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LOCAL NEWS M D N E W S . CO M ■ MD NEWS Long Island | 3 3 Thanks to a new program funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and philanthropists Donald and Barbara Zucker, motivated students interested in pursu - ing careers in mental health sacrificed this summer's beach experience for a six-week internship under the guidance of John Kane, MD, VP, Behavioral Health Services, North Shore-LIJ Health System, an interna - tionally known psychiatrist and a leader in the research and treatment of schizophrenia, and a group of physicians and therapists to create new social models for addressing the question of stigma. During a three-hour presentation, the students, who hailed from Brooklyn Tech, Dalton, Herricks, Bronx Science, Stuyvesant and other schools, presented to judges projects that explained how social media and original programs could be used to reeducate the general public about mental illness and biases based on a lack of understanding. The themes ran from analytical to seri - ous and from thoughtful to humorous. For example, one of the winning teams designed a website (keymotion.org) geared to help teens deal more effectively with such common emotional situations as depres - sion, stress and anxiety. Another team examined the depiction of mental illness in award-winning movies. Another cre - ated an interactive program to measure society's understanding of mental illness through man-in-the-street-type questions. Following the presentations and announcement of the winning teams, Dr. Kane spoke to the dedicated students. Describing mental illness as a "major public health problem," he thanked all the young people for participating. The North Shore-LIJ Medical Group, one of the nation's largest multi-specialty group practices, recently began posting patient reviews of its physicians online. It is the first large medical group in the New York metropolitan area to do so. Consistent with its commitment to qual - ity care and transparency, North Shore-LIJ Medical Group ratings are based upon actual surveys collected and monitored by Press Ganey, a certified U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) vendor. This is in contrast to Yelp, Healthgrades and other physician rating sites that are open to anyone to rate a doctor, whether they saw the physi - cian or not. North Shore-LIJ's Find-a-Doctor profile pages will provide consumers with feedback from actual patients regarding physicians who practice in one of the health system's more than 400 Medical Group offices throughout the metropolitan area. North Shore-LIJ's Patient Satisfaction Review Program displays ratings and comments compiled from more than 500,000 surveys randomly administered by Press Ganey, a South Bend, Indiana, firm that works with more than 10,000 healthcare organiza - tions worldwide. The survey gives patients the opportunity to provide comments about their interaction during the visit and rate physicians on a one- to-five scale. Patient reviews posted on North Shore-LIJ Find-A-Doctor reflect 18 months of survey data. The program delivers straight truth to consumers, screening only for patient privacy and unsuitable language. The Medical Group annually recognizes its physicians with Patients' Choice Awards, which go to five physicians with the highest patient satisfaction scores. The recognized physicians serve as role models for the rest of John Kane, MD, VP, Behavioral Health Services, North Shore-LIJ Health System (front row, center) is joined by members of the behavioral health staff at Zucker Hillside Hospital following an exciting day at the premier mental health facility. Seven groups of high school students enjoyed a summer internship, during which they were charged with creating social media projects that attempted to break the stigma attached to illnesses of the brain.