Get to Know Who’s Behind the Mask

How one resident has helped colleagues get to know one another on a more personal level

(SACRAMENTO)

Since March 2020, many of us have had to wear masks in various settings – masks at work, at the grocery store, in the doctor’s office, in an Uber, on a plane, and sometimes even at home around our loved ones.

Martin and his wife enjoying the great outdoors.
Martin and his wife enjoying the great outdoors.

While masks provide us a level of protection, they also hide one of the most expressive parts of our body – our face. Is someone smiling? Frowning? Sticking their tongue out at you? Who knows! Sometimes it’s hard to tell. Working at a health system, masking and social distancing messages have been seared into our brains, understandably. Yet this has also made it more difficult to get to know our colleagues behind the personal protective equipment (PPE).

On July 18, Dr. Martin Manoukian, a Chief Resident in Emergency Medicine at UC Davis Health, sent an email to his emergency department colleagues. Martin, aka Marty, wrote:

“With all the new changes in the emergency department, as well as the masks that make it impossible to see each other's faces, it can be a little overwhelming to try to know who everyone is. To try to make things a little easier, I am hoping to start a biweekly or so newsletter with photos and little bios of different people within the department so that we can start to put faces to the people behind the masks that we all work with.”


Ray Shi at Havasupai Falls, AZ.

Marty’s idea was a simple, yet thoughtful, one. If people had a venue to share fun, personal things, then maybe he and his colleagues would feel a little more connected and a little less distant. The idea was well-received.

Within less than a week, various members of the emergency department sent photos and unconventional bios to Marty. Three editions have been shared across the department thus far, highlighting colleagues’ favorite hobbies, individual pet peeves, long-term goals, and the like.

Ray Shi, a pharmacist who grew up in Michigan, shared that he is a big fan of the great outdoors and has an ambitious goal of going to all 62 U.S. National Parks before turning 35 years old. So far, he has been to 38 out of 62!

A third-year resident, Linnea Lantz, who has three sons and a good sense of humor, included in her bio, “there is no shortage of rough-housing or fart jokes, which is cool because farts are hilarious.” While you wouldn’t see something like this on a traditional bio, it certainly made people laugh.

“People get a chuckle out of the bios,” said Marty.


Linnea Lantz with her family.

When asked about the newsletter, or Marty, many staff expressed positive recollections.

Alana Martin, Emergency Management Coordinator and former Emergency Department HUSC, said, “Marty is the type of person who wants to relieve the stress everyone is under, and at the same time he is under his own stress. He wants to create an atmosphere of having a good time even amid everything that’s going on.”

Jojo Melendres, a Registered Nurse Case Manager, stated, “Doc Marty is remarkable in his initiative to let the ED staff look beyond the person who serves the public endlessly. By paving the avenue for self-expression, this uplifts the spirit of the staff.”

Almost everyone’s profile concludes with a note of gratitude to the Emergency Department team. Giovanna Sanchez Cisneros, an ED scribe, said, “though I have only been here one year, I am super grateful to be part of this amazing team at UCD! Thank you to all the wonderful providers for your willingness to teach.”


Martin (Marty) Manoukin

Marty, who is in the third year of his residency, will work for the U.S. Navy next summer. He calls himself a UC Davis “lifer,” which makes sense given that he went to UC Davis’ undergraduate and medical schools, as well as its residency program.

A little personal bit about Marty: He equally enjoys spending long afternoons relaxing on the couch with his dog, Suzy, and being “forced” to enjoy the great outdoors with his Colorado mountaineer wife, Liz.

Leading a project or activity to build community and connection within your unit? Share your story with Carolyn Ramirez at cjramirez@ucdavis.edu.

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