We have received a few emails asking about the mask policy. This information is referenced in Section A of the link above.

As we have been told, even with the vaccine, we must continue to wear a mask, socially distance, and practice good hand hygiene. 

Please visit the MUSC Horseshoe for the latest on COVID-19.

An expert at the Medical University of South Carolina was recently awarded grant money to quantify how often cancer patients in this state seek relief from their symptoms by turning to marijuana. 

Dr. Erin McClure, a researcher at MUSC’s Hollings Cancer Center, in December received a $150,000 grant through the National Cancer Institute to conduct a one-time survey among Hollings patients about their marijuana use. Her team hopes to survey at least 1,000 patients this year. All of the anonymous data collected through the project will be combined with data gleaned from 12 other cancer centers across the country, which also were awarded grant money to conduct similar surveys. 

MUSC is one of the only sites chosen in the U.S. where marijuana remains illegal, even for medicinal purposes. But McClure said that even in states where the sale of recreational and medicinal marijuana has been sanctioned, many doctors simply avoid asking their cancer patients about it.

“It doesn’t come up consistently,” McClure said. “That seems to be true across the country, even in states where there’s legal access to marijuana. A lot of providers aren’t always really comfortable talking to their patients about it.”

Read More

For anyone who is requesting promotion or tenure effective January 1, 2022, all promotion and tenure requests must be received in the Chair’s office no later than February 4, 2021, in the form of complete packets accompanied by a letter of recommendation from your Division Director. Packets with checklists, requests for materials, and forms specific for regular and modified faculty have been developed to make the submission process more straightforward. Packets are available on the College of Medicine’s website. Please click the button below:

Promotion to Associate Professor or Professor requires a minimum of four letters of recommendation, addressed to the Departmental Chair. Individuals selected to write the minimum four letters should be non-MUSC faculty in the candidate’s field at the academic rank of professor or its equivalent stature. At least two of these individuals should not be associated with the candidate by having been past mentors/teachers/students/trainees. We ask that you provide 4-6 names of individuals that we can contact to solicit letters of recommendation.  

The letter of recommendation from your Division Director must follow appendix 2 in the COM APT guidelines. Division Director letters should include the following paragraphs: introductory, education, research if applicable, scholarly publications, clinical practice if applicable, administration, and other activities and accomplishments. 

• MUSC is using a new timekeeping system, effective Dec. 20, 2020
  • Link: https://horseshoe.musc.edu/human-resources/kronos-upgrade
    
    
• All employees must review and approve their timecards biweekly, regardless of what their FLSA status is.
  
  
• An employee must review their biweekly time card reports to ensure accuracy. The designated timekeepers aren’t always aware of employees’ day-to-day schedule.
  
  
• All holidays must be reported in a timely fashion regardless if they’re taken or an employee is saving that holiday for another time.
  
  
• If an employee or supervisor can’t approve a certain timecard then they must sign the Delegation of Duty Form and give to their designated timekeeper.

Addiction Sciences Division

Assistant Professor/Psychologist (UNIV, Full-Time): This position is for a clinical psychologist who will be working as a faculty member at the Medical University of South Carolina in the Outpatient Clinic of the Addiction Sciences Division of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, providing individual and group therapy to individuals with addiction-related and other psychiatric illnesses and their families. 

Open Rank/Assistant Professor (UNIV, Full-Time): The successful applicant for this position will have either an MD or a PhD degree and will be expected to have an established and independent research program that will interface with the multidisciplinary NIAAA P50 Charleston Alcohol Research Center at MUSC. 

Open Rank/Professor (UNIV, Full-Time): The successful applicant for this position will have either an MD or a PhD degree and will be expected to have an established and independent research program that will interface with the multidisciplinary NIAAA P50 Charleston Alcohol Research Center at MUSC.

Psychiatry Hospitalist Division

Open Rank - Psychiatry (UNIV, Full-Time): Candidate must be a psychiatrist with the ability to hold an unrestricted license to practice in South Carolina. The candidate must be board-eligible or board-certified if having completed residency training greater than five years ago. Candidate will be a member of the Psychiatry Hospitalist Division and provide inpatient care on a general adult psychiatry unit and provide coverage across other inpatient areas as needed. Candidate will provide care as a Consult Liaison, and have research coverage. *Note: This position is coded under an ECT identifier through Human Resources; however, it is not ECT for doctors. This position is for the Psychiatry Hospitalist Division.

Women's Reproductive and Behavioral Health Division

Social Worker LISW-CP (MUSCP, Full-Time): The Department of Psychiatry is seeking a candidate to fill their Social Worker position within their Mental Health Division. The candidate will work collaboratively within an integrated behavioral health program and provide evidence-based psychotherapies to pregnant and postpartum women with mental health and substance use disorders.

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science's

Executive Committee for Research and Research Administration (ECRRA) Announcement:

Special Issue Call for Papers: Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health

COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on mental health across the world, both because of the direct effects of the virus on various facets of brain and immune function, as well as the effects of economic, social and life style disruption. Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science (BP:GOS) plans a special issue devoted to understanding both the direct and indirect impacts of COVID-19 on mental health across the world, with a particular focus on prospective biological predictors and outcomes that may mediate or moderate the relationship of COVID-19’s influence on mental health, as well as studies of the mechanisms by which COVID-19 infection or associated impacts contribute to new onset mental health challenges or exacerbate pre-existing conditions. Treatment studies that link directly to COVID-19 are also welcome. The Journal is interested in empirical work or reviews focused on populations across the lifespan, as well as directly relevant animal work.

