March 7, 2024
While having open conversations about mental health struggles can be difficult, they are a crucial step in preventing an emergency. If you’re concerned that someone close to you is exhibiting signs of emotional distress or suicide risk, we urge you to use the Open Your Heart Conversation Starter as a helpful guide for a meaningful conversation.
These tips—including how to prepare for the conversation, find the right time, choose the right language, actively listen and navigate resistance—can be used to help you check in with a colleague or loved one. Please join us in using and sharing the guide to help facilitate these conversations. The conversation starter is also available on the MMA’s Practice Well Collaboratory site.
If you would like to schedule a suicide prevention training at your clinic, the MMA Foundation offers suicide prevention trainings to MMA members, at no cost. These training workshops, led by Joshua Stein, MD, include Question-Persuade-Refer (QPR) Suicide Prevention and Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM) training. QPR is a 1.5-hour, evidence-based presentation that teaches best practices in suicide prevention and three steps to help prevent suicide. CALM is designed to provide counseling strategies to help patients at risk for suicide and their families reduce access to lethal means, particularly (but not exclusively) firearms. Attendees can earn CME credit for both.
The trainings are sponsored by the MMA Foundation and are available to MMA members. For more information, contact Kristen Gloege.
May 29, 2025
As the Legislature works to complete its work on the state’s two-year budget, another deadline is looming. Legislators are required to pass a balanced budget before the end of the fiscal year—June 30, 2025. If they don’t meet that deadline, the state will begin a partial shutdown.
May 29, 2025
Registration has opened for the Empowering Physicians: A Night of Reflection and Engagement event, featuring best-selling author Elisabeth Rosenthal, MD.
May 29, 2025
The AMA is encouraging physicians to contact their U.S. senators and urge them to revise the reconciliation bill passed recently by the U.S. House of Representatives. While the bill includes language that would stabilize Medicare physician payments, it also threatens to cripple Medicaid and CHIP.