutorials visit the Scholarly Communications Guide or Himmelfarb Library’s YouTube profile.

Photo of New York City Disability Pride Parade participants
Image by New York City Department of Transportation on Flickr, 3rd Annual Disability Pride Parade | NYC DOT, NYC MOPD, and … | Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Many of us are familiar with Helen Keller and her impact on beliefs about disabled persons and disability rights in the early 20th century. There are others who have made profound impacts and are far less known and recognized. We pay tribute to some of these important disability rights activists and provide sources if you want to know more about these extraordinary women.

Elizabeth Ware Packard - Packard, born in Massachusetts in 1816, was needlessly committed to asylums twice in her life. At 19 her father sent her to an asylum in Worcester when she suffered from what was called “brain fever”. She believed the treatment she received made her symptoms worse. At the time asylums were “a quasi-prison, ruled by a psychiatric director”(Himelhoch, 1979). Patients had no rights to know their diagnosis, refuse treatment, or leave. As a middle-aged woman with six children, her husband committed her a second time when their religious beliefs diverged and she began to practice missionary and religious work outside the home. Though due process was required to institutionalize a man, husbands could commit wives without any evidence of mental illness. After three years at the Illinois Hospital for the Insane and a court case where she sued her husband for imprisoning her in their home after her release, Packard devoted the rest of her life to advocate for the rights of married women and the mentally ill through lectures, lobbying, and publications. Thanks to her work Illinois repealed the law that allowed women and children to be committed without due process safeguards; Iowa, Maine, and Massachusetts allowed visiting teams to assess conditions in their asylums; and, in Iowa, “Packard’s Law” made it illegal for asylum patients’ mail to be interfered with.

Learn more about Elizabeth Ware Packard at:

Brandman, Marianna. (2021). Elizabeth Packard. National Women’s History Museum.

Himelhoch, Myra Samuels, and Arthur H. Shaffer. (1979). Elizabeth Packard: Nineteenth-Century Crusader for the Rights of Mental Patients. Journal of American Studies 13.3, 343–375 https://www.jstor.org/stable/27553740 

Agatha Tiegel Hanson - Hanson was born in Pittsburgh in 1867 and became deaf and blind in one eye at 7 years of age after a case of spinal meningitis. She attended the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf and was one of the first women enrolled in the National Deaf-Mute College which became Gallaudet University. The success of her women’s debate group pushed the college president to lift his ban on women’s organizations on campus and she helped establish the Phi Kappa Zeta Society. She was the only woman to graduate in 1893 and the first woman valedictorian at the college. In her commencement address, “The Intellect of Women”, she argued against the structural inequalities women faced. After graduation, she taught, wrote poetry and newspaper articles, and was a community activist in Seattle with her deaf husband Olof. Gallaudet’s Hanson Plaza and Dining Hall are named in her honor.

Learn more about Agatha Tiegel Hanson at:

Arlington Public Library. (2019). This Week in 19th Amendment History: Agatha Tiegel Hanson 

Brooks, Gary. (2020) The Feather: The Agatha Tiegel Hanson Story, video production, Gallaudet Studios.

Jankowski, K., & Goss, K. L. (2023). Agatha Tiegel Hanson : our places in the sun. Gallaudet University Press.

Johnnie Lacy - Lacy was born in Louisiana in 1937 and moved to California when she was 10. She contracted polio during a practicum as a 19-year-old nursing student and became paralyzed. When she applied to a speech therapy program at San Francisco State as a wheelchair user in 1980, she was at first denied admission due to her disability. After asserting her rights under the Rehabilitation Act (the only federal protection for disabled persons at the time) she was admitted but was not allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies. She co-founded the Berkeley Center for Independent Living and was an early activist in the independent living movement. As a Black woman, Lacy advocated at the intersection of race and disability at a time when most who were prominent in the movement were white. 

Learn more about Johnnie Lacy at:

The Center for Learner Equity. (2021). Johnnie Lacy—An Advocate for Independent Living.

University of California. (1998). Johnnie Lacy: Director, Community Resources for Independent Living:  An African-American Woman's Perspective on the Independent Living Movement in the Bay Area 1960-1980, oral history/video.  

Barbara Faye Waxman Fiduccia - Waxman was born in Los Angeles in 1955. Both Barbara and her brother Michael were born with spinal muscular atrophy, a hereditary disorder that causes progressive muscular weakness. She used an external ventilation system most of her life. Waxman graduated from California State University, Northridge with a degree in psychology and worked for Planned Parenthood and the Los Angeles Regional Family Planning Council as a sexual health educator and counselor. She advocated for the reproductive rights of disabled persons, authoring many publications on the topic. She and her husband who was also disabled fought to protect their right to be married without losing their Medicaid and Medicare benefits and provided testimony to a congressional committee about it in 1994. Tragically, Waxman died a few days after her husband in 2001 when her ventilator malfunctioned. Disability rights advocates are still fighting to do away with “the marriage penalty”, most recently in the form of HR6405

Learn more about Barbara Faye Waxman Fiduccia at:

Gellene, D. (2020). Overlooked No More: Barbara Waxman Fiduccia, Reproductive Rights Advocate: Biography. The New York Times.