We invite submission for March 1, 2021, with a goal of publishing the special issue in August 2021. All submissions will be peer reviewed. Authors should indicate that the submission is intended for the special issue. For questions, contact the editorial office at BPGOS@sobp.org.

Program for Researchers Affected by Pandemic

COVID-19 Voucher Program

The College of Medicine, Hollings Cancer Center, and South Carolina Clinical & Translational Research Institute (SCTR) are pleased to offer a new funding opportunity open to all MUSC tenured and tenure track faculty members whose research has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding of up to $2,000 is available to help investigators gather preliminary data for inclusion in a grant proposal by covering the cost of supplies and/or core and laboratory services; pay for publication costs; or develop a translational focus to their research. Vouchers cannot be used to fund computer purchases, PI or staff salary, or travel. These funds will be distributed through SCTR. A total of $200,000 is available to support these awards.

Who is eligible?

To be eligible to receive a voucher an individual must be a tenured or tenure-track faculty member and serve as PI on an active research grant. A faculty member can receive only one COVID voucher.

Apply

To apply for a voucher, select the COVID-19 Voucher Program in SPARCRequest. Awards will be made on a rolling basis until all funds are expended.

The long-awaited COVID-19 vaccines have started arriving at  MUSC Health. The vaccine is not mandatory, but it is highly encouraged. The COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force will be posting updates on the COVID-19 Vaccine intranet site, including information about the vaccine safety and efficacy, so our care team members can make an informed decision.

LAB & TESTING OPTIONS

The following resource provides MUSC Health lab and testing options pertaining to COVID-19. Included on this page is information regarding drive-thru and “pop-up” mobile COVID testing locations, antibody or serology tests, drive-in lab and nurse visits, and original/classic lab testing.

MUSC Health Lab & Testing Options

MANDATORY SELF-MONITORING

Due to the activity of COVID-19 within the hospital and community, all employees, residents, fellows and students within all MUSC entities are directed to begin daily self-monitoring for COVID-19 symptoms. This applies regardless of whether you have been working remotely on a full-time or intermittent basis. You need to continue daily self-monitoring, even if symptoms are not present.

• Self-Monitoring App
• Self-Monitoring Log

In addition to updates provided by MUSC Enterprise, the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences will also provide updates through our employee intranet, The Horseshoe. Updates will be provided regularly as new information becomes available. For your convenience, direct links are provided below.

• Psychiatry Horseshoe
   
• Psychiatry Coronavirus Updates
  
  
• Telehealth Information for Outpatient Clinics

Given the COVID-19 pandemic and until further notice, all volunteers and observers are barred from participation in departmental and MH-ICCE based activities. If there are circumstances wherein this policy causes a significant and critical issue, it should be brought to my attention for consideration of a written waiver (on an individual basis) of this policy. Thank you.

Thomas W. Uhde, M.D.

Professor and Chair

MUSC recently established a Delegation of Authority (DOA) Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to promote efficient and compliant human subject research administration. The SOP describes MUSC’s signature and delegation of responsibilities process and discusses which study staff should be listed on the DOA. 

This information has been added to the Research Webpage under Policies and Guidelines for reference.   

Please join us for an SCTR Lunch and Learn training scheduled for Thursday, January 28^th, 2021 from 12:00-1:00 p.m. to learn more about MUSC’s New Delegation of Authority SOP.   

TriNetX is a user-friendly platform that researchers can utilize to query de-identified data from MUSC’s Electronic Health Records (EHR). The TriNetX platform is available to MUSC research teams to support enhanced research feasibility assessments, create a cohort of patients for research data sets, protocol development, and the creation of participant lists for recruitment. More information can be found on SCTR’s website at https://research.musc.edu/resources/sctr/spotlight/2020/06/trinetx. You can also download a PDF copy of MUSC TriNetX Basic Guide by clicking here and the Data Guide by clicking here.

Faculty members have access to this platform; however staff members must be sponsored by a faculty member. The i2b2 Sponsorship Form can be found on the Biomedical Informatics Center (BMIC) website at https://medicine.musc.edu/departments/centers/bmic/data-request. 

Register for an upcoming TriNetX training:

Basic Functionality Training
Tuesday, January 26, 2021 | 8:00 - 9:00 a.m. | Register

Data Analytics Training
Tuesday, January 26, 2021 | 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. | Register 
Thursday, January 28, 2021 | 8:00 - 9:00 a.m. | Register

Individuals may contact Elizabeth Szwast or Amanda Cameron to request access to the July TriNetX recorded training session. 

Please see the calendar below for a list of diversity & inclusion offerings from the Office of Training and Intercultural Education.

NAMI Connection and NAMI Family Support Offered Online 

Social distancing does not mean that you have to go through difficult times alone. NAMI is here to help! We are offering NAMI Family Support and NAMI Connection online. 

NAMI Connection Support is offered every Monday at 6PM until further notice.

NAMI Family Support Group is offered the 2nd and 4th Thursdays

of the month at 6PM until further notice.