Mathews, J. (1994). Disabled Couple Faces Benefits Cut; Administration Faulted Over Marriage Penalty: FINAL Edition. The Washington Post.

Sponsored by Healthy Living @ Himmelfarb

Spring Flowers & Blossoms Photo Contest announcement with Pink cherry blossoms.

Brighter and warmer spring days are here! Head outdoors to admire all the beautiful spring flowers, cherry blossoms, or other spring blooms around you. Whether you’re in the DC area or somewhere else, capture those amazing photos and enter your best photo for a chance to win a PRIZE. All photos submitted will be showcased in the 2024 Himmelfarb Library Art Show - "Spring Flowers & Blossoms Gallery" which will be displayed both online and on-site.

How to Enter and Contest Rules:
Photo submission dates: Monday, March 18 – Monday, April 8, 2024.
• Complete the Online Contest Submission Form and submit photo (JPEG, PDF, PNG files only). Limit 1 entry person.
Entry photo must be original to the submitting person and captured in spring 2024 (Metadata will be verified)
• By submitting an entry, each contestant agrees to the rules of the contest.

Who Can Enter:
Faculty, staff, and students affiliated with GW School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Milken Institute School of Public Health, and School of Nursing.

Judging:
Photo entries will be judged based on creativity, originality, and overall artistic impact of the subject matter. The winner will be selected by invited judges and members of the Healthy Living @ Himmelfarb committee.

*Himmelfarb Library reserves the right to cancel the contest or modify rules at its discretion. Himmelfarb Library reserves the right to reject any entrant whose entry appears off-topic or violates the rules.

For questions, contact: Yvonne Lee (yvylee@gwu.edu)

Image source: Pexels

Image of a I Matched card. Text: "I MATCHED! In __________ At ___________ #matchday2024"

After four years of medical school, the MD Class of 2024 has made it - it’s finally Match Day! Congratulations from all of us at Himmelfarb Library! We couldn’t be more proud of what you’ve accomplished during your time at GW. You faced some big challenges to make it here - you started medical school in the early days of a global pandemic! But you’ve adapted to the extra challenges and made it through!

Himmelfarb librarians and staff are proud to have played a role in your medical education by providing the textbooks, databases, journal articles, resources, and study space that helped you gain the knowledge that brought you to this day. Your Library Instructors watched you learn, grow, and gain confidence in your knowledge and abilities during the Clinical Integration Sessions of your first two years of medical school. We saw the pre- and post-exam highs and lows, and late nights and early mornings - and know you’ve worked hard to get to today. We are thrilled to have been part of your journey to becoming extraordinary physicians! 

We encourage the GW community to tune in to watch Match Day festivities live! Even if you can’t join the celebration in person, you can watch from anywhere as students receive and open their letters to find out where they spend the next three to seven years of their residency training. 

Here’s a flashback to Match Day 2018 at SMHS:

Congratulations MD Class of 2024! All of us at Himmelfarb Library wish you the best of luck in residency! 

Promo image for Basketball Toss event

This Thursday, the Himmelfarb Library is proud to host a Basketball Toss event! This joint fundraiser will take place Thursday 3/14 from Noon to 4:00 pm. All proceeds will go to the GW Healing Clinic. 

Methods of payment will be cash and VENMO. The VENMO link will be provided onsite. 

Each paid participant will receive one free practice shot. We will be setting up a two-level scoring opportunity, with two different lines to toss from. The first line will be closest to the basket, generating two (2) points for each shot made. The second line, which will be further away from the basket, will generate three (3) points for each shot made. 

Participants may start and leave the event without losing their score. In the event of a tie, there will be a showdown to determine the winner. The two tied participants will receive three (3) tosses from the second line. This will continue until a winner is determined. There will be only one winner!

The winner will be determined at the end of the event day. The player with the highest cumulative score will be the winner! The 1st place prize will be a $75 gift card to Tonic and will have bragging rights for an entire year! Other prizes will be presented to the 2nd and 3rd place winners. 

The cost to participate is as follows:

1 shot for $1.00

3 shots for $2.50

5 shots for $4.00

10 shots for $7.50

Last month, European researchers launched a program to identify errors within scientific literature. With an initial fund of 250,000 Swiss francs - roughly 285,000 USD - team leaders Malte Elson and Ruben C. Arslan are seeking experts to investigate and discover errors in scientific literature, beginning with psychological papers. 

Here’s them in their own words: 

ERROR is a comprehensive program to systematically detect and report errors in scientific publications, modeled after bug bounty programs in the technology industry. Investigators are paid for discovering errors in the scientific literature: The more severe the error, the larger the payout. In ERROR, we leverage, survey, document, and increase accessibility to error detection tools. Our goal is to foster a culture that is open to the possibility of error in science to embrace a new discourse norm of constructive criticism.

(Elson, 2024)

Their program follows a growing awareness of what researchers in the early 2010s called “the replication crisis:” the inability to reproduce large amounts of scientific findings. For example, the former head of cancer research at the biotechnology company Amgen, C. Glenn Begley, investigated 53 of his company’s most promising publications (pieces that would lead to groundbreaking discoveries). Of those 53, his team could only reproduce 6 (Hawkes, 2012). While 53 is not a large sample size, Nature surveyed 1,576 researchers and more than 70% reported trying and failing to reproduce published experiments (Baker, 2016).

ERROR founders Malte Elson and Ruben C. Arslan point to a poor incentive structure: “error detection as a scientific activity is relatively unappealing as there is little to gain and much to lose for both the researchers whose work is being scrutinized (making cooperation unlikely)” (Elson, 2024). 

Nature concurs. Journals, they report, are less likely to publish verification of older work or work simply reporting negative findings (Baker, 2016). Reproduction gets deferred, because reproduction requires more time and money (Ibid). 

Not to mention that even in science, biases can crop up - the siren call of new discoveries can lead people to publishing versus confirming results. In a noteworthy example, Begley - the aforementioned Amgen researcher - approached a scientist and explained that he tried - and failed - 50 times to reproduce the results of his experiments. The scientist answered that “they had done it six times and got this result once but put it in the paper because it made the best story” (Hawkes, 2012, emphasis added). 

Bearing these issues in mind, the ERROR program hopes to incentivize error-detection and change the publication culture: opening the perception of negative results as useful data (Elson, 2024). To foster a positive environment, authors must agree to be reviewed, and hopefully, these authors can even benefit from the verification (Lee, 2024). 

Since at least 2005, researchers have called for attempts to address the replication crisis (Pashler, 2012; Loaandis, 2005). While time will decide whether the ERROR program makes a difference, it provides an interesting answer to that call. 

REFERENCES

Baker, M. (2016). 1,500 scientists lift the lid on reproducibility. Nature 533, 452–454. https://www.nature.com/articles/533452a.

Elson, M. (2024). ERROR: A Bug Bounty Program for Science. https://error.reviews/

Hawkes, N. (2012). Most laboratory cancer studies cannot be replicated, study shows. BMJ 344. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e2555 (Published 04 April 2012)

Lee, S. (2024). Wanted: Scientific Errors. Cash Reward. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/wanted-scientific-errors-cash-reward

Loannidis, J. (2005). Why Most Published Research Findings Are False. Plos Medicine 19(8). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004085

Pashler, H., Harris, C. (2012). Is the Replicability Crisis Overblown? Three Arguments Examined. Perspectives on Psychological Science, Volume 7 (6). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1745691612463401

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

The image shows 3 women sitting in front of flowers. They are all wearing jeans and are sitting outdoors.

March 8th is  International Women’s Day! What a fantastic time to appreciate not only the women dear to us, but also to applaud the many women who have made progress in the field of Medicine. To discover more about the timeline of Women who made history in medicine, AMA has a brief timeline to illuminate those who helped to make the field of medicine what it is today.

Today, women continue to excel in all areas of healthcare, from clinical practice to research and academia. Female physicians, surgeons, researchers, and educators continue to make significant contributions to their fields that drive innovation and the improvement of patient care. Their dedication and expertise inspire the next generation of medical professionals.

Unfortunately throughout the world, women continue to face bias, discrimination, workplace pay inequality, and a lack of protection. A recent study from the World Bank reveals that the gender gap between men and women is wider than ever before. Moreover, women of color and those from underprivileged backgrounds often encounter additional barriers to advancement and recognition.

Addressing these challenges requires concerted efforts from not only the community as a whole but also medical schools and hospitals. Consider encouraging Initiatives that promote diversity and equality and encourage a more supportive and inclusive environment for women in medicine. GW’s very own Clara Bliss Hinds Society is a powerful and inspirational task force that hosts workshops and events to promote Women in the industry.

Let us not forget that tomorrow matters. As educators and mentors, we have a responsibility to empower the next generation of Women in Medicine. It may be beneficial to study and highlight the achievements of female role models in medicine and sharing their stories can inspire students to pursue their passions and overcome obstacles. Representation matters, and by showcasing diverse role models, we can challenge stereotypes and broaden perceptions of who can succeed in medicine.

Further reading can be found at Himmelfarb